An Inquisitor’s Tale
The Sith Inquisitor is one of the eight origin stories in Star Wars: The Old Republic, built around cunning, occult knowledge and a willingness to claw upwards through the Empire’s hierarchy. It plays as a more calculating counterpart to the Sith Warrior: less frontline brute force, more manipulation of the Force and people, with a class story that leans into dark rituals, buried history and personal ambition.
In mechanical terms, the Inquisitor branches into Assassin and Sorcerer. Assassins fight up close with a double‑bladed lightsaber, using stealth and sudden bursts of Force power, and can specialise through disciplines such as Darkness (tank‑oriented defence and control), Deception (mobile melee damage built around procs and short‑window strikes) and Hatred (sustained damage over time with a more “caster‑in‑melee” feel). Sorcerers stay at range, focusing on Force Lightning and support: Corruption leans into healing and mitigation, Lightning emphasises burst and area damage, and Madness combines damage over time with strong control and survivability.
The class story traces a climb from slave to Dark Council member. It begins on Korriban, where a recently purchased slave is pushed through Academy trials under Overseer Harkun and taken on as an apprentice by the unsettlingly pleasant Sith Lord Zash. Early on, the Inquisitor frees and binds Khem Val, a Dashade warrior who once hunted Jedi, turning him into both enforcer and constant reminder of older Sith wars. The first chapter focuses on recovering ancient artefacts of Tulak Hord for Zash’s planned ritual, a task that sends you across several worlds and underlines the Inquisitor’s role as a seeker of dangerous knowledge rather than just a battlefield commander.
By the end of that arc, Zash’s scheme to use the ritual to take over her apprentice’s body backfires, and the Inquisitor survives by turning her own power against her. With Zash effectively neutralised and her resources inherited, the Inquisitor rises to the rank of Sith Lord, kicking off a second chapter built around Darth Thanaton, a traditionalist on the Dark Council who refuses to accept a former slave’s rapid ascent. To stand against him, the Inquisitor learns the ritual of Force‑walking, binding the spirits of dead Sith and drawing on their power at the cost of an increasingly dangerous internal burden.
Chapter three follows the consequences of that choice. The Force spirits trapped within the Inquisitor start to tear their host apart, and much of the story is spent hunting for a way to survive the accumulated power while Thanaton consolidates his position and tries to have you erased through more conventional means. Eventually the sickness is brought under control and the spirits are turned into a weapon rather than a liability, allowing the Inquisitor to challenge Thanaton before the Dark Council, defeat him and claim his seat. It is one of the clearest “from nothing to ruling seat” arcs among the class stories, and plays differently depending on how ruthless or oddly principled you choose to be along the way.
Companions help frame that progression. Khem Val is there from early on as a physical counterpart to the Inquisitor’s more cerebral strengths, while Andronikos Revel, a pirate with a taste for chaos, adds a grounded, cynical voice once he joins the crew. Ashara Zavros brings a conflicted Jedi perspective into the mix, Talos Drellik supplies enthusiastic archaeological commentary as the story digs deeper into old tombs and rituals, and Xalek, a Kaleesh apprentice, arrives late as another study in what it means to shape a student in your own image. Together they give the class story a spread of viewpoints on loyalty, fear and ambition.
The presentation matches the subject matter. The Inquisitor’s armour sets tend towards dark robes, layered fabrics and ornate detailing, with plenty of room for the crackle of Force Lightning and other visual effects to stand out against more subdued silhouettes. Voice acting – especially for the female Inquisitor – gives sharp edges to threats and mockery alike, helping to sell a character who can move from feigned politeness to cold fury in a line or two, and the sound design leans heavily on the hiss and snap of channelling raw energy.
Reactions to the Inquisitor story have been mixed but rarely indifferent. Many players enjoy the steady escalation from pawn to power‑broker and the way the class gets to play with ghosts, relics and rituals that feel distinct from more straightforward military plots. Others find some of the political manoeuvring more thinly sketched, or feel that key turning points rely a little too much on other characters’ actions rather than the Inquisitor’s own schemes. Even so, the combination of flexible combat roles, strong theming and a clear ascent through the Sith ranks keeps the class near the top of many lists for anyone who wants to explore the darker, more esoteric side of The Old Republic.
