You may need to create a new Combat Style for your character's specific Homeworld, Technology, and Society types. Work with the guidelines below and your GM.

A Combat Style is a single skill, used for both attacking and defending.

A Combat Style is made up of one or more weapons your character is trained with, and the techniques and tricks to use them together or individually.

The weapons on their own (individual or combined) are not the whole Combat Style; the training, tricks, and techniques complete it. The "tricks and techniques" part is Combat Style Traits (see Combat Style Traits in the Quick Reference section of the References compendium). A Combat Style usually has one Trait, sometimes two.

Your character's career and homeworld likely has an impact on their Combat Styles.

Examples of Combat Styles:

Roman Legionnaire
- Weapons: Pilum (spear), Gladius (shortsword), Scutum (large shield), Sling
- Combat Style Traits: Formation Fighting
Jedi
- Weapons: Jedi Martial Arts (unarmed), Lightsaber
- Combat Style Traits: Parry blaster bolt with lightsaber; Unarmed Prowess; Deflect and Telekinesis as combat reactions
Desert Commando
- Weapons: Unarmed/Martial Arts, Dagger, Pistol, Sniper Rifle or Submachine Gun
- Combat Style Traits: Skirmishing, Daredevil

Once you know your Homeworld, Technology, and Society types, you can use these to create a unique Combat Style for your background.

A good template for a Combat Style would be one or two melee weapons (one may be a shield), one or two ranged weapons, and one Combat Style Trait. The weapons and Traits should make sense together and make sense with respect to the character's Technology, Homeworld, and Society types.

Technology Type

Technology type will probably drive most of what is reasonable for weapons in a Combat Style.

Primitive types will not have access to things like energy weapons or even firearms. Melee weapons will tend towards the basic - spears, clubs, axes, etc. Ranged weapons may include spears, slings, bows, atlatl, etc., but are likely not to include weapons with complex mechanisms. Crossbows may be a gray area.

Industrial types will likely have access to things like firearms but maybe not energy weapons like blasters or ion weapons. Melee weapons could include more advanced things like telescoping batons or hand-held stun guns, depending on the technology level of that industrial civilization. Ranged weapons would be a step above what's available in Primitive situations. This could be rather sophisticated, including highly accurate sniper rifles, easily concealable handguns, fully automatic carbines, etc.

Galactic types would have access to just about anything.

Society Type

Society type is more about what's acceptable to carry and use than what is available. For example, in a Bureaucratic or Academic type, it might be considered unusual even to carry a blade larger than a small pocket knife. In Militaristic or Lawless types, it might be typical to carry things that would be classified as weapons of war, like battle rifles or large swords. Use the Society type to choose weapons and Traits for your Combat Style that make sense for what would and would not be appropriate.

Homeworld Type

Homeworld type would impact a Combat Style in part because it encompasses environmental conditions. For example, weapons training on a Cloud World type would probably be very different than weapons training on an Ocean World type. An Ocean World Combat Style would likely include weapons and techniques for fighting in or around water, while a Cloud World Combat Style might include weapons and training used when flying around in jet packs or other airborne situations.