For anyone interested in getting fast, cheap affection with Khem Val, simply re-run Black Talon in your down time. You will have to take the Dark Side options to achieve the optimum results, but for most that is not an issue. Simply follow this numbered conversation guide to earn a maximum of 455 affection with Khem Val!

Responses numbered 1-3 represent numerical response. # represents a choice that has no impact on Khem Val.

Conversation 1, Responses: 3, 3, #
Conversation 2, Responses: 3, 2, #, 1
Conversation 3, Response: 1
Conversation 4, Responses: 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 3
Conversation 5, Responses: 3, #, 1, 3, 1, 2, 3
Conversation 6, Responses: 3, 1
Conversation 7, Response: 3
Conversation 8, Responses: 3, 2, 2, 2
Conversation 9, Response: #
Conversation 10, Responses: 3, 2, #, 2, 2
Conversation 11, Response: #

Aside from the 455 Affection Gain with Khem Val, you will also earn yourself 200 Dark Side Points.

Keep in mind, any responses made by other players could alter the progression of conversations and make this guide inaccurate.

Companion gifts that Khem Val likes:

1 Cultural Artifact (rank 1 gift, 96 points)
2 Weapon (rank 1 gift, 54 points)
3 Trophy (rank 1 gift, 24 points)
4 Imperial Memorabilia (rank 1 gift, 24 points)
5 Technology (rank 1 gift, 24 points)

Khem Val will also give affection points for selecting dialogue options that convey your strength, fearlessness, and elude to killing.

Khem Val is the tanking companion that the Sith Inquisitor obtains in the early levels on Korriban. He generally reacts positively to many dark side choices..

Historically Khem Val was a servant of the Sith Lord Tulak Hord. He enjoys devouring force users and the in-game conversations reflect this. Khem Val is a member of the Dashade species that come from the planet Urkupp.

The following is a small modification on Watchman's post that made my first few initial farms for Khem Val rep in Black Talon easier. I had a problem remembering which conversation was which, and I clarified some conversation points. It's also relatively spoiler free, for those who see this post that haven't done the flashpoint yet.

Responses numbered 1-3 represent numerical response. # represents a choice that has no impact on Khem Val.

lady: 3, 3, #
droid: 3, 2(only non negative response), #, 1
man: 1
droid: 2, 3, 1(dark side), 2, 3, 3
droid: 3, #, 1, 3, 1, 2, 3
computer: 3, 1
door: 3
engine room: 3, 2, 2, 2(dark side)
computer: #
droid: 3, 1/2(3 is negative), #, 2, 2
computer: #

Aside from the 455 Affection Gain with Khem Val, you will also earn yourself 200 Dark Side Points.

By level 28 I have come to the following conclusions about Khem Val.

1) He will approve of almost all Dark side decisions (so far, by the end of Nar Shaddaa, I have found one Dark side decision that he did not approve of, and I lost all of 1 affection. Worth it, I should think.)
2) If you plan on going Dark side all the way, and being arrogant, boastful and murderous about it, you will have no trouble whatsoever pleasing Khem. (Killing Lord Paladius wasn't even a Dark Side decision, and I gained 120 affection! He usually gives 40 for Dark side decisions, and 15 for normal conversation options.)
3) He will disapprove of any and all courtesy you show. (This is what I originally wanted; to strive for power through subtlety, but Khem quickly demolished those plans.)
4) Black Talon really is a brilliant place to grind Khem's affection. (See the comment by Watchman for details.)

SPOILER ALERT!

If you allow the scientist on Balmorra to go back to the Republic once he's made your serum, you lose a whopping 160 AFFECTION with Khem Val!

Responds favorably to the following types of gifts:
Technology
Imperial Memorabilia
Trophy
Cultural Artifact ***
Weapon ***

*** Giving significantly more than the other types of gifts.

I updated the previous versions with a lightside version
lady: 3, 3, #
droid: 3, 2(only non negative response), #, 1
man: 1
droid: 2, 3, 2(light side -30), 3, 3, 3
droid: 3, #, 1, 3, 1, 2, 3
computer: 3, 1
door: 3
engine room: 3, 2, 2, 1(light side -30)
computer: 3
droid: #, #, 2, 2
computer: #

+200 LP
+300 Khem Val rep

Korriban
- Of Mind and Matter – Level 3
- The Plight of the Acolyte – Level 4
- A Little Knowledge – Level 5
- The Secret of Tulak Hord – Level 7
- Martial Law – Level 8
- A Map to the Future – Level 11 [Khem Val & Lightsaber]
- Go to Dromund Kaas – Level 11

Dromund Kaas
- Onwards to Dromund Kaas – Level 9
- At the Foot of the Colossus – Level 11
- Dismantling the Machine – Level 13
- Giant Killer – Level 14
- In the Hall of Traitors – Level 15 [Spaceship & Start Chapter 1]

Balmorra
- Plans – Level 15
- Scientific Inquiry – Level 16
- Extraction – Level 17
- The Path to Power – Level 18
- Into the Pit – Level 19

Nar Shaddaa
- The Call - Level 20
- The Prophet Arrives - Level 20
OR The Krayt Gang - Level 21
OR Curing the Rot - Level 21
- Manufacturing Miracles - Level 21
- The Big Show - Level 22
- The Final Act - Level 23
- Preparations - Level 24 [Kallig's Countenance]

Tatoonie
- Andronikos Revel - Level 24
- The Pirate and The Girl - Level 25
- Vengance - Level 26
- Into the Dune Sea [Andronikos Revel] - Level 27

Alderaan
- The Secrets of the Jedi - Level 28
- A Woman Scorned - Level 29
- Secret Rendezvous - Level 30
- In the Halls of Elysium - Level 31
- Service Rewarded - Level 30
- Inheritance - Level 32
- Legacy - Level 32
- Taking Control [End Chapter 1] - Level 32
- Sith Hierarchy - Level 32

Taris
- The Padawan - Level 32
- Laying the Trap - Level 33
- Means of Persuasion - Level 34
- The Apprentice [Ashara Zavros] - Level 35

Quesh
- Thanathon Strikes Back - Level 36

Hoth
- Scouring the Wastes - Level 37
- Bitter Rivalries - Level 37
- Into the Assassin Temple - Level 38
- The Fallen Dreadnought - Level 39
- Conflagration - Level 41
- Battles to be Won [Talos Drellik & End Chapter 2] - Level 41

Belsavis
- The Price of Power - Level 41
- Prison Break - Level 42
- Strange Science - Level 42
- Ghosts in the Walls - Level 43
- Mother - Level 43

Voss
- Building a Power Base - Level 44
- Visions and Visionaries - Level 44
- Secrets of the Force - Level 45
- Necessary Sacrifice - Level 46
- The Ritual - Level 47
- Testing [Xalek] - Level 47

Correlia
- First Strike - Level 47
- Blood and Fire - Level 48
- Fatal Blow - Level 49
- The Duel - Level 50
- The Dark Council - Level 50

- The Escape - Level 50
- Looking Ahead - Level 50

Khem Val likes:
--Displaying strength
--"Eating" (a.k.a. killing everything in sight)

Khem Val dislikes:
--Showing any form of weakness
--Allowing people to live
--Force users

I've had good luck with presenting Khem Val with trophy companion gifts.

He seems rather crap once you leave Korriban, i mean, sure if you can find someone to craft gear for him to keep him fully geared, he can be beastly, but since crafters are not crafting anything besides level 50 bracket gear and then its only stuff that nets them 25k+ profit, which means, you either spend the severely limited commendations you gained via questing to either gear your companion or yourself, the one that doesn't get geared is gimped, until the next planets' commendation spending spree.

Since this would be a dps/healer spec's tank, all priority on gear upgrading will go to thos companion, which means, the player will never get any good gear until level 50, unless you can stomach the severely annoying crafting, waiting 2 levels for a new piece of gear? is just stupid....but thats changing the subject.

I'm a lvl 50 Assassin and sadly I did not level up Khem as I progressed. So now that 1.2 has been released I find myself playing "catch up" with his affection points.
Today I ran through all the dailies and went through every option to see which responses would give me the most affection points.
Keep in mind your points might differ if you have more affection already (started out today around 3.5K affection)
With the dailies I only did the non heroics because I'm running solo today. I'll update this as I go.
As always a # means pick any option no +/-. If I say pick "Number or Number" they either both gave the same amount of +Points, or they gave nothing BUT the number I dont list gave -Points.

Ilum

Major Dermian
#
1
Total +15

Col Baramak
3
#
1
Total +30

Belsavis
Lower
N4-71 Invisible Threat
1 or 3
2
Total +30

Major Charkron Unintended Consequences
3
1 or 3
1
Total +45

Upper
AR-72 Ancient Transmissions
2 or 3
2 or 3
1 or 2
Total +15

Specialist Nattis Found in Translation
1 or 2
3
1
*3 (At turn in)
Total +45

Darth Synar Reluctant Volunteers
3
2
*2 (At turn in)
(Forgot to record my total, but all above choice gave + points, sorry)

Monitoring Station 1 The Carriers of Xenovirus Prime
3
#
1 or 2
Total 30

Monitoring Station 2 (Tunnel) Deadly Mutation
3
1
Total 30

Didn't see any options in The Black Hole.

Hope this helps :)

J

Gift gain values

+96
Cultural Artifact

+54
Weapon

+24
Trophy
Technology
Imperial Memorabilia

+0
Underworld Good
Courting
Luxury
Republic Memorabilia
Military Gear

This is probably obvious but rank 1 companion gifts (200 credits) give half the value in affection as rank 2 gifts, yet cost a third of the price of rank 2 gifts (600 credits). It is much more efficient for your money to buy rank 1 gifts if you want affection, unless they end-up giving you absolutely nothing (maybe at a very high affection level, I haven't tested).

Khem Val is, unsurprisingly, not very talkative and even at 4500+ affection, does not give any quest or much dialogues. He may react to some story events and that may be his way to interact with you. I was in a full party when doing the Dark Temple story mission and couldn't summon him. I now wonder how he would have reacted to the mention of his former master...

Another note:

Make sure he has gear when completing you Chapter 1 class story quests. He will be the only companion you can use and you DO NOT want him to be undergeared. Especially if you are completing the story before level 30!

I tried to increase this companions affection to me by giving him the companion gifts that I received in some of the mission skills. They either didn't affect his opinion of me or made him dislike me even more for giving him 'pretty things.' He's not going to be your fan if you end up going light side with your SI. He is a very effective tank, if you can control your own aggro against the mobs/mini-bosses. I found that I was able to solo the gold frame mobs by using him to take hits/cc-ing the mob/healing up Khem Val and then letting my force regen while the cc c/d wore off.

I was experienced some shock and awe when Khem Val didn't break my cc! His ai is awesome and I wish I could say the same for some of the players I played with but they're mostly trigger happy.

Location:
Pick him up on Korriban as part of your starter quests.

Type: Melee DPS or Tank
Virbo Sword, Heavy Armor, and a Shield Kit.

Likes: Killing Force users, displays of strength, making foolish people unhappy
Dislikes: Weakness in any form, not killing Force users

Primary Stat: Strength
Secondary Stat: Endurance

Crew Skills Bonus:
+15 Artifice Efficiency
+5 Research Efficiency

Personal Mission list:
http://www.torhead.com/npc/6Q23E0O/khem-val#starts;sort:level,-xpLevel

General Information: Certain companions do not get affection with certain quests. Hint - A lot of quests give you blatant suggestions to bring certain characters. Also, doing quests below the level of the time you picked up the character companion may not give an affection gain. ( IE level 34, wont get affection gains on most quests below 30. ) Luckily for us, Khem Val is usually picked up around level 8-10.this means every quest form then on qualifies as quests that grant affection gains.

General Note:By Mazaroth at 2011-12-25 14:27:36
Make sure he has gear when completing you Chapter 1 class story quests. He will be the only companion you can use and you DO NOT want him to be undergeared. Especially if you are completing the story before level 30!

General Note: By romansamurai at 2012-02-06 17:53:54
Following the described choices in BT, you can just chose the light side options for the two and still gain 269 affection with Khem as well as 200 Light Side points for those interested.

General Note: He also likes when you treat any sort of slave or slave population with a little respect and show sympathy.

Actors Voice: Unknown at this time.

You get this companion during the starter planet Korriban.

He is a melee Tank. He uses heavy armor. He also has a unique ability to "absorb" his enemy's force power.

I found he's also not a fan of you choosing money as an option. So if you want the rep I would suggest trying only for power. Asking for compensation tends to make you lose rep.

On another note, Khem Val is actually quite the awesome tank and he does decent damage. I managed to stay alive in heroic 2+ areas I shouldn't have been in.

Spoiler Alert!

I am at 3312 Affection points and I got a companion quest from khem val called "the legacy of tulak hord" on tattuine. In the conversation to get the quest you could just send him, go with him, or basically tell him to shut up. it was gray for me by the time I earned that much affection points and I didn't get any big gift from it but since I like to see where the character conversations go I still think it was worth it.

Khem Val:

Likes: Killing Force users, displays of strength, making foolish people unhappy

Dislikes: Weakness in any form, not killing Force users

Primary Stat: Strength
Secondary Stat: Endurance

Primary Weapon: Vibrosword
Secondary Weapon: Shield Generator
Armor: Heavy

As someone else mentioned, use overload when you're working towards Khem Val to knock the droids off the ledge. I think, maybe that was intended? The droids wreck you with blasters and they are in packs of 4. OUCH! I dropped them all with overload.

Fighting Khem at lv8 is tough but with a med pac is more than doable. You could be like me and fight him three times only to realize I had an unused med pac. :| OH well, he's mine now. ;)