GameBanshee Forums

On the verge of doing a tour of ol' Amn with a Kensai/thief, I am wondering whether to specialise in katanas or long swords (I think I'll leave the other kinds of weapons to the NPC's). I read a lot people preferring katanas in this sort of situation but I can not figure out exactly why, I would think there is a better selection of long swords in the game.

Another thing, I just came across a table in the manual entitled 'Thieving skill armour adjustments'. And guess what? No armour gives you bonuses in Pickpocketing, moving silently, hiding in shadows (and climbing walls), while wearing armour gives you different penalties on all thieving skills. I never have seen this mentioned as an argument in favour of a Kensai/thief, but maybe I missed it.

Katanas do more damage, and while there is a better long sword selection in terms of additional useful properties, Celestial Fury is better than any long sword in the game until Blackrazor, and you get to fight more than one battle with CF.

Depending on when you dual class, you might want to get both plus a blunt weapon proficiency (mace, flail, and hammer all have an upside). If you're not dual wielding this won't be a problem. (And if you're backstabbing a lot, there's not much reason to dual wield.)

I haven't seen any penalties when wearing leather armour and there are a couple of sets of armour that give you bonus to hide or maybe it was move silently.

Mr. Lee, I stand corrected. Let me refine my previous statement: Elven chain, chain mail, ring mail, hide and studded leather will negatively affect your thieving skills.

The only thief skill unaffected by armour is "Read languages". Who would have thought that! Me, I always feel a bit uncomfortable reading French while wearing studded leather..

MM

Kensai/Thief? Good Class?

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Kensai/Thief? Good Class?
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Any class with Kensai in it is good in my opinion...

Originally posted by Irenin:
<STRONG>Kensai/Thief? Good Class?</STRONG>

I hope so. Here are some of the reasons on which this hope is based:

. You will be a backstabbing sword saint, meaning you can do enormous damage. Try to keep count how many enemies you will slay in one blow.

. You don't have to wear a robe and a pointy hat. And you don't have to be walking around looking like a tin can either. Looks are worth something, aren't they?

. The two classes complement each other rather well, although not perfectly.

. You can hide in shadows and do some scouting and finish off any small fry you might encounter without having to call in the rest of the troups.

. You can wear shadow armour as a K/T, which a straight Kensai can't. And because it is leather armour, there are no penalties.

. You might have trouble keeping a good thief in yout party. Why not be one yourself for the later part of the game?

. You can play the offense while the rest of your party handles the defense

Well, maybe if I start playing I'll come up with some more observations. Right now, I am wondering if I maybe should specialize in wakizashi/ninja-to. Firstly, this specialisation is the most fitting for a Kensai/thief and secondly, there are two +3 weapons with incredible speed factors and the scarlet ninja-to comes with an extra attack per round. Each of them is maybe worth less than CF, but how about dual wielding them?

MM

I believe the scarlet ninja-to is only usable by monks (although I have been wrong before)

Can a Kensai/Theif really wear shadow armor? I didn't no that. That makes them that much better. Is there any other armor they can wear?

That thing about the scarlet ninja-to only being usable by monks might be true, on the weapon descriptions list on this site this information just falls of the screen and I can't remember from the game itself. It would me shame, though.

And I was wrong about the shadow armour also: it was a bug that was fixed with the patch.


Is it possible to follow a university course in BG II somewhere?

MM

Originally posted by KensaiRyu:
<STRONG>_________________________________________________
Kensai/Thief? Good Class?
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Any class with Kensai in it is good in my opinion...</STRONG>

Kensai/Cleric are so sure now?