Posted January 17, 2019
So, Kensai. Less problematic than you'd think.
Most people dualclass the kit into thief (for Use Any Item), or mage (so it's a mage with melee benefit).
Mage duals can, for some reason, wear robes (coding oversight?). That's the only reason why people do it. If they'd loose the chance to Robe of Vecna, I bet this option would be way less popular, because then the spellcasting would be slow.
Thief's benefit is, that Kensai can wear armor/helmet/bracers. It's not actualy that amazing, more on this later. The other useful thing here is some melee power for those instances you can't just abuse traps.
Neither dual-option realy makes you a real kensai. What are the pure Kensai's benefits?
+1 thac0 and dmg every 3 levels for the kit
-1 speed factor every 4 levels
But what does this mean? It means at level 30, Kensai will have +10 thac0 and +10 dmg per hit just from its kit,and at lvl 40 -10 speed from any weapon! That's insane, so much you likely can do the whole saga relying only on daggers!
And the speed factor makes any weapon very-very fast. This constitutes twohanded Kensai even, especialy as twohanded style lowers the weaponspeed even more, and rises the critical chance even further. And with (Greater) Whirlwind, you'll do 10 swinges per round either way. That's a serious threat.
Kensai and AC.
Kensai is of course a "glass cannon". But not as much as you'd think.
First, most enemy, especialy at the start, don't have enough thac0 to hit you with anything but a natural 20. So unless you let yourself overwhelmed, you won't notice a difference to other classes.
Second, you have fighter-HP. That's a good buffer, and at worst you'll visit a medic more frequently. Oh, the horror!
To be honest, Kensai is not without any protection though. Its kit comes with an inherent -2 AC, what equals with leather armor, but without any weaknesses, making it in many cases equal to more stronger armours.
Then there are consumables, and those are a plenty. With the incrised thac0 Potion of Stone Form is like specialy designed for this kit. Potion of Defense does the same without any drawback. Then there's potion of invulnerability. And these potions last for a very long time, so you won't run out before you get the chance to re-supply. And we didn't even mention the Shield Amulet and its many charges. These all equal to like Full Plate.
Thac0 also helps, as it turns out, half the time other characters hit the air. This means enemies go down very fast for a kensai, halving the chance to swing at you. So it balances out.
There's of course the issue of spellcasters. If it is a lone caster, it has no chance actualy with kensai's ultrafast weaponspeed. Other times are more problematic, but that's what equipments are for.
I'm currently above lvl 30, and only have issue with Chaos, and Psionic Blast.
equipment:
- bracers: it is useless, but Kensai can actualy wear Gauntlets of Crushing, probably the most poorly coded item in the game (I bet they didn't assume anyone would even look at it if not a monk).
- amulets: there aren't many options here, for the majiority of the time you'll use two charged items: Horn of Kazgaroth and the Shield Amulet. In BG2 you'll find some passive effects, like of Form Stability, or Proof Against Poison (good against spiders). Of course you'll end with Amulet of Seldarine and its lesser counterparts until then.
- boots: Boots of Avoidance is the basic. When a stage of game (BG1, BG2) runs out of archers, you can switch to Boots of Speed. Archers are very annoying with Kensai, keep an eye for specialised equipments against them.
- belts: make you character proper, so don't waste effort on STR-belts. Use the most benefiting vs. damage type belt until you get Belt of Inertial Barrier.
- cloak: in BG1 there are the charming cloaks as the only option until Cloak of Balduran. In BG2 you'll wear Cloak of the Sewers for the majority of times, then you can change to Cloak of Mirroring. Of Displacement and of Reflection might have some use too, but sound very situational.
- helmet: despite common belief here are many options. First, there's of course Mask of King Strohm III which simply protects against critical hits. Then there are the ioun stones. Yes, kensai can use them,and they too protect from critical hits. The +10% HP sounds best. Then last but not least is that soulstone +1 DEX and CON. Have to try it before final judgement.
- rings: endgame one Ring of Gaxx and a +2 protection ring seem to give the most benefit. You have to decide if you can get the Deck of Many Things wether you want +1 STR, or a +3 protection ring instead.
And there are weapons of course. I divide them into 4 groups:
0) throwing daggers and axes: these only work because of engine-limitation. I'll not touch these. They are unnecessary anyway. The Stucked Speed Bug is removed anyway, so Sharevok can't be beaten this way.
1) BG1 prophiciencies: like any fighters, beating Sharevok is no small task, so save please. But aside that, unless you can somehow kill Drizzt and live with that, the best weapon class for BG1 is actualy daggers. The poison dagger is stupid strong (until enemies become immun to its poison), the Longtooth is one of the strongest weapon in the game, and there's a +4 vs lycantropes which just kills Lycan Island. 2-3 point in daggers will make it.
Unfortunately there are things (primaly: Mustard Jellies) immun to piercing damage, so you need alternative. Long Swords working well, I suggest 1 pont.
Put at the character creation 1 point into Single Weapon Style. Not realy for the AC, but the expanded critical chance. So don't put here 2 points.
Spend the rest of the points into Two Weapon Style thinking on BG2.
2) there are supplementary weapons, aka. situational offhand weapons. These do not require prophiciency points.
As many enemies use Hold, and many undead can paralyze you, the Arbane is a nice thing to hold onto. To avoid being leveldrained, the Mace of Disruption +2 is basic choice. Kundane is considerable if you want the extra attack (as the attack goes to the main hand, it is better than Belm). The Dragonslayer longsword is also a thing to use.
As you'll have naturaly high STR, Crom Faeyr is NOT suggested!
The Wave Halberd might be a good twohanded situational. I hate those ice salamanders.
3) main weapons: with the +10 thac0 and dmg you can practicaly choose anything. But keep these in mind:
- any weapon with status effect, like Axe of Unyielding, or Blackrazor won't work on bosses, so those weapons are actualy weak.
- you are no paladin, so the strongest twohanded sword would be Gram
- spear (I'd see a comparsion in practice between the Impaler and Ixil), halberd and quarterstaves are good twohanded options.
- flails are rocking. Flail of Ages dualed with Defender of Easthaven are likely the best onehanded option. Especialy as Clay Golems are immun to anything-but blunt damage.
I'm currently rolling with daggers, and they worked until now. But keep in mind, daggers many times have issues reaching the enemy, starting with the mephit portals at the starter dungeon, so always have a backup option!
Also, to avoid problem with Adamantite Golems, always keep around a +3 or better twohanded option.
note: kensai-mages tend to use katanas for the extra spell slots, or staff of the magi for the invisibility.. Although the katana not being a mage weapon might be false information.
The problem of Spellhold
There are some enemies in the starter room of TheTest whichare out of range but must be killed.
Necklace of Missle do NOT work!
Did not try Wand of Missiles
Wand of Wonders used less than 15 charges for me (from 50) to petrifiy all enemies.
The Cult of the Unseeing Eye
Kensais are unable to use Gauntlets of Healing, or Staff ofCuring,so their only option todefeat the dmeon at Ilmather is to use Cure Minor Wounds Bhaalswpan Ability.
Todo thathave to pass some beholders (maybe gaths if come super early), which sounds suicide without Shield of Balduran (Cloak of Mirroring is not an option at this point of the story). But you can drink a Potion of Invisibility (or cast it from rings) to pass them.
Most people dualclass the kit into thief (for Use Any Item), or mage (so it's a mage with melee benefit).
Mage duals can, for some reason, wear robes (coding oversight?). That's the only reason why people do it. If they'd loose the chance to Robe of Vecna, I bet this option would be way less popular, because then the spellcasting would be slow.
Thief's benefit is, that Kensai can wear armor/helmet/bracers. It's not actualy that amazing, more on this later. The other useful thing here is some melee power for those instances you can't just abuse traps.
Neither dual-option realy makes you a real kensai. What are the pure Kensai's benefits?
+1 thac0 and dmg every 3 levels for the kit
-1 speed factor every 4 levels
But what does this mean? It means at level 30, Kensai will have +10 thac0 and +10 dmg per hit just from its kit,and at lvl 40 -10 speed from any weapon! That's insane, so much you likely can do the whole saga relying only on daggers!
And the speed factor makes any weapon very-very fast. This constitutes twohanded Kensai even, especialy as twohanded style lowers the weaponspeed even more, and rises the critical chance even further. And with (Greater) Whirlwind, you'll do 10 swinges per round either way. That's a serious threat.
Kensai and AC.
Kensai is of course a "glass cannon". But not as much as you'd think.
First, most enemy, especialy at the start, don't have enough thac0 to hit you with anything but a natural 20. So unless you let yourself overwhelmed, you won't notice a difference to other classes.
Second, you have fighter-HP. That's a good buffer, and at worst you'll visit a medic more frequently. Oh, the horror!
To be honest, Kensai is not without any protection though. Its kit comes with an inherent -2 AC, what equals with leather armor, but without any weaknesses, making it in many cases equal to more stronger armours.
Then there are consumables, and those are a plenty. With the incrised thac0 Potion of Stone Form is like specialy designed for this kit. Potion of Defense does the same without any drawback. Then there's potion of invulnerability. And these potions last for a very long time, so you won't run out before you get the chance to re-supply. And we didn't even mention the Shield Amulet and its many charges. These all equal to like Full Plate.
Thac0 also helps, as it turns out, half the time other characters hit the air. This means enemies go down very fast for a kensai, halving the chance to swing at you. So it balances out.
There's of course the issue of spellcasters. If it is a lone caster, it has no chance actualy with kensai's ultrafast weaponspeed. Other times are more problematic, but that's what equipments are for.
I'm currently above lvl 30, and only have issue with Chaos, and Psionic Blast.
equipment:
- bracers: it is useless, but Kensai can actualy wear Gauntlets of Crushing, probably the most poorly coded item in the game (I bet they didn't assume anyone would even look at it if not a monk).
- amulets: there aren't many options here, for the majiority of the time you'll use two charged items: Horn of Kazgaroth and the Shield Amulet. In BG2 you'll find some passive effects, like of Form Stability, or Proof Against Poison (good against spiders). Of course you'll end with Amulet of Seldarine and its lesser counterparts until then.
- boots: Boots of Avoidance is the basic. When a stage of game (BG1, BG2) runs out of archers, you can switch to Boots of Speed. Archers are very annoying with Kensai, keep an eye for specialised equipments against them.
- belts: make you character proper, so don't waste effort on STR-belts. Use the most benefiting vs. damage type belt until you get Belt of Inertial Barrier.
- cloak: in BG1 there are the charming cloaks as the only option until Cloak of Balduran. In BG2 you'll wear Cloak of the Sewers for the majority of times, then you can change to Cloak of Mirroring. Of Displacement and of Reflection might have some use too, but sound very situational.
- helmet: despite common belief here are many options. First, there's of course Mask of King Strohm III which simply protects against critical hits. Then there are the ioun stones. Yes, kensai can use them,and they too protect from critical hits. The +10% HP sounds best. Then last but not least is that soulstone +1 DEX and CON. Have to try it before final judgement.
- rings: endgame one Ring of Gaxx and a +2 protection ring seem to give the most benefit. You have to decide if you can get the Deck of Many Things wether you want +1 STR, or a +3 protection ring instead.
And there are weapons of course. I divide them into 4 groups:
0) throwing daggers and axes: these only work because of engine-limitation. I'll not touch these. They are unnecessary anyway. The Stucked Speed Bug is removed anyway, so Sharevok can't be beaten this way.
1) BG1 prophiciencies: like any fighters, beating Sharevok is no small task, so save please. But aside that, unless you can somehow kill Drizzt and live with that, the best weapon class for BG1 is actualy daggers. The poison dagger is stupid strong (until enemies become immun to its poison), the Longtooth is one of the strongest weapon in the game, and there's a +4 vs lycantropes which just kills Lycan Island. 2-3 point in daggers will make it.
Unfortunately there are things (primaly: Mustard Jellies) immun to piercing damage, so you need alternative. Long Swords working well, I suggest 1 pont.
Put at the character creation 1 point into Single Weapon Style. Not realy for the AC, but the expanded critical chance. So don't put here 2 points.
Spend the rest of the points into Two Weapon Style thinking on BG2.
2) there are supplementary weapons, aka. situational offhand weapons. These do not require prophiciency points.
As many enemies use Hold, and many undead can paralyze you, the Arbane is a nice thing to hold onto. To avoid being leveldrained, the Mace of Disruption +2 is basic choice. Kundane is considerable if you want the extra attack (as the attack goes to the main hand, it is better than Belm). The Dragonslayer longsword is also a thing to use.
As you'll have naturaly high STR, Crom Faeyr is NOT suggested!
The Wave Halberd might be a good twohanded situational. I hate those ice salamanders.
3) main weapons: with the +10 thac0 and dmg you can practicaly choose anything. But keep these in mind:
- any weapon with status effect, like Axe of Unyielding, or Blackrazor won't work on bosses, so those weapons are actualy weak.
- you are no paladin, so the strongest twohanded sword would be Gram
- spear (I'd see a comparsion in practice between the Impaler and Ixil), halberd and quarterstaves are good twohanded options.
- flails are rocking. Flail of Ages dualed with Defender of Easthaven are likely the best onehanded option. Especialy as Clay Golems are immun to anything-but blunt damage.
I'm currently rolling with daggers, and they worked until now. But keep in mind, daggers many times have issues reaching the enemy, starting with the mephit portals at the starter dungeon, so always have a backup option!
Also, to avoid problem with Adamantite Golems, always keep around a +3 or better twohanded option.
note: kensai-mages tend to use katanas for the extra spell slots, or staff of the magi for the invisibility.. Although the katana not being a mage weapon might be false information.
The problem of Spellhold
There are some enemies in the starter room of TheTest whichare out of range but must be killed.
Necklace of Missle do NOT work!
Did not try Wand of Missiles
Wand of Wonders used less than 15 charges for me (from 50) to petrifiy all enemies.
The Cult of the Unseeing Eye
Kensais are unable to use Gauntlets of Healing, or Staff ofCuring,so their only option todefeat the dmeon at Ilmather is to use Cure Minor Wounds Bhaalswpan Ability.
Todo thathave to pass some beholders (maybe gaths if come super early), which sounds suicide without Shield of Balduran (Cloak of Mirroring is not an option at this point of the story). But you can drink a Potion of Invisibility (or cast it from rings) to pass them.
Post edited January 17, 2019 by twillight
