[ister]

Well you can bitch about math all you like, but how well you kill enemies is ultimately determined by that math. All the bracers do is make whoever is wearing them hit 10% more often. That's all. If you want to have the most effective party, the question is how can you best translate that extra 10% into dead enemies, particularly tough ones. Everything else being equal, Kivan will fire more arrows than Imoen, each of which would be 10% more likely to hit. Each time Kivan hits he does more damage. Those are the facts, so unless you're game play involves Imoen firing her bow about 25% more often than Kivan fires his, giving the bracers to Imoen results in less damage to your enemies. There is no need to run tests on this - we know how the engine works, so it's simply a question of facts. I'll take facts over opinion any time.

None of which is to say that it's wrong to give the bracers to Imoen. It's just making the game a little bit harder.

As it turns out I agree with you on Kivan/Coran. Coran's DEX is basically balanced by Kivan being higher level, so big deal. The only real advantage Coran has is the 3 stars in bows - which does make a difference. But Coran is only slightly better as an archer, and I'd rather have the extra hit points and the significantly better melee power of Kivan.