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Hello everyone, this is my first time through BGII, I'm a Kensai Lvl11, @950,000Xp. Dualling to Mage at Lvl12 (Was going to dual at Lvl13, but I’ve lost my nerve..I’m not sure I can hold off that long..). I’m still in Chp2, and my party (Kensai, Minsc, Jaheira, Viconia & Jan) is between Lvls11-12.
I’ve tried to complete quests either to get equipment, or to get the tough quests over so I could do easier ones after I dual for the Xp. I’ve completed the following quests – Slavers, Guarded Compound , Trademeet, Astral Prison, Unseeing Eye, De’arnise Keep, Jahiera’s Curse, Skinner Murders, 2 out of 3 Thief quests ( I still have to take out Mae’var and join the Shadow thiefs.) ..and Twisted Rune (I wanted the Staff of the Magi before I dual..)
I was wondering what I should spend my last 50K Xp points on to get maximum quest Xp reward afterwards. Ideally I’d like to follow 1 or 2 quests till the end and claim quest reward only after I dual to quickly go up in level. Is my party good enough to take on Windspear Hills or should I wait until I return to Athkathla? In which case for now I can 1) Find Valygar in the Umar Hills 2) Do Planar Sphere , My Char Duals, on to Umar Hills, Help Korgan with the Book of Kaza, maybe take out the 2 liches guarding Kangaxx, check out my stronghold at De’ Arnise Keep, then take out Mae’var and on to Chapter3. Any suggestions on remaining High Xp quests I can take on?
Should I change the composition of my party (maybe bringing Korgan/Mazzy by dumping Minsc/ Jahiera before I dual. I need heavy duty hitting help to sustain the party as my char was doing a significant amount of work..) Right now I have Jahiera with the belt of Strength and Belm getting off 3 attacks/round as a backup tank for Minsc. She even took out Ravenak and Vaxall in the Twisted Rune by herself…The party:
1)Kensai, Celestial Fury/Kundane (before Dualling) ,
Staff of Rynn/Robe of the Good Arch Magi. (after Dualling)
2)Misnc, Lilarcor, Flail of Ages, Dual Wielding Maces after Chp3, Elven Court Bow.
3)Jahiera, Belm, Shield of Balduran, Belt of Hill Gaint Strength
4)Viconia, Mauler’s Arm+2 (18 Str), Shield of Harmony, Belt of Fortitude, Sling +2.
5)Jan,Tasheron’s Bow/Tuigan Bow, Robe of Vecna, Staff of Magi.

Equipment left to buy: Robe of the Good Arch Magi (for Me), Sling of Everard (for Viconia), Staff of Rynn.

Also, what do Kensais do when they dual? The best quarterstaff I can find so far is the Staff of Rynn ( in terms of THACO) and I’ll have a 100+ hit points, so maybe with improved invisibility, Stoneskin, Mirror Image etc THACO will be 9-10 and useful in Melee, but is the Kensai-Mage just excess baggage till he reactivates or can he contribute usefully in some way?
Finally, if I place anything in a safe/box in Chap2, will it be there when I move to Chapter3? Similarly, will any stuff I leave in boxes in Chp3 be there in Chp6, or do I have to sell everything before I leave? Thanks…

You seem to be doing pretty well on organizing your quests. One thing to bear in mind is that Korgan will not join your party if your Rep is too high, so that would be a good quest to do early. Also, it does not require a lot of difficult fighting so it would be a good one to start with after you dual.

One trick you can use is to kick everyone out of your party (except for romance prospects, if any) and memorize all the spells you can get your hands on. This should gain you a respectable number of levels (I think I got up to level 6 or 7 just on spells and taking some experience for quests already completed). After that, you shouldn't worry too much about keeping your mage safe because you will have the necessary protection spells (stoneskin and mirror image are indispensable).

I would take proficiency in quarterstaff since you already have the Staff of Magi. But generally, you will want to keep your mage out of combat, so it really doesn't matter. You might want to try daggers and get some nice throwing ones (there is one that returns to your hand, but I can't remember where you get it).

As to party composition, from a safety point of view I think you are fine. I don't particularly like Jan, but he is a decent thief so you might as well keep him. Your mage will definitely not be excess baggage if you use your spells effectively.

No, items stored in containers will not disappear when chapters change. The only time this happens is when the map gets redrawn (such as D'Arnise keep and the Umar Hills Temple ruins). Don't put anything you want to keep in Bodhi's crypt because it does change in Ch 6 (but you really won't have any reason to any way).

Don't consider a mage as useless baggage.
Mages are strong. They only need patience and planning!

I was doing a partly solo game with a Kensimage.
When I dualled, I was going solo for a while...
The kensai was not yet reactivated, and I cleaned the entire
Bodhi lair, and the Guarded Compound (before Wes upgraded this..)
with a crappy mage of level 10/11, believe it or not!

When you reactivate the kensai, you'll be even more strong!