Hi everyone!

I've had BG2 for a while, but i haven't installed it untill now.
So, i have few questions.

I was thinking about creating a kensai, wich would be later dualled to mage.

-I wont be messing(??) with multiplayer to creating singleplayer game.
Altough i could create all six characters, is this right?.
The NPC's will do for me now, I think.

-What stats should i give to him?
I know that it must have atleast STR 15 and INT 17, but what else matters?

-At what point should i dual him to mage?

-Any tips avoiding stupid mistakes in my first game?

-Katanas and dual wielding?

I'll add more questions, when they pop into my mind.

All help appreciated! :p

By all means, play a "normal" (single-player, not difficulty) game your fist time through. Half the fun is from NPC interactions.

Stats - 18 Dex (for best AC), 18 CON (for best HP's), try for high strength, but you can always get Ribald's belt. Theoretically you want at least 8 WIS to avoid penalties to magic resistance, but I'm not sure if these penalties are actually in effect.

Dual at level 9 minimum for extra stat point and kensai bonuses. Could go later, but it makes the wait that much longer.

Dual wielding katana's - a natural :thumb: But don't worry about going beyond 2 points in a weapon; it's not worth it.

Don't worry about stupid mistakes - that's why you have a save/reload function. :D

That was a quick answer, i like this forum :D


BTW. Why there is that Re-roll button?
Wouldn't it be the same if I just use those +/- buttons?

The +/- redistributes the points you are given, but the reroll allows you to try for a better point total (which you can then re-distribute again). So for example, on one roll, you may get 75 points in total, and the next could be 85 (max is 108). A very good roll IMO is anything above 90 (but it sucks when you get it with a 18/01 strength roll.)

What I usually do, is I make all the scores as low as possible and then look at the amount of points I can distribute. The reroll and look at it again. It could be higher then. Using the store button will store a score. This way you could get higher stats, but some people might argue that that isn't true roleplaying.

Anyway, if I were you, I'd dual the kensai at level 9 and make him proficient in quarterstaffs (there is a very nice one in the game).
For stats: you will have to have high STR, DEX, CON and INT. That's a lot of stats. You can't sacrifice a lot of strength, because you need 15 to dualclass.


******************SPOILER*********************
You could sacrifice DEX, because there is an item in the game that sets this to 18.
****************END SPOILER*******************

Menion Leah, if the spoiler item is the one I'm thinking of, it won't help here because a Kensai can't wear it.

Oh, it's like that. Never noticed that in the manual.

Now... Let's get rolling ;)

Good Luck, mate!

About this Dex helper object. It is very hard to come by, prepare to fight beholders!

Thanks Gopher!

For the character I rolled 91 points, which i spent like this:

STR 18, DEX 18, CON 18, INT 18, WIS 8, CHR 11.
Tho' i dont like the low charisma :(

The weapon proficiencies are * on longsword, ** on katana and *** on two weapon style.
His hit points are 98 and AC is -4.
And he's neutral good.

I hope he will be a somewhat decent party member.

I think you made a good character there, metsänpeikko.

Don't worry about the Charisma

*spoiler warning*
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You can get a Ring which when equipped gives you Cha 18. This ring is quite easy to get and you can get it extremely early in the game.
Do a search for "Ring of Human Influence" if you want to find out more about it.

another option is to dual at level 13.

its up to you though.... (dualing at level 13 gets you better fighting skills).

As for items, go for items that enhances the mage class, items that allows you to cast more spells.

go with katanas or whatever you like (exept clubs)

as for your char, i would rather sacrifice 2 str points and put them in wis instead. but its a good character you made ;)

oh, just one last thing......

go to this sites download section and look for the "when to dual class and not" document, its very usefull.

ok, this is the last thing im going to mention.

READ THE MANUAL
even though it might be boring, read it.
It contains tons of information and you will quickly be an experienced player by reading it.
But remember that there is some things you have to ask players to explain.
Also if im not wrong, the entire table (or tables) on when the various classes and kits get the various bonuses is listed in the manuel.
So read it.

Good luck with your char, Metsänpeikko!

*hugs*

Now this discussion has actually promted me to actually start a game with a Kensai-Mage for once...

hehe :)

@ Death Whisper
I'll think about that level 13 dualing.
And i will do the reading too =)

@ Arabwel

:)

game manuals makes a good bed-time reading :p

Argh. I just realized that i don't have the second manual.
I only have this game manual. That 'Volo's guide to SoA' is gone.
Actually, when i bought this game from a friend of mine he only gave me the other.
I asked where the other one is, but he didn't know :mad:

Maybe I'll have to buy the game pack, with both SoA and ToB to get the manual.
I dont think thats expensive anymore.

Are there two manuals for Shadows of Amn? I got only one, when I bought my collector's edition and it's manual contains Volo's guide.

I think that manual is also on cd, but I'm not sure about this.

For kensai roll until you hit a nice sum total of 90 or more. More than 90 comes even more rarely, in case of a fighter very and I mean very rarely (24 minimum sum total while for example ranger simply doesn't roll below 60 because at least minimum required scores are assumed to have been rolled) and isn't really worth the time spent on rolling in most cases. However, if you don't want to suck at charisma or wisdom, for a future kensai/wizard 92 or 94 would be welcome. Max out your strength, dexterity and constitution. You won't be able to wear any armour, so the higher dexterity the better. You will get hit more often anyway, so high constitution for more HP is a must have. Lastly, you need high intelligence for your wizard carreer. The ring you find in the circus will provide 18 charisma, so you can take whatever score you like, but you won't have enough points for a big one. You won't have enough points for high wisdom either, but you can do without it.

The prior posts covered your questions quite well. My comment: In your first game the only stupid mistake is not to Save*Save*Save. Also in your second game, etc.