Divinity: Original Sin 2: Larian doesn't know what 'original' means

[factotum]

It also helps if your undead chars have Geomancy since they can use that to give themselves armor and heal themselves with poison dart or contamination.

Necromancy also offers some healing options that work on undead characters (e.g. Blood Sucker), as I found when I tried to use that to damage an undead opponent!

[Anteros]

So I've been toying around in the first Divinity Original Sin a bit and one thing that strikes me is how much better tactician mode is. They actually added enemies, gave them status immunities, special abilities, etc. There's a bit of stat bloat, but it's mostly entirely different fights from the classic version. Unlike in 2 where the fights are all the exact same except with stat bloat.

Obviously 2 is superior in most other ways, but I really wish it had this kind of tactician mode added. In the first game you actually have to change the way you approach some fights. In 2 you just hit them for a few extra rounds once you have them CCed.

[Chen]

So I've been toying around in the first Divinity Original Sin a bit and one thing that strikes me is how much better tactician mode is. They actually added enemies, gave them status immunities, special abilities, etc. There's a bit of stat bloat, but it's mostly entirely different fights from the classic version. Unlike in 2 where the fights are all the exact same except with stat bloat.

Obviously 2 is superior in most other ways, but I really wish it had this kind of tactician mode added. In the first game you actually have to change the way you approach some fights. In 2 you just hit them for a few extra rounds once you have them CCed.

I know for sure there are some Auras/Immunities that are added to enemies on Tactician in DOS2. The fight to free Meist Siva had some guys with evasive aura on Tactician that I didnt have on the difficulty below that. The ambush against the Red Prince near Paradise Downs also had a bunch of vacuum auras and stuff that weren't present on lower difficulties. I'll grant I didn't notice anything added in Act 1 fights, except the Witch in the cave which had maybe 1 more undead guy in it.

[Anteros]

I know for sure there are some Auras/Immunities that are added to enemies on Tactician in DOS2. The fight to free Meist Siva had some guys with evasive aura on Tactician that I didnt have on the difficulty below that. The ambush against the Red Prince near Paradise Downs also had a bunch of vacuum auras and stuff that weren't present on lower difficulties. I'll grant I didn't notice anything added in Act 1 fights, except the Witch in the cave which had maybe 1 more undead guy in it.

There's a few. There's also a lot of minor abilities added in that don't really do much. It's just not comparable to the first game though where almost every fight was drastically different.

[Avilan the Grey]

I love the Kid with the mirror and his reactin to Lohse btw...

Edit: apparently I killed the voidlings on the beach

Spoiler

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...Before one of them spoke to me. Huh.

[Keltest]

I love the Kid with the mirror and his reactin to Lohse btw...

Edit: apparently I killed the voidlings on the beach

Spoiler

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...Before one of them spoke to me. Huh.

As far as I know, they don't say anything interesting other than just menacing you by name a little.

Spoiler

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Unless youre Fane, in which case they call you Traitor.

[factotum]

Yeah, I don't remember them saying anything interesting either. Sometimes Voidwoken will say things to you whose meaning only becomes obvious once you know the whole story, as I'm noticing on my second playthrough, though.

[Avilan the Grey]

I now have what I suspect will be my main party throughout the game:

• Me, Lohse, as Enchanter / Summoner (yes I took Summoner as a skill when leveling up. Sue me. I googled around and it seems the main consensus is that three "rather high" skills are better than two maximized.
• Red Prince as default warrior
• Fane as default Wizard (though I switched out one of his dual poison wands for a crafted fire one. Better have options.
• Sebille as default Rogue

Now to find Sebille some nicer pants . Also, I think I know where to get "RP" a much better armor. Will be a difficult task, though.

[factotum]

[*]Me, Lohse, as Enchanter / Summoner (yes I took Summoner as a skill when leveling up. Sue me. I googled around and it seems the main consensus is that three "rather high" skills are better than two maximized.

If you're going to do that, bear in mind that the power of your summons depends entirely on your summoning skill and your level, whereas other magic skills also get a boost from Intelligence, so you're best off having the summoning skill be the highest one and have the other two be lower level (just relying on INT to keep the damage up). Also, unlike other skills, your Incarnate gets a massive boost when your summoning skill hits 10, so getting there as soon as possible is a good move--try to find items with +summoning skill on them.

[Avilan the Grey]

If you're going to do that, bear in mind that the power of your summons depends entirely on your summoning skill and your level, whereas other magic skills also get a boost from Intelligence, so you're best off having the summoning skill be the highest one and have the other two be lower level (just relying on INT to keep the damage up). Also, unlike other skills, your Incarnate gets a massive boost when your summoning skill hits 10, so getting there as soon as possible is a good move--try to find items with +summoning skill on them.

Thanks. I studied that already, but thanks all the same .
Yeah, Summon will probably be my strongest skill.

[Avilan the Grey]

Hey how should I spend my ability points? Mainly the INT vs MEM ratio?

[Keltest]

Hey how should I spend my ability points? Mainly the INT vs MEM ratio?

I usually just drop a couple more points in mem whenever I run out of ability slots and need more. Personally, I find I tend to accumulate far more skills than I actually end up being able to use in a given combat, whether because of resistances or just because they die so fast, so don't be afraid to just leave a bunch unmemorized and switch them out if a given combat gives you trouble.

[Anteros]

Hey how should I spend my ability points? Mainly the INT vs MEM ratio?

Personally I like to have a lot of versatility. Especially on my casters. I pump them about evenly with a few points in CON on occasion so I can wear the best shields.

[Avilan the Grey]

Personally I like to have a lot of versatility. Especially on my casters. I pump them about evenly with a few points in CON on occasion so I can wear the best shields.

Thanks both of you for your advice.

[factotum]

If it means anything, I'm with Keltest. A lot of skills you learn are either unusable or you find you never use them in actual combat, so you don't need to memorise everything you've learned. Since memory is otherwise a dead skill (it doesn't offer passive boosts like Wits does) I think it's a waste to put too many points in it.

[Avilan the Grey]

If it means anything, I'm with Keltest. A lot of skills you learn are either unusable or you find you never use them in actual combat, so you don't need to memorise everything you've learned. Since memory is otherwise a dead skill (it doesn't offer passive boosts like Wits does) I think it's a waste to put too many points in it.

So basically put points into MEM if the skill slots feels overcrowded.

[factotum]

So basically put points into MEM if the skill slots feels overcrowded.

Yes, and also remember that you get an extra memory slot every couple of levels regardless of your memory stat, so by the time you hit level 20 you'll have about 15 slots even if you've never put a point in MEM. You'll probably want a few points in there, especially once you start getting skills that take up 2 or 3 slots, but not many overall.

[Keltest]

Yes, and also remember that you get an extra memory slot every couple of levels regardless of your memory stat, so by the time you hit level 20 you'll have about 15 slots even if you've never put a point in MEM. You'll probably want a few points in there, especially once you start getting skills that take up 2 or 3 slots, but not many overall.

There are also items that boost mem, just like other stats, so if you find youre having trouble with that, they can be a source of some quick mem for more skills.

[Avilan the Grey]

Well. First death. Lohse died against the crocodiles. Annoying but true. Upped her CON a little bit.

Spoiler: I admit I watched a few Let's Plays thru the starting area

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...so I knew about the... corrupted... father of the Magister. Unfortunately I had already talked to his daughter so I couldn't in good concience keep the ring. I did however chose to kill him; I think his armor was a better reward than a staff that was only marginally better than what I already had.

[factotum]

You'll probably have more trouble in Fort Joy than you will for most of the rest of the game--this is a proper old-school RPG where it gets easier as you level up, get better gear and learn skills, although the fights remain entertaining. On my second playthrough I don't think my main character has died once since leaving Fort Joy, although some of my companions have--it's always a good idea to have at least one Resurrect scroll in each character's inventory so you can do a battlefield rez. Oh, and the perk that means you come back to life with full health rather than 20% after a rez is almost mandatory for any character that you think might die in battle--otherwise, it's way too easy to rez them and for them to die again before they even get to take a turn.

[Avilan the Grey]

You'll probably have more trouble in Fort Joy than you will for most of the rest of the game--this is a proper old-school RPG where it gets easier as you level up, get better gear and learn skills, although the fights remain entertaining. On my second playthrough I don't think my main character has died once since leaving Fort Joy, although some of my companions have--it's always a good idea to have at least one Resurrect scroll in each character's inventory so you can do a battlefield rez. Oh, and the perk that means you come back to life with full health rather than 20% after a rez is almost mandatory for any character that you think might die in battle--otherwise, it's way too easy to rez them and for them to die again before they even get to take a turn.

I am sorting things out. Right now it seems I am stuck escaping though I didn't want to yet. On my way to the turtles I stupidly jumped into a hole... so I had to slog my way through a tough guy and his minions and then some slugs. If I understand correctly this is an escape route, and there's really no way back? Still haven't talked to the elves in the cave or fought the turtles...

Edit: Okay, that was just the escape from the basement.

[Avilan the Grey]

One more question: How often should you talk to your teammates?

[Keltest]

One more question: How often should you talk to your teammates?

Typically if they have something to say, they get a little yellow ! above their heads. They'll also usually have something to say after you complete an objective for their personal quest, that's mostly elaborating on a conversation they just had with an NPC.

Also, if you get stuck somewhere you don't want to be, remember that you can jump to any waypoint you have unlocked from anywhere. It doesn't matter if youre currently at one or not.

[factotum]

OK, just completed second play-through. While doing so, I realised that I never technically completed the *first* play-through--I thought that making the choice after the final battle was the end of the game, but it turns out the actual end of the game happens when you speak to the Lady Vengeance after making that choice, which I never did first time round! There's still another choice I could make, but I don't want another playthrough and can't be bothered to roll the dice on that final battle again, so I'll uninstall now and see what Larian's next offering is.

(Steam stats say I've got 167 hours played--considering I had more than 90 on the first playthrough, guess I did the second one quite a bit faster!).

[Avilan the Grey]

I think I need to prepare myself more. I have absolutely no chance against Kniles and the gang. I'm lvl 4 with as good gear as I can buy or find.

[Keltest]

I think I need to prepare myself more. I have absolutely no chance against Kniles and the gang. I'm lvl 4 with as good gear as I can buy or find.

Kniles will still be hanging out in the dungeons if you escape via some other route and come back.

[Avilan the Grey]

Kniles will still be hanging out in the dungeons if you escape via some other route and come back.

Well yes. I am officially on the last lap, going for the Soul Jar. Is upstairs easier to start with?
A lot of people online say "oh I'm lvl 7 or 8 at that point, Git Gud!" but they also admit to do 0% roleplaying and killing every person in camp to get the XP. So, no. I won't be doing that.

[Keltest]

Well yes. I am officially on the last lap, going for the Soul Jar. Is upstairs easier to start with?
A lot of people online say "oh I'm lvl 7 or 8 at that point, Git Gud!" but they also admit to do 0% roleplaying and killing every person in camp to get the XP. So, no. I won't be doing that.

Upstairs might actually be harder than Kniles if you approach it from the dungeons. But you can go back outside and start picking fights with the magisters hanging around the gate (brute force is one of the ways to escape the fort, if one of the hardest). Gets you a little bit of loot too.

[factotum]

If you're going in via the drain, can't you sneak past Kniles and his minions? Has to be said, though, the minions really aren't much of a problem. Kniles himself hits like a truck so you need to concentrate on taking him down--just ignore everything else until he's dead.

Second playthrough I actually found Kniles kind of easy at level 4, but I'd piled points into summoning so my Incarnate was quite a bit tougher than any of my party members--he was able to go toe-to-toe with Kniles pretty easily. Do you have the two infusions as well as the Summon Incarnate spell? If not, you should get them ASAP--an Incarnate buffed with those has better armour and has considerably more tactical options than the basic "hit them until they stop moving" that the base model gets.

[Avilan the Grey]

I am feeling very very clever right now.

I scouted the area without talking to him and decided to do a little experiment.
On the "balcony" to the right there is only one entrance, although wide. I placed all my ppl on there and then used the teleportation gloves to move the three coffins to sort of block the entrance. It doesn't work completely, because the game has made sure you can't do it it seems (you can't teleport things too close together). However as luck would have it I realized Fane was carrying around an ooze barrel for some reason... It fit very snuggly in the space between two of the coffins so the route was now blocked.

The coffins has 600 HP btw so...

Spoiler: This is how the battle went:

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Step 1: Teleported the nearest agitated monk into my group and pummeled him to death.
Step 2: Kniles comes a-teleportin' in and gets set on fire and electrecuted and pummeled. Still manages to kill Sebille, because everyone in the world including lesser mice can kill Sebille. *Sigh*
Step 3: The other two monks starts beating on the coffins.
Step 4: I teleport Kniles outside to the sea of oil and fire that is now the outside of the barricade.
Step 5: The other two monks keeps beating on the coffins.
Step 6: Kniles gets pummeled by everything I have.
Step 7: Kniles teleports back in, still on fire, and still kills Sebille. Again.
Step 8: The Golems starts beating on the coffins.
Step 9: The monks keeps beating on the coffins.
Step 10: Kniles gets teleported back out into the fire AGAIN. Dies.
Step 11 - 22: Everyone that has a distance attack lobs it at the golems and monks while they flail around desperately trying to get 600 HP down to 0 before they die. They don't.
Step 23: Fane rips Knile's face off.