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Post by Gando on Aug 8, 2008 1:52:38 GMT -5
[Portralis 0.3.0 Character Dump]
Name : Idalan Opalfire Age 101 STR: 55
Sex : Male Height 65 INT: 25
Race : Elf Weight 106 WIS: 62
Class : Kensai Alignment 3 DEX: 64
Death Count 1 CON: 31
CHR: 10
Level 25 Max Hit Points 11040
Experience 14768 Cur Hit Points 11040
+ To Hit 3682 Max Exp 14768 Max SP (Mana) 77
+ %To Damage 1188 Exp to Adv. 17500 Cur SP (Mana) 77
+ To AC 4112 Gold 92559
Ability P 0 Stat Points 0 Blows/Round: 14
Skill Points 0 Blows/Round(2): n/a
Class Level 10 Shots/Round: 1
Class Kills 645 Wpn.dmg: 10002-60016
Wpn2.dmg: n/a
Sht.dmg: n/a
Sht2.dmg: n/a
Infra-Vision: 10 feet
(Character Background) 0
You are one of several children of a commoner, and you were
born in Nimbraya. You have green eyes, short black hairs
and an average complexion.
---------- CHARACTER'S SKILLS ---------- --- MISC. INFO ---
a) Fighting: 0 A) Polearms: 0 Wpn.dmg: 10002-60016
b) Spellcraft: 0 B) Daggers: 0 Wpn2.dmg: n/a
c) Shooting: 0 C) Axes: 0 Sht.dmg: n/a
d) Throwing: 0 D) Rods: 0 Sht2.dmg: n/a
e) Defense: 0 E) Martial Arts: 52 To_h : 3662
f) Agility: 50 F) Bow: 0 To_d : 1163
g) Stealth: 0 G) Crossbow: 0 To_a : 4112
h) Combat Feats: 5 H) Firearms: 0 AC : 703
i) Dual Wield: 0 I) Elemental: 1
j) Leadership: 0 J) Alteration: 0
k) Alchemy: 0 K) Mysticism: 0 Dual Wield: No
l) Crafting: 11 L) Conjuration: 0 Press 'u' to toggle.
m) Swords: 58 M) Divination: 0
n) Blunt: 0 N) Magic Defense: 7
Remaining skill points: 0 Press one of the letters to increase the skill.
Press 'x' to view next skills page(if any).
-------------- RESISTANCES --------------
Fire: 8
Cold: 3
Electric: 3
Acid: 3
Poison: 3
Light: 28
Darkness: 3
Warp: 10
Water: 3
Wind: 3
Earth: 3
Sound: 7
Radio: 3
Chaos: 8
Physical: 14
Mana: 3
[Miscellaneous information]
Maximize Mode: OFF
Preserve Mode: OFF
Autoscum: ON
Small Levels: ALWAYS
Arena Levels: ON
Persistent Dungeons: OFF
You have defeated 3280 enemies.
[Character Equipment]
a) an Ice Katana (6d6) (+20,+25) {25% off}
b) The Masterwork Short Sword 'Aria's Soul' (L:15, K:0/75) (3d7) (+72,+72) (+981 L
e) a Ring of Resist Fire (+24,+24) [+200]
f) a Ring of Constitution
k) an Amulet of the Golem [+10] {90% off}
m) (nothing)
n) a Robes (+19,+19) [18,+40]
o) a Cloak (+22,+22) [21,+100]
p) a Steel Bracers (+20,+17) [0,+0]
s) The Bronze Helm of Wizard Slayer (L:8, K:0/40) (+22,+22) [16,+29] {+3s +5s i }
u) The Pair of Steel Gauntlets 'Hands of Ki' (L:14, K:39/70) (+33,+33) [15,+23] (+
x) a Pair of Steel Boots (+24,+32) [9,+31]
{) an Ice Bolt (2d5) (+26,+15) (+1596 Sound)
|) a Crystal of Light Ball (Power: 30, Radius: 2, 10 charges)
[Character Inventory]
a) 4 Potions of Restore Stats (1 Restore Stats Rad: 2)
b) a Scroll of Word of Recall
c) 5 Scrolls of Teleportation
d) a Soul (Zombie Knight)
e) a Soul (Fallen Clan Sorceress)
f) a Soul (Fallen Clan Warrior)
g) a Soul (Rhyzendalian Witch)
h) a Soul (Rhyzendalian Bandit)
i) a Soul (Lesser Rhyzendalian Cold Lord)
j) a Soul (Naga Great Huntress)
k) a Ring of Resist Cold
l) a Steel Bracers [0,+0]
m) an Amulet of Charisma
n) an Iron Mail (+20,+21) [22,+14]
o) an Iron Rapier (1d11) (+15,+9) [1,+13] (+470 Electric)
p) a Light Crossbow (x3, 1/1, 1 ammos/shots) (+20,+13)
q) 32 Returning Bronze Tipped Bolts (1d4) (+1,+6)
r) (nothing)
s) (nothing)
t) (nothing)
u) (nothing)
v) (nothing)
w) (nothing)
[Home Inventory (page 1)]
a) 2 Scrolls of Word of Recall
b) 14 Scrolls of Teleportation
c) a Rod (1d10) (+42,+16) {+9crafting}
d) a Ring of Resist Fire
e) a Ring of Resist Cold
f) a Ring of Resist Cold
g) an Amulet of Brilliance
h) a Cloak (+6,+14) [1,+8]
i) a Pair of Ice Gauntlets (+29,+24) [7,+30]
j) a Pair of Leather Boots (+4,+4) [2,+4]
k) The Steel Mace of Dalunia (L:5, K:19/25) (6d8) (+72,+72) (+849 Earth)
l) a Steel Katana (3d6) (+1,+6)
[Home Inventory (page 2)]
a) a Steel Katana (3d6) (+0,+0)
b) 5 Iron Tipped Bolts (1d5) (+5,+16)
c) (nothing)
d) (nothing)
e) (nothing)
f) (nothing)
g) (nothing)
h) (nothing)
i) (nothing)
j) (nothing)
k) (nothing)
l) (nothing)
Classes (Levels): abilities (lvls).
----------------
a)monk (5) Wisdom(6)
b)kensai (10) Focus (6)(note1), Iajutsu (mispelled btw...should be Iaijutsu)(2), Finish Him (1) (apparently useless), Lightning Strike (2) (extremely useful), Arrow Cutting(1), The Dragon's Fury (2).
c)warrior (5) none
d)defender (4) none (note2)
e)soul guardian (3) Soul Bind (5)
Notes: 1) I wasn't really sure how much to put into focus and I think 6 is either way too little or far too much. The really useful abilities of the class turned out to be Iaijutsu and Dragon's Fury. (I did try out Scorpion's tail before I crashed out but I didnt particularly care for it to add more points to it and the next time I restored I didnt bother.)
2)I was thinking Id go defender and pick up some useful abilities but by the time I got to the class I realized it was going to be a wasted effort.
None of the abilities of Defender really mesh well with Kensai.
3)I was also going to go crafter Enchanter (3 levels of mage first though, ugh!) but I was already at level 23 when I started thinking about this. to me the leveling slump happens around this level unless you dive much farther than is safe or wise. ANd then I realized Id be horribly unsuited for crafter because the limitation of what items I could use would clash with the tedium of obtaining the class. But thats why I have 10 natural points in Crafting...duh?
4)I did very well with Agility and spell casting this time around. Wis casting worked out nicely with small but effective spells...Layered Magic Missiles for the hard to kill enemies, Several Heal spells (a never fail and a 75% success), Identify, satisfy hunger (imho this shouldnt even be a factor in the game but it is...so its very useful), Restore Status (invaluable for the confusion/fear/blind bosses...which btw succeed quite well against Kensai despite the inate resists of the class and also various items...I feel like items with resists to fear, blindness and confusion are basically a waste.
Overall I got very lucky with not dying ...Id say a little bit of the luck was just randomness and alot of it was me playing a bit smarter than usual.  Plus I got to plunder the Black market at the right times to get some essential gear.
I did find one levelable item but it was an axe so it got sold along with the art shields and armors and weapons.
I do not in general like the melee style in bands mainly because they tend to die alot. This time I just crashed alot. Kensai is a big thumbs up in terms of good classes though I feel like some abilities totally outweigh others in terms of usefulness and balance.
It is getting tough to find a good build (in general) in portralis because things have gotten tougher as bugs have been fixed and storyline built to support nasty monsters. What works for the first areas does not work for the later areas so much. Around Jindar things start to get hairy and you find out if your build has succeeded or failed.
Sometimes I wish there was a mechanism in game (such as a quest) that let us redo our skills and abilities from scratch. |
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Post by phlinn on Aug 8, 2008 12:17:26 GMT -5
I'd like to see a potion of retraining, which randomly removes 5 skill points and 1 ability point that has been allocated. Maybe a separate item for potions.
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Post by Variaz on Aug 8, 2008 16:07:07 GMT -5
My problem with this is that it's very abusable. A tough boss is vunlerable to Light? Make an entire Light Lord build just to kill him. Then reset back to something else for the next boss, etc...
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Post by Gando on Aug 8, 2008 17:50:35 GMT -5
My problem with this is that it's very abusable. A tough boss is vunlerable to Light? Make an entire Light Lord build just to kill him. Then reset back to something else for the next boss, etc... I think that would be despicable and entirely a waste of time since game is so open ended...the better solution would be to find a different way to kill the bugger without screwing your build over. Besides...finding a book of light? that NEVER happens. ever. Thank goodness for Celestials  Anyway I like the concept of Phlinn's but not the randomness of it...if I was going to want to use this ability Id want control over what gets deleted. Mainly I want some of my abilities back that are uselessly spent. But in actually it would probably be easier to just level more (somewhere very dangerous Im sure). At some point I might just do that and risk ramping up the death count a bit. |
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Post by phlinn on Aug 11, 2008 10:04:59 GMT -5
Well, I was thinking that it would require your level in potions to get a complete retrain. Making it random means that while valuable, you can't easily drop the ability you needed at low levels just to survive to get a better ability. Conversly, you wouldn't feel compelled to save ability points for a few levels to get the abilities you really want. Potion might not be the best option because I don't think you'd want to make it craftable. Maybe a person you can talk to twist fate on your behalf in a specific fashion.
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Post by Gando on Aug 11, 2008 10:12:15 GMT -5
Well, I was thinking that it would require your level in potions to get a complete retrain. Making it random means that while valuable, you can't easily drop the ability you needed at low levels just to survive to get a better ability. Conversly, you wouldn't feel compelled to save ability points for a few levels to get the abilities you really want. Potion might not be the best option because I don't think you'd want to make it craftable. Maybe a person you can talk to twist fate on your behalf in a specific fashion. Not to critcize anyone for going off thread* but I made this thread for people discuss the Kensai. How about we move this IDEA to suggestions? *ive certainly done that enough |
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Post by phlinn on Aug 11, 2008 12:15:29 GMT -5
Have you experimented with wielding a single could2H sword instead? As I understand it, several of the abilities pick one sword in particular to activate, and would benefit from the 30% boost to damage. I can't say without trying it whether the improved damage on some specials would make up for the loss of those off hand strikes. I note that you have dual wield turned off and lack the skill for it despite wielding two swords.
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Post by Gando on Aug 11, 2008 23:37:04 GMT -5
Have you experimented with wielding a single could2H sword instead? As I understand it, several of the abilities pick one sword in particular to activate, and would benefit from the 30% boost to damage. I can't say without trying it whether the improved damage on some specials would make up for the loss of those off hand strikes. I note that you have dual wield turned off and lack the skill for it despite wielding two swords. Yes I tried DW early on without the skill for it and none of the abilities worked with it so I decided against it with this build...the extra weapon is for more quickly defeating things that dont die to the other one. I sometimes switch dw on for that purpose...my tohit and todmg are high enough I dont worry about any loss with them. But I stopped playing the Kensai last week and started on several other builds. Never tried a 2handed weapon...claymores didnt come in time to be interesting. The problem being that the random purple items tend to be mostly bad so finding a good one amidst the junk actually takes a bit of luck and a lot of work. |
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Post by phlinn on Aug 12, 2008 9:54:13 GMT -5
I believe you can't use must2h swords like claymores with the abilities anyways. But could2h weapons like long swords do extra damage when they are the only item equipped, at least that was my impression. But yeah, it's moot at this point. |
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Post by Gando on Aug 17, 2008 14:53:45 GMT -5
Build thoughts...
Some quests were very easy to do and some were extremely difficult even after changes were made...The early points in spin kick and ki punch did keep me alive with no deaths until the nasty quest
with the nasty boss...but I almost feel that they were a waste. Honestly Im not 100% sure why monk is a requirement for Kensai ... I understand why Martial Arts is required since it is the basis (heart even) of the special abilities but Monk seems contraindicated strategywise and doesnt really help much towards the end goal.
I also wonder if the 2nd point in Resist Impure was wasted...It looks like after the first point further points add little.
Agility is so important for this build as is Dual weild that without them I dont think I could have survived. Jumping saved me so many times when I was about bite the dust...Jump then teleport or just jump jump jump stairs is very important when faced with mobs you cant handle. And there are ALOT of mobs this build cant handle early on. Later as Dragon Fury picks up and Your hitpoints increase along with your pitiful armor class you can take on almost anything.
Spells were useful as both alternative ways to kill things and get things down to capturable hitpoints and also as utilities... I always attempt to get the ID spell and the Satisfy spell as soon as I can afford them (and cast them) unless im playing a diviner as these two things are crucial to survival and longevity out in the random dungeons. The less you have to carry in terms of food and scrolls the better off you are. Both because of weight issues for weaker classes and because of spacial issues. Anyway as my second build was able to EASILY defeat Quasar at the end of the first chapter and is eagerly waiting for the 2nd chapter to begin I figured Id post this so you can compare it to my first attempt. Yes I did die 2x but I blame Namira. Well I blame myself but only because Namira subcame to my capturing at last and now is being worn as my magical lantern.
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Post by phlinn on Aug 18, 2008 11:05:18 GMT -5
I'm surprised you don't have at least a few points in defense. Since it multiplies with agility, and you are wearing some items with base AC such as gauntlets and boots, I would expect it to have a great deal of effect.
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Post by sekira on Aug 18, 2008 11:31:50 GMT -5
I'm surprised you don't have at least a few points in defense. Since it multiplies with agility, and you are wearing some items with base AC such as gauntlets and boots, I would expect it to have a great deal of effect. Actually, because Agility increases the AC you get from Martial Arts twice, instead of just once, it really makes sense to only increase martial arts and agility once you have both up to a decent level. That and Martial arts will give you AC and bonuses to offense as well. |
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Plus I got to plunder the Black market at the right times to get some essential gear.
