Defending a Kensai

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I will be dualling a Kensai to a theif at level thirteen. how do i protect her till then? do i get to wear armour when i dual. this is my first time playing on hard and she takes damage fairly easily. Thanks.

 

Sadly you still get the Kensai restrictions when you dual if I am not mistaken. Best thing to do is to stock up on all kinds of potions and if possible save locks and traps for your thief levels to level quickly. Its going to be hard to not take a lot of damage but backstab and run tactics will be the best option.

 

What I do for my Kensais is equip them with the Boots of Speed and send them in last. Once everyone's targetted the tanks I sent in first, the Kensai runs in quick to do some hefty damage. If the kensai starts getting targetted, I use the Boots to zip him back out, and maybe even lead the enemies on a merry chase while I pelt them with missile fire from my other characters. But once you get UA...um, nevermind.

 

You can also have your druid cast barkskin on her for better AC in combination with the standard protection spells like protection from evil or improved invisibility.

She can also use a throwing axe or one of the great 2 magical throwing daggers if you don't dare meleeing.

 

You have all given me a lot to think about...

 

Levl 4 mage spell Spirit Armor is great for boosting AC, and it gives a save vs spells of +3 too! High quality stuff; that 2d4 damage is hardly a disadvantage.

 

Just have ur cleric cast defensive spells and keep your kensai off the front lines, go and do plenty of thieving, ma'vars guildhall has lots of locks to pick

 

The K->T multi-class combination is easily one of the most powerful combinations you can pick. And you're definitely going to powergamer route by taking the kensai all the way to level 13 before deciding to dual. Most people go for 9 as that's when the hp bonuses stop, but by going to 13 not only do you get the much coveted extra 1/2 attack, but also an extra use of kai, and extra to hit and damage bonuses. I must admit that I've never taken a kensai to level 13 before dualling. Having to earn an additional 1 million XP to get to level 13 as opposed to 9, and then needing an extra 880,000 XP to get the kensai abilities back was too high a price to pay. Plus, having to wait for 1.88 million more XP before gaining back the use of both classes was a royal pain - it basically takes close to the entirety of SoA to accomplish.

Basically my suggestions of keeping him safe is the same as Fel's. Enemies typically target the first thing they run into, so take care that the "first thing" isn't the kensai. After dualling to a thief, you may actually want to equip the thief with a missile weapon until you get your kensai abilities back, as you won't be effective in melee for a while anyway (although I certainly don't expect you to wait until level 14 before your start backstabbing).

 

Aldeth, I don't think he can use a missile weapon since his initial class is Kensai.

His best bet would be to find a returning dagger, since it's the only missile weapon you'll be able to use until your Kensai levels reactivate (when you can add axe or hammer).

 

If you dual a kensai to thief at level 9, compared to normal fighters they get +3 to hit and +3 damage, 3 uses of the Kai ability and -2 speed. However, you cannot use most, if any armor.

You can use a shield amulet to make up a bit of the AC, but for the rest you need to rely on buffs that your party can provide, and are missing out on a lot of good stats on equipment untill you get the use all items abiility.

In my opinion, no matter how good you protect him, it's not really worth the hassle, he/she will be pretty useless untill you get back the kensai abilities, AND obtain the use all items ability.
You most likely will have finished more then half of the game allready at that time.

 

Would the Shield Amulet not sort you out.

Somewhere in the Arnise hold I think...

 

Yes, the shield amulet is what you want for a kensai to buff up the AC. Potions of defense, barkskin spells, etc. are also good; use boots of speed or oils of speed to run away in an emergency.

If I remember correctly, in my last K/T run, while I was waiting for my thief level to hit 14, I was using either the returning throwing axe from the humanoid party in the sewers, or a TOB throwing item that also returns to the thrower.

 

Well isnt that the spirit of the game growing from a weakling to a god