[SPOILERS] Help with Kensai early on in BG1
cbarker15
Member Posts: 38
Hi .. I'm completely new to this game and community. I just started playing BG:EE last month and it is without a doubt one of the most engrossing games I've ever played. My problem is I keep restarting because I don't like my class. I decided to play with EET mod and I need help figuring out the game early on with a Kensai/Mage. This seems to be the class I wan't to stick with but its the most challenging class I've played with yet. What steps do you guys take early on to ensure they can survive till level 7 to dual class. The game seems to be getting really hard on core rules and I don't want to lower difficulty. So I just need a couple of tips and companions you recommend to roll with.. also should I use 6 party members or 5.. I want to level up quicker but I also die alot. Thanks to anyone who can help. The community seems nice.
Post edited by cbarker15 on
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Comments
A Kensai/Mage is quite a meta character, so for a meta character you maybe need to use tactics not for a usual, RP playthrough.
Here's what I would do to survive as a kensai because of that reason:
1) put at least proficiency point into daggers for throwing daggers (great synergy with kensai's STR in terms of damage)
2) complete Candlekeep quests
3) go to the Shipwreck's Coast area (go to the south from the starting area after Candlekeep (High Hedge), then go to the west) and kill Shoal the Nereid (5000 xp)
3) go to Beregost (return through High Hedge and go to the east)
4) complete minor quests there (Marl, Elvenhair, Mirianne)
5) go to Nashkel, buy a scroll Flesh to Stone in the temple
6) buy a green scroll of Protection from Petrification and a shield amulet from the Carnival (you can get money from selling an ankheg armor found in Nashkel). This amulet will be your main source of armor for a long time
7) return to Beregost and go to the basilisk area (go through the Temple area to the east)
8) meet Korax the ghoul there, make friends with him. Use your green scroll of Protection from Petrification and kill all the basilisks with the help of Korax. After that you should have about 32k XP.
9) optional - if you want to get 64k XP (the 7th level) - you can go to the north from the Friendly Arm inn area and kill ankhegs there. For that, buy a wand of Sleep from Thalantyr (High Hedge) first, ankhegs fell under the Sleep effect of the wand letting you to kill them easily. Rest in that area to spawn additional ankhegs till you reach 64k XP.
This way you will get a lot of XP and thus levels and HPs. After that you're free to gather party members. Thanks to your high level they will come experienced and thus will help you to survive as you're getting mage levels.
You should be happy to keep the kensai away from the action until others are engaged, then rush in to do the damage. If your enemy changes their attention from your heavily armed friends to you, run away!
The other option is to use the Kensai to get attention from melee enemies, but keep them running just out of reach, while your ranged friends throw stones or arrows or whatever at them.
Also, welcome, and enjoy the game
10) edit your first message and add SPOILER to the title.
And kensai is a kit, as BG1 was created kits where not possible, the game is not designed for them and they are not designed for the levels you reach. This is much more true if a dual from kensai is planned.
With EE they are now possible and legit, but the problem remains.
Not only you have to rely on a lot of metagame knowledge, and often to use strange strategies like drop out all party members to memorize and erase the same spell for all the scrolls you have available or delay quest XP reward completing many quests before dualing but triggering the dialogues that give the XP after, but the whole adventure feeling, the RP aspect of the game, is transformed into a calculation about what to do early or later to speed the down time.
Really funny for experienced powergamers, that already know the plot and have experienced the game many times, I am not against doing it.
But I ABSOLUTELY discourage a new player to start the game like that.
Have at least a couple of runs with a single class or a multi, enjoy the adventure, you don't HAVE to be a kensage to beat the game or to have fun. That can come later.
If you want to try powerful but more compatible with RP classes try F/M, FMT, F/T if you are combat oriented, or M/C if you feel more a caster one.
Only one kai, few bonuses, and a penalization carried over until the end, loosing useful helms, braciers and ranged weapons (only partially solved by throwing versions of the mlee ones, ammunition that dispel, apply elemental damage that is not fire, poison or do other useful things are lost).
A lev 3 dual is strong both as mlee and magic in BG1, In BG2 is a strong mage with GM, some dmg bonus, and betterHP, but sub ideal thac0, that has huge problems in mlee. Imo for the full saga is better dualing from pure class or better berseker that is ideal, with rage immunities and few restrictions.
Blur make your AC better if you have to mlee, when the dual is complete.
Be aware that after the dual you will not have tons of proficiency points, use them wisely and try to get GM in the weapon that you will use the most, probably dagger, mainly ranged. and imo at least 2 in staves as there are some good ones in BG2, one fantastic for mages (dispel on hit, thac0 +1 but +5 enchantment for hitting creatures immune to low enchanted weapons) and one that deal tons of damage (+10 dmg bonus).
GM is important because you get +1 APR on top of the +1/2 from fighter lev7, and because your lev 7 thac0 near the end of SoA will be sub optimal, with GM bonus is better. You will be a strong caster that can also do good damage ranged, but mainly a caster. at the end you will probably be 90% caster and 10% fighter. In ToB most of the enemies have negative AC value, not only the bosses, and a proper fighter with the right gear has thac0 -10 or so, your best throwing dagger will be +3, you will be far behind, even with kensai bonus.
The title is now perfect. Every new player will come here "at his own risk".
At the moment that you complete the dualing, reaching in the second class one more level then the first, your proficiences become active again. if you have chosen the same proficiency in both the classes, let's say that you have 3 pips in staff as fighter, and then you take an other pip as mage, the total number you get is the highest you have in a class, in that case you get 3 pips in staff from the fighter and loose the one from mage class. if they don't overlap you get all the proficiences.
from that moment you can add all the proficiences allowed by one of the classes, that you gain at the rate of the second class.
So you will get back your two weapon style proficiency, and you can add more points in it, even if now you are a mage, and you have also the ones in staff and dagger and add points in them. or take new ones, if allowed by fighter or mage.
but you will gain new points at the rate of a mage, so few and slowly.
here you find the tables
http://baldursgate.wikia.com/wiki/Weapon_proficiency
as you can see you wil get new points only at 12, 18, 24.... each 6 levels, so be wise in choosing them.