Kensai/Mage

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Im about to start a solo game in bgtutu and go thru to the end of tob with a kensai/mage. im goin 2 use dual longswords until bg2 where i will change to katanas and dual to a mage (level 13). i was jus wonderin how badly i'll get my ass kicked at the start on hard and if anyone has any advice

 

good luck with that one. The best thing is to use throwing daggers for the most of BG1 as a mage has just as good chance in melee as a kensai. Stay at range as much as you can. Most enemies will have an easy time chopping you down throughout most of the game since your AC will be rather bad. I did try it and got pretty far but it got annoying later on since I had to use the same tactics through most of the game. Of course if you don't mind that and a real big challenge then go for it. And that was on Normal!

 

Well, how fast can you get your hands on a Shield Amulet in BG1?

BTW, Kansai Mages are for powergamers who don't realize a multiclassed Fighter/Mage is both easier to play and more powerful.

 

It is doable.
You should buy,as soon as possible,the Shield Amulet from one of the tents in the Carnival area (east of Nashkel).Also if you are evil and you don't mind using a cheesy item you could kill Algernon (2nd floor of Feldepost's Inn in Bereghost) and take his cloak.This will make your game a lot easier, although you can do it even without using it.

Since you haven't started your game yet,I recommend using the Easy Tutu .It fixes some problems and especially it will limit the respawning of monsters which can be very frustrating in the beginning.

PS: Probably this thread should be moved in the ToB forum.

 

I've run a berserker-mage dual and a fighter-mage multi through BG1 to BG2 (using BGT) and i have to agree with Klorox the latter is far more fun and straightforward.

Besides you'd be better off going berserker than kensai. I understand that in the end a kensai-mage would be stronger, but for the entire of BG1 that kensai will be gimped in comparison.

As a berserker you have rages which stop alot of the annoyingly hazardous low levels spells being thrown around. Seeing as you can wear body armor and shield theres no need to dual wield yet, especially since the selection of weapons is poor in BG1 (few are more than +1 or add elemental damage). You can also afford to have low dex and wear gauntlets of dexterity (assuming you wanted to put points in wis, so later the wish spells will yield a better result).

Like Demonic CHicken i'll probably keep dual-ing instead of multi-classing as i've never been comfortable levelling a fighter past 20 since their thac0 and hp stop improving, then all thats left is gww. Which can be easily replaced by dual wielding a weapon with which you have true grandmastery & improved haste.

 

Pseudospawn, if you're sick of GWW, take all of the Mage HLAs.

 

The Berserker-Mage not only is easier to play but he will be even more powerful than the Kensai-Mage, since he will have 1/2 more attack/round (+1 with improved haste) with the Gauntlets of Extraordinary Specialization + other advantages.

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As for the multi F/M, he is a lot easier to play with,and more powerful at the beginning.
But at the XP-CAP a Berserker-Mage (13-28) is slightly more powerful IMHO.
He is a better mage and his most important advantage over the multi are the +2 more Timestops.
Also he doesn't need the fighters' HLAs at all,since improved Haste is better than GWW attacks.

 

What the F/M is able to do during those timestops is what makes him so powerful. A F/M (or, even better, a Fighter/Illusionist) is a juggernaut of destruction. A F/M has a lot more options during a timestop. Improved alacrity is all well and good and a wizard can get a lot of spells cast during that TS, but he is still going to have to dispel the resistances of all his enemies first. A F/M can just whirlwind or (if he dual wields) he could just use improved haste for 7 attacks a round (saving his precious HLA slots for things like smite and improved critical) and he should be able to wipe out most of the opposition during that timestop, especially since none of his attacks will miss. You get one very huge bonus selecting a multi over a dual......options. If given the choice with a hard hitting Kensai mage (who doesn't really get more uses of timestop unless you have some mods installed to extend spell progression past level 20) or a multi who can have 7 garaunteed criticals a round using improved haste+improved critical (really useful when your enemy has a -14 ac, is spell resistant, and immune to timestop), I'd go with the multi.

 

@Drew

In a Timestop a Fighter/Mage doesn't have to bother with spells
Attack improved hasted and dual wielding flails.FoA will make the rest.Also THACO is not important since all the hits are automatic (not that a Berserker-Mage will have a bad THACO).

The attacks/round will be 10 for an improved hasted Berserker-Mage.I assume that he will be using the Gauntlets of W.E. and the True Grand Mastery (if we want the comparison to be fair).
A fighter with g.mastery SHOULD have something more than a specialized fighter.

But even with only 7 ApR, 2 more Timestops can make a huge difference in a battle,trust me

Now the Critical Strike is a good advantage of the F/M but don't forget that all the "bosses" are immune to it.
Anyway we are comparing two extremely powerful characters even if someone is slightly better than the other.

 

thanks 4 all of the replies. i have changed my mind and i will go with the F/M instead.

 

@The Truth: Almost everyone is immune to criticals. I use the feat because every single attack made automatically hits. Against most bosses, all I use is improved haste and timestop. However, for the timestop immune (mellisan), critical strike is a godsend. My dual wielding F/M gets 8 attacks per round that never miss when using the gauntlets of extraordinary specialisation and improved hasted. A Kensai13/mage with unnerfed grand mastery will still miss at least half of his attacks against Ascension Melissan (ac -10) and timestop won't help. My F/M will never miss since he's using Critical Strike and Smite.

 

@thetruth

dual wielding foa & defender of easthaven, a good fighter-mage doesn't really need to timestop either.

But theres something just not right about going into battle swinging a pair of balls. is there some mod out there to improve the effects of a flail or specificaly FOA, so that it will fit its description (1-5 heads).

@Klorox
Out of shear despair sometimes i do, but i feel even more cheated by the mage HLA's which is why i stopped playing a sorc. i don't use comet or energy blades and 3 extra spell slots hardly seems equal to critical strike.

@demonic chicken
multi-class would also seem to be the easier option because you don't need to worry about sticking to the one weapon you get a grandmastery in. Since the best a flail can get in BG1 is +1 or +3 in SoA.

Thats why i have always preferred to stick a point or two in warhammers, in BG1 you get a +2 & +1/+4 vs. giants which is considered a +4. Then in SoA you have that same weapon early on & Crom Fayer later.

 

Actually, if you want to be using improved haste, the FoA isn't going to cut it in it's +5 incarnation. It's free action will cancel out improved haste.

 

True, but for the majority of the game you won't have the +5 version and i can honestly live without it.

Looking at the 2da files, any version of FoA has the 33% chance to slow (although its only +3, +4, +5 incarnations that list it), that and the slight elemental damage for dealing with trolls and some immune/resistant creatures is what you use it for.

Anyway i've rarely ever encountered that problem, maybe its the mods im running but i seem to avoid the negative effects of free action, if i cast improved haste (or equip any haste-effect items) then equip the flail.

 

Then again a pure kensai is not a weakling. He can stack hardiness and will be immune to combat-damage. If he has true grandmastery, and dual-wielding, and has STR enhancing items (Crom Faeyr in off-hand) he will literally be a machine of destruction, with 9 attacks per round with Improved Haste. ANd note that he will hit everything %95 of the time since his THACO will be way lower than -15. Switch Critical Hits if you like as GWW will do little good now. 9 critical hits a round, add STR, GM, and kensai special bonuses, this guy will be doing hudnreds of pure damage in a single round! He can be boosted by Spirit Armor, Shield Amulet, and many other AC boosting items. Since he has big fighter HP, hardiness and MR HLA, and neat fighter saving throws, he will be very durable. And he can still use mirror image from a lesser shortsword if he is in trouble. By the time his mirror image is dispelled, all enemies are dead.

Trust me, a decent kensai is very deadly if used right. I had tried this. Jaheira and Minsc needed Critical hit HLA to hit Wraith of Wrath in my first modded run, since that monster has an astounding -25 AC and is immune to all magic! My kensai had -20 or better THACO so he could hit with little trouble, and even he did GWW ! And when he hit he did a lot more damage than Jaheira or Minsc, I tell you!

Do not underestimate the sheer power of pure kensais, that is my two cents.

 

@Drew

But for these rare cases there are always the potions (STR,Heroism,Power)

(Not to mention a G.Malison and multiple Slow combination.Slow stacks with itself and gives 4 AC penalty/slow)

Not if you switch to the second weapon of your main hand just before casting improved haste.


@Pseudospawn

Yes,FoA + DoE is is my favourite combo and IMHO the best weapon combination for any class who can use flails (especially for Cleric/Rangers and Barbarians ).

[ May 15, 2006, 18:43: Message edited by: thetruth ]

 

does the slow effect from FoA stack like the spell?

lets say i was bored and gonna sk a kit into my fighter-mage multiclass, which would be the strongest/most benefical?

 

I don't know if the Slow effect of the FoA works exactly like the spell (+4 AC and THACO penalty).It affects attacks/round and movement rate for sure, but for the other effects I don't know (probably not).

Again I believe the Berserker has many more advantages over the other kits.Kensai and especially Wizard Slayer have many limitations.

Is it possible to have a multi-class with 2 kits,using SK ?
If it was possible, I would suggest a Berserker-Wild Mage for some fun

 

it is not possible to have two kits on one multiclass, due to hard coded limitations, but 1 kit is available and easy to do in SK

 

Muahahaha! I am drawing more and more to the love of the Wild Mage!