Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords/Secret Academy

After taking the turbolift down from the ../Polar Plateau/ with Atton and Kreia, you're met by a Handmaiden and two of her sisters in the entrance chamber below:

This reponse should be avoided, as it may cause a glitch which prevents further progress. Otherwise:


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Atton and Kreia are taken from the entrance chamber and imprisoned to the west, where they speak:


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Meeting Chamber
Meanwhile, you exit the entrance chamber to the east and go up a walkway to the meeting chamber, where a woman named Atris meets you after coming down a walkway from her meditation chamber, even further to the east.

As the two Handmaiden sisters escort you back to the west exit of the meeting chamber, Handmaiden lingers to ask Atris if she's all right:


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Atris exits to the east, returning to her meditation chamber.

Handmaiden Sister
After Atris exits the to return to her  to the east, you're left at its exit to the west, flanked by a Handmaiden Sister to either side. If you speak to them, or any other Handmaiden Sister in the academy:

You don't need to speak to them, but after your meeting with Atris there may be one reason why you'd want to do so:

You'll also have plenty of chances to initiate this as you ask questions. If you've yet to free your party from and you ask about them, then you can be told about Atton's Echani training, which gives you later opportunities to gain or lose influence and move closer to the light or dark side of the Force when you next speak to :

Otherwise:


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If rank < 6:


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If Persuade rank > 5:


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Meditation Chamber
If you cross the and exit to the east to follow Atris up the walkway to her meditation chamber, you'll find it locked:

Entrance Chamber
Exit the to the west to go back down the walkway to the entrance chamber. The Turbolift Seal in the west wall is now locked, so you cannot return to the ../Polar Plateau/. There's a door in the northwest wall, and Handmaiden stands to the right of a short tunnel in the southwest wall which ends in another door. If you speak to her:

Handmaiden Quarters
Beyond the door at the end of the short tunnel exiting the to the southwest is a room with a long table with four chairs on each side to the left and two s to the right, standing in the west corner between a door in the northwest wall, beyond which is a short tunnel to one of the doors of the, and another short tunnel in the southwest wall leading to the door of the Handmaiden quarters: inside, beyond the two doors in each of the three remaining walls are their individual quarters, around a central training mat with a pillar at each corner. There are plasteel cylinders in all but the quarters behind the right door in the back wall opposite the entrance. Those behind the doors in the wall to the left upon entering are unlocked:

The three remaining are locked:

If you speak to any of the five sisters in the academy and you're looking for a fight, then all will be happy to oblige:

Otherwise:


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You follow to the Handmaiden quarters to the southwest, where one of the sisters now stands across from the player on the training mat while the other four now watch from around its perimeter:

Otherwise:


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As the first fight begins, any active buffs are cancelled and any clothing, robes or body armor and weapons are removed: if you equip them again, use any Force power, grenade, stimulant, medpac, shield or mine, or leave or get knocked back off the training mat, then the fight is over. Although any mines set before a fight remain, the Handmaiden Sisters have Mine Immunity so they won't trigger them.

After the first three fights, depending on the outcome:

If the first fight wasn't a success:


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Every Handmaiden Sister is unarmed but can use, trebling damage on a critical hit, which also has a chance to knock you back, possibly off the training mat, if a Fortitude save fails. Although any clothing, robes or body armor and weapons are removed and cannot be replaced in the first fight, all other equipment remains in place: any, , , , , and unarmed  bonuses may help (as may Immunity: ).

The first two fights without the Force will be particularly difficult for a unless early feat selection focused on improving (unarmed) combat capabilities (for example, improving or mastering,  and ).

and Force points aren't restored to maximum before or after each fight, so save game beforehand or free Kreia from the if she can. Once the first fight is a success:

However, using higher Echani forms doesn't seem to have any effect, and every Handmaiden Sister fought seems no different from the first (perhaps Power Attack is used more often?). Although any clothing, robes or body armor is removed at the start of each remaining fight, it's possible to replace it before any attack is made without losing, and any weapons can now be used, not just melee weapons.

Once the second fight is a success:

From now on you can use the Force, although if you won the first two fights reasonably comfortably then you might not need it (yet). Once the third fight is a success:


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Otherwise:

Once the fourth fight is a success, save game because, unlike the previous fights, you only get one attempt at the fifth and final one:

Otherwise:


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You're outnumbered five to one, with three in front and two behind, but from the dismissive reaction if you lose, you'd think those odds were reversed:

If it taking more than two of them to defeat a single low-to-mid-level Jedi without a lightsaber hasn't taught them humility, then maybe only defeating all five will do so (although refusing a rematch may be taken as a tacit admission of that being possible).

However, this may be easier said than done, particularly on Difficult: you may be high enough level to have improved Force powers, but not mastered them, and your Force points may run out before the end of the fight, which means you should still be prepared to slug it out in combat.


 * Improved can (significantly) reduce damage in the absence of Mandalorian  (although you, Atton or Bao-Dur should be able to create s at the  in ), reducing the frequency with which you need to  or use.


 * Force users should use Knight Valor to increase maximum Force and Difficulty Class (among other things), while more combat-oriented Jedi should use Knight Speed for a Defense bonus and added attack.


 * The dark side powers Horror or Insanity are likely to be the only Force powers available that offer area of effect debilitation.


 * The dark side powers Improved and Force Lightning are likely to the the only powers available that can damage multiple targets, although Force Whirlwind can knock back those adjacent to its target if they fail to make a Reflex save, potentially throwing them from the mat and out of the fight: move to one of the corners and allow the Handmaiden Sisters to cluster around you to maximize the chances of affecting as many as possible.

Prison
There are three plasteel cylinders at the northeast end of the the room beyond the door in the northwest wall of the :

The room beyond the door in the northwest wall at the southwest end is empty: beyond the door in its northeast wall is another room with a standing to the right by the southeast wall, and a short tunnel in the northwest wall to the door of ; beyond the door in its southwest wall is a short tunnel to the door of the prison, which can also be accessed from the  to the southwest.

Kreia
When you open either door to the prison, Kreia turns toward you in the middle cage on the west side, gets up and speaks:


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Otherwise, you can tell her about Atris:

Otherwise:

Otherwise:

Otherwise:


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If you then say you may have to kill Atris:


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Atton begins to wake up after his 'sleep' in the cage to the right:

If you speak to Kreia again before leaving the academy:


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Bao-Dur
Unlike Atton, Bao-Dur speaks to you after he regains consciousness in the cage to the left:

Even if you tell Bao-Dur to come with you, you can still change your mind and choose the other two. There's a plasteel cylinder by the north wall of the prison:

If you speak to Bao-Dur again before leaving the academy:


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Atton
If you speak to Atton again before leaving the academy:

Otherwise:

If this is the first time you've asked:

Otherwise:


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However, there's not much point doing so unless you spoke to one of the s before freeing him, and she told you about his Echani training:

Otherwise:


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Otherwise, you can interrogate him:

If rank > 3:

If you speak to him again after persuading him with the Force or skill, or saying you think he's lying to you, and Persuade rank > 3:

If you interrogate him about his Echani training again, you can repeat this dialog and have second opportunities to gain or lose influence and move closer to the light or dark side of the Force.

Hangar Control
Hangar control is to the northwest of the (bear right), and the north of the  (bear left). When you open the door you see T3-M4 trapped in a force field, and the Ebon Hawk in the hangar below through the window in the wall behind. When you enter, T3-M4 speaks:


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Otherwise:


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Workbench
There's a by the southwest wall of, with a plasteel cylinder to the right, in the north corner of the alcove by the northwest wall.

Lab Station
There's a by the northeast wall of : to the left is a door, beyond which is a ramp down to the northwest, and the hangar bay below.

Hangar Bay
The entrance to the hangar bay at the base of the ramp down from is in its northeast wall. There's a plasteel cylinder in the east corner, by the southeast wall.

Otherwise, all that remains is to board the Ebon Hawk. If you try to do so before freeing your party from the :


 * [You'll need your companions to fly the ship.]

Otherwise:

As you leave, two Handmaiden Sisters approach Atris: