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What are the best weapons for me to spechalize in for the best Kensai build?

I am going to make a human with a neutral good alignment and max out his str, dex, con, have 17 on his charisma, 10 int, but I had to take a hit with wisdom... it's only a 3 will that cause problems? And what is the best weapon choice for the build? And should I be a two-handed weapon kensai or single-handed?

Comments

  • BorekBorek Member Posts: 513
    Wisdom only matters if you plan to dual class to a spellcaster, even then it's only useful for a Mage if you plan to cast Wish or Limited Wish as 18+ gives you the best chance at getting positive options. However even as a Mage you can simply use a Potion of Insight to set it to 18 for 2 hrs, as long as you use them sparingly you should be fine. If you plan to become a cleric/druid then you would want to pick another stat, possibly Charisma since there's the Ring of Human influence available from killing Kalah in the Circus Tent in Waukeen's Promenade, which you can do before you need to sell or buy from a merchant.

    As for Weapons then there are many viable choices and you'll eventually have enough points to Grandmaster at least 2, possibly more depending on party size and how many side quests you complete. Longswords are the best early game weapon since you can get Namara from the Cemetary and Daystar from the Inn in the City Gates. Katana's are also a decent option if you can grab Celestial Fury, but it's an extremely hard fight if you try it early on especially for a Single class fighter.

    Axes are probably your best bet as a NG since that allows you to use Azure Edge which is amazing and can be thrown, that negates one of the drawbacks of the Kensai class, plus it can insta-kill undead. Also pretty easy to get, just complete the copper coronet 1st quest to free the gladiator/slaves, same merchant also sells another +3 axe, Stonefire, that has +1 fire damage and is perfect for Troll killing. You'll also get another +3 with +1 acid +1 cold damage from Nalia's quest. There's something of a wait before you can get the most epic axe (bottom of Watchers Keep lol) but they are solid weapons until ToB.

    2h Swords are nice but you won't be able to use Carsomyr unless you dual to a thief and unlock Use any Item, so may not be worth the investment, although there's a nice +3 available from under the Copper Coronet, Liracor, it gives decent immunities that are very useful at times.

    Best weapon in the game bar none is Staff of the Magi, but you must be a Mage (or thief with UAI) to wield it, but Staff of the Ram from deep in Watchers Keep is the highest damage weapon in the game and flat out owns late game so Quarterstaff is a sweet option. You can also buy Staff of Rhynn which is a +4 in the Adventurers Mart as soon as you scrape the gold together.

    IMO you want to plan to have an end game weapon that hits as a +5 (or better), but remember that a late game Kensai is going to have an unbelievably low THAC0 and even using a weapon you are not proficient in you'll only be missing on a roll of 1 lol, and you will likely have many uses of Greater Whirlwind, so if push comes to shove you can always whip out a non-proficient weapon for a specific encounter and GWW stuff with consummate ease :smile:
  • lunarlunar Member Posts: 3,460
    edited April 2018
    I think kensais should dual wield.

    In my opinion, scimitars and shortswords are nice to dual wield in early bg2, because there are speed weapons of both that are available early in the game. With both Belm and Kundane equipped you will get +2 attack/round, and since offensive power is everything for a kensai, it makes sense in the early game. Arbane's sword is also very early available and is a sweet weapon that allows you to go toe to toe with shadow fiends and ghouls/ghasts with no fear of paralysis.

    However, since they are only +2 they won't cut it late in the game when enemies that require higher enchantment become prevalent. You will need to upgrade to better enchanted weapons. Still you may keep Belm or Kundane on off hand for extra attack to the main hand. With grand mastery in main hand it also gives +1 attack, and with improved haste you can have constant 9-10 attacks per round! The more attacks/round benefit you more from to hit/damage bonuses of the kensai, the main appeal of the kit.
  • Jaheiras_WitnessJaheiras_Witness Member Posts: 614
    Dagger, katana, flail, staff and two handed sword are all good options. You only need to put 1 point in offhand weapon if dual wielding (in fact you could go with 0 but you will have plenty if you stay as kensai) so you only need 1 in warhammer or scimitar.

    I personally prefer flail or two handed sword as best options. Flail is not good for the first bit of the game until you get to the keep, after that it is awesome. Two handed sword is great throughout the game.
  • DetectiveMittensDetectiveMittens Member Posts: 235
    edited April 2018
    I will just add that Foebane +3/+5 (bastard sword) and OH Crom Faeyr (War Hammer) is a pretty devastating combination although you will be locked out of CF until late SoA and only have Foebane+3 until ToB. You will only have to complete the first level of WK to obtain the sword too which isn't so bad and then you can wield Belm/Kundane for the addition hit.

    If you want to invest into Scimitars you can also obtain Usuno's Blade which is a strong +4 weapon that is found alongside Foebane for the 3-4 +3 immune monsters in the game.

    Side-note: IF you aren't planning on Dual-Classing why not consider a Gnome or Dwarven Kensai for additional saves?
  • GreenWarlockGreenWarlock Member Posts: 1,354
    I'm just going through my first Kensai build - we should compare notes of how it plays out :)

    I'm a little OP compared to you, as I took a half-orc through BG1, which boosted all stats by +1, and half-orcs can start with 19 STR and CON. My weapon of choice is a longsword, and I plan to be tempted by the evil route towards the end of the game to gain a really neat longsword I have never played with before. My backup weapon will be maces, as putting together the mace of disruption does crazy things to undead, especially on a fighter with high APR.

    So far, I have been playing single weapon style for the minimal AC boost, which was handy in BG1, but will start to tail off in BG2. I am still only 9th level though, and just reached grand mastery. Question now is whether to start on maces when I hit 12th, or start on 2 weapon style, as I think they will consume most the rest of my weapon pips (8 pips between them, should complete around level 33, assuming a deep run into ToB).

    Biggest problem for a Kensai seems to be AC, as unlike a Swashbuckler it does not improve with level. So far, barkskin has been a surprisingly good answer.
  • UnderstandMouseMagicUnderstandMouseMagic Member Posts: 2,147

    I will just add that Foebane +3/+5 (bastard sword) and OH Crom Faeyr (War Hammer) is a pretty devastating combination although you will be locked out of CF until late SoA and only have Foebane+3 until ToB. You will only have to complete the first level of WK to obtain the sword too which isn't so bad and then you can wield Belm/Kundane for the addition hit.

    If you want to invest into Scimitars you can also obtain Usuno's Blade which is a strong +4 weapon that is found alongside Foebane for the 3-4 +3 immune monsters in the game.

    Side-note: IF you aren't planning on Dual-Classing why not consider a Gnome or Dwarven Kensai for additional saves?

    I'll add a recommend for Foebane as well.
    I find the added bonuses against undead and demons really useful.
    It's not really a plus 3 sword for a lot of the very difficult fights.

    I've never played a Kensai, but dual weilding CF and Foebane is very effective. CF effects work on everything, even Adamantine Golems. It's doesn't hurt them but when they are stunned, they can't hit you or anybody which kind of makes them a push over.
    5 pips, you get a lot of stuns.
  • SomeSortSomeSort Member Posts: 859
    Foebane is, for my money, the most powerful weapon in Throne of Bhaal. It's either the first or second upgraded weapon you'll get, (that or Storm Star, depending on how deep you go into Watcher's Keep before starting Saradush), and either the second or third highest-damage one-hander (behind Flail of Ages and possibly Crom Faeyr, depending on your strength). Plus every hit heals you 4 damage, potentially up to 40 extra HP per round. (This HP even allows you to exceed your usual maximum; it's not at all uncommon for my fighters to end a protracted battle with hundreds more HP than they began it with.) It also gives you +1 on all your saving throws because, at that point, I guess why not?

    Really, the biggest weakness of Foebane is that all the pre-Foebane bastard swords kind of suck. But even that is mitigated by the fact that, if you're so inclined, you can get the +3 version of Foebane pretty much straight out of Chateau Irenicus.

    From an offense/defense standpoint, the only other weapons that excel at both would be Blackrazor, (but that's unable to hit the (very few) bosses who require +4 weapons or better and it requires Charname to be evil), Flail of Ages, (but that locks you out of Improved Haste and boots of speed), and Celestial Fury (but that also can't hit the very rare enemies that require +4 weapons, and it loses a little bit of its luster midway through Throne of Bhaal when enemy saves become too routine).
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