Divinity Original Sin 2 is a fantastic game with so much content to explore, from countless side-quests to different character builds to try. It is most certainly one of Larian Studios' best games. You play as a group of up to four Sourcerers attempting to escape imprisonment and discover their destinies. Luckily, you'll have a wide range of powers to help you with your quest.
Alongside upgrading your base attributes, such as Strength and Finesse, you will also get to specialize in specific abilities as you level up throughout the game. There are two types of Abilities: Combat Abilities and Civil Abilities. Each one offers valuable benefits to help you in certain situations. It can be challenging to decide what abilities to focus on when leveling up during your first playthrough. So, here is a beginner's guide on what ten abilities are great to focus on first.
10 Loremaster
Divinity Original Sin 2 can be quite a long, challenging game, especially if you are also taking on all of the side stories. So, it's essential to make sure you have the best equipment with you at all times. With the use of an Identifying Glass and some points put into the Loremaster Ability, you can identify items and weapons so you can use them yourself. This is really useful, so it's good to make sure one member of your party has some points in Loremaster.
Loremaster will also give you more information about your enemies, such as what they are resistant to. This can be very useful when fighting mysterious threats.
9 Summoning
The Summoning Ability makes your summons stronger, allowing them to last longer in the fight. With each point you invest, they will increase their Vitality, Damage, and Armour. An extra turn in a battle can be the tipping point to ensure victory, even if your summon is just fodder for the enemy's attacks.
There are some really fun summoner skills to make use of, from the starting Incarnate that can be upgraded with different Summoning Skills to Totems, and even an Inner Demon eventually. The Summoning Ability is an excellent choice for beginners to ensure your summons stick around for far longer.
8 Bartering
Bartering is beneficial when you are trying to make a lot of gold in a short amount of time. This Civil Ability will make any trader decrease the prices of their items while also making your items more expensive. No matter what you want to buy, from health potions to skill books, it can be advantageous to have that price drop, especially early on in the game.
As with Loremaster, you should assign one character from your party to be the one spending points in Bartering. After that, make sure that they are the go-to when trading. So, send all your items to their inventory and have them charm their way into a great deal.
7 Thievery
One of the first things that beginners will learn about this game is how invaluable Thievery can be... if you can get away with it. You can only pickpocket an NPC once, so make it count. You'll also want to make sure whoever specializes in Thievery is quite sneaky to avoid being seen while you steal all that valuable loot.
The Thievery Ability will also allow you to lockpick increasingly more complex locks. This can let you slip past dangerous threats or discover areas you might have otherwise been inaccessible. Thievery is excellent for giving you more paths to take in your adventure.
6 Specialize In a Weapon Ability
In the list of Combat Abilities, there are four Weapon Abilities to choose from. These are:
- Dual Wielding
- Ranged
- Single-Handed
- Two-Handed
These will all increase the damage you deal with this style of weapon. As a beginner, it's a good idea to decide what weapon type you want to focus on and put points in only that one ability.
For example, If you know that you are planning to play as a ranger build, you could focus on the Ranged Ability, alongside Huntsman too. The more you distribute points into a particular Weapon Ability, the more chance you'll have of dealing critical hits as well.
5 Polymorph
Polymorph is an excellent Ability to focus on if you want to improve your base Attributes even further. These are:
- Strength
- Finesse
- Intelligence
- Constitution
- Memory
- Wits
Your Attributes are vital, so being able to upgrade them further is key to success. For example, the more Memory you have, the more slots you'll have for your skills. As a beginner, if you are unsure what you want to focus on, using Polymorph to boost your Constitution and give yourself more health is a great choice.
Not only do you get those valuable attribute upgrades, but you'll also gain access to some fantastic Polymorph Skills, such as the ability to turn your enemies into chickens with Chicken Claw.
4 Leadership
No matter who you decide to play as out of the incredible characters available, you can't go too wrong with spending your level-up ability points on Leadership. Leadership will grant bonuses to your allies around you. The more you level up Leadership, the better your allies will be at dodging and resisting attacks.
Since you will usually have at least four of you in your party, fighting close together as a team, this bonus will often come in handy. It does have a short range of effect, so this ability is best used for close-ranged parties, who will all be in the middle of the fight. The one with the Leadership Ability does not get the benefits, so give this to the most formidable character you have.
3 Necromancer
If you are playing as an undead character, such as Fane, you might want to invest some points into Necromancer. Since you cannot heal in ordinary ways, Necromancy offers excellent alternatives to leech off health from your enemies. Every time you damage an enemy's vitality, the damage will heal you simultaneously. This will increase with each point you invest into the Ability.
There are also some remarkable skills in this character build to explore. You can cause the sky to rain blood and then use the Blood Sucker skill to heal yourself from the blood puddles around you. It's pretty twisted but is incredibly useful now that healing potions will not help you.
2 Hydrosophist
No matter what class you might be wanting to play as it's a good idea to have at least one person on your team have points invested into the Hydrosophist Ability. Healing is invaluable, especially during some of the deadlier encounters you will face during the game.
Each point you put into Hydrosophist will increase the amount of vitality healing you can do, making your healing skills far better. You can get the Restoration Skill right away if you invest in this Ability, so you'll be able to designate a party healer to keep everyone safe.
1 Persuasion
Divinity Original Sin 2 offers you the chance to take on the role of the charismatic bard with its Persuasion Ability. This is an excellent choice for beginners and is the best Civil Ability of them all. The more you invest in the Persuasion Ability, the more NPCs will like you. Most importantly, you will increase your chance of convincing characters with persuasion checks.
Persuasion is a vital tool at your disposal in this game. It can allow you to discover entirely different story routes to take. It can help you get crucial pieces of information or perhaps even avoid a deadly fight before you're ready for it. Persuasion is the best pick for those who want to befriend those around them and convince everyone to see your point of view.