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When you choose to start a new game, you’re brought to this trio of paintings that shift and change when you select your difficulty.
And Tactician Mode, which is the most difficult mode, also comes with an even harder challenge called Honour Mode, which is just Iron Man, meaning you only get one save file, and if you party wipe, it deletes itself.
I love this game. I’ve put in over five hundred hours and I’ve beaten it three times. I’ll be going on Tactician, but not Honour.
After you choose your difficulty, you’re brought to character selection/creation.
In this screen, we can choose between six different named characters, or we can create our own character from scratch. Each of the six named characters has their own story to tell in the overall plot of the game, and we can see them through to their own endings if we choose to play as them, or have them in our party. Each character has their own unique talents and skills that can be used civilly, socially, or in combat.
If we wanted to make our own unique character instead, then they could be any race between human, elf, dwarf, or lizard. We can take it a step further, too, and make them undead. Each race comes with their own skills and strengths (the named characters have them as well), but they also come with one skill that the named characters don’t, called Dome of Protection. I’ll get into spells, skills, and unique abilities in the proper LP.
Character intros and origin stories
While our party can have up to four people, only one of them can be the player’s avatar. This is where I write out what makes the named characters unique, plus what their skills are, and what some options are available to us when it comes to unique characters.
Intro
For the purposes of this test post, I’m just going a normal-ass human dude with a default name. After that, we’re dropped into the game proper.
After this lady makes fun of us for being drugged, she flips a switch on the nearby wall, which releases us from our bindings and lets us up from our holdings.
: So it… it wasn’t a dream after all…
Once we’re up, we’re free to explore the hull of the ship that we’re on to our liking. This is a very small tutorial ‘dungeon’ that’s about five rooms large that introduces you to movement; game physics; puzzle solving; civil abilities, such as persuasion; thievery skills; combat; and whether or not you can talk to animals.
This being an RPG, you can loot damn near any container you find. 99% of the time, they’re unlocked, but they also don’t contain anything unless you have the Lucky Charm perk, which I’ll get into in the real LP.
Clicking on a surface will have your character move to its location, marked by this white circle. If the location is on a different elevation than they are (say, for example, up a scaffolding), they’ll take whatever means is available to reach it, i.e. ladders, rock surfaces, etc.
The ground can have any number of elements or chemicals on it. The ground could be wet with puddles; there could be an oil spill; maybe it’s just some toxic sludge or something. If the surface is immediately harmful or dangerous, such as fire or poison, your character will attempt to find a path around the surface before continuing to your destination. Otherwise, such as with oil or water, they’ll walk right through it.
This doesn’t apply to combat, but we’ll get to that in a bit.
This being an RPG, you can pick up damn near anything that isn’t nailed down, and hell, even then. Buckets serve multiple purposes, primarily for crafting, but….
… They also make for helmets in a pinch. It’s better than nothing!
I always prefer to keep the helmet visual off, myself. Some helmets, particularly for elves and wizards, can get downright goofy. Divinity: Original Sin 1 had the option to make helmets visible for combat only, and that option doesn’t appear in 2, which is a bummer. I would have preferred that option over the others.
Here’s our first ‘puzzle,’ a very simple physics-based puzzle. This crate is blocking our path to the door. The crate essentially weighs nothing, so just about every build in the game will be able to move it by clicking and dragging it a distance away.
Inside it was this stained shirt, which provides slightly more armour than what we’re wearing, which provides nothing at all.
It’s pretty dapper for a stained shirt that provides token protection, if you ask me.
Once we equip it, we can set our old equipment as ‘wares.’ The next time we encounter someone that’s willing to trade (which is most everyone, although traders are more open to discussion, obviously), all we have to do is click a button, and any item that we’ve marked as wares will automatically be offered up for trade. It’s incredibly convenient; for as well-received as Divinity: Original Sin 2 is, one common complaint it’s always had is with its inventory management, and not having to rifle through your pockets for all your wares was a very wise design decision.
Anyway, let’s heft a box.
How far you can move an object depends on its weight, and on the Strength stat of the character doing the moving. However, all characters can also learn Telekinesis, and the larger that stat is, the farther they can move objects regardless of weight. This is an incredibly important skill to have for speedrunners, but is marginally useful at best for casual playthroughs.
If we have the Pet Pal perk (which we will, because it’s incredibly important, but we don’t for this test recording), we’ll be able to talk to animals, including this sheep. But we don’t, so we get this instead.
The door leading further in is locked, and the vase in the corner contains a key for us to leave this room. The intent was for us to move more boxes, but we can just reach between the cracks of the crates and pluck the key out without solving this ‘puzzle.’
Checking everything is pretty useful and yields the occasional reward, especially if you have Lucky Charm. You’re encouraged to check every last box and crate and jug you can find at all times. But looking through empty boxes can get pretty tedious, since you need to close their little pop-up windows too – in that case, pressing Space will take everything in the container and then close the window, even if it contains nothing. So that streamlines the process a bit.
The next room contains a slightly different puzzle, as well as a note.
I tend not to pick up letters, notes, or non-skillbook books, if I can help it. Keeps the inventory less cluttered.
There are two pressure plates here, and if we want to leave, we just need to put stuff on top of them. Easy enough.
The barrel in the corner contains this pocket knife, which can be equipped in either our main hand or our offhand. Our offhand can wield anything our main hand can, but with a damage penalty if we’re using a one-handed weapon, such as swords or knives. We can dual-wield swords, or we can use both hands for a great, heavy weapon such as a sword or hammer, or we can use both hands to wield a staff or spear, or we can use our offhand to hold a shield. Or we can keep it empty, that’s a valid strategy: if one of our hands is empty, we get a skill called Sucker Punch, which grants knockdown on success, and knockdown is a very powerful status to inflict.
In the next room, we’re introduced to the ship’s brig. Looks like there have been a few spills; two oil barrels, as well as some water between the stairs and the gentleman in the distance.
Walking through some surfaces can apply status ailments. Walking through oil makes me slowed, which increases movement costs during combat on top of literally making me move slower.
The guy in the brig is looking for us to bust him out somehow, and we have a few options regarding how we want to handle this conversation. Hemwar is wearing one of those glowing collars, same as me – maybe he and I aren’t so different?
: … so, what are you in for?
: Your guess is as good as mine. Someone screamed, loud as a banshee. After that? Pure pandemonium. They never even told me what I was accused of – just dragged me down here.
: I’m not sure if I’m in the business of risking my own security for some stranger. What’s in it for me?
: Set me free, and I’ll set you free. A fair trade, I should think?
Hmm. Hemwar is suggesting we work together to get off this boat. What do you think? Should we set Hemwar free?
While we stew on that, let’s head towards the guy sitting on the stool – but, first, let’s pick up that scroll. Scrolls are essentially ‘free magic,’ in the sense that I don’t need to be an aerothurgist to cast this Electric Discharge spell. It’ll still cost me action points to use, and it’s scaled by my Intelligence stat so it’ll be less effective than if a real mage used it, but, the option is available to me now.
I feel as though we shouldn’t interrupt this guy’s nap. Let sleeping dogs lie, and all. I’ll ignore him for now.
This next door is also locked. I’m willing to bed that sleeping magister has the key, but my pickpocketing skill isn’t high enough for me to attempt to steal it.
Luckily, however, some idiot left some lockpicks in the barrel just beside the door.
While most doors and chests can be picked, whether or not you’re successful depends on your lockpicking skill. Mine is currently zero, but, this being a tutorial dungeon, the lock doesn’t require any skill points in lockpicking to succeed, so….
The next room over is a laboratory, filled with racks of bottles; some research equipment; a torture device or two; and what good would a lab be without a toxic chemical spill?
Empty bottles are good for crafting stuff, of course. Some bottles give you temporary buffs to stats, including this one, which gives me 8 extra physical armour for 5 turns.
You can interact with most objects and devices in the game. If you don’t have a bedroll, you can lie down in a bed you find in the overworld, and that’ll restore your health over time. If you find a bed of nails, or an iron maiden or something, you bet your ass you can jump right on in. Why not?
Pressing a button will highlight every named item that you can pick up or interact with, so you don’t have to keep a sharp eye like you’re playing a point-and-click adventure game or something. And if you want to pick up something, you can click on their name rather than the object specifically.
Interacting with this candle will either blow it out or light it back up.
I want to go through this door, but not only is it locked, and not only do I not have the key or any lockpicks, but there’s also a huge puddle of toxic chemicals in front of it. If I were to try and walk through it, I’d take a ton of poison damage that would linger for some time, even after I step off of it.
Luckily, however, toxic ooze is flammable. So if I were to apply my physics-based puzzle-solving skills and move that candle onto the ooze….
I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t think this all the way through. Also, I’m standing in the lowest level of a wooden ship.
Still, fire surfaces extinguish eventually, whereas the ooze would have stayed forever. It’s only a matter of time until the fire goes out and my path to the door is cleared.
Once the fire goes out, I’m left with a giant, billowing cloud of smoke. Smoke acts as a visual wall that you can walk through – it doesn’t hurt to stand in it, but while I am, my vision is reduced to as far as my arms can reach, meaning any ranged attack (say, with a bow) or spell that requires line-of-sight on the enemy will be ineffective.
That, too, leaves after a moment, however.
Still no solutions to this, though. All I have is my knife.
Well, as they say, when all you have is a knife, everything looks like a nail. I will not be taking questions at this time.
Attacking objects like this will reduce your weapon’s durability, but they can be repaired, and, luckily, my pocket knife is more than sturdy enough to bust down this door. A few attacks on it is all it takes for it to crumble to pieces.
At the end of this hallway is a lever, which, when pulled, puts me right back at the beginning of this tutorial dungeon.
Now, that would conclude this test post, but let’s assume that the thread voted to not help Hemwar. Instead, let’s wake up that magister from before.
: Mmmm… is my shift over? Are you here to relieve me?
Many times over the course of the game, I’ll be presented with an opportunity to try and persuade whoever (or, sometimes, whatever) I’m speaking with. My options are based on my stats – for example, my constitution stat is currently my highest stat, so I’d prefer to try and convince him by using that option instead.
: I heard some shouting above decks and what sounded like a scuffle. They probably need you up there more than they need you to look after an unarmed man in a cage.
However, some choices are a little tougher than others.
: I was a soldier before I was captured. That man looks like he hasn’t had a decent meal in days. I can handle a shoddy prisoner while you go and help the others.
Sometimes, you need to meet a minimum threshold in your persuasion stat before your other stats are even factored in. If you don’t have the minimum persuasion to succeed, then you’ll fail regardless of whichever option you choose. You aren’t told of how much persuasion you need to succeed until after you make your choice.
: If it’s all the same, I think it’s best he comes with me. Some offence intended. Hear that, Hemwar? We’re taking a walk!
Well, I tried. And at least Hemwar is getting out of that prison cell.
Oh, this doesn’t look promising.
Hem.png: No – no, you most certainly don’t.
Hemwar waited until the magister was at the top of the stairs, next to the oil, before he lets out a massive fireball.
Rennart’s target is Hemwar, not me, and Hemwar is closer anyway, so he focuses on him first. During combat, player characters are highlighted in blue; enemies, in red; friendlies, in green; and neutrals, in yellow. You can make fast friends – or enemies – with neutral parties depending on your actions in combat.
Rennart only wants Hemwar and I could stand to stay out of it, but Hemwar is focusing on me.
Well, shoot, he wants a fight; I’ll give him one.
One of my abilities is Battle Stomp: it knocks down enemies in a cone in front of me, doing damage scaled to either my Strength or Finesse, based on my weapon – in this case, Finesse – as well as my Warfare stat, which is currently zero. Battle Stomp also clears non-cursed surfaces and clouds, making it good for fighting against crowd control.
Unfortunately, Rennart isn’t a big fan of me stealing his kill, I guess, so now he’s highlighted in red. Not a big deal, honestly; that just means he’s experience for the taking.
I mentioned earlier that, since my offhand is free, I get access to an attack called Sucker Punch. Hemwar was already knocked down, so Sucker Punch’s primary use won’t be very, well, useful here, but hell, why not?
Since it uses my unarmed fist to attack, it’s range is only as long as my arm.
I have one more action point to spend, so I’ll use it on Fortify, which gives me an additional 8 physical armour; makes me immune to being warped or teleported; and removes a number of other statuses, if applicable.
That ends my turn. Rennart opens his by roundhouse kicking Hemwar in the back of the skull, followed by another kick to the back of his knee.
Hemwar, however, recognizes me as the real threat, and continues to focus me down.
For my next turn, I want to get behind Hemwar so I can backstab him – a trait unique to knives only, giving them a massive damage boost – but I need to walk through oil to reach him. Normally, character pathing will try and avoid surfaces like that if possible, but during combat, positioning is everything, and if you want to try and move somewhere, but that would mean walking through a dangerous or disadvantageous surface, the character will instead go straight through it to reach their destination.
Anyway, now I’m all oiled up, which makes me slower, apparently. But hey, check out this damage!
Unfortunately for Rennart, though, he’s currently on fire, which does damage at the start of his every turn. He has less HP than he can tank from the fire, so, as soon as his turn begins, he burns to a crisp.
: A dead Magister? Somebody’ll have to take the blame for this… and it won’t be me.
: So much for a peaceful stroll.
Hemwar takes his turn kicking me in the shins, and then it’s mine again. I have some action points to spare, and I still have Encourage that’s not on cooldown, so I might as well use that.
I try to move around him for another backstab, but he sees right through me and lets me know.
I can’t kill him this turn, so I get in one more stab, and then I end my turn. At the beginning of his, he decides that, if he’s not going to be able to kill me, he’ll at least make me mildly inconvenienced.
However, Battle Stomp will clear a path right through this – and it’ll take out Hemwar in the meantime.
Hemwar, being a prisoner with nothing but the pants on his waist, isn’t carrying anything. Rennart, however, at least has a key that would have been useful a moment ago.
: What would he have to gain by killing me? I need to keep my guard up…