Divinity: Original Sin 2 – Combat Abilities and Skills Guide

by Falagar / Articles, Divinity: Original Sin 2 / 26 Sep 2017

There are 10 schools of skills in the game. They are WARFARE, HUNTSMAN, SCOUNDREL, PYROKINETIC, HYDROSOPHIST, AEROTHEURGE, GEOMANCER, NECROMANCER, SUMMONING, and POLYMORPH. Each skill adds a different utility to a character. Below we’ll go over what each of them does.

On top of that, you have abilities that do not have any skills associated with them. Instead, they offer various combat bonuses. These are SINGLE-HANDED, TWO-HANDED, RANGED, DUAL-WIELDING, RETRIBUTION, LEADERSHIP, and PERSEVERANCE.

–Warfare is the way of the physical damage character or more clearly, a character that uses non-magical damage to hurt his enemies. Warfare skills are focused on being up close and personal to the enemy using melee weapons like a sword and shield or a spear. They are meant to hinder enemy attacks and be the first line of defense against enemy attacks and magic. Examples of Warfare skills are Battering Ram, which rushes your character to a specific enemy, knocking down other enemies along the way, and Shield Throw which allows the player to throw their shield at enemies and ricchochet to other nearby enemies. Each point in Warfare increases the damage done by physical attacks by 5%. Archetype builds would be the massive tank in plate mail armor with a sword and shield or the raging barbarian with a 2 handed axe rushing to the first enemy he sees.

–Huntsman is all about ranged attacks of all types. A good huntsman will always keep their enemies at range, using various skills to evade enemies. A great huntsman will find the high ground to have a combat advantage over his prey and deal massive amounts of damage while his enemies remain helpless. A typical huntsman will wield a bow or crossbow and rain death from the furthest possible vantage points. Example skills are Elemental Arrows, which allows you to imbue your basic attacks with an element within melee range of your character and Ricochet, which allows your arrows to bounce off enemies to nearby enemies. Each point in Huntsman adds a 5% damage boost when attacking from higher ground. The more points in Huntsman, the bigger the boost to the damage. This also applies to ranged magic attacks from magic skills.

–Scoundrel is the delicate and fine art of combat. Rather than the brute force approach of the Warfare grunt or the cowardly ranged attacks of the Huntsman, a Scoundrel will dart in and out of the shadows to slit the throats of his prey. Wielding 2 daggers and always aiming for the back, a scoundrel will always be the last thing you see before you see the infinite void of death. Example of Scoundrel skills are Backlash, which allows the Scoundrel to teleport behind the enemy and backstab them with both daggers and Adrenaline, which gives you 2 extra Action Points this turn for -2 Action Points to start the next turn. Each point in Scoundrel increases your Critical Hit Multiplier (how hard you hit with your critical attacks and backstabs) as well as allows you to move further each turn. A typical Scoundrel will also employ magical skills to enhance his abilities or delve into other forms of physical skills to enhance his abilities.

–Pyrokinetic is about setting as many things in the world on fire at once. You have a burning desire to set the world aflame, both friend and foe. When you are not busy being the ultimate tool of destruction, you also use your burning intelligence to enhance yourself and your allies through various means, such as making their weapons deal fire damage. A typical Pyro will wield a staff or 2 wands to enhance his personal arsenal of fire-based attacks. A few examples of Pyro skills are Searing Daggers, which allows you to send 3 projectiles at varying (or the same) enemies and potentially lighting them on fire and Haste which makes the character move faster and gives additional Action Points per turn. Each point in Pyrokinetic increases fire damage by 5%. A typical pyro will stand fairly close to the battlefield, preferably from a high vantage point for bonus attack damage and will target as many enemies as possible with their area of effect attacks.

–Hydrosophist are calm, cool, and collected magic users who use the power of water to heal, shield, and aid their allies. They can also turn the tides on enemies, unleashing the devastating power of water to hinder, hit, and even freeze enemies in their tracks. A typical Hydro will wield a staff or a wand and shield for extra protection. A few examples of Hydro skills are Regeneration which heals a target’s Vitality every turn for the duration of the skill and Hail Strike, which drops icicles from the sky in a triangle pattern to deal water damage to enemies and potentially chill or freeze them. Each point in Hydro increases water damage dealt, the amount of vitality healed, and the amount of magical armor regenerated by 5%. A typical Hydro tends to be in the middle of his allies, aiding when needed but providing much-needed damage assistance and hindrance to his enemies.

-Aerotheurge commands the element of air and lightning at her fingertips. The clouds converge to unleash devastation to their enemies in commanding lightning attacks or they can use their own body chemistry to unleash electricity from their fingertips. Such is the power of the Aerotheurge that enemies hit by their attacks become shocked or stunned. A typical Aero will wield a staff or 2 wands to enhance the devastation of her skills. A few examples of Aero skills are Electric Discharge, which shoots a bolt of electricity from your hand to an enemy, shocking them and Blinding Radiance, an aura of intense air and light that blinds enemies and deals damage around your character. Each point in Aero increases damage of Aero skills by 5%. A typical Aero requires enemies to be clumped together since many of their attacks will hit multiple enemies multiple times or be close to their enemies for the various auras around them.

-Geomancers are masters of the earth, using the power of soil and poison to stop enemies in their tracks and hinder them while their health steadily declines. With the power to manipulate mountains, you can change the terrain to benefit your allies and hinder your enemies or use that power to form protective armor around yourself or allies. An enemy that can barely move while poisoned is an enemy that will die before they ever reach you. A typical Geo will use a staff or a wand and shield to bolster their already formidable defenses. A few examples of Geo skills are Fossil Strike which launches a giant ball of oil to damage your enemies and create a puddle of oil which slows them and Poison Dart which launches a magical poison dart at an enemy. When it lands it creates a puddle of poison at their feet. Each point spend in Geo increases damage dealt by Geo skills by 5% and 5% more physical armor regenerated from skills and potions. A typical Geo will stand close to a Pyro, setting them up with oil puddles and enemies covered in oil to set them aflame.

–Summoning is the lost art of created allies out of thin air to temporarily add to your ranks in combat. A summoner can then bolster these allies with various types of magic and use that magic to aid their comrades or damage their enemies. The art of summoning is not about raw damage; its about overpowering your enemy with sheer numbers alone. A typical summoner will use a staff or 2 wands to bolster quasi-weak attack skills from summoning. A few examples of Summoning skills are: Conjure Incarnate which summons an impish figure in battle. Summoning them in various elements infuses them with that element. Summoning him in fire makes him a Fire Incarnate, giving him fire resistance and fire abilities. Another example is Elemental Totem, which can also be summoned in elements like the Incarnate. They cannot move and you cannot control them. They will attack varying enemies within their line of sight; however, you can summon one each turn, allowing you to start over powering your enemies with more numbers if they don’t focus their attention on your summons. Each point spent in Summoning gives a 5% boost to your summons Vitality, Damage, and Armor stats. A typical summoner will be in the forward ranks behind the first line of defense so that their conjured allies can be a formidable second line of defense should you need it while also contributing to a great forward attack.

–Necromancers use the power of the dead to empower the living, giving them formidable power in combat and magical skills. A necromancer will use and abuse the corpses of your enemies and turn them against their former allies or they can use them to enhance the necromancer and his party. A typical Necromancer will use a staff or 2 wands to abuse the power of necromancy. A few example of Necromancer skills are Raise Bloated Corpse, which uses a fallen corpse on the battlefield and turns it into a bloated zombie, ready to detonate at any time at your command or Decaying Touch which deals damage and starts decaying your enemies so that when their allies try to heal them they take damage instead. Each point in Necromancer heals the Necromancer 10% of all direct damage dealt to enemies on all attacks. A typical necromancer will either be on the frontline with the first line of defense or in the middle using the power of death and decay to hamper and hinder enemies.

–Polymorphs have the innate ability to alter their forms into that of various animals and other forms. They then use these forms to directly benefit their already formidable combat abilities. A Polymorph is unlike other spellcasters in that they tend to focus on the raw power of strength rather than intelligence to focus their spells. As such, they make great first line of defense allies to throw at enemies. A typical Polymorph will use a physical damage weapon, preferably a melee weapon which uses strength properties like a sword or a mace. A few examples of Polymorph skills are Chicken Claw, which damage an enemy and temporarily turns them into a chicken and Tentacle Lash which turns your arm into a tentable to slap the opponent and disarm them of their weapon. Each point invested into Polymorph grants an additional attribute point to spend. A typical Polymorph will be in the thich of battle, using his formidable powers of transformation to enhance himself.

The remaining 7 give unique combat bonuses but do not have any skills associated with them.

-Single Handed increases damage and accuracy by 5% when only using a one-handed weapon with or without a shield.

-Two-Handed increases the damage and critical hit multiplier by 5% when using a weapon that needs to be wielded by 2 hands.

-Ranged increased damage and critical hit chance by 5% when using a ranged weapon like a bow or crossbow.

-Dual Wielding increases damage and dodge chance by 5% when using a 1 handed weapon in both hands.

-Retribution reflects 5% of all direct damage taken back to the attacker.

-Leadership adds 2% dodge and 3% resistance of all elemental types to all allies (except you).

-Perseverance gives 5% physical armor restored when recovering from being knocked down or petrified and 5% magical armor restored when recovering from being frozen or stunned.

Falagar

He is the founder and editor of Magic Game World. He loved gaming from the moment he got a PlayStation 1 with Gran Turismo on his 7th birthday.
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