Should Kensai get an AC buff?
Ksarfeks
Member Posts: 8
I think Kensai kit should get an AC buff, preferably ability to wear some light armor. Here are my thoughts:
1) Kensai is a fighter class, but has THE WORST AC of all classes including thiefs and mages. There are some better robes and braces for mages and some armor for thiefs, monks get AC progression. Kensai must be in the middle of battle (otherwise useless) and has to deal with the worst AC. Given that hits depend on stats and not player's ability (to dodge, for example) it can make even simple encounters (bandit archer circle) extremely frustrating even on higher levels.
2) Kensai gets +1 to hit and damage every 3 levels. It grants +10 bonus on level 30, but it is only gonna be +6 at level 18 by the end of SoA. Given that pure Kensai can reach maximum 8th level in BG1, the whole bonus is +2 to hit and damage FOR THE WHOLE GAME sacrificing ability to wear armor and braces (full plate 10AC, gauntlets of specialization +1 to hit, +2 damage). In BG1 maxed out kensai only gets +1 to hit over fighter (with his gear) while sacrificing 10AC and ability to use ranged weapons! Plus, a thing about berserkers immunities!
3) Kai ability is trash. Average damage for Katana is 5,5. Max damage is 10. Kai give maximum damage output for 10 seconds (one round is 6 seconds). Assuming you have 4 attacks per round, you make ~6 attacks in 10 seconds, so average damage difference is 27, assuming every strike hits. Is it worth sacrificing armor and bows?
4) Kensai looks silly the whole game without armor running around without pants
5) Those who do not like the idea can restrict themselves or not download the mod (in case someone decides to implement it).
I would suggest giving them ability to wear everything up to studded leather. It makes sense it is the least restrictive armor type and it is unlikely to make them overpowered at any stage of the game. Plus, it will make them more feasible for soloing and keeping pure class till the end.
TL:DR: In BG1 maxed out kensai only gets +1 to hit over fighter (with his gear) while sacrificing 10AC and ability to use ranged weapons!
1) Kensai is a fighter class, but has THE WORST AC of all classes including thiefs and mages. There are some better robes and braces for mages and some armor for thiefs, monks get AC progression. Kensai must be in the middle of battle (otherwise useless) and has to deal with the worst AC. Given that hits depend on stats and not player's ability (to dodge, for example) it can make even simple encounters (bandit archer circle) extremely frustrating even on higher levels.
2) Kensai gets +1 to hit and damage every 3 levels. It grants +10 bonus on level 30, but it is only gonna be +6 at level 18 by the end of SoA. Given that pure Kensai can reach maximum 8th level in BG1, the whole bonus is +2 to hit and damage FOR THE WHOLE GAME sacrificing ability to wear armor and braces (full plate 10AC, gauntlets of specialization +1 to hit, +2 damage). In BG1 maxed out kensai only gets +1 to hit over fighter (with his gear) while sacrificing 10AC and ability to use ranged weapons! Plus, a thing about berserkers immunities!
3) Kai ability is trash. Average damage for Katana is 5,5. Max damage is 10. Kai give maximum damage output for 10 seconds (one round is 6 seconds). Assuming you have 4 attacks per round, you make ~6 attacks in 10 seconds, so average damage difference is 27, assuming every strike hits. Is it worth sacrificing armor and bows?
4) Kensai looks silly the whole game without armor running around without pants
5) Those who do not like the idea can restrict themselves or not download the mod (in case someone decides to implement it).
I would suggest giving them ability to wear everything up to studded leather. It makes sense it is the least restrictive armor type and it is unlikely to make them overpowered at any stage of the game. Plus, it will make them more feasible for soloing and keeping pure class till the end.
TL:DR: In BG1 maxed out kensai only gets +1 to hit over fighter (with his gear) while sacrificing 10AC and ability to use ranged weapons!
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Comments
Pure Kensai are meant as flank attackers, not tanks. They aren't supposed to be getting attacked.
Kai is fantastic. It interacts extremely well with backstabs for kensai->thieves.
They're underpowered in BG1, but the original kits were balanced for BG2 and never existed in BG1 originally. Many other classes and kits are either grossly underpowered, like the monk or assassin, or overpowered, like the shapeshifter, at early levels.
Kensai are fine as they are. They're effective as all-out flank attackers when pure-classed, and make for extremely potent dual-classes, particularly with thieves or mages.
In fact, that would fix many issues with several kits.
Use the shield amulet and then (later in the game) have your mages cast ghost armor if you want to go with a buffed AC. Potions of defense, invulnerability, etc. are also out there to use.
It even makes sense from a RP perspective that the kensai would take more time to really achieve the benefits of the hyper-specialization that separate her from a regular fighter.
1. There's multiple ways to manage AC problems even if they don't DC. Mages can give them Spirit Armor, Rangers/Druids can give them Barkskin, or like @TJ_Hooker said, use Shield amulet.
2. They may "suck" defensively, but they're an absolute powerhouse offensively. Nothing can compare to them when they get up to +13 to Dmg/To Hit. Forgoing that defense is a balance for the amazing offense they get.
3. For dualclassing, they have amazing synergy with Mages and Thieves. Kai is pretty lackluster by itself, but like @Madhax stated, it's extremely powerful for backstabs. On average, Kai would yield backstabs (x5) that do 17.5 more dmg with a Scimitar, 22.5 more dmg with a Katana, and double those if you crit. Kensai/mages can wear robes that provide AC and Kensai/thieves can wear just about anything with UAI.
4. Like @Madhax said, they're intended to be a "DPS" class, not a tank. They're basically like rogues in 3e. Their purpose is to let the proper "tanks" take the beating while they come in and do ridiculous damage.
5. From a lore perspective, I'm pretty sure they were intended to be the equivalent of the "wandering swordsman" archetype Asian cultures venerate. These characters rely on skill, technique, and speed rather than wear anything that'd impede them (including leather armor).
Once you reach the point where your AC isn't laughable, you can start focusing on other things like weapon mastery, two-weapon fighting, and mastering another weapon.
If you do that, you should be okay for most of BG1. In BG2 the class really shines, but it's "designed" to work best with one-handed weapons.
The only buff I want to see for a Kensai is pants. Just give him pants. In fact, just give them all pants. It's not fair that Imoen gets to wear pants, but my male Kensai with 18(00) Strength is wearing an LBD from Donna Karen.
Pants and no shirt would be acceptable as well. But pants. Please.
Monks are also in that archetype, aren't they?
Did you happen to fight Drizzt with Werebears (super easy, by the way) when you met the dual classing elves?
The kensai, on the other hand, are focused on the sword (well should have been anyway) hence the "ken" part of their class name. Kensai literally means "sword genius/talent".
From what I recall, those types of guys tend to fight more "duelist" battles than full-on war. The big difference here is that in a "duelist" type battle, both opponents are lightly armored at most, while in full-on war your opponents have on as much metal as they could afford. Does this fit with your understanding of the archetype?
In BGEE, all important opponents seem to be dressed for full-on war. As an analogy, it's a bit like a Renaissance pistol duelist going up against a guy in modern riot gear.
For a more "western" and less supernatural comparison in fiction, if you've read ASOIAF, it would be kind of like Bronn vs Ser Vardis Egan (the knight of the Vale) in the first book. Actually, Syrio would probably be a more natural fit.
In the context of BG, you don't really go into massive scale battles, but are confined to more small scale skirmishes. Also, as an adventurer (even in a fantasy setting), wandering around in full plate is silly. So I can imagine this class being a natural fit for an adventurer. A real life example would probably be any of those ronin in Japanese lore like Miyamoto Musashi.
Anyway, I'm just saying that's what I imagined the kit was trying to emulate.