Should I Dual-Wield my Kensai/Thief?

2088432

I don't really know the pros and cons to dual-wielding (except you get penalties which are lessened with each pip) and 2# the second weapons special powers if applicable will benefit the character so I figured since 3 pips eliminate the penalty's for the first weapon it would be nothing but a bonus (aside from the fact that my single weapon style bonuses won't apply anymore) am I missing anything?

jsaving

Yes, dual-wielding is the way to go provided you are willing to put 2-3 pips in two-weapon fighting. For BG2 a common setup would be celestial fury in the left hand and an APR-boosting weapon in the offhand.

jmerry

The advantage of dual-wielding is that you get more attacks. The main advantage of the kensai is that you get bonuses to hit and damage on every attack. It's great synergy.

The best alternative to dual-wielding is to go two-handed and wield a staff, for backstabbing purposes because of the very high physical damage some staves can get. This also plays well at the pure kensai levels; wielding a weapon with reach reduces the enemies' chances to attack you.
Single-weapon style ... sure, it grants some AC. For a kensai, that's not actually as good a defense as a two-handed weapon's reach, if you have a party backing you up including a tank or two out in front.

Then again, you can do both. You'll have a lot of proficiency points, so you can afford to invest in another weapon after mastering your first.

dunbar

I'm currently doing a run with my first ever dual wielding charname and have found a couple of incredibly useful items here:

Doing Rasaad's Journey quest gets you https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Cloak_of_Unerring_Strikes and https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Ring_of_Duplication ( and you don't even have to complete the whole quest, just get to the penultimate stage)

Edit: I didn't hide a second spoiler hidden inside the first one - I just stuffed up the spoiler tags!

2088432

jsaving wrote: »

Yes, dual-wielding is the way to go provided you are willing to put 2-3 pips in two-weapon fighting. For BG2 a common setup would be celestial fury in the left hand and an APR-boosting weapon in the offhand.

Thank you, that sounds like solid advice.