Kensai or Berserker?

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Which kit would you say was superior? The Kensai has the beefy bonuses to hit and damage, but can't wear any armour, while the Berserker can go into the Cheese Rage and his only drawback is an inability to use missile weapons.

 

Berserker is the most powerful warrior kit in a non-modded game. If you add mods, then Riskbreaker is the most powerful one.

 

This is a debate that has been covered here dozens of times, and you will never find a consensus preference among players. I favor the berserker, although very strong arguments can also be put forward for the kensai. Speaking in very general terms, if you're looking for all out damage, the kensai is the superior class. However, in terms of durability not just from better armor but from a whole list of immunities while berserking, the berserker is your man.

 

How can I say no to such an easy way of boosting my post count??

BERSERKER!! BERSERKER!! BERSERKER!!!

Whoo..that was easy!

 

I have never liked the Kensai so I say berserker

A warrior with no armor looks bloody lame if you ask me

 

For soloing Berserker is easier. In a party kensai may be good with a druid and mage to buff him.

Also a kensai with dual katanas look cool even without armor.

 

Dualclass cleric -> berserker
Dualclass mage -> kensai
Classes were tried to make in a way that none of them is more powerfull, take the class you wanna take.
(berserker)

 

Um... Do you mean the other way around? Not only is it impossible to select a kit following a dual classing (unless you use SK), but it would be senseless to start as a cleric or a mage and then dual class into a fighter type, as a cleric in mage are at their most powerful at higher levels. You get fewer hit points, fewer spells, and few of the benefits of being a mage or a cleric the way you have it.

 

kensai->mage and berserker->mage are discussed before in another thread and i think b->m is better than k->m.

 

@Idiot Yes, I meant the other way around, sorry if I wasn't clear enough. I meant if you want to dualclass into a - take -

 

Ignoring dualling and taking the kits by themselves, I'd say berserker. The kensai makes a pretty good flanker, but the berserker is a great tank.

I've played a party with both a plain berserker and a plain kensai in it, and the berserker did much better. Not because of any overwhelming inherent advantage, but because of the tactics needed for flankers. Tanks can just rush in and start smashing willy-nilly, but flankers need to hang back for a short time so that they aren't targetted, before they can enter melee. And then if something switches targets to them, depending on the offensive capability of the enemy you may have to run around like an idiot until either your companions take it down or it re-switches targets.

 

With a full party, the Kensai is superior. In ToB, AC doesn't matter much as the only difficult enemies (bosses) will hit you every time anyway. Also, there are so many magical items that provide a Kensai defense that the lack of armor becomes immaterial. Berserker rage is nice, but chaotic commands works to much the same effect.

Taking the above facts into consideration as well as the fact that a Kensai will outdamage any other class, the Kensai proves to be the superior class (with a full party).

 

I think the only clear advantage of taking the kensai is enhanced damage. You can't argue that there's a class better suited for dealing consistent high damage throughout the entire game. However, for the vast majority of the game, AC DOES matter, so even in parties I'm partial to the berserker.

 

At this point, AC doesn't matter at all to me, as the only "difficult" enemies will hit me no matter what. But if AC is an issue for you then I can see the benefits of the berserker.

 

I prefer the Beserker. His or her immunities in rage are priceless. Try setting a solo kensai against Kangaxx the Demi Lich who will cast imprisonment spells, Bodhi who will drain 5 Levels per hit, a dragon who can offset fear in your character, or a group of mind flayers who will penentrate your AC and Intelligence drain the character quite easily. A beserker is versatile enough to handle any of these with their rage and equipment.

 

I don't think Enrage protects against level drain.

 

'Chaotic commands' spell's effects are dispellable, while Berserker's enrage's effects are not dispellable. This makes a huge difference.

Moreover, 'chaotic commands' spell doesn't grant all those immuntities which you can have through the enrage ability. (Far from being equal)

It does.

 

I'm assuming you're talking about soloing, because if you aren't soloing, there shouldn't be very many situations where you can't handle what's thrown at you.

The only thing you need to handle Kangaxx is a simple Protection from Magic spell - everyone can use those provided they have an intelligence of at least 10.

For Bohdi - there are weapons in the game that confer Negative Plane Protection. Even if you aren't proficient in those weapons you can always stick one in an off-hand simply so you don't get level-drained to death.

Mind Flayers are a bit trickier, as I'm unaware of any weapon you can get (even including the Item Upgrade Mod) that will give you protection from psionics in the early part of the game. Items like Lilicor will certainly make you immune to the stun abilities, but I imagine you'd still get your intelligence drained if they hit you. OTOH, there aren't THAT many places where you have to encounter Mind Flayers. In fact, the only must-do encounter is in the Underdark to rescue Pharae.

Same thing with Dragons, as I don't know any weapons that confer immunity to fear.

Overall though, I do agree with your assessment of the Berserker being superior. Just for the number of mages you run into, it's easy to just go berserk, all the while being immune to virtually any disabling spell they chuck your way.

[ August 23, 2006, 15:22: Message edited by: Aldeth the Foppish Idiot ]

 

I just did some testing, and hot damn, Enrage does indeed protect you from level drain. This is just insane.

I've never played a Kensai, but with this information it would seem the Berserker is superior.