Sheldon's approach to armor selection in the game is a little different than mine: stats are all that matter. Pink short-pants with a purple belly-T and a mowhawk helmet? Sure, if the stats are better than what he's got now, he'll wear it. This philosophy made it very difficult for me to be seen in public with him before the "match color to chestpiece" option was rolled out in the game.

We've had a blast slowly exploring every inch of this game together, just the same. We go slowly and don't obsess over our progress; it took us a year to get our first toons to level 50 and then three months more to get to 55 once the level cap was increased.

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Last Updated 2014-01-08: Eight new white-themed Verpine armor and Relnex Robes for even Tank and DPS coverage!

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After hitting the L55 cap, Lightsider obtained a new set of armor-robes, though I didn't get the name of the outfit. For some reason, getting Lightsider to make is Jedi sit still for a screenshot is always an ordeal, whereas he's happy to let me take pictures of his bounty hunter.

Lights and I both agreed this outfit was almost perfect, except for the freaking hood. It's very Jedi-esque, though I don't really think it suits the character's preference for white clothes.

Lightsider updates his look with some endgame equipment! His new "Verpine Bulwak's MK-1 Body Armor" is a pleasant upgrade from his previous outfit, visually as well as statistically.

Those Verpine know how to make a set of space-robes, all right. The hood even drapes slightly over his eyeless Miralukan face properly.

Lights tries out the range of movement his new insectoid-crafted duds allow. He seems satisfied. Note the new silver-blue crystal he's taken to using; a gift from a friend.

Silver crystal suits the player's preference for an all-white color scheme, but the robes do not. But until the price on white/white dye kits drops down into the single-million-credit range, this'll do.

And a nice combat-ready stance. This outfit was obtained and mod'd mainly for use in our guild on Ops missions, which offer substantial drops and rewards. It's still funny to me how this skinny guy using the smallest bodytype in the character builder is the strongest, most indestructible tank our guild has.

Above the doomed world of Makeb, our two intrepid Jedi stand aboard the Republic flagship and look out on the dispersing fleet ships in a scene reminiscent of a particular Star Wars movie closing shot.

Introspection reigns as thoughtful music plays, while the two Jedi and their token female companions look out on the growing Republic war machine. Strangely, the scene is more comforting than ominous...

Also note how the guys are standing in classic "we were caught holding hands and now have to pretend we weren't" poses.

But with a galactic war won, a planetary evacuation planned and overseen, and the remnant Dread Masters defeated, it's finally time for a well-earned rest. And maybe some Ops missions.

It really is a beautiful scene as the "camera" pans out away from the characters and over the fleet. A very fitting end to the master story of this game.

Personally I felt that the final Makeb chapter was a let-down, though. Story-wise it just doesn't justify this grand, sweeping ending. Makeb needed more story, I feel.

Later on the trip back home, Lightsider and Drae'den discover that the break room vending machines don't accept Republic credits.

Lightsider and Drae'den delve into the mysteries of Oricon, home of the renegade Dread Masters and so a suitably horrifying cavalcade of nightmares and terror. Here, for example, they find themselves confronted by a Roku XD fueled by pure evil; Drae'den still plugs it in and enters his Netflix info.

Hey, they've got seven seasons of Law And Order for streaming! Evils of the Dark Side are bad and all, but Law And Order..!

While the epic story of our hero may have come to a close, at least for the time being, a Jedi's work is never truly done. In furtherance of his ongoing duties supporting the Republic, Lightsider continues to improve his equipment to match his improved skills, and has therefore obtained a set of valuable Arkanian War Leader's Body Armor.

While I expect that Lightsider and his player would both prefer a whiter color scheme, it must be said that the design of this outfit certainly does outstrip his previous Verpine armor, stylistically. It looks like it's well-padded but also flexible in all the right places, and care was taken to protect his vitals from stray blaster-fire or shrapnel.

Lightsider ignites his trusty Overtuned lightsaber, another gift from Drae'den (not because Lightsider couldn't afford it, as he's far surpassed all my characters' combined credit worth, but because at level 55 he really needed to be carrying a better-looking lightsaber than the one that Jahnn crafted for him like twelve months previous...).

But it's the tried-and-true armor that Lights prefers, so he's quickly back to his sturdy Verpine armor. At least Jahnn was able to craft him up a white-orange dye kit to give the outfit a more character-affirming scheme.

I was personally hoping for a bit more white in this white dye kit. But I can't deny that the results are impressive. Even the orange shoulder pads look reasonable. Lightsider is clearly pleased with the results, in any case.

The new dye job works well with his silver saber, too.

I note that they've apparently tweaked the silver color crystal lately; the saber core isn't as near-white as it used to be. I'm less than pleased about that; I think the off-color saber cores really, really look bad. Lightsider doesn't seem to share my opinion, though (as you'll see a few pictures down...).

Lightsider's been expanding his horizons lately, discovering the joys of the unlimited respec. But going from his default Tanking build into the new territory of DPS means finding a second set of armor and weapons to support his new DPS stats. Relnex's Robes seems to satisfy his fashion demands, once equiped with a white-orange dye kit.

I love this look; it's a lot closer to what I imagine the character would prefer to wear. More practically, it makes it easy for the player to keep track of which spec he's currently set up for: heavy armor for tanking, and light robes for DPS.

Another advantage of this outfit is that it doesn't obscure the character's head behind a robe. Relnex's Robes is a deceptively versitile outfit; it's designed to take to color changes well. That's important, since it makes it one of the few outfits that takes to a white dye kit this well.

And Lightsider shows off his new DPS-stat'd lightsaber. My eyes bleed.

Let's be clear: I do not like this new wave of crystals with the colored cores. A lightsaber with a black core just doesn't look right to me. Within the realms of science fantasy there are several plausible explanations for the existence of a lightsaber with a black blade (my favorite being that this kind of destructive saber has a blade composed of a tiny piece of a black hole), but visually it just don't work. The eye doesn't percieve light this way! D:

Another cool shot of Kurokino and his junior partner Mako. I really dig those moody neon lights on Nar Shadaa.

And it's time to upgrade. Kurokino's finally found a set of modifiable armor that he likes. The helmet is authentic Mandelorian, found on a drop on Tatooine (I think it was Tatooine, anyway...). I really like it. It's a little too uniform for a bounty hunter, but it's also got a strong "street" look, too.

The beat-up, dented detailing on the outfit adds a lot to the picture. I'm a big fan of the "classic" movie trilogy's beaten-and-worn look, and this outfit draws from that design philosophy. Good work by the asset designers. Very Boba Fett-esque.

Cool helmet. It has that "T" viewpoint that all Mandelorian armor sports. It gives him a menacing look, though. The way the helmet flangs his voice makes him sound a lot like a Fett, too. Except, y'know, competent.

And Kurokino moves up in the world, claiming victory in the "Great Hunt" between the greatest bounty hunters in the galaxy! He's beat out some of the best hunter and worst killers in Imperial space for this honor.

And what better way to show how much of an honor it is, than to recieve your prize while flanked by key members of the biggest gang of murdering, raping thugs in the galaxy, right? The Mandelorians stand to attention silently while their Wookie hunt master presides.

I half expected the scene to parascope-fade to black and run the Star Wars theme as the credits rolled, at this point. But it's official now: Kurokino's a better Bounty Hunter than Boba Fett.

To any dedicated fans who have a problem with that assertion, I put it to you that Kurokino has never even once lost his life by stumbling into the open mouth of a huge, immobile carnivore. He's also never appeared in a Tom Veitch comic book. Advantage: Kurokino.

Kurio has reunited with his frequent partner/employer, Lord Drannes, and the two of them continue their adventures on Quesh. Here they're seen harnessing the power of the "Hollywood walkaway," avoiding bodily harm from a large explosion by turning their backs to it and walking slowly, allowing the force of the blast to pass by them completely in accordance with the laws of cool.

Kurokino finds himself dwarfed by the post-enhancement Drannes. The two confer with an unhelpful Imperial official on Hoth. It's interesting how many of the Bounty Hunter's story missions deal with being paid to kill someone, rather than to find a missing person or retrieve a bail-jumper or convict. There's a difference between a Bounty Hunter and an assassin...

Kuro and Drannes face down a Hutt drug lord on Quesh. One can't help but wonder why Kuro would spend so much money on his own body armor and still leave poor Mako wearing nothing but an Imperial officer's shirt.

A cool pose in front of one of the Quesh Hutts (the traitor that sold out to the Empire, I believe). Kuro's earned a reputation as an efficient but level-headed merc at this point.

On Nar Shadaa, Kurokino confronts a Jedi assassin who's just murdered about five private citizens in Imperial space in retaliation for Kurokino fulfilling a lawful contract on a Jedi who was illegally operating in Imperial territory. The ensuing battle was pathetically breif and one-sided.

The Bounty Hunter and the Sith Juggernaught, along with their token female companions, continue their respective agendas to Voss, planet of the Mystics. Kuro seems to be the only one to notice the white expository text that's suddenly materialized at roughly crouch level in front of them.

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