single class kensai

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I've tried dualed to a mage and dualed to a theif, both very good, but whats a single class kensai like at the higher levels?

 

Absolutely deadly. I had one in a full tank-heavy party, and he did most of the killing. (This was an SOA-only game, though, so I'm not sure how he'd be in TOB. I suspect even better, though.)

 

It's a struggle at first, but after abou lvl. 10, and with some items, they are killing machines. Especially if you do a dual wielding character. I had one wielding scimitars and katanas and he was unstoppable, especially in the drow city in TOB, with the prisoners.

 

Single-class Kensai has been my favorite ever since I looked at the character generation screen for the first time, and said "Oh cool!". At the higher levels, a Kensai deals out so much damage so fast that the armor restriction isn't much of a problem. I differ a little from Benan, though, in that I don't think they struggle at the beginning, and in fact they're probably the most useful charname you can have right at the start. Simply because they will, unlike Jaheira or even Minsc, spend very little time waving their weapons uselessly at enemies and more time hitting them. Possibly I struggle less because I develop them for single weapon style, and those extra two armor classes are just enough to prevent a few hits. I also do single weapon for roleplay reasons - have you ever seen a Katana dual-wielded?

One other tip: don't overlook the fact that you can use throwing daggers and axes. A Kensai can do astounding things with the Firetooth Dagger or the Azure Edge Axe

 

What about a dwarf Kensai dual wielding the Dwarven Thrower and Crom Faeyr?
Edit: This is not possible, my mistake.

[ January 23, 2005, 11:57: Message edited by: Earl Grey ]

 

I don't think it's possible to dual wield Dwarven Thrower with anything. Since it can be used as a ranged weapon, the engine prevents it (or maybe it just prevents it from being used in the off hand, I can't remember which).

Still, any weapon for the Kensai is a good choice. He can simply devour anything in his path with pretty much any weapon. For kicks, you could probably stick on the Axe of the Unyielding or Ravager and let him mow through non-death immunes, or the Flail of the Ages and let him totally devour anything through pure damage. Or just give him some random non-magical dagger and stare in awe as he kills things faster than the rest of your party. Good times .

 

You cannot dual wield if one of the weapons is ranged.

 

Sounds good, so what'd you kit out yours with? I'm thinking Celestial Fury with Belm until i get the waters edge scimitar with the item upgrade. hmm...

 

I'd go single weapon style. A bonus of two to AC is no small bonus, and double the critical hits means double the fun!
Water's Edge would be awesome. If I remember correctly, it has an increase in range. That would allow your Kensai to attack enemies from behind your other tanks, meaning your other tanks take the hits .

 

Dual-wielding just seems a natural to me for a kensai. Yes, you lose out on the single-weapon AC bonus, but on the other hand, you're going to kill them a lot faster, so you'll take less damage.

 

I'd go with Splunge's theory, why let them hit you if you can hit em faster, seems the general idea behind the kit to me. The other good thing about waters edge is the poison, 2 points a second soon knocks off the HP.

 

Well, if you naturally pick up a lot of Improved Whirlwind, the dual wielding effect is pretty much nullified. No one is talking about two handed weaponry . Love the Wave and Ravager.

 

I'd agree with Splunge in the fact that it allows more damage, and in addition, having an extra weapon allows for the bonuses of that weapon in addition to the first, be it extra AC, immunities or stunning with Celestial Fury.

 

Ummm, that Water's Edge.Isn't it Water's Talon provided by Item Upgrade Pack?Normal Scimitar+3, Water's Edge doesn't do anything of those.

 

Thats right. Three different sword types are used to create Water's Edge (or whatever its named). It has a greater than two handed weapon range. So your Kensai can stay well behind the others while still dishing out damage.
I thing the CF+3 is still the better weapon. Add Belm in the off-hand.

A Kensai[9] seems to hit harder and more often than even Keldron on steroids. So for me a pure Kensai isn't that great an option. Dualling to thief and backstabbing for me.

 

When you achieve grand mastery in your weapon of choice (I go with scimitars and katana's) and then two weapon fighting, your Kensai becomes an absolute killing machine. Give it rings of protection or Gargoyle boot for protection and let the guy wade into a feild of enemies and watch the beasts fall.

 

Agreed - Kensai to Thief is a great way to get around the lack of thieves in this game but still have a character with THACO as good as a pure tank.

 

A pure kensai dual wielding short swords and scimitars, Belm+Kundane. Slice and dice machine! Buff with improved haste and most fight will be over in a heart beat, arent that many enemies even in ToB who need more than +2 to hit. Even so Belm in the off-hand would grant you one extra attack with your +3+ weapon in your main hand. The strongest powergaming conclusion I have drawn after 5+ whole runs through the game and a myriad of unifinished ones is that extra attacks always are more valuable than special effects or a few extra points of damage, most damage comes from strength bonus anyway.

 

I've done the kensai dualled to a thief a couple of times, and yeah its very powerful. Just wanted to try something with a different flavour.
A kensai at level 20 gets iirc +6 to hit and damage, and - 5 to his speed factor more than the vanilla fighter, this is why I don't want to dual, by the sounds of it dual wielding will give me 10 attacks a round with gww and belm or kundane... I'm thinking not much could stand up to that so I'll give it a go dual wielding celestial and belm and see what its like!