im just starting the game again with a fighter and chose to be a barbarian.i chose a half orc and made his srtength , constitution and dexterity full.i put most of the rest on wisdom and willl get the ring of human influence to bring up my charisma.what do you all think??? i was a wizard slayer b4 but found that the inability to use magical items bothersome.

I've played a pureclass, a kensai and a berserker. I enjoy the berserker and the pureclass most. I agree, no magical items or potions tends to put me off using the wizard slayer. I'm a dual mage, but I still like all my armour, so I didn't get a lot of joy out of the kensai.

Berserker is the best fighter kit class because the enrage ability.

I confess that I was leary of the Kensai at first, but playing as a maxed out Half Orc was just too easy. Wanting more of a challenge I went with a pure Kensai. I admit that at first he had some trouble, but now that he is level 13 and a Grand Master 2HS and maxed out in 2HS proficiency he is poetry in motion. He currently wields the Vorpal Blade, and with the Kensai's combat bonuses he's amazing, doing 35 to 50 damage with each hit. He also seems to get bonuses using the Vorpal as well which has a 15% chance that the target must make a save versus death with each hit. If the save fails it is instant death.
Using the Vorpal I get a heck of a lot of instant death hits, my Kensai killed Firkraag on the first hit, and the Shadow Dragon on the second hit. I was disappointed that I wasted all those defensive spells to beef up my party because they were wasted. Nobody but my Kensai even got a shot at them... Oh well, who am I to complain.

I'd say Take a Ranger (he is not a non-fighter)
Or even better take a Stalker give him schadowdragon armor
and a couple og longsword and He wil Rock
+ he gets summon insekts

Well, a berserker can also specialise in 2HS and use Vorpal Blade
with same outcome, the mean difference is maybe a kensai can use
kai in 10 seconds and do full damage every successful hit and
a berseker can use enrage ability which gives him +2 hit and damage
and +15 hitpoints temporary, besides he also is immune to stun, imprionment,
hold, confusion, domination, etc while enraged.

Berserker definately--- no major restrictions! One of the few kits that can take on kangaax the demi-lich single handedly!

One thing is a shame though, from a roleplaying aspect---

Berserker means "bear-spirit", from the viking warriors that were berserkers. They went into battle wearing a small peice of leather from a bear, thinking it would give them the same strength.

It would be better if berserkers could only wear leather armour.

Also in Norse legends, Berserkers are counted as the "evil" characters, from their raping and murdering AFTER the battle. They were not overly respected.

From this i think they should only be "EVIL" chars in bgate2

Here;s a note to ironfist...My brother actually started this thread with my username...I played up to the Underdark woth a Necromancer, but i am a bit bored so I started a new Kensai, as the Relic says, they are a bit hard to use at the start, but once you progress, you become a lethal figther(+1 to hit, +1 to damage every 3 levels).SO my lvl 12 Kensai has +4 to hit and damage! ALso when you get rings of protection and that your armour class improves. They are great from a roleplaying aspect too, as they rely on their skills alone to get them through life.

Here;s a note to ironfist...My brother actually started this thread with my username...I played up to the Underdark woth a Necromancer, but i am a bit bored so I started a new Kensai, as the Relic says, they are a bit hard to use at the start, but once you progress, you become a lethal figther(+1 to hit, +1 to damage every 3 levels, -2 to speed factor every 4 lvls).SO my lvl 12 Kensai has +4 to hit and damage! ALso when you get rings of protection and that your armour class improves. They are great from a roleplaying aspect too, as they rely on their skills alone to get them through life.

be a Pit Fiend.. You can download it from a site at http://drizzt1180.homestead.com/index.html

: P

I liked the kensai because of the samurai-ishness of the class.

I had a guy who used the Celestial Fury and Dak'kon's Zerth Blade who scored about thirty on every hit. He could swing those things damn fast, too. Also, after using a some protective items, I had at a -3 AC, not too bad for going in naked. His special ability to cause full damage on every hit is really handy in tight situations, too.

Other than that, I like a beserker. Using enrage and going into battle with a -15 AC is a beautiful, beautiful thing.

>Berserker means "bear-spirit", from the viking warriors that were berserkers. They went into battle wearing a small peice of leather from a bear, thinking it would give them the same strength.
thats a new one, the "bear-spirit" enterpretation..
in swedish the word is "bärsärk" and the only suggestions to its roots I have heard is "bar särk" which sorta means "no shirt".. never heard anything about a bear..
any other scandinavians around to give their national theories on the root of the word??

>It would be better if berserkers could only wear leather armour.
however the mentions in norse mythology and the icelandic stories are not entierly clear on the subject of armor for these berserkers..

>Also in Norse legends, Berserkers are counted as the "evil" characters, from their raping and murdering AFTER the battle. They were not overly respected.
that I would like to hear a reference to, all mentions I have ever read of berserkers are that they are great heroes and very respected warriors (quite often they are also bards ) ..
as for the "rape and plunder" part of it.. the vikings were mostly farmers and traders and a very small part of the time was spent doing the famous viking-raids.. they were not the dumb and drinking types they are genrally depicted as.. iceland had one of the oldest legal system in the world, their boats made it possible to cross the atlantic and they traveled to the meditiranian to trade.. (though it would seem that they sucked immensly at making swords, tales speak of vikings having to stop fighting to straighten out their swords, this might be a reason for the popularity of axes).. one theory even peggs swedish vikings from "Rosslagen" to be the founders of the russian nation.. but the norweigan vikings did make a few well remebeed raids on the british isles.. and I seem to recall that the danes prefered france and those areas.. and I must admit that norse mythology is kinda bent on battle so they weren't entierly peaceful I guess, but like I said, the violent part is much overrated..


>From this i think they should only be "EVIL" chars in bgate2
ehh no..

b

I have to agree. The real fact that I like Kensai is because it has this samurai thing embedded on it, at least those animes. Heck, my portrait is Kenshin Himura, might as wellbe the guy in the portrait, no armor, just sword. besides, i don't play very clean, so any class is a breeze which i Love actually.

I am not saying ALL vikings were berserks, far from it, they only attacked Lindisfarne because a tax collecter demnded money.

Berserkers are known to have formed the household guard of Norway's king Harald I Fairhair

Indeed in MANY norse legends, Berserker's were often portrayed as villains.