Why is Jan considered a poor backstabber?

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Is it his low strength? If I increase his strength (with magic items or spells), will he be a better backstabber?

 

In addition to low strength, there are some other reasons:

1. Jan doesn't have many skill points in hide in shadows and move silently.

2. He also needs better weapon proficiencies.

3. He is thief/illusionist and he gains thief levels slower than pure thieves, so his backstab multiplier increases slower.

If you overcome first two problems, he's good backstabber.

 

Another problem is that because he's a Mage/Thief, his thaco only very slowly decreases. This can somewhat be solved by solutions to problems 1) and 2) from Harkle's post.

 

Jan can be the best backstabber in the game if you get his thaco up, since he is capable of casting mislead.

 

Mislead plus spell immunity divination and tensor's transformation is enough to make him a good enough backstabber IMHO. Any enemy that can't be fooled by mislead are usually immune to backstabs anyway.

 

My problem with the use of Jan as a backstabber is that, in my experience, backstabbers usually end up absorbing a blow once they become visible. Jan's HP count is very low. There are ways to help alleviate this problem, but on the whole I prefer a hardier soul like Yoshimo or Valygar to do my backstabbing.

 

I always have Jan Stoneskinned. That should help with the "return blow."

I'm also planning on giving him the Ring of Invisibility, which has a fast activation time.