Hey guys, so I've cracked out the BG series and I really want to play as a Kensai (no multi/duel class), but opinions seem really mixed

I plan on using a party of 4 for the most part, jaheira, edwin, thief char for bg2, unknown as of yet for bg1

I'm just going to play on normal this time around, I plan on using katanas and I am wondering things like what my stats should look like besides maxing out str con and dex.

Also in terms of gear, is there anyway I can make myself act as the tank for the group?

Any tips would be helpful, if it turns out impossible I will try beserker perhaps but I am really keen to play Kensai, thanks in advance :)

I doubt you could act as the party tank with a pure kensai, simply because the whole concept is 'sacrifice defenses for insane melee skills.' For stats (besides the obvious maxed STR/DEX/CON), you'll probably want some INT to help with those pesky Mind Flayers. Lastly, I'd say make your weapon focus more like swords in general. Magic katanas are rare enough as it is (the only one that comes to mind is the Celestial Fury), and there are plenty of good long swords. Beyond that, just pick a blunt weapon of some kind for those pesky clay golems.

Kensai won't work well in BG1. At low level the attack bonuses are very low while all the restrictions still apply. No body armor, no shield, no helmet, no gauntlets.
Be aware that kensai isn't a tanking class, you'll hide most of the time behind Jaheira since she gets hit less with her armor and therefore needs less healing.
There are no katanas in BG1 unless you cheat in some with a mod. Take axe proficiency instead to get a ranged option late in the game, 2-handed sword (or quarterstaff) is also an option so you don't have to get so close and get attacked less, dagger is also a throwing option, you might want to specialize Jaheira in daggers so she'll have to go closer to the opponents than you and take the beatings for you.

About stats: 18 str, dex, con, cha , 3 wis and 10 int.

A pure Kensai is decent towards the end of BG 2 and into ToB, when AC doesn't really matter because enemies are either mages or have such high ThAC0 that they'll hit you anyway, while you get pretty big bonuses to your attacks.
Not having access to any kind of armor, bracer or helm still hurts however, since equipment provides other bonuses than AC.

However, Kensai are awful in BG 1 where AC is very important since many of the harder fights are against tough melee opponents, where your kensai will be much less useful than a fighter who can actually tank. They're not very good at the start of BG 2 either, for the same reason.

Duel to; Druid, Mage or Cleric for buffs [IMO this order is best to worse] or Thief and UAI (use any item) is the only way that will happen.

If you decide to use one of these, note that UAI probably won't be available until ToB, where (as said) AC won't help.

As noted elsewhere, and to reinforce that comment, Magical Katanas are *exceedingly* rare in the game and without meta-gaming you could easily miss the best one in the game [due to a broken sub-quest plot, a game error.] You could easily find yourself stuck with nothing better than a +2 weapon for a *long* time in SoA... :( There is not that much gear, which you can use, that will fully redress the innate AC problems that this class has. If you are playing vanilla, wherein protective items don't stack, you will be limited to one, and only one, X of Protection +1, +2 whatever.

As a comparison, here's the situation as you leave the initial dungeon in SoA. You have, we'll assume, a Dex of 18. This gives you a -4 AC bonus. Your class gives you another -2 bonus [which, parenthetically, never increases!]. That's a base AC of 10- 4 -2 or AC 4. You cant wear the Helm of Balduran but you can use the +1 Ring of Protection, another -1 to AC so now you are at AC 3 If you were thinking ahead, you chose to put two points into "Single Weapon Style", so another -2, so finally, effectively AC 1.

Imoen, a Th-MU dual class, has access to the 1st lvl spell Armor. That sets her base AC at 6 [and it lasts, virtually, all day]. She too has a Dex of 18, so she likewise gets a -4 to her AC for that, so 6 -4 = AC 2. She can't wear the Helm o'B, but she can use the Ring o'P +1, so AC 2 -1 = AC 1. So "naked" [whoo hoo - laffs] and employing a single, 1st lvl spell, she has *the same* AC as you do! Which is the better Tank? ;)

[Note that to be a viable Tank, whether you get hit is more important than how much damage you can absorb - since, obviously, if you get hit less often {AC} then how much damage you can absorb {Hit Points} is relatively unimportant.]

Let's put Minsc in the Mail of the Dead +2 Chain. We wields a Mace and a shield. His base AC is 3 [from the Chain]. He has a Dex of 16 which gives him a -2 to AC, so now AC 1. He is using a Shield, so now AC 0. He can wear the Helm o'B [but not the Ring o'P] so AC -1.

Same get up for Jaheira, except that her Dex is 17, rather than 16, so an extra -1 to AC, for an AC of -2. Note that even without *ANY* Armor, Jaheira can employ the Bark Skin spell. At her level leaving the initial dungeon, she would have an AC of "only" -1 while using no armor at all, save the Bark Skin spell.

So, in this party of four, with very basic equipment and only the most mundane of spells, every single character equalsor beats your AC, including Minsc who will have virtually the same number of HPs as you!.

Even a single class Mage at this stage of the game, i.e. with access to nothing better than a 4th lvl spell would also beat you in terms of AC. And they [and Imoen] will also have access to Stone skins which will prevent *ANY* melee/ranged weapon damage whatsoever while it lasts! [To say nothing of Ghost Armor, Blur, Mirror Image, etc...]

Whether or not this means your Kensai is a viable Tank is for you to decide, obviously, but he/she doesn't look like a "tank" to me! :) Jaheira with a shield and Club/Scimitar looks like the best Tank, overall, even including # of HPs as a consideration.

As you proceed through the game [SoA/ToB] how well you fair as a Tank, in comparison to other available NPCs [Keldorn, Korgan, Anomen, Valygar, etc] and considering the magical "goodies" you find, steal or buy. will only get worse. Don't even "think" about comparing yourself to Haer'Dalis - the best Tank in the game, bar none.

Now, from simply a power gaming pov, a Kensai as a Tank is laughable, the *only* NPC you can reasonably expect to compare well against in terms of Tanking is Yoshimo and even he has access to armor and protective devices that you can't employ.

From a role playing pov, your Kensai is a fine tank, *if* you want to play a Kensai as a tank! :) Just be sure to stock up on healing potions and party members who can heal you themselves. Both of which are easy to do, so if you want to play a Kensai Tank, go for it! If nothing else, the experience will either convince you that doing so was fun and challenging, or stupid and suicidal. It's *your* game and opportunity to check it out.

Bottom line: Go for it. Prove the nay sayers wrong and have yourself a good time while doing so! [Just don't put all of your Prof points into Katana, put at least a couple of your initial allotment into Long Swords - and choose Single Weapon Style, above all else - you *really* need the two point bump in AC from having two points in this weapon style... having some sort of Blunt weapon skill will pay off well, too. Points for Katanas can be put there as time goes by, you certainly don't gain anything from being skilled in the Katana from the get go in SoA/ToB.]

Man, if you have a Kensai, it would be a real waste not to dual him/her to thief at level 13. High level Thief ability "use any item", remedies the Kensai disadvantages of not using armor/bracers/gauntlets. Also, it would be nice to NOT need another Thief. Plus the similarities between those 2 classes (they match). And finally, imagine a backstab with dual-wield katana, and with Kai activated; sick, isn't it?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think you can backstab with katanas. I thought you could only get the backstab bonus with weapons that pure thieves can use.

Thieves can use katanas just fine. Yoshimo starts with one in BG2.

Oh, my mistake. Never played a thief ^^

Thieves can backstab with any melee weapon the base thief class can use. Swords, daggers, clubs, staves, etc. all work fine... but you won't be able to backstab with axes or hammers or the like as a fighter/thief. Staves actually work extremely well for backstabbing, and the Staff of the Ram is the best backstabbing weapon in the entire game because its base damage is so high. (The Staff of the Magi doesn't work, though, because single-class thieves can't use it. Sad times for Imoen.)