i am now playing a kensai... wieldin two swords... and has a great party... is a kensai class worth goin all the way... w/o dual-classing into a mage?

thanx!

I dunno, but i guess that everybody has a choice to make: a single, killing blow, or quick disruptive attacks( lets say two daggers; nothing is better to disrupt spells)

I have got a lvl 15 kensai, that is very cool!!
He hits almost every time, with damage of 29! and he is really fast!
I like my kensai with two katanas. Celestrial Fury, and a katana +2.

So i can only say to you...... go strike the evil!!!

I don't like kensais at all, for exactly the same reason. They can't wear armour. If that wasn't bad enough they can't wear helmets or bracers. Bloody pansies. You might as well dual to a mage, since that's pretty much the only point of being a kensai in the first place.

no... i don't think so... kensais give you more options or stuff you can distribute to your partymates instead of your own. it gives you a big advantage. since kensais are already fighting machines without anything, you can give red dragon scales to minsc, bracers to viconia or jaheira... you get my point armisael? and since they don't wear any armor, they make perfect mages! they are the types you leave bare and they will serve you well... like cacti?

Hmm, this could turn into the eternal discussion...anyway, my two cents worth. Kensai are meant to be quick killing machines, designed to maximize damage dealing in as quick a time as possible. Their inability to wear armor means that they will always have to rely on their devastating initial attacks because if they don't kill first up they will probably be killed if the foe can weather the initial storm. I guess the Celestial Fury is perfect for a kensai as it stuns the enemy and then they're history after that. But building your kensai up will mean having to shield him in the early stages of the game. If you dual him into a mage then just memorize a shitload of mirror image and stoneskin spells and use that as your armor.

It's a strong class but a very specialized class.

But i'd say that using highly specialized classes is risky at best.

Agreed. I played a Kensai once; every mage I came across made a right mess of me, since I couldn't get that first blow in (largely thanks to Stoneskin, Immunity to Weapons, or Timestop). As for being able to give all the nice armour to the other party members, that's not a lot of good if your main character has a shit AC himself. Then there's multiple foes... what I'm trying to say is that the Kensai isn't much of a kit for a fighter. Fighters should be able to tank at least a little bit, and the Kensai has nothing to tank with. I like the Berserker fighter kit better.

I have been through the game twice so far, once with RE:Im curious... are kensais really cool? I think so... help?

Remember that he gets a speed bonus, so a dual wielding kensai is much much better than a berserker. My 15th lvl kensai kills many more enemies than Minsc, also because if he kills with the main hand he spins round and strikes another opponent with his off hand, which vitually always hits. (THAC0 -7. -5) Barkskin lowers his AC to -7 (with ring of protection +2, cloak of the sewers, and ring of earth control). Just tank with Jaheira and Minsc, with your Kensai a heartbeat behind. Blows rain down on Jaheiras shield and Minsc's Red Dragon Armour while the Kensais two longswords slice off limbs from the side. Battles are short and sweet. And then there's the Kai ability...