I've been reading your posts on the forum and come to find that most of you are Kensai/Mages and Paladins. When I tried a paladin, it was quite embarassing. I couldn't get anywhere with just 2 proficiency points, yet all of you seem to be doing better than any warrior. On the Kensai/Mage, where did you get all your EXP to get that high? What level did you dual class at as a Kensai? Where after that did you get the EXP to raise your mage past your Kensai? Thanks again.

The Paladin is good in this game because of an item (special sword) that only the paladin can use. This is the most powerful sword, by far, in the game. It more than makes up for his inadequacies in advanced specialization.

The max you can go in Kensai and still achieve lvl 17 as a mage is lvl 9. You should dual anytime b4 that. In the single player version, this may be difficult to do since you will have to rely on NPCs to tank for you while you level. But if you make a multi-player game, you can have some pretty powerful allies who can easily tank for you until you reach level 10. Mages also reach level 10 very fast, second only to thieves. They slow down a lot after level 12.

The Holy Avenger +5 is a great weapon... but until then, is there a weapon that makes the paladin worth while? Or do you get the Avenger earlier on in the game?

Heh. No. You need to slay the most deadly creature in the game to get the avenger. There really is no dominating class. I'm a dual classed fighter (12) mage (14), and I get by pretty well with stoneskins and grand mastery in two-handed swords. That, bracers AC3 and a few other select items, and I find my character very effective. Any class is what you make of it.

I think its more the Combinations of classes in a party than any one indiviual. Two fighter types is my minimum in a party with one a true fighter or kit plus one paladin or ranger. Quite a duo when both have boots of speed, belts of strength, and three spellcasters and one theif/illusionist to back them up.The kensai/mage dual-class sounds like a winner though!

People who are into solo-type power gaming are really into the kensai-mage because of the kensai's ability to deal out max damage really quickly and the ability to wear robes as robes don't count as armor. As Glorick said you need to babysit the kensai through the early stages when his AC is still pretty average (it doesn't really get to an outstanding level). Put it this way - all the kensai's battles will have to be over pretty quickly as he can't really sustain prolonged combat with his AC deficiencies. The mage part helps him overcome that somewhat where he can use mirror image, stoneskin and tensers transformation to turn into an invincible warrior in combat.