A few questions about the Kensai/Thief

cbarchuk · Post by **cbarchuk** » Sun Mar 06, 2011 7:25 pm

Getting ready to play through BG2 and I'm still trying to pick between an assassin, F/T, and Kensai/Thief. I was leaning more towards the assassin. Now I'm leaning towards the Kensai/Thief. A few questions though:

-As a Kensai/Thief what level should I dual to thief at? This is with ToB included.
Everything I've read says level 13. Just want to make sure.
-What level will my Kensai/Thief be at the end of BG2 SoA?
-I definitely want to dual-wield. Should my weapon choices be long swords and katanas? If so, what swords would be best to dual wield endgame? Alot of what I've read suggests my off hand should be a weapon that adds an additional attack. (Angurvadal MH and Blackrazor OH looks pretty sweet)

Thanks again guys for the help. This forum has been great.

Monks · Post by **Monks** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 12:05 am

cbarchuk wrote: -As a Kensai/Thief what level should I dual to thief at? This is with ToB included.
Everything I've read says level 13. Just want to make sure.
-What level will my Kensai/Thief be at the end of BG2 SoA?

either dualclass at 8/9 or 12(optimal in my opinion) this is when the kensai get his bonuses, if you go past 12, go all the way to 15 or 16.
about what lvl you will get.... depends how many other char's you are playing with, in a group of 6 my guess would be around 12kensai 33-36 thief. everything depends on how much you clean out

Devilock · Post by **Devilock** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 3:21 am

cbarchuk wrote:Getting ready to play through BG2 and I'm still trying to pick between an assassin, F/T, and Kensai/Thief. I was leaning more towards the assassin. Now I'm leaning towards the Kensai/Thief. A few questions though:

-As a Kensai/Thief what level should I dual to thief at? This is with ToB included.
Everything I've read says level 13. Just want to make sure.
-What level will my Kensai/Thief be at the end of BG2 SoA?
-I definitely want to dual-wield. Should my weapon choices be long swords and katanas? If so, what swords would be best to dual wield endgame? Alot of what I've read suggests my off hand should be a weapon that adds an additional attack. (Angurvadal MH and Blackrazor OH looks pretty sweet)

Thanks again guys for the help. This forum has been great.

- People who go for level 13 because you get an extra 1/2 attack per round there. I dualled at lvl 12 myself, and I never really had the idea that my damage output was too low.
Plus, I think that the extra XP it takes to go to lvl 13 as a fighter, and then to lvl 14 as a thief means you'll re-activate your kensai too late in the game. So, to be short: I'd ge for 12 if I were you.

- Do you want to know what level you'll be when you face Irenicus, or at the end of the game?

- I'm using Crom Faeyr in my off hand; the boost it gives to damage and THAC0 is ridiculous. Backstabs usually mean instadeath for anything but the baddest baddies. Blackrazor would work, too.

cbarchuk · Post by **cbarchuk** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 7:46 am

Guys, thanks for the response. I appreciate it. Yea I was curious as to what level I could expect to be after beating Irenicus. I haven't played dual-classes that much and was just worried that I might not achieve a high level..lol. 12/36 is ALOT higher than I thought. So would 12/40 be the maximum level you could obtain if you played through ToB as well?

Crenshinibon · Post by **Crenshinibon** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 8:27 am

By the end of SoA (if you don't have ToB installed, and are playing with the three million cap) you should be 13/17. By the end of ToB, if you reach the experience cap, you should be 13/39. I am all for dualing at 13, but then again, in general I like to dual my characters late (when I solo), around the early twenties, so I can get the most out of their passive abilities and have access to their high level abilities as well.

Your level throughout various points in the game is largely dependent on how many people you have in your party and how many quests you have finished, with what outcome.

I know that if I solo with a bard and do all the quests, I can hit about level 36-38.

Another thing to consider, just for fun, is that the Kensai/Cleric, Fighter/Mage/Cleric or the Fighter/Cleric make the best assassins with their Harm Spell, providing for an easy one-two combination.

cbarchuk · Post by **cbarchuk** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 9:31 am

Oh ok. You would be around 13/17 at the beginning of ToB instead of 12/36? I guess that makes better sense. So if you're a level 12 Kensai (1,000,000XP) and a level 20 Thief (2,200,000XP) your total XP is 3, 200,000 right? Sorry I always get confused with dual classes.

Crenshinibon · Post by **Crenshinibon** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 1:41 pm

Well, it not necessarily like that.

It's just that you would have been 13/17 at the end of the three million cap of SoA. It's entirely possible to be 13/39 by the end of SoA. I'd forget about the 12/36, that's an incorrect number and by going up to level 12 you STILL sacrifice a thief level at the end.

I strongly suggest that you wait until 13 to dual. That half attack per round is too good to pass up.

I want to make sure that you understand that the three million cap applies only if you do NOT have ToB installed. Since you do, you'll be constrained by the eight million cap. As such, you can be pretty much any level by the time you hit ToB. I've often hit eight million experience points before even reaching the end of SoA.

As for the experience total, you're absolutely correct.

Monks · Post by **Monks** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 2:31 pm

the 12/36 was meant as a end of ToB, just to clarify that

Crenshinibon · Post by **Crenshinibon** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 8:42 pm

But you can achieve 12/39 at the end of ToB. I'm not seeing why you're stopping at 12/36.

Monks · Post by **Monks** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 3:09 pm

with a full party of 6, you prop wont reach max XP, unless you are actually trying to

all depending on using mods, and amount of quests done though.
unmodded semi fast clear for kicks, my party usually reached 5-7mil before smacking down amellysan

mods things alot though