Like all RPGs, Divinity: Original Sin 2 has a slew of abilities and skills that your character can learn and use. There’s a lot of them to keep track of- you could either learn them on the fly and by trial and error as you play the game, or you could take the shortcut, and use our guide to learn about them yourselves, and get a head start on the game. The decision is up to you.

TALENTS

• Elemental Affinity – Spells cost 1AP less if you stand in their element
• Glass Cannon – Start each round with maximum AP, but loses resistance to statuses
• Duck Duck Goose – You can evade attacks of opportunity
• Elemental Ranger  – Arrows can deal additional damage
• Escapist – You can escape from all battles
• Pet Pal – Talk to animals
• Comeback Kid – Revives you once per battle
• Mnemonic – Memory attributes get 3 extra points
• Five Star Diner – Food effects doubled
• Executioner – Get 2 AP after dealing a killing blow.
• Picture of Health – Get +3% extra Vitality
• Savage Sortilege – 50% of your critical shot score chance applied to magical skills
• Slingshot – Grenades have an extra 5 meter range
• Stench – Attitude towards you will decrease by 25
• Ambidextrous – Grenades and scrolls cost 1AP less if your offhand hand is unoccupied.
• Arrow Recovery – 33% chance to recover a special arrow
• Far Out Man – Spells and scroll range increased by 2 meters
• Bigger and Better – Get 2 Attribute Points.
• Walk it Off – Reduces all status durations by 1 turn
• What A Rush – Increases your recovery and maximum Action Points by 1 when you are low on health
• Morning Person – Revive at full health
• Opportunist – Enables Attacks of Opportunity
• Parry Master – +10% dodge chance when duel wielding
• Leech – Standing in blood heals you
• The Pawn  – 1 free AP of movement every turn
• Torturer – Statuses you inflict last one turn extra
• Unstable – Deal  100% of your vitality as physical damage to everyone in a 3 meter vicinity
• Guerilla – 40% damage bonus while sneaking
• Ice King  –  +15% Water resistance and +15% fire weakness.

ABILITIES AND SKILLS

• Necromancer – Regain health whenever you damage Vitality
• Aerotheurge – Increases damage done to magic armor
• Scoundrel – Increases movement speed and Critical Damage
• Polymorph – Get another stat point per point
• Huntsman – Increases damage bonus when attacking from high ground
• Warfare – Increases damage done to physical armor
• Summoning – Summon and buff creatures
• Pyrokinetic – Boostsfire damage
• Hydrosophist – Boost healing and armor restoration
• Geomancer – Increases poison damage and physical armor restoration

WEAPON ABILITIES

• Ranged
• Dual Wielding
• Single Handed
• Two Handed

DEFENCE ABILITIES

• Perseverance – Grants Magical and Physical armor
• Retribution – Damage countered to attacker
• Leadership – Gain bonuses for the party

Divinity: Original Sin 2 is arguably more of a hardcore, old school, number crunching style RPG than most other RPGs we have gotten in recent years- and this is something that is well represented in the full range of classes and races that are available in the game, all of which are fairly differentiated.

In this guide, we cover these different classes and races, as well as their unique perks and bonuses.

CLASSES ATTRIBUTES

These are the following classes in the game, along with the stat boosts you get for picking each:

• Wayfarer
  Finesse +2, Intelligence +1
• Enchanter
  Intelligence +1, Constitution +2
• Fighter
  Strength +1, Constitution +2
• Inquisitor
  Intelligence +2, Constitution +1
• Knight
  Strength +2, Constitution +1
• Shadowblade
  Finesse +2, Intelligence +1
• Witch
  Intelligence +2, Constitution +2
• Wizard
  Intelligence +2, Constitution +1
• Battlemage
  Strength +1, Intelligence +1, Constitution +1
• Metamorph
  Strength +2, Finesse +2
• Ranger
  Finesse +2, Wits +1
• Rogue
  Finesse +2, Wits +1
• Cleric
  Strength +1, Intelligence +2
• Conjurer
  Finesse +1, Intelligence +2

RACES

In addition to the class of your character, you also pick and choose a race, based on typical fantasy archetypes. While you can mix and match classes, each race is better suited for some classes, and worse off for others. Below are the races in the game:

• Dwarf
  Good for fighting and melee style classes
  
  • Dwarven Guile talents give players +1 in Sneak.
  • Sturdy talent grants players with +5% Dodging and +10% maximum Vitality.
• Undead Dwarf
  Undead sub-race
  • Sturdy  talent allows +5% dodging and +10% maximum Vitality.
  • Undead talent allows poison healing.
• Elf
  Better for ranged and mana driven classes
  • Ancestral Knowledge talent Gives players +1 Loremaster.
  • Corpse Eater talents allows players to access the dead’s memories.
• Undead Elf
  Undead sub-race
  • Corpse Eater talents allows players to access the dead’s memories.
  • Undead talent allows poison to heal you.
• Human
  Well rounded race, good for all playstyles, but excellent at none
  • Thrifty talent allows +1 Bartering.
  • Ingenious talent allows you +2 Initiative and +5% Crit Chance.
• Undead Human
  Undead sub-race
  • Ingenious talent allows +2 Initiative and +5% Crit Chance.
  • Undead talent allows poison to heal you.
• Lizard
  Learned masters of the arcane, best at being mages
  
  • Sophisticated talent allows +10% Poison and Fire resistance.
  • Spellsong gives +1 in Persuasion.
• Undead Lizard
  Undead sub-race
  • Sophisticated talent allows +10% Poison and Fire resistance.
  • Undead talent allows poison to heal you.

A lot of modern games have hidden NPCs to hunt down who give you access to special items, and crafting mechanics- but very few maintain the original intended spirit of those mechanics, which is derived from old school tabletop and cRPGs.

However, Divinity: Original Sin 2, which is designed to channel that old school brand of role playing game, is not ‘a lot of modern games’. It wears its heart and inspiration on its sleeve: the result is that it has some classic cRPG style merchant hunting and crafting.

MERCHANTS

Gareth – Warfare and Geomancer merchant
Gareth first needs to be saved- after this has been done, you can find him roaming in the camp, usually next to the tent with the wounded people (or sometimes near Exter).

Kerban – Necromancer merchant
Kerban can be found near the shelter shrine in the Seeker’s Hideout.

Samadel – Pyrokinetic Merchant
Samadel can be found on the north side of the Seeker’s Hideout.

Rezik – Hydrosophist Book Merchant
Find Rezik on the West side of the Fort Joy Room.

Gratiana – Aerotheurge Merchant
Gratiana can be found in the south of the Seeker’s Hideout.

Bahara – Huntsman Merchant
Bahara can be found at the entrance of the Seeker’s Hideout.

Simone – Hydrosophist Merchant
Can be found near the north side of the Seeker’s Hideout.

CRAFTING

Find recipes for all sorts of items below:

• Fire Resistance Potion = Guepinia Mushroom + Empty Potion Bottle
• Small Magic Armor Potion = Empty Potion Bottle + Whisperwood
• Potion of Strong Will = Empty Potion Bottle + Fire Essence
• Potion of Electric Skin = Air Essence + Empty Potion Bottle
• Water Resistance Potion = Empty Potion Bottle + Bluegill Mushroom
• Air Resistance Potion = Empty Potion Bottle + Jellyroom
• Minor Resist All Potion = Empty Potion Bottle + Trumpet of Death
• Stoneskin Potion = Empty Potion Bottle + Earth Essence
• Stunning Arrowhead = Tooth + Knife
• Tremor Grenade = Earth Essence + Empty Canister
• Terror Grenade = Empty Canister + Tormented Soul
• Chemical Warfare Grenade = Empty Canister + Intestines
• Water Balloon = Intestines + Barrel Water Source
• Love Grenade = Pixie Dust + Empty Perfume Bottle
• Tomato Sauce = Tomato + Hammer
• Sharp Stone on a Stick = Sharp Rock + Short Branch
• Fortify Scroll = Sheet of Paper + Earth Essence + Whisperwood
• Rain Scroll = Sheet of Paper + Water Essence + Herring
• Lockpicks = Repair Hammer + Nails
• Pixie Dust = Bonedust + Stardust
• Charming Arrowhead = Honey Source + Arrowhead
• Intelligence Potion = Empty Potion Bottle + Calocera
• Wits Potion = Empty Potion Bottle + Puffball
• Constitution Potion = Empty Potion Bottle + Farhangite
• Finesse Potion = Empty Potion Bottle + Boletus
• Apple Juice = Apple + Empty Cup
• Huge Healing Potion = Healing Potion + Healing Potion
• Healing Elixir = Empty Potion Bottle + Yarrow Flower
• Orange Juice = Orange + Empty Cup
• Improvised Wand = Short Stick + Skull
• Pumpkin Soup = Pumpkin + Cooking Station
• Thunderbolt Grenade = Empty Canister + Air Essence
• Frost Grenade = Empty Grenade + Water Essence
• Poison Cloud Grenade = Empty Grenade + Ooze Source
• Nailbomb Grenade = Nails/Broken Bottle + Empty Grenade
• Poison Flask = Empty Flask + Barrel Ooze Source
• Razzle Dazzle Grenade = Empty Canister + Jellyroom
• Oil Flask = Empty Flask + Barrel Oil Source
• Thread = Hair + Hair
• Bonedust = Bone + Mortar

Divinity: Original Sin 2 is an old school style RPG- this means that if you have grown up on a diet of Witcher, Elder Scrolls, and Mass Effect, you might actually be in for a bit of a shock. This is because Divinity: Original Sin 2, while sharing some of the same DNA, is largely cut from a very different cloth, and plays very differently, than those games.

So- you might end up not doing well. Not unless you are familiar with old school cRPGs. Or, alternately, we can help catch you up, with some general tips and tricks, that you can see for yourself below:

• Attack enemies based on the armor they have equipped (physical attacks against physical armor, magical attacks against magical armor)
• Making enemies Bleed and Cursed enhances elemental advantges
• Be aware of the battlefield, and see if you can use it to gain an advantage in battle
• Engage in as many quests as you can
• Talk to everybody!
• Hit F5 to quick save your game frequently
• Increase the size of your inventory by finding bags as frequently as you can
• Focus and emphasize your character on a specific set of skills- all rounder characters tend to do poorly in Divinity: Original Sin 2

Divinity: Original Sin 2 has a host of mechanics, weapons, combos, and more that you can leverage to have things go your way- if you are smart enough about it. Of course, as previously mentioned, either you are familiar with the type of game Divinity is (in which case you’ll be fine), or you are not, in which case you need help (or you end up playing blind, and resorting to trial and error).

That’s where we come in.

WEAPONS

• One Handed: Swords, maces, daggers, axes, wands
• Two Handed:  Clamores, swords, axes, hammers, maces, spears, staves
• Ranged: Bow, crossbow, wand, staff
• Shields

COMBINATIONS

Weapon Combos:

• Dual wielding one handed weapons
• Using a single one handed or two handed weapon
• Using one handed weapon+shield
• Ranged weapon

Skill Combos:

• Necromancer+Retribution: Near invincibility, with necromancer healing you by 10%, and retribution dishing out 10% damage per attack levied at you
• Warfare+Hydrosophist+Pyrokinetic: Tanky build
• Huntsman+Polymorph: Movement across battlefield