I plan to dual a Kensai with a thief. I've read very good analyses that suggest level 13 is the best level to switch (if you have ToB), due to the extra 1/2 attack you gain at level 13. Does this not apply to the standard fighter kit?

Yeah. I forgot about that extra attack, thinking it was a Kensai specific thing, but upon further reflection, I was wrong.

Stupid question. I'm a kensai and have the D'Arnise Keep. Can I also get Mae Var's keep after I dual to thief? I'm guessing the answer is "no".

Nick

You can look into the "Ease of Use" mod, with it's "Multiple Stronghold" componant. This would allow you to get all the strongholds (more importantly -- it would allow you to play through all of the stronghold quests).

Not recommended on your first time through the game, however.

Go to this page and see what level of Thief you could reach for whatever Fighter level you might choose to Dual at. You will need to know the Experience cap--if you only have SoA, it's 2,950,000. If you also have ToB installed, it's 8,000,000.

For example, if you had SoA and Dualed your Fighter at Level 10, that's 500,000 EXP. Take the EXP cap and subtract 500,000, and you get 2,450,000 EXP left in the game, so you could reach Thief Level 21.
Or you could take the same Fighter in the same game, wait until Level 14 to Dual, and there would be enough EXP left in the game to reach Thief Level 16. You yourself have to weigh the balance.

A LOT of newbie questions can be answered by reading the FAQ thread at the top of this forum, or by visiting the link in my sig.

One way to get all the strongholds you "qualify for" (for example, a Fighter/Mage/Thief getting the Keep, the Sphere, & the Guild) without using the buggy Ease of Use multi-stronghold component is to manipulate the PLAYERHASSTRONGHOLD Global variable. It gets set to 1 after you get a stronghold, which prevents you from getting any others.

You can change it back to 0 after getting a stronghold & be eligible for a 2nd (or 3rd) based on your class. You can do this either with ShadowKeeper or by the CLUAConsole - CLUAConsole:SetGlobal("PlayerHasStronghold","GLOBA L",0)

Also, from my experience, if you have the Improved Thief Guild MOD (see icelus's thread), any class can get the Guild & it won't set your PLAYERHASSTRONGHOLD variable to 1 (I think you may have to ask Renal what your reward will be, though - don't just agree to his task first).

- Imrahil