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How viable is a human Kensai that has the 2-handed sword +4 and 2-handed weapon style +2 skills?

20884322088432 Member Posts: 229
in Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition
He also has 18/98 Strength, 18 Dexterity, 18 Constitution, Intelligence 8, Wisdom 3, and Charisma 18. (Yeah, I know I had to take a hit in the brain to get the others so high... didn't feel like rolling virtual dice all day...) I am new to this game (and this type of game) Any pointers on how I could have made a human kensai better are most welcome! :) (Btw I don't dual wield... I just don't like doing so.)

Comments

  • QuartzQuartz Member Posts: 3,853
    I ran a four-player party through BGII once, and my frontline fighter was very similar to yours'. He needed a LOT of healing, but could slice though most things so fast it didn't much matter.

    ...Plus, by Throne of Bhaal nearly everything starts to be able to hit you practically regardless of armor class, so hit point count becomes more important for tanking anyhow.
  • WarChiefZekeWarChiefZeke Member Posts: 2,674
    edited June 2018
    You'll do just fine, lots of really great 2 handed swords out there for you to use, and like Quartz said, come TOB your drawbacks will be all but irrelevant and your damage output insane.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    edited June 2018
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  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,469
    edited June 2018
    The main thing to remember about the kensai is to always aim to have a better protected member of your party engage the enemies first. If you're using a 2-handed sword it's easy to hit enemies over the head of your tank anyway ...
  • HenryNYHenryNY Member Posts: 42
    The biggest possible issue with your kensai’s viability is your game’s difficulty settings, plus your play style. If you play on a harder difficulty with extra damage taken from all sources, a pure fighter can be killed in as few as 2-3 hits, though he may be able to do that to many of his enemies too. In TOB, a fighter with -20 or better AC can stay on the front line for a while even on Insane difficulty. Otherwise they can hardly tank for your party during harder battles, and playing on an easier setting is probably the only option to make a straight fighter enjoyable.

    Just to give you an idea: on Insane difficulty with all damages taken doubled, Rasaad the monk NPC (he has perhaps similar AC and high innate Magic Resistance) can be erased from the game by enemy fighters in 1 second. It doesn’t matter what he can do, if he can’t survive.

    To sum up: viable or not, is primarily a matter of your difficulty settings and play style. All classes or kits can be or can be made viable.
  • 20884322088432 Member Posts: 229
    HenryNY said:

    The biggest possible issue with your Kensai’s viability is your game’s difficulty settings, plus your play style. If you play on a harder difficulty with extra damage taken from all sources, a pure fighter can be killed in as few as 2-3 hits, though he may be able to do that to many of his enemies too. In TOB, a fighter with -20 or better AC can stay on the front line for a while even on Insane difficulty. Otherwise, they can hardly tank for your party during harder battles, and playing on an easier setting is probably the only option to make a straight fighter enjoyable.

    Just to give you an idea: on Insane difficulty with all damages taken doubled, Rasaad the monk NPC (he has perhaps similar AC and high innate Magic Resistance) can be erased from the game by enemy fighters in 1 second. It doesn’t matter what he can do if he can’t survive.

    To sum up: viable or not, is primarily a matter of your difficulty settings and play style. All classes or kits can be or can be made viable.

    I am playing with the "core rules" or official rules or whatever it's in the middle of the difficulty scroll bar. I did that because those are probably the rules I was used to when playing d&d on table top with friends ages ago.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    edited June 2018
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  • BorekBorek Member Posts: 513
    Buy/steal every potion of defense/stoneform/invulnerability you can get your hands on, all will essentially make it so you are wearing +1 full plate, then try and time it so you buff up with them in areas where you can move between at least 2 fights. Unless you dual class then sooner or later you'll be out of potions and can possibly use party members to buff a bit, but you may want to hire someone like Korgan/Mazzy/Anomen/Jahiera to act as your main tank and use the kensai as a damage dealer, by that i mean don't rush them in 1st, let someone with armour get attacked then use the Kensai to massacre them.
  • HenryNYHenryNY Member Posts: 42
    edited June 2018
    On the defensive side, viability refers to survivabilty. A Kensai dualed to Mage can take a lot of beating before biting dust without any form of help.

    On the offensive side, viability refers to either damage output or the ability to kill without direct damage or both. A Fighter/ Mage is superior. They all wear no armor, but a F/M not only can take a lot of beating (similar to Kensai->Mage) but can also initiate 10 auto hits per round with full damage plus all possible effects that come with physical attacks, using Time Stop. A Kensai->Mage is also superior, though they focus more on magic for the kills.
  • QuartzQuartz Member Posts: 3,853
    edited June 2018
    Yea let's not bring up dual-classing to a new(ish?) player. We're not doing anyone any favors there. :D
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