Solution to Sith in-fighting - 1v1 RITUAL COMBAT

[Excise]

1 vs 1 combat means you're going to wind up with the best fighters doing the thinking, leading, and strategy, while the smarter, weaker fighters are going to be the grunt underlings.

 

Isn't that the opposite of what you'd want?

[captaincr]

1 vs 1 combat means you're going to wind up with the best fighters doing the thinking, leading, and strategy, while the smarter, weaker fighters are going to be the grunt underlings.

 

Isn't that the opposite of what you'd want?

 

Treachery is key to the darkside. Figuring out how to undermine, discredit and then slide your knife between their ribs is an essential part of the darkside. Not just your skills with the lighsabre.

 

If you went to ritual combat, you might end up with a bunch of Sith Lords with an IQ of 80 running the empire.

 

The Empire embraces strength and not strength of combat but strength to envision what you want, and take it by any means necessary not matter what the cost.

[jovianus]

Your lack of imagination disturbs me.

 

What we have now is civil war with sith lords private armies slaughtering each other over petty rivalries. Battle cruisers, fighters, infantry, vehicles, everything wasted when a simple 1v1 fight would settle it.

 

Why would they do that? What's the point of amassing all those private armies and fleets and vehicles if you can't ever use them and instead have to go down and have a duel with every would be upstart who wants to challenge you?

[Samaul]

Sith have rules like this, they just don't follow them. Currently it's illegal for sith to kill each other, punishable by death, they do it anyway.

 

They have a ritualised combat called Kaggath, were two sith agree on an arena, and can bring any and all allies to destroy one and other. This allows them to kill without legal repercussions.

 

What you are proposing is something between the two, which I suspect already exists, it's just that they don't use it, they refuse to limit themselves, sith this allows Sith too stupid to gain allies to prosper, and Sith detest these idiotic thugs.

 

Good post, you obviously get it. Yes, ritual combat is part of Sith tradition and ritual. All I am asking for is for them to use it in SWTOR.

[Excise]

Good post, you obviously get it. Yes, ritual combat is part of Sith tradition and ritual. All I am asking for is for them to use it in SWTOR.

 

But this will result in people who are good fighters but not necessarily smart being in charge of making all decisions.

[Stinghen]

1 v 1 duels are phony. They just serve to settle differences, but they create power vacuum, which is deadly to any society.

 

Sith power games can be very refined if you look at them from the right angle. There are examples within the game itself. (Contains spoilers for Sith/Imperial storylines)

 

The ascension of Lord Zash: She plotted the death of Darth Skotia, with the initial purpose of gaining access to the Dark Temple unimpeded. She wound up inheriting his title, position, assets and entire powerbase. No power vacuum. She essentially became Darth Skotia.

 

The ascension of Darth Baras: This is arguably the best example of a very well-planned and well-executed power play. He planned not only to overthrow his master, Darth Vengean, to step into his position and powerbase, he also managed to make himself look blameless while doing it (by essentially vilifying Vengean in the eyes of the Dark Council for re-igniting the war). He planned the return to the war, which would cement his position of power and disencourage any power plays against him, and also his ascension to the position of ultimate leader of the Sith Empire. The only casualties in his power play were to be Darth Vengean, the Emperor, and his apprentice. And he would do away with all those whose position he coveted, being in the perfect position to take control of their power bases and prevent the destructive power vacuum.

 

The bottomline is this. Most power plays are not simply "hurr-durr, I'ma bash you until either of us is dead", they are very elaborate, and the only plays that really matter are made to take control of an enemy's powerbase when the rival is dealt with. If Baras just upped and challenged Darth Vengean, he could even come on top, but would he have been able to inherit his powerbase? No. Same thing with the Skotia/Zash. Some apprentice or another would just rise up and deny Zash the pleasure.

 

And what you said about the Rule of Two being phony... I beg to differ. The Rule of Two is the ultimate incarnation of the Sith teachings... where the Sith Apprentice has only one rival to contest with - his own master. And he must make sure he can take control of his master's operations flawlessly, or else he'll doom the Grand Plan to failure, or delay it overlong. Essentially, he must step into his master's place and avoid any and all sorts of power vacuum. A sloppy apprentice would jeopardise not only the Grand Plan, but the secrecy of the Order of the Sith Lords as well. This was done by Darth Zannah when she replaced Bane, this was done also by Darth Sidious when he replaced Plagueis. I would be very much interested in seeing a well-crafted "what if" story that had Vader try and replace Sidious as well.

[Euphrosyne]

I still don't understand how making Sith fight each other is a "solution" to Sith fighting each other.

[Palar]

Given the whole Sith modus operandi basically amounts to greed, treachery and making others fight your battles, of course self-preservation wins out over the honour duel idea.

[maraviclin]

You are also forgetting that there is more than one form of strength. Thing about the inquisitor. He doesn't make his way to the top by dueling every single person he meets. He manipulates power, works the system. Intellect is far more powerful than just raw strength, and the strength of will to temper passion, and to know when to unleash it is just as valuable as the passion itself. Example: Malgus. He has power, lots and lots of physical power, but as far as actual planning goes he was short sighted, hard headed, divisive, and is now dead. Opposite extreme, the emperor. When was the last time he fought anyone? And yet he runs the whole empire from beyond the grave.

 

actually, if you play the Sith Warrior story line, you find out that the Emperor never actually dies, it's just his "voice" that dies.....ie him controlling a puppet that orders the empire while he stays hidden.....probably mastering the force.

[SithKoriandr]

Doesn't the Inquisitor storyline have the 1 on 1 duel that most sith ignore, but Thanaton is forced to do since he wanted it?

[Nieme]

There is an actual "duel" or "ritual" that the ancient sith did.

 

As a SI you get challenge to a Kaggath, or something like that by your dastardly rival, which is essentially a duel in a specific area, with onlookers. the winner is correct and the loser dies and whatever claims that were made are forgotten.