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[His Majesty]

I dont think tanking is a lot of fun in this game. Only 1 taunt and its useless against armored enemies. I feel a 2h warrior with more strenght might be more useful.

You could try putting stench on your other party members.

 

[Leezard]

Ranger is far more sustained damage over time when compared to bursty nature of e.g. pyro wizard as you have smaller selection of spells with decently high CD's across the board.

I'm not riding struggle bus with my Fighter, Rogue, Summoner/Air, Pyro/Hydro (ye ye, weird combos on casters :b ) comp. Still I have that constant feel that I need move Hydro to Summoner, drop Air fully and turn 4th into pure Ranger for optimal DPS comp. Maybe even cut Rogue and turn that to Ranger too for proper min max.

Fucking Gjallarhorn all over again, either you got it or you know you need to get it in order to compete. Imbalances blow.

Yeah, ranger is clearly the best sustained damage, but I don't think spell casters are super weak, especially since burst is very useful because you can cc enemies earlier. I think rogue is in a much worse spot than spell casters.

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

The story is really good.
Its start out focused on one element (The imprisonment of source users), but then in act 2 it starts to shifts the focus to this wider GoT style conflict for power.
In which the main cast are involved in due to race/secret history etc.

Well atleast that was my experience with Fane/Seb/Prince/Lohse. Dont know about Ifan/beast, although beasts story seems obvious.
Even in my own party, different companions seemed more relevant than others. The Lohse content seemed made for her, Seb/Prince content was so well done and signficant choices can be made, and Fane...... Yea does the story even make sense to people who arent playing with him?

You're right. Fully voice-acted dialogues in this game adds a lot to the overall enjoyment for me. Reading through texts needs more concentration and imagination; while hearing the characters and narrator in dialogues is more relaxing and immersive. The voice acting is also sublime on top of that which adds a lot to the quality of the characters. Even the narration and non-important NPCs are fully voiced and they're pretty darn good.

Did you play the first game? The story is much much better in this as they hired lots of new writers. It's pretty much a fantasy story with good twists here and there. The story is not really linear like in regular AAA games, so you may want to pay attention to even the smallest conversations and also read the journal. I haven't finished the game, but the story is quite unique as you're not a regular hero in this game.

I'm not super familiar with this type of games outside of Dragon Age Origins and I'm not even out of the beginning area of Fort Joy. But man, the voice acting is top notch. Even for regular ass NPC you'll never see again after 1 mission. The main companions has a ton of personality. I don't think you'll be disappointed in that aspect.

Having now beaten the game: Pretty damn good story overall. There are plenty of great sidequests, the main story is solid if a bit easy to break (characters will sometimes reference events or groups or people that haven't been properly introduced yet) but the companions (at least the ones I played with) are damn solid. They're all charming, funny, serious, angry, jolly at all the right beats and all have a pretty good arc if you put the time into them. Their attitudes and goals can shift depending on what you do/say to them, but they are very much their own people.

For getting the most out of the story, I strongly recommend either playing as Fane or having him in the party. He is the most linked to the main plot and has the most stuff going on.

I have never, ever been a fan of isometric RPGs, but this game is just fucking flat-out amazing.

I only bought it because of the insanely high reviews. Playing with a controller is wonderful and makes all the difference for me. I never liked point-and-click movement, so having full control over my characters helps a ton.

I couldn't get into Pillars of Eternity or other isometric RPGs because they weren't immersive enough, lacking substantially voiced dialogue and dishing out lore-heavy stories that required just too much investigating and reading to fully flesh out.

That is not the case with Divinity: Original Sin 2. Every line of dialogue is voiced, and all the stories in the main quests and side quests have thus far been incredibly interesting and compelling. I've been moved, laughed out loud, and glued to this game since I started playing it.

It's a magical gaming experience. You feel like your actions have permanence in this world. Corpses of fallen enemies don't regenerate. They remain in their fallen states tens of hours later, complete with the elemental effects that felled them (electricity, fire, poison, etc.). Characters in the world respond to your decisions. The game is refreshingly off the rails and allows you to approach situations in so many different ways, each solution carefully calibrated so as not to feel slighted or dialed in.

It's a game whose world and characters are alive in a way that so few games I've ever played have accomplished. There is a genuine feeling of mystery and discovery around every corner, in every cave, or maybe just in the dirt itself (bring a shovel or lizard). The story shapes so cleverly around your actions and decisions, seamlessly.

Tactile is the best way to describe it. You loot items similarly to Skyrim. There are animations when barrels, coffins, or cabinets are ransacked. And every single item has a physical presence in the world and is used for decoration also. Bread, beer, grapes, carrots, weapons, armor, just everything appears as a physical thing that can be thrown, hidden, or just left on the ground to remain permanently unless you decide to pick it up again.

If you can't pick a lock on a chest, destroy it and its contents with actually come spilling out on the ground for you to pick up.

The voice acting and writing are top-tier and emotionally driven. The environments are beautifully realized with gorgeous graphics and stunning art direction. The combat is fantastic, and I'm not even a fan of turn-based games in the slightest.

Basically, this game has single-handedly made me examine my feelings on this genre as a whole.

I think it is a masterpiece and without question the best game I've played this entire year.

Nier: Automata is sublime. Breath of the Wild is messy and glorious but begins to show its limitations and seams after a while. Persona 5 is remarkable. Horizon: Zero Dawn is stunning. Destiny 2 is great fun but nothing more.

Divinity: Original Sin 2 is something else. It's just pure gaming magic. You poke it, and it pokes back in unexpected ways, sometimes hours and hours after a previous decision or action. It constantly surprises and delights in the grandest and simplest moments. It unfolds in intricate layers and never cracks despite moving so many pieces behind the scenes to accommodate player agency and discovery.

It's the best game I've played since I can't remember when.

Seriously, check it out. I doubt you'll regret it.

 

[Ushay]

I think sword and board is much better than in DOS 1. I found it underwhelming in that game, but here you get the Shield Bounce skill which scales off your shield's physical armor so you get to deal some damage and still be a tanky guy. Add some polymorph or other skill and you get tons of cc.

That actually sounds like a lot of fun. How would a cleric/paladin (sword & board) type character work in terms of stat balance?

 

[GwyndolinCinder]

I dont think tanking is a lot of fun in this game. Only 1 taunt and its useless against armored enemies. I feel a 2h warrior with more strenght might be more useful.

Provoke is trash. A crowd control ability that does no damage is not worth a memory slot.

Tanking is the same as OS put your 2 hander in melee range of the people who you don't want to move.
The A.I isnt likely to move, when movement reads " Use 1 AP to move and give that enemy tank 2AP".

Edit: And yea +1 to stench.

 

[Leezard]

That actually sounds like a lot of fun. How would a cleric/paladin (sword & board) type character work in terms of stat balance?

That should work out fine. I have both pyrokinetic and geomancy on my sword and board character for extra buffs, so some healing should be perfectly fine as well.

 

[Artdayne]

I was actually thinking since Reactive Armor and Bouncing Shield scale off armor and seem to be where a lot of your damage comes from you could put the minimum amount of strength to wield one handers on your sword and board tank and start dumping stats into Constitution and Intelligence and make them a very strong hybrid.

 

[cevion]

Guys, I bought this kick ass crossbow at lvl 10: https://imgur.com/a/vReKI

Now my luxury problem is finding another bow or xbow with similar or greater than +20% crit chance. I found a bow at the very same shop (mild act 2 vendor & location spoiler:

Spoiler

Arran, in the Undertavern

, but it "only" had +10% crit. (That vendor in the spoiler has carried tons of sweet purple/pink items, in my game at least!)

Is there a way to craft items with predermined stats, like crit? Or crafting better weapons than non-magic ones? I haven't messed around with weapon crafting yet. I'm starting to get close to lvl 13, so this x-bow will have to go eventually. I've googled but there doesn't seem to be a way to "level up" a weapon. I never saw something as high as +20% crit on another item, so either I'm unlucky or it's not that common.

Once you get a taste for that sweet crit man... oh I'm gonna miss this crossbow when I outlevel it by too many levels. (Might throw it on a caster with the "Savage Sortilege" talent for spell crits actually... I pretty much never attack with wands since giving all my casters shields.)

(Also, full disclosure, the screenshot above is taken with flesh sacrifice and peace of mind casted. I just wanted to show off something cool.. and be cool like you guys!)

 

[Renekton]

What's the level of your party right now?

If she's going warfare, she should've got Phoenix Dive, right? Also, I usually focus my cleric on supporting the party instead of marching forward to deal damage. With the long range of Battering Ram, Battle Stomp, Bouncing Shield, and Blitz Attack, my cleric can help my tank anytime he needs it without having to move that much. Teleporting enemies to your melee fighters' range (including the cleric) would also help.

Yeah I was trying to make a cleric/fighter main frontliner (aka Paladin) hence the 1H + Hydro + Warfare build. Turns out OS2's system is not accomodating to hybrids, especially with limited APs and magic/physical split.

 

[Tanis]

This game sure is tough going even on classic. I'm just about done with Fort Joy at level 5 and it's only just now that every fight doesn't feel like a life and death struggle. A couple of extra skills make a big difference.

Like others are saying my ranger is my top dps. Even if I can't get high ground she rips through enemies.

 

[Infinite_Daremo]

Guys, I bought this kick ass crossbow at lvl 10: https://imgur.com/a/vReKI

Dear god!

 

[cevion]

Dear god!

That was my reaction as well! It gives Sebille a total of 46% crit chance unbuffed/53% buffed. Now I just need a larger than a "small" fire rune, for even more crit!

But the crossbow will forever remain at lvl 10 :<

Thank you for responding to my post, I really needed that e-peen boost today, by the way. If you're ever in the neighborhood I'll buy you a beer or a pizza, or whatever tickles your fancy (this newfound crit chance addiction of mine can't be healthy at all.. maybe send help!)

 

[Dinjooh]

That was my reaction as well! It gives Sebille a total of 46% crit chance unbuffed/53% buffed. Now I just need a larger than a "small" fire rune, for even more crit!

But the crossbow will forever remain at lvl 10 :<

Thank you for responding to my post, I really needed that e-peen boost today, by the way. If you're ever in the neighborhood I'll buy you a beer or a pizza, or whatever tickles your fancy (this newfound crit chance addiction of mine can't be healthy at all.. maybe send help!)

Came here for build tips, stayed for beer and pizza.

 

[cevion]

Came here for build tips, stayed for beer and pizza.

Hah, fantastic! I got you covered man! I only need you to divulge to me one simple thing. Pineapple on pizza, yay or nay? If you answer that (I heard it's a divisive topic, especially around these parts) you have shown enough courage and badassery that I think you will be the one handing out the build tips, like a rockstar! (I usually go for Czech beer, that fine with you?)

(Seriously, if you want build advice I'm here to help!

 

[Ushay]

I have never, ever been a fan of isometric RPGs, but this game is just fucking flat-out amazing.

I only bought it because of the insanely high reviews. Playing with a controller is wonderful and makes all the difference for me. I never liked point-and-click movement, so having full control over my characters helps a ton.

I couldn't get into Pillars of Eternity or other isometric RPGs because they weren't immersive enough, lacking substantially voiced dialogue and dishing out lore-heavy stories that required just too much investigating and reading to fully flesh out.

That is not the case with Divinity: Original Sin 2. Every line of dialogue is voiced, and all the stories in the main quests and side quests have thus far been incredibly interesting and compelling. I've been moved, laughed out loud, and glued to this game since I started playing it.

It's a magical gaming experience. You feel like your actions have permanence in this world. Corpses of fallen enemies don't regenerate. They remain in their fallen states tens of hours later, complete with the elemental effects that felled them (electricity, fire, poison, etc.). Characters in the world respond to your decisions. The game is refreshingly off the rails and allows you to approach situations in so many different ways, each solution carefully calibrated so as not to feel slighted or dialed in.

It's a game whose world and characters are alive in a way that so few games I've ever played have accomplished. There is a genuine feeling of mystery and discovery around every corner, in every cave, or maybe just in the dirt itself (bring a shovel or lizard). The story shapes so cleverly around your actions and decisions, seamlessly.

Tactile is the best way to describe it. You loot items similarly to Skyrim. There are animations when barrels, coffins, or cabinets are ransacked. And every single item has a physical presence in the world and is used for decoration also. Bread, beer, grapes, carrots, weapons, armor, just everything appears as a physical thing that can be thrown, hidden, or just left on the ground to remain permanently unless you decide to pick it up again.

If you can't pick a lock on a chest, destroy it and its contents with actually come spilling out on the ground for you to pick up.

The voice acting and writing are top-tier and emotionally driven. The environments are beautifully realized with gorgeous graphics and stunning art direction. The combat is fantastic, and I'm not even a fan of turn-based games in the slightest.

Basically, this game has single-handedly made me examine my feelings on this genre as a whole.

I think it is a masterpiece and without question the best game I've played this entire year.

Nier: Automata is sublime. Breath of the Wild is messy and glorious but begins to show its limitations and seams after a while. Persona 5 is remarkable. Horizon: Zero Dawn is stunning. Destiny 2 is great fun but nothing more.

Divinity: Original Sin 2 is something else. It's just pure gaming magic. You poke it, and it pokes back in unexpected ways, sometimes hours and hours after a previous decision or action. It constantly surprises and delights in the grandest and simplest moments. It unfolds in intricate layers and never cracks despite moving so many pieces behind the scenes to accommodate player agency and discovery.

It's the best game I've played since I can't remember when.

Seriously, check it out. I doubt you'll regret it.

Damn dude, you're not making the wait any easier for me

Great post, thanks for this.

 

[CecilRousso]

This game sure is tough going even on classic. I'm just about done with Fort Joy at level 5 and it's only just now that every fight doesn't feel like a life and death struggle. A couple of extra skills make a big difference.

Like others are saying my ranger is my top dps. Even if I can't get high ground she rips through enemies.

A difficulty level between explorer and classic would be welcome. Struggled badly on classic, but explorer makes fighting a minor nuisance at worst.

 

[Afrodium]

I think the game took pity on me for the Act 1 final fight.

Spoiler

A bunch of enemies ran outside of the main arena to escape a fire they started, leaving Alexander very lightly guarded. Then the Voidwoken appeared outside near the enemies, so for the rest of the fight my party wailed on Alexander while his guards weakened the Voidwoken and the Voidwoken killed them. Once all the Magisters were dead it took two hits from my party to kill the Voidwoken. I'll take it.

 

[Kuosi]

So why class like Ranger (Huntsman?) scales so insane amounts off all of stats and weapon stats while basically all other scale like pure garbage? Even Rogue has nowhere near same levels of scaling and it's one better scaling classes.

Magical classes outside of summons of Summoner scale worst, garbage at bottom of garbage heap.

Basically why Ranger scales so insanely better than anything else in the game making it obviously broken and OP class? Should it be nerfed or should other classes be buffed to its level of scaling?

Oh 2h fighters scale extremely well and come with a lot of cc on top of huge dmg

 

[Sarcasm]

I haven't gotten persuasion yet, I know I know, and I can't convince Birdie as I always fail it. So can I leave, level up, and then come back later? I know the guards will be mad, but will the caged dog be?

 

[cevion]

I haven't gotten persuasion yet, I know I know, and I can't convince Birdie as I always fail it. So can I leave, level up, and then come back later? I know the guards will be mad, but will the caged dog be?

I think he should still be there, just to make sure - don't initiate the conversation with him before you leave (unless he initiates it automatically with you, but IIRC he doesn't)

You get 1400 exp for killing him and 1000 exp for passing the persuasion check BTW. (Most persuasion successes don't give you any exp. in general - but they can help you extract extra info from quests and let you skip fights. The former reason is why I still have a character with 5 or so points in it.)

Not persuading him does leave you with a fictional dead dog on your conscious, though. I really wanted to save him but I had pet pal and persuasion on different characters, so I just put him out of his misery. Good luck!

edit: I just experimented with persuasion a bit more and I'd say it really is a useful skill. Sometimes it even gives you good amount of experience, especially so when fighting isn't even on the table.

 

[Sarcasm]

I think he should still be there, just to make sure - don't initiate the conversation with him (unless he initiates it automatically with you, but IIRC he doesn't)

You get 1400 exp for killing him and 1000 exp for passing the persuasion check BTW. Not persuading him does leave you with a fictional dead dog on your conscious, though. I really wanted to save him but I had pet pal and persuasion on different characters, so I just put him out of his misery and got the extra XP. Good luck!

I noticed no EXP for killing him...

 

[kromeo]

I haven't gotten persuasion yet, I know I know, and I can't convince Birdie as I always fail it. So can I leave, level up, and then come back later? I know the guards will be mad, but will the caged dog be?

I persuaded him with Ifan on his default persuasion, which I assume is 0. Using finesse I think

 

[cevion]

I noticed no EXP for killing him...

Ah, I went off the info from this wiki: http://divinity.wikia.com/wiki/Birdie

That info might be from Early Access. My bad then! I vaguely remember getting some exp for killing him, but I do remember that dogs normally give much less exp. than humans (something like 100-200 exp. for killing a dog)

 

[MissCauthon]

The game says there is drop in coop in the game. So I can join peoples games ?? how does it work?

 

[AuthenticM]

Should I play this game solo for my first playthrough or is it fine to play coop from the get-go?

 

[His Majesty]

Anyone using Enrage here? How does it work? Because I'm reading some weird things on the forums that it doesn't work half the time.

 

[bobnowhere]

The Jump from L17 to L18 gear is massive!

 

[Dinjooh]

Hah, fantastic! I got you covered man! I only need you to divulge to me one simple thing. Pineapple on pizza, yay or nay? If you answer that (I heard it's a divisive topic, especially around these parts) you have shown enough courage and badassery that I think you will be the one handing out the build tips, like a rockstar! (I usually go for Czech beer, that fine with you?)

(Seriously, if you want build advice I'm here to help!

While I don't personally order pineapple on my pizza I can easily see the merit for other people. Salt and sweet combined? Sure that's usually great.

Should I play this game solo for my first playthrough or is it fine to play coop from the get-go?

My first experience with D:OG 1 was in co-op with someone who already played it; it was fine, although the other person has to be patient as this game can take some time to get.

 

[Hentailover]

Such a good game so far, shame it may have just made me quit it out of rage for bullshit.

Had a very tough encounter, barely survived, but my last dude ison fire.. for some reason game has NO active pause outside of battle. all that time I have to think in combat evaporates when I am out of combat. My last dude burns to death in less than 4 seconds, I have to reload. Bullshit. If I get magical infinite time to think in combat, I should have the same ability everywhere >_> I turned the game off cuz I don't want to redo an annoying battle I ALREADY WON, cuz game has randomly changing rules.

 

[GwyndolinCinder]

Should I play this game solo for my first playthrough or is it fine to play coop from the get-go?

Solo unless you've got a group of 4 with D&D level commitment skills.

 

[epmode]

Such a good game so far, shame it may have just made me quit it out of rage for bullshit.

Had a very tough encounter, barely survived, but my last dude ison fire.. for some reason game has NO active pause outside of battle. all that time I have to think in combat evaporates when I am out of combat. My last dude burns to death in less than 4 seconds, I have to reload. Bullshit. If I get magical infinite time to think in combat, I should have the same ability everywhere >_> I turned the game off cuz I don't want to redo an annoying battle I ALREADY WON, cuz game has randomly changing rules.

I suggest keeping a bedroll in your hotbar. It's an instant out of combat full-heal and it would have saved your characters without question.

 

[Hentailover]

I suggest keeping a bedroll in your hotbar. It's an instant out of combat full-heal and it would have saved your characters without question.

Wouldn't help as protag was down. unless you mean 4 bedrolls, one per char. problem shouldn't even exist tbh, since all games with turnbased combat that aren't jrpgs, have an active pause button available out of combat.

 

[epmode]

Wouldn't help as protag was down. unless you mean 4 bedrolls, one per char. problem shouldn't even exist tbh, since all games with turnbased combat that aren't jrpgs, have an active pause button available out of combat.

I do mean four bedrolls, yes.

I assume there's a techncial reason why there's no pause in the non-combat sections. Probably related to multiplayer or mechanics like pickpocketing (where pausing while checking someone's pockets would be cheating).

The situation you described existed in the last game and it's unfortunate but I can't complain when the solution is so easy.

 

[Hentailover]

I do mean four bedrolls, yes.

I assume there's a techncial reason why there's no pause in the non-combat sections. Probably related to multiplayer or mechanics like pickpocketing (where pausing while checking someone's pockets would be cheating).

The situation you described existed in the last game and it's unfortunate but I can't complain when the solution is so easy.

It's easy when you know about it. Game doesn't tell me "hey, we fucked up here, so like, buy 4 bedrolls and put them on every bar and remember the button you mapped it on so you can click it super quick. Learning from game fucking you over is not fun. It's turns game into what people thought darks ouls were. Trial and error.

 

[ValfarHL]

Just beat Alexander. Rangers are so broken. Tactical retreat to high ground. I’m getting 65% damage bonus. Can kill most none boss enemies in one turn. As long as my main keeps aggro everything is golden. Haven’t lost a fight since level 2.

Lone wolf is far more fun than a party of 4.

Warfare gives the same bonus in not elevated positions.

 

[cevion]

While I don't personally order pineapple on my pizza I can easily see the merit for other people. Salt and sweet combined? Sure that's usually great.

Damn dude that's like the best answer one could give. Such diplomacy and grace. And also, I agree with you on the whole issue. I will now extend my offer of beer and pizza (without pineapple) to you as well, should you ever get lost in the woods somewhere in Scandinavia.

Furthermore, I suspect you felt a tingling sensation after giving that answer. That is because you are now Godwoken. You may construct or criticize any build in this thread with great authority. I suspect this is not the last time you will rain excellence down in said thread. Adieu, comrade Dinjooh. I am sorry for going off-topic - it was a special exception. It shan't happen again.

Such a good game so far, shame it may have just made me quit it out of rage for bullshit.

Had a very tough encounter, barely survived, but my last dude ison fire.. for some reason game has NO active pause outside of battle. all that time I have to think in combat evaporates when I am out of combat. My last dude burns to death in less than 4 seconds, I have to reload. Bullshit. If I get magical infinite time to think in combat, I should have the same ability everywhere >_> I turned the game off cuz I don't want to redo an annoying battle I ALREADY WON, cuz game has randomly changing rules.

Those situations are annoying, I feel you mate :/ For next time, consider having a restoration/first aid spell ready, or a healing potion - better than having to use a Ress Scroll. I managed to pause the game yesterday out of combat after a quick save/quick load. The game said "PAUSED" (or "PAUSE", I can't really remember) in gold text in the middle of the screen. I was really surprised and went "wow, this is useful!".

Problem is that I can't find any info under the controls section on how to pause the game. I was pressing some random keys to try to replicate it, but I'm not sure how I did it in the first place. I was playing single player. Am I just being stupid, and is pause in the game out of combat, or did the game pause because of something pertaining to quick save/quick load? Thanks in advance!

edit. Another question. Say I'm casting a self-cast spell. The game requires me to click on the hotkey, then on my character to confirm. Is there a hotkey to speed up the process? I tried "Space" but that ends your turn. After finding about the snappiness of "F1-F4" compared to switching characters by clicking (I recommend everyone to try this out, it is also very useful for positioning your companions individually!) I am always on the lookout for hotkeys to speed up stuff like casting spells, be it in or out of combat. Cheers!

 

[[TW]Stone]

Bit confused on repairing. In the first game I repaired a lot. You would notice the yellow squiggly on the weapon or armor. I’m in chapter 4 yet I haven’t repaired once... what gives?

 

[Xeteh]

Warfare gives the same bonus in not elevated positions.

Considering they already nerfed Reactive Armor I don't see Warfare escaping the nerfbat, its too good.

 

[LurkerPrime]

Bit confused on repairing. In the first game I repaired a lot. You would notice the yellow squiggly on the weapon or armor. I’m in chapter 4 yet I haven’t repaired once... what gives?

Durability only seems to go down when you're forcefully attacking inanimate objects, like chests or doors.

 

[cevion]

Considering they already nerfed Reactive Armor I don't see Warfare escaping the nerfbat, its too good.

Aw, I heard they nerfed it but is it really bad? Was thinking of stacking fortify, bone cage (maybe throw in deflective barrier if I have the AP) and finally shackles of pain (since reactive armor hurts the caster) then unleash reactive armor. I'll have to try and see if this is viable. The remaining part of this post is gonna be about interesting spell combos - please share if you have any neat ones that you recommend!

I've been meaning to experiment with Bloated Corpse + Flaming Crescendo, something that I theorycrafted about the other day. Do this combo on turn 1 on your summoner, then after the explosion you go ahead and summon your beefy incarnate and infuse/haste/enrage that fella!

Next up is Spontaneous Combustion. On a high int character you can do something like Fireball + Spont. Combustion or just Ignition + SC. SC does good damage even if you haven't even applied Burning/Necrofire to your enemy. (Not really a combo per se, just want to plug that spell since it's surprisingly high-damage!)

Two pyro skills I've yet to try are Fire Whip and Laser Ray. Anyone mess with them yet? I'd love to hear how you guys like those skills. Also interested in uses for the geo skill "Worm Tremor". Trying to figure out if I can heal Fane with it.

Oh, and shield throw/shield's up are really good on caster characters! You could give them something like mosquito bite/infect to further add to your selection of physical damage skills on said casters!
Thanks in advance! I want you guys's dirty secrets on sweet spell combos! :3

Durability only seems to go down when you're forcefully attacking inanimate objects, like chests or doors.

This is my experience as well. I usually summon an incarnate and have them destroy every locked door for me, or have them go through trapped rooms if I'm unsure of what nasty stuff lies ahead...

 

[Hentailover]

This is my experience as well. I usually summon an incarnate and have them destroy every locked door for me, or have them go through trapped rooms if I'm unsure what nasty stuff lies ahead...

I just bash them with bare hands

 

[cevion]

I just bash them with bare hands

Once again I get one-upped in bad-assery. Doesn't it take a while to completely fist down a door though? Now you're gonna make me punch every door out of insecurity and shame that I've been having my summons do my fight club stuff for me. I'm gonna be punching every inanimate object so hard, doors are gonna wish they were never carved.

A "monk" type character with a fitting skill school would be pretty cool though! Someone suggested Larian do a full fledged old-school expansion to this game a few days back. I would really love that. Kinda like Firaxis did with War of the Chosen and XCOM 2.

 

[kionedrik]

I just bash them with bare hands

Why? Crossbows don't have durability and bash doors down much faster.

 

[Artdayne]

Wouldn't help as protag was down. unless you mean 4 bedrolls, one per char. problem shouldn't even exist tbh, since all games with turnbased combat that aren't jrpgs, have an active pause button available out of combat.

They do not have an active pause out of combat, I imagine, to prevent people fully buffing up your entire party before you initiate combat.

 

[BreezyLimbo]

So what do the difficulties mean? Starts at classic, goes to tactical, then honour...is that just the scale of difficulty?

 

[Jisgsaw]

I've been meaning to experiment with Bloated Corpse + Flaming Crescendo, something that I theorycrafted about the other day. Do this combo on turn 1 on your summoner, then after the explosion you go ahead and summon your beefy incarnate and infuse/haste/enrage that fella!

Next up is Spontaneous Combustion. On a high int character you can do something like Fireball + Spont. Combustion or just Ignition + SC. SC does good damage even if you haven't even applied Burning/Necrofire to your enemy. (Not really a combo per se, just want to plug that spell since it's surprisingly high-damage!)

These are good, especially the secodn one, it's great.

Two pyro skills I've yet to try are Fire Whip and Laser Ray. Anyone mess with them yet? I'd love to hear how you guys like those skills. Also interested in uses for the geo skill "Worm Tremor". Trying to figure out if I can heal Fane with it.

Laser Ray is high damage, it's just hard to hit multiple targets with it. Fire Whip I found useless, not great range and less damage than Laser Ray.

 

[Zesh]

Regarding balancing, the unfortunate truth is that all of the clever mage combos aren't as effective as a properly-built Ranger simply one/two-shotting everything.

The funny thing is that Rogues are actually pretty powerful as well, yet they still don't hold a candle to Rangers. It doesn't make much sense that Rangers do more damage while also being at range, as Rogues spend AP on movement and have to risk being in melee range. I used a Rogue for act 1 and was amazed when I respecced her to a Ranger in act 2; the difference is that large.

I think it's also generally known that mages are a bit underpowered currently. That's not to say that they're not viable; they can definitely be quite effective (and fun), but physical seems to reign supreme at the moment. The game definitely needs some better balancing; hopefully Larian addresses things.

 

[Artdayne]

So what do the difficulties mean? Starts at classic, goes to tactical, then honour...is that just the scale of difficulty?

Explorer = Easy
Classic = Medium
Tactical = Hard
Honor = Hard + one save file

I would recommend playing on Classic or Explorer on your first playthrough. You cannot change the difficulty of tactical so you'll be locked in and it's quite hard early.

 

[Xeteh]

Aw, I heard they nerfed it but is it really bad? Was thinking of stacking fortify, bone cage (maybe throw in deflective barrier if I have the AP) and finally shackles of pain (since reactive armor hurts the caster) then unleash reactive armor. I'll have to try and see if this is viable. The remaining part of this post is gonna be about interesting spell combos - please share if you have any neat ones that you recommend!

It still seemed to do decent damage just not as much as it had done. I haven't really messed with too many skill combos, I recently restarted for the 289385th time and I've been having fun with Rupture Tendons + Chicken Claw but everybody knows about that one.

 

[BreezyLimbo]

Explorer = Easy
Classic = Medium
Tactical = Hard
Honor = Hard + one save file

I would recommend playing on Classic or Explorer on your first playthrough. You cannot change the difficulty of tactical so you'll be locked in and it's quite hard early.

ALWAYS GO HARD

I'ma go tactical first time around. I do love a challenge.