Questions About Kensais, Assassins, Kits, etc...

[ElvenKing]

Hope everyone's having a great day Just have a couple of questions about kits and how to equip them. Some of them might be more subjective to playing style than others, but any input you may have would be appreciated.

1) Is the Assassin kit bugged? By AD&D definition, shouldn't Assassins have an alignment no greater than Chaotic Neutral. My impression is that murder is wrong regardless of the cause, so why is it possible to create for example a Lawful Neutral or Neutral Good Assassin?
2) For a Kensai, would it not make more sense to maximize Single Weapon Style as opposed to Dual Wield? Since this character is strapped for AC options, doesn't the ability to lower AC by 2 initially plus double the chances for a critical hit seem more attractive?
3) Another Assassin question. Wouldn't it make sense to allow them to specialize in a weapon and/or weapon style? I know if I was a "efficient killer trained in the art of murder" I would probably rely upon or prefer a certain weapon or style as opposed to learning how to use many different weapon types!
4) Is the Thief stronghold as much a pain in the butt to manage post-patches as it was previously? If so, it's the reason I hold off on playing a thief class!
5) How do you build a party around a Ranger class character? They suck as leaders if you roleplay them (no metal armour because of Stealth so average AC), so that means you pretty much need to take Keldorn or Korgan depending on alignment, but after that?
6) AI On or Off? From a roleplaying perspective I would like to keep it on so the NPC's show a little 'autonomy' but realistically I'm always turning it off since they always seem to do some REALLY stupid things!

I guess that's it for now, or at least until I think about some other things that have been bugging me
Thanks for listening,
ElvenKing

[koz-ivan]

1) think james bond, good guy who just so happens to kill people for queen & country.

2) kensai a/c's suck, some dual to mage to get protection spells, others like to do as much damage as possible & heal later, your choice.

3) game balance, you want a thief who's good w/ blades play a swashbuckler.

4) ???

5) plenty of good armor, & take whomever you want, you could say this about any char class imo. you may have a point about a lot of "depth" at ranger w/ pc, minsk & valgar become also rans, one cavate if you dual to cleric from a respectable level you can fill the rolls of 2-3 of the more annoying chars (in some folks opinions, minsk, anomen & aerie) plus dual wielding flails is cool.

6) always on, more fun, get to yell "MINSK WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR!?" very loud, at all hours of mourning...

[Pungyol]

I agree with you on the Assassin specialization thing. He is a trained killer, thus, he should at least be entitled to that. And could possibly also have a +1 to hit/damage as he levels up like the bushwacker thief kit.

As for the Kensai, I have to say that dual-wielding compensates for his low AC. Although he can never have a good AC as compared to his counterpart fighters; Kensai's bonuses would allow him to finish battles with haste.

[Nighthawk]

Since Kensai often wield Dakkon's in the off hand and Celestial Fury main hand, the AC difference is only +1 compared to wielding just Celestial Fury. Generally the extra attack is worth 1 point of AC...hence the lack of popularity for shields.