Which class-gender combo has the best voice acting?

[Thepinheadz]

I don't really ever post on the forums, but this question has got me curious. I never realized the effect my character's voice had on my game experience until I started to level a male BH. I've gotten him to level 45, and I just don't I can stand his ridiculously raspy voice anymore. So I'm curious, which class, male or female, has the best voice acting? Also, which has the most annoying?

[Mrtwo]

The male smuggler's voice is pretty sweet imo. It goes really well with the smart-aleck lines and the flirting. I don't really like the male Consular's voice actor, it sounds way too rigid for me. Edited March 1, 2015 by Mrtwo

[Kelleth]

Female Darkside Knight has awesome acting, has a lot of very snarky moments that is just awesome.

Male Trooper is also great, mostly as Light Side though.

Female Agent is awesome too.

 

Those are my 3 favorites, the rest of them I would qualify as "okay"(Sorry Hale, but hearing you everywhere gets tiresome) to "not so okay"(*cough*female consular*cough*)

 

I am sure a lot of people will disagree with me on my choices, but they are my choices =)

 

[EDIT] Sutipd splelnig erors!

Edited March 1, 2015 by Kelleth

[cs_zoltan]

Female Inquisitor.

[Xeraz]

I've noticed that some voice actors are good BUT require you play a certain role to fully enjoy them. For example,

 

1) Female Sith Inquisitor is excellent when you go Darkside. The voice is already so maniacal that it just fits it perfectly and feels devilishly evil.

2) Male Bounty Hunter does excellent if you play as a "tough ******." The voice is so deep and fits the concept perfectly.

3) Male Jedi Consular is great as a lightside "sage." Generally it's best as an older looking character that is more wise. (Think Obi'Wan from episodes 4-6)

 

The problem is that all three of those examples above work TERRIBLY imo if they don't conform to those roles. Then you have some other good voice actors that can have a bit more diversity in the character's "rp." Male Jedi Knight, Both Imperial Agents and Male Sith Warrior come to mind.

[Master-Nala]

Best of the best IMO:

 

IMO

 

Male Smuggler

Female inquisitor

Female agent

 

Good:

 

Everything else except,

 

Bad:

 

Male Consular

Male Agent

Male Inquisitor

[Abvora]

Roughly in order of my favorites to least favorites:

 

Best:

 

Agent Male + Female: Oh my gosh I could gush about these two forever. Carvel sounds more clipped and refined, but they both have such a great range of emotion, and...let's just say you should definitely play both genders just for the VA, and leave it at that.

Inquisitor Male: I love this guy. He's great no matter what he says or does, but he particularly shines when sarcastic, because he puts this condescending sneer in his voice that is just priceless, and as a DS, because he just hams it up into a Saturday morning cartoon villain.

Warrior Male + Female: Very talented, both of them. Little is very posh, very "cold-blooded aristocrat", while Bazeley is more of a hot-blooded, emotional Sith, for two very different experiences regardless of alignment.

 

Good:

Knight Female: Wahlgren does an excellent job of showing what a LS Jedi should sound like: calm, nice, and compassionate, but not emotionless, with a spine of steel underneath. Her DS lines aren't up to snuff, but she was very enjoyable.

Hunter Female: This is definitely what a "tough" female should sound like. She's got that cold, ruthless hunter vibe down pat, without sounding like she wants to be a man. She's a little weak LS, and her flirts could definitely use some work, but overall deLisle continues to prove why she's one of my favorite actresses.

Smuggler Male + Female: Soucie sounds a bit too young and sweet, and Sterling's DS lines could be better, but beyond that these two were great. They nail the parts of the carefree, flirty, snarky spacer to a T.

 

Average:

Knight Male: This guy is way better as a DS, because he gets to emote a lot there. When he's LS or neutral he just sounds...well, dull. Calm, certainly, but not particularly interesting.

Inquisitor Female: She's...okay. I thought she was trying too hard at points, and her slow delivery gets old fast, but she wasn't terrible. Her snarky lines are definitely her best ones.

Trooper Female: Hale, you are saved by one thing and one thing alone: your spectacular DS lines. If she had used anything but her Fem!Shep voice, she would definitely be in Best, but sadly she went for something so immersion breaking and tired, it put her down here.

 

Terrible:

Trooper Male: Uninspiring and bland when LS, laughable when DS. What happened, Bloom? You did so good as Varric!

Hunter Male: His super deep, raspy voice is very annoying, his acting is wooden, and he's creepy when flirting. Need I say more?

Consular Male + Female: And the prizes for emotionless droids go to these two! Seriously, would it kill either of you to sound slightly human once in a while?

Edited March 2, 2015 by Abvora

[DomiSotto]

My favorite voice work is for Female Smuggler. I like the voice itself, and the acting.

 

The other voices I liked were the Male Trooper, Smuggler and Bounty Hunter.

 

I liked the M!Inquisitor's voice itself, but the acting was stuck in one gear.

 

The voices I did not like are Female Inquisitor, both Agents, and Male Consular. I eventually got used to Female Consular, but can't say I've liked her. Still better than the F!Inq/Agent.

 

The rest felt fine, but I fairly indistinguishable.

[eldefail]

I don't really ever post on the forums, but this question has got me curious. I never realized the effect my character's voice had on my game experience until I started to level a male BH. I've gotten him to level 45, and I just don't I can stand his ridiculously raspy voice anymore. So I'm curious, which class, male or female, has the best voice acting? Also, which has the most annoying?

 

lol I just rerolled a male bounty hunter at ~30 for the same reason. While I feel male overall fits the character better for some intangible, vague reason I can't quite explain, I vastly prefer the female voice and rerolled female rattataki. Caught back up level-wise and never looked back.

 

Warrior: Male. The female acting is also good, but I feel the male VA nailed it perfectly. Stuck up, arrogant, prideful, disdainful and yet also with a noble quality to it. He reminds me of Risha in a very indirect way, in that he seems to be almost talking down to others, probably unintentionally, and really sounds like somebody who fits the Warrior's storyline--heir to a great Sith bloodline. I do also really like the female voice, but the male just fits better.

 

Inquisitor: Female. I haven't heard the male voice much, but from what I have, I feel like the female voice works better. It can be interpreted a number of ways, while many see it as psychopathic and crazy, I personally hear a lot of sarcasm, apathy, and a detached quality that really does fit a former Imperial slave and all the indignities such a life would surely entail, followed by the hellhole that was Korriban with an overseer trying to get you killed. The male voice, the bits and pieces I've heard at least, also seems quite good, it just doesn't appeal to me as much.

 

Bounty Hunter: The female voice acting is by far superior in my opinion. The male voice sounds very try-hard, if he'd toned it down just a little I think it would be the best voice in the game though. But as it is right now it feels very forced and unnatural, though if you pick the scar option for his throat you could easily convince yourself his voice is the result of some sort of injury. The sound also improves if you put a voice modulating helmet on, but the female voice really improves after Hutta and sounds very fitting in nearly all circumstances. I've rolled 4 bounty hunters in the past, 2 of them were female for a reason.

 

Agent: I haven't played the class so I don't know the voices beyond Hutta. That said it's a dead even tie for me, I absolutely love both voices.

 

Knight: The male voice is fingernails on a chalk board to me, I hate hate hate hate hate it. I like the female voice a lot, though.

 

Consular: I don't mind the female voice, it grew on me after rolling 3 female consulars (and taking 2 of them to 50 and 55 respectively). It isn't great, but it isn't bad if you give it a chance. The male voice? All I've heard is what I've done on Tython and I hate it. Going to live with it and play a male shadow, though.

 

Smuggler: I really love the female voice, especially for a twi'lek character. It's perfect. The male voice is good, too, but it feels a little too cliche and "expected" I guess you could say. It sounds like every other generic Star Wars Han Solo clone. The voice acting is great, but the female voice stands out a little better.

 

Trooper: Female. The male voice just doesn't stand out to me. It isn't bad, it's just that the female voice appeals to me more. And no, I've never played Mass Effect and don't know anything about the VA's other voice work, I just like the voice for what it is, though it'd be nice if it wasn't quite so "trying hard to speak in a lower voice than I naturally possess", as it sometimes tends to sound.

 

The most grating voices in the game are male knight and consular. I have nothing against the voice actors, I don't even know much about them, but their voices in this game make my ears bleed.

 

My favorites? Male Warrior, female Inquisitor, and both Agent VAs could read the phone book to me and I'd hang on every word.

Edited March 2, 2015 by eldefail

[Ridickilis]

For me the male warrior is the best VA out of the 16. Not so closely followed by the female agent, but there is a large gap between 1 and 2 here for me. If this were a single player rpg where you chose your voice at character creation; every male I would pick the warrior and every female the agent.

 

I did enjoy the male trooper and male smugger as well.

 

The rest were just different degrees of "meh" to me.

Edited March 2, 2015 by Ridickilis

[HandOfKane]

Male:

 

1. Brian Bloom (Trooper): This is what pretty much singlehandedly made Brian Bloom one of my favorite voice actors ever. He pulls off just the right combination of a confident, relaxed, commanding, and cocky-without- sounding-like-an-a-hole voice. The delivery of the "I could do this in my sleep..maybe I will" and "I'm good, what can I say?" lines = priceless.

 

2. Mark Bazeley (Warrior): Again, very confident, cocky, and commanding voice. His voice seems to fit whomever you want your SW to be, with the potential to sound both very tough and calm. Mark Bazeley pretty much pulls off that "evil Brit" accent WAY better than both Bertie Carvel and Euan Morton.

 

3. Tom Spackman (BH): He pulls of the tough, arrogant, "don't take ***** from anyone" and "I don't care about anything but credits" voice perfectly, exactly the way a BH should sound. I agree that his voice sounds best with a BT3 BH though.

 

4. Maury Sterling (Smuggler): Again, solid, decent performance. Nothing stands out too much, but he does deliver the "deadpan snarker" lines pretty well.

 

5. David Hayter (Knight): Solid (no pun intended) performance here. He does a decent job with sounding assertive yet able to bonk some heads if he needs to. He does sometimes sound too soft and calm at times. Though apparently this is closer to his actual voice than Snake's. Unfortunately it seems like I get grouped with male Knights more often than any other class/sex combo, and I've just gotten so sick and tired of hearing his voice in 85% of the dialogue lines in Heroics or FPs.

 

6. Bertie Carvel (Agent): Here the "evil Brit" accent just sounds way too gratuitous. He sounds like he's trying way too hard to get people to think that "British accent = Empire." A shame, since Bertie Carvel himself is actually pretty darn handsome.

 

7. Nolan North (Consular): Simply just very boring, monotonous, and somewhat condescending. Nothing at all stands out here, nor does he give the Consular any personality at all. Quite pathetic from someone who's supposed to be one of the "gods" of video game voice work.

 

8. Euan Morton (Inquisitor): Way too nasal. His voice ends up sounding less threatening and sarcastic and more like he just has severe bronchitis.

 

Female:

 

1. Kari Wahlgren (Knight): Kari Wahlgren just has that sweet, charming, and caring yet snarky when she wants to be voice that brings the Knight to life.

 

2. Kath Soucie (Smuggler): Kath Soucie has that young, playful, deadpan snarky, and somewhat immature voice that fits the FemSmugg just perfectly. Just the perfect man-child (or in this case woman-child) voice.

 

3. Jo Wyatt (Agent): She has that voice that can adapt to whatever situation he has to be in, whether it's going undercover or trying to seduce someone into giving information or whatever, and her "evil Brit" accent sounds much more natural and far less forced than her male counterpart.

 

4. Xanthe Elbrick (Inquisitor): Her voice just fits the menacing personality of the SI, with the potential to sound caring if she wants to. Though sometimes it seems like she talks VERY slow, which can get annoying.

 

5. Jennifer Hale (Trooper): Jennifer Hale's voice is cool and tough, but I never got into the whole FemShep craze at all. I do agree that the tough "action girly" delivery can get a little gratuitous sometimes (though nowhere NEAR as bad as Natasha Little). The only thing I can say she does better than Brian Bloom is her "angry sounds" (e.g. menace and imtimdate emotes); she sounds so much more menacing and intimidating.

 

6. Grey DeLisle (BH): Nothing too bad, but nothing that really all that memorable either. She just sounds like that generic action girl eager to make a name for herself. Tom Spackman simply delivers the BH-ish lines so much better.

 

7. Athena Karkanis (Consular): Same problems as her male counterpart: Boring, monotonous, no personality to speak of, no emotion whatsoever, rather condescending to people who aren't strict Jedi Code adherents. SWTOR really dropped the bomb on the Jedi Consular here.

 

8. Natasha Little (Warrior): The only truly awful voice of the bunch. I've seen people say Jennifer Hale tries too hard to sound "tougher than the guys"... apparently they've never heard the female Sith Warrior. After an hour of gratuitous roaring and annoying "RRRRAAAAARRRRGGGHHH!!! NOW YOU'LL SEE WHAT A SITH IS CAPABLE OF!!!!! RRRRAAAAARRRRGGGHHH!!!" and "LOOKS LIKE IT'S TIME FOR A BLOODBATH!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!" I just wanted to punch out my monitor. While I can stand Nolan North and Athena Karkanis (they just sound really boring), I could NEVER see myself making a female Sith Warrior. At all. Her voice is really that annoying and irritating to totally turn me off.

Edited August 2, 2015 by HandOfKane

[HandOfKane]

TL,DR summary of the above post (all pretty much in order from best -> worst):

 

BotB voices:

 

Male Trooper

Male Warrior

Female Knight

Male BH

Female Smuggler

Female Agent

 

Good/OK voices:

 

Male Smuggler

Female Inquisitor

Male Knight

Female Trooper

 

Mediocre/Bad voices:

 

Female BH

Male Agent

Male Consular

Male Inquisitor

Female Consular

 

Voices that are a complete abomination:

 

Female Warrior

Edited August 2, 2015 by HandOfKane

[DomiSotto]

lol I just rerolled a male bounty hunter at ~30 for the same reason. While I feel male overall fits the character better for some intangible, vague reason I can't quite explain, I vastly prefer the female voice and rerolled female rattataki. Caught back up level-wise and never looked back.

 

Funny, I am thinking about re-rolling my L30 Powertech as a male because of dat voice.

 

Well, I want to reroll to get a Togruta character too, but the gender pick is dictated by voicing. (Plus, I am also guessing that like with other species, the male Togruta might look that much more attractive than the females, but I simply don’t know yet) .

[dipstik]

i liked female smuggler the most.

[llayles]

It's hard to beat Natasha Little's sith warrior. She carries a mix of casual cruelty and regal confidence that comes together in a magical way.

 

"Don't fear the dread masters, fear me."

[llayles]

3. Kath Soucie (Smuggler) Kath Soucie has that young, playful, deadpan snarky, and somewhat immature voice that fits the FemSmugg just perfectly. Just the perfect man-child (or in this case woman-child) voice.

I could not stand her. EYE CURD CHURM DE HURNS OFF A CRATE DRERGERN

 

 

8. Natasha Little (Warrior): The only truly awful voice of the bunch. I've seen people say Jennifer Hale tries too hard to sound "tougher than the guys"... apparently they've never heard the female Sith Warrior. After an hour of gratuitous roaring and annoying "RRRRAAAAARRRRGGGHHH!!! NOW YOU'LL SEE WHAT A SITH IS CAPABLE OF!!!!! RRRRAAAAARRRRGGGHHH!!!" and "LOOKS LIKE IT'S TIME FOR A BLOODBATH!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!" I just wanted to punch out my monitor. While I can stand Nolan North and Athena Karkanis (they just sound really boring), I could NEVER see myself making a female Sith Warrior. At all. Her voice is really that annoying and irritating to totally turn me off.

S-shut up! : ' (

 

Jaesa, Ashara, Baras, Zash, Keeper. (Get it, because you have to have at least five characters to post? hyuk hyuk hyuk)

[Daewan]

Male Sith Warrior tied with Male Imperial Agent. I love when the Agent does the 'Republic' voice. Just cracks me up, and it is so funny to listen to. The Male Warrior is perfectly nuanced at all times. A noble, spoiled brat with the power to back up his bravado and arrogance. Love it.

 

I also enjoy the Male Jedi Consular because he is so cold and emotionless. The genuine shock when Nadia hits on him is perfect, and his reaction - confused but trying to stay cold - is very well done. I can see how it can get boring to listen to, but I like the voice.

 

I also love the Female Trooper and Bounty Hunter. They're both really good in my opinion. Then again, I could listen to Jennifer Hale read a dictionary and be happy....

[HandOfKane]

3. Kath Soucie (Smuggler) Kath Soucie has that young, playful, deadpan snarky, and somewhat immature voice that fits the FemSmugg just perfectly. Just the perfect man-child (or in this case woman-child) voice.

I could not stand her. EYE CURD CHURM DE HURNS OFF A CRATE DRERGERN

 

 

8. Natasha Little (Warrior): The only truly awful voice of the bunch. I've seen people say Jennifer Hale tries too hard to sound "tougher than the guys"... apparently they've never heard the female Sith Warrior. After an hour of gratuitous roaring and annoying "RRRRAAAAARRRRGGGHHH!!! NOW YOU'LL SEE WHAT A SITH IS CAPABLE OF!!!!! RRRRAAAAARRRRGGGHHH!!!" and "LOOKS LIKE IT'S TIME FOR A BLOODBATH!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!" I just wanted to punch out my monitor. While I can stand Nolan North and Athena Karkanis (they just sound really boring), I could NEVER see myself making a female Sith Warrior. At all. Her voice is really that annoying and irritating to totally turn me off.

S-shut up! : ' (

 

Jaesa, Ashara, Baras, Zash, Keeper. (Get it, because you have to have at least five characters to post? hyuk hyuk hyuk)

 

(Bolded and underlined parts inserted by poster above, since quote system doesn't show that)

 

Meh, different strokes for different folks, I suppose.

Edited March 7, 2015 by HandOfKane

[Helig]

Personal favourites:

 

Sith Warrior, Male - voice, accent, pacing, writing - near-perfect match. The confident, self-evident superiority and beautiful flashes of rightful indignation.

 

Jedi Knight, Male - what a Jedi should sound like. Calm, even, confident voice. "Steel wrapped in silk". Some would say "bland", but I'd disagree - the fluctuations are clearly there, and exactly where they are needed.

 

Jedi Consular, Female - calm, wise, almost sensual. I just like hearing her talk. A lot.

 

Sith Inquisitor, Female - the emotional accents are amazing. Where the Male Inquisitor is more openly cynical and sarcastic, the Female is more subtle, but more impactful, as well. The way she sometimes purrs fills me with glee.

 

 

 

Voices I Like:

 

Imperial Agent, both genders - everything where it should be. Doesn't particularly move me, but nothing to complain about.

 

Smuggler, both genders - DS Male Smuggler always makes me laugh, and the cracks in the lady's voice sound very cute.

 

Sith Warrior, Female, Sith Inquisitor, Male - good at conveying the mood and the story... doesn't reach out to me.

 

 

Meh:

 

Trooper, both genders - Both lack steel in their voice. Don't sound like commanding officers at all. Was my gripe with Hale's acting in the Mass Effect trilogy, too.

 

Bounty Hunter, both genders - the mood is good, but acting is a little wooden, at least in my opinion.

 

Jedi Knight, Female - sounds too "innocent", almost juvenile. The calm confidence is there, but there just isn't enough conveyed. At least from my point of view.

 

Jedi Consular, Male - the tone is a little annoying, especially the way he sometimes takes a bit higher note at the end of some phrases. Otherwise bearable.

Edited March 8, 2015 by Helig

[Halinalle]

Love:

Smuggler Male

Agent Male + Female

Hunter Female

Warrior Male + Female

 

Hate:

Inquisitor Female (for some reason)

[space_mechanic]

Best: female agent.

Worst: male trooper.

[Joluka]

Female Smuggler -- It's safe to say her voice got me attached to my little freckled, blue-eyed, sarcastic, daring redhead. I think she sounds great as light side, it fits right in, but she can sound really deadly as dark side. Kath Soucie, I think, really understands where to draw the line between a murderer and a hero when it comes to the smuggler.

 

Male Sith Warrior -- LOLOLOLOLOL. Seriously. This guy is hilarious! He's so calm about every little thing he says 'cause he knows he's the best and that he can rip your head off with his eye lashes if he wanted to without sacrificing the certain Sithy feeling you have to have when you play dark side. I was laughing so hard the other day when he flat out told some poor Chiss that had gotten chased out of his base by Jedi "You're an imbecile," and the Chiss just scrambled trying to find a good apology as my Sith rolled his eyes. Or when he's trolling Baras with deadpan lines= Esc key for days. But when it gets to the serious stuff, Mark Bazely owns both dark and light sides in his delivering of lines. Out of everyone, female smuggler has made me feel fuzzy with her acting all tough and then turning out to be a big softie, but male Sith Warrior has given me chills on every single planet. His and Vette's romance is so honest, too. Him and Vette's problems with the shock collar get very dark and the Sith warrior, without spoilers, I can tell you can deal with her with such apathy that even the creepy music starts playing.

 

Female/Male Sith Inquisitor -- Play a crazy, crazy, lunatic, Dark V Sith as female inquisitor. You won't regret it. She's easily one of my favorites, and I love her yawning. Male Sith Inquisitor is fantastic too, but is more fitting for the Sidius personality than the crazy, he gives me chills too-- he sounds more clever than the female, or rather sounds like he'd be more clever.

 

Female Jedi Consular -- She's a teacher first and foremost, the poster girl for the Jedi Order. Play her as so and you will not be disappointed. But try to fit her face with her voice, that was a big thing for me. I used to hate her until I found the right combo.

 

Male/Female Bounty Hunter -- I love male BH, he's hilarious, but I did think he sounded a bit too old for Mako. Female BH is Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender; always be dark side with her and you'll be happy.

 

Female/Male Agents -- I'd say female might work better for light side and male for dark, but if you swing it either way the two actors are good enough to create art. I personally played female as light for Act I, then went dark side for the rest, I basically just made her go insane through everything that was going on and it worked. Anyway, yes, you can't go wrong here, just get a fitting face for them too.

 

In this game, it's usually the females that are better, but male warrior's the best of them all followed closely by everyone else I mentioned, in my book. Honestly, I would have loved it of BioWare had just hired Mark Hamill for the male Jedi Knight voice, this current guy sounds really nasally when he's yelling.

[Excise]

Will only comment on the ones I've played a fair bit:

 

Male Agent: Perfection! You can swap between LS and DS without sounding like you're breaking character. Inflection can be professional, menacing, or kind as needed. Subtle shifts in tone are great for the Agent. Very nice.

 

Male Knight: I liked it. I never played whatever game that apparently has the exact same voice so that wasn't an issue. I found I could go between LS and DS choices without breaking character. Good balance of emotion vs Jedi stoicism.

 

Female Consular: Good if you're a kind LSer but dopey if you're DS. "Wow, there's incompetent, and then there's you guys!" is about the lamest insult ever.

 

Female Trooper: I love Jennifer Hale as much as the next guy, but I made the mistake of playing ME1/2 and Trooper at the same time, and wow the difference is there. This isn't Hale's fault, though. ME just blows SWTOR out of the water in terms of ****** character moments and cinematography.

 

Male Hunter: Very stylized, which isn't bad, per se, but only really appropriate if you're playing a grizzled old veteran who's seen it all.

 

Male Consular: LS sounds milquetoast and DS sounds feeble and impotent. Swapping between the two makes the character sound bipolar instead of just being multiple facets of the same personality. A lot of this is the the writing, though. I don't know how you deliver the a line about how the Force guides us in peace, followed by the awful "incompetent" line and make it sound good.

Edited March 17, 2015 by Excise

[Excise]

Forgot to add Female Warrior, who I thought was quite good. Menacing, tough, and always-in-charge. Both LS and DS sounded in character for her and her voice is appropriate for someone who's rightly feared.

[Bouncy_Hunter]

Female Sith Warrior all the way baby.... Her voice combined with her role within the Sith, just demands attention and obedience.