How to Beat Darth Malak in "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic"

The duel on the Star Forge is the final battle of "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic," wherein you face Darth Malak. It's a one-on-one battle; your companions won't be able to help in this fight. As the final boss, Malak has a few cheap moves and mechanics that can make him irritating for the unprepared. However, with a little preparation and planning, the Force will be with you as you stomp Malak into the deck.

Preparation is one of the most important parts of this battle. Bring a ton of medpacks and stimulants, the more you have the better. The stimulants will buff your stats, making each hit you land more effective. The medpacks will help keep your health up. Having a good shield equipped is the most important gearing strategy, as it will reduce the damage you take from Darth Malak's attacks. Otherwise, you should mostly stick to your strengths and use the best gear you have on hand.

Malak's Force powers are primarily designed to disrupt your strategy and leave you vulnerable. Mainly, he will try to stun you and inflict as much damage with his lightsaber as possible. Players with Force Immunity can resist his stuns, and engage him in combat. Without Force Immunity, the battle is much harder, as you have to recover your health swiftly after he stuns you using medpacks or the Heal power. Malak resists all combat Force powers except for Throw Lightsaber, making him a tougher opponent for Jedi Consulars with limited melee abilities. Guardians and Sentinels, or Consulars with decent melee skills, should have less trouble battling him.

After bringing his health down to a near critical level, Malak will break off and begin using Drain Life on Jedi trapped in the nearby pods. This will replenish his health, and makes destroying the pods a priority. Several powers can destroy the pods, namely Force Lightning, Destroy Droid, Throw Lightsaber, Drain Life, Death Field and Stasis. Players with the Drain Life or Death Field powers get the added benefit of replenishing their own health while robbing Malak of said boost. There are eight pods, all of which must be destroyed quickly to limit his healing and bring the battle to a close. Otherwise, the battle will drag on until he has consumed all eight pods.

At both the first phase before Malak starts healing, and the third phase after all the pods are destroyed, burning Malak's health is the top priority. Depending on your skills and items, this could be very quick or a tad slow. Combining Master Flurry with Master Speed will effectively quadruple your attacks, enabling you to nuke his health down very quickly. Adrenal stims to increase hit chance, critical strike and base damage will all further speed this process. Any level of Flurry and Speed will work, but are essential to make short work of him. Otherwise, your main strategy will be to keep him at a distance, running away with the Speed power and using a combination of adhesive grenades, mines and Throw Lightsaber to chisel down his health.