Larian Studios Forums Divinity - Original Sin Divinity Original Sin - Help/Tips/Tricks Help for a beginner

Howdy folks,

I owned this game for about a year now, but never managed to play it properly. Now, I would like to do it, more so now that the 2nd is on its way to Steam. I can be considered a complete newbie, even though I know the game mechanics. I wonder which class(es) I can choose to get a rewarding walkthrough, as I'm very single player oriented and the fact that there's the 2nd char just startles me a bit. I usually like rangers and versatile spellcasters.. who can help me get started? Please ask me any question you see fit in order to determine the best party. I also would like to just decide dialogue options for myself, and possibly NOT for the partner.
Thank you!

You can make one of your characters a ranger. They are very good mid to late game. Early game its better to stick with Bows and putting points into dex and speed while getting perception gear, then after Act 1, its better to switch to Xbows.

For second character, you can make a wizard. Putting points into Geo and Pyro. This game is all about elements, and how they interact with each other. With Geo and Pyro, you get Oil and then fire to light that Oil up. For party members once you get to town, you get a rogue, a ranger, a 2H knight (can be tank) and another mage who is spec'd into Aero and Hydro, which makes him a good 3rd member for your party as he can be a healer and CC support. For 4th member, only thing you're missing is the tank, which can be your knight.

In this game, levels are everything. They are a bit far apart, and every level counts, so for your first playthrough, try not to be a jack of all trades, instead be a master of one or 2 things for your characters.

Ok, so I will try to stay a bit focused on the roles. I'd like to build a ranged scoundrel. The mage will be ok for the second character. So the party should be: me and the other plus madora and jahan? Maybe one mage with wand and the other with staff..? I'd like to also have some social skills. Do you think I'll be losing on something else?

For social skills, I would focus on lockpicking for the most part (if u can call them social). Your rogue should focus on that.

Leadership is a good one as well, which can be on either the tank or one of your main characters. Charisma should be on the main character you will use for most of the talking, it is necessary to win Rock Paper scissor stuff. As for using a wand, it's up to you. I've read that dual wands are better while some prefer staff, I prefer staff bc if i dual wand, it takes 6 AP to attack unless i start investing in dual weaps or something, and i rather save the points for other things, while sticking with staff and its 3 AP attack "staff of magus". You get 4 characters in your party, don't need to invest all of them into the same thing.

If you want, the party member you wont be using, you can invest in crafting and blacksmithing on them, and just switch them out when you wanna do any crafting. Loremaster is also important, so get it one of the main 4 characters so you can identify loot and identify enemies

Why are Xbows better after Act 1? I'm asking because our group has a ranger and we just finished Act 1.


If I remember correctly, many guides on the net dismiss Lockpicking as rather useless, given that you can destroy almost any locked container without damage to its contents and you can find some (although very few) Scrolls of Unlocking. What utility do you see in the ability?


I would suggest that two characters get Leadership so that the other leader also gets the bonuses. Leadership only works in line of sight, so two leaders provide for obstructions and a stretched out party. So, it's usually a good idea to have one leader at the front and one at the back of your group.

You don't have to put many points (if any) into the ability, though, if you don't aim at the bonuses from higher ability levels. There are quite a few items that give Leadership and you can get one point from the Righteous trait.


We have one Inquisitor with dual wands and a staff-wielding Mage in our party. The Inquisitor has Dual Wield 3 (6 ability points) so he can attack with both wands for 4 AP.

While Staff of Magus uses only 3 AP, you can only use it once per turn. Wands have some advantages, namely attacking with two different elements at once or the same element twice, attacking more than once, and applying some wands' special effects at range. Staves only do that when used in melee (since with SoM you're not actually using the staff), which the typical staff-user shouldn't be doing much. So, I think you get a good return from the ability points in Dual Wield.

That said, since anyone can use any weapon in the game, a staff wielder can also use wands one-handed without penalties. Likewise, any dual wielder can switch to staff or only one wand if necessary. Mind though that any single weapon switched in combat costs 2 AP, so switching from dual to 2H costs 2 AP, but switching back costs 4 AP.

Thanks for the input. I personally don't like the dual wands to much but it's a question of aesthetic. He looks like a big drummer he he.. I also plan to use the second main with a premade AI, so that she can have her own personality. What talents do you see fit for a ranger? Anyone likes pet pal? 😁

I can strongly recommend Pet Pal, as nearly any animal you encounter has something to say. Sometimes funny, sometimes informative, sometimes you even get a side quest from them. Every time our group enters new and potentially dangerous terrain, my Inquisitor consults the first "local" passing by.

Haha I knew it was funny and useful... moooo! 😂
Now I only need to build the two chars... Can you explain "inquisitor"?

It's one of the game's "classes". In contrast to other roleplaying games however, they are merely presets that you can alter completely at the start of a new game. In-game, I didn't notice any impact the classes would have.

I left my Inquisitor mostly at his presets except for switching the trait Stench for Pet Pal. So he still is an Inquisitor to me and I roleplay him accordingly: straigthforward, driven and passionate regarding the Source, but also just and fair. My co-op partner also plays her Rogue in line with the class, so the two have interesting conversations and the occational rock-paper-scissors debate.

Oh ok, I thought you were following a precise build. Ok then, after lunch I shall try and build those two chars. I hope that the mage and scoundrel work good together. Then Madora will tank and Jahan will cure. I will have only one melee though...hopefully she can withstand the mobs..

Sorry for double posting... Is it my impression or mages really rock at the beginning? They can almost handle any situation by themselves... My poor little Robin Hood can't quite draw his bow that the combat is already over! This makes me want to build up a mage...but not a normal one...maybe some kind of druid... would it be possible?

Xbow has the Crit advantage. Early game, you don't get much perception to make use of the Crits, and not enough in speed to make use of that 5 AP attack, even with stuff that gives you more AP (a novice skill in scoundrel, cant remember it ). After points invested in speed, you get more AP as well, allowing more attacks with Xbow




I just find it annoying to sit there and attacking stuff. I have almost every other aspect covered with other characters, so why not just go into lockpicking. Sneaking IMO isn't a good stat to put points in, so meh.




I have seen others put points into leadership onto 2 main PCs, since those 2 can't really be switched out, and i use traits to give me the leadership onto the other character for the most part.


We have one Inquisitor with dual wands and a staff-wielding Mage in our party. The Inquisitor has Dual Wield 3 (6 ability points) so he can attack with both wands for 4 AP.



Well like I said, I prefer staff bc I don't want to invest into dual weild, just a personal thing. Not a big fan of their look either, idk why

Mages, especially the geo+pyro is pretty good early game, but late game ranger usually takes over in my playthroughs. With Mages, you will face enemies who are resistant to the elements you are using (hence the double game, so u have jahan with elements they arent resistant too), and the Ranger doesnt have to worry about that due to doing physical dmg and special arrows.

I can imagine that rangers suffer from a lack of special arrows at the beginning, whereas mages already have some spells that never dry up except for the cooldown.

Our Inquisitor (a combat-oriented mage preset to Dual Wielding/Aerothurge/Pyromancer/Witchcraft) and Rogue had no trouble winning the first fights. We later picked up first Bairdotr and then Jahan. As soon as we had enough special arrows for Bairdotr, she began to shine in combat.

I would build a druid as Geomancer for animal summons and dealing/healing poison combined with Aerothurge for lightning, or Hydrosophist for rain and healing, or both.

Thank you for the answer. I will relay it to my co-op partner, because she plays Bairdotr next to her main rogue.


I'm curious, why don't you like sneaking? Our rogue uses it to scout ahead or position himself on the battlefield or for a first-strike backstab.


Well, we don't plan to switch npcs out much because we see them more like real companions you don't dismiss on a whim. For the same reasons, we don't use "mules" or craft/blacksmith mercenaries like many playing guides suggest, but cultivate these skills ourselves. It costs more points but fits our playing style more. The rogue is our crafter/cook while Jahan is the blacksmith.

Ok, Raban, what do you think, can he stand a bit in combat or will he become useless after a while? A druid should have a staff and some control over nature, weather and healing, so I guess three schools would do good. Pet pal would be mandatory, and then? can you help me build it?

P.s. I totally agree with your playstyle, I don't like to take/dismiss people only on a need basis, I like to form permanent bonds.

Hey folks there's a slight news: my girlfriend wants to play along, so well be doing multiplayer. She's a mage, pyro+ geo. I want to do something really useful..tried rogue but it's very weak at start... I like sneaking but I always get discovered...she wreaks havoc with fire and I end up doing almost nothing. Maybe the archer suits better? Or shall I take a warrior? Anyone got a suggestion? Rogue plus fighter perhaps? I need mobility or my rogue just stands there idle while she shots from afar.. I'm confused..

I'm not a sneaking person, not a sneak type player unless the game is sneak focused, then I don't usually bother with it, just my thing.

And I actually don't switch out that much either, once I get my party setup, I just roll with it, but if you're a first time player and you don't know much about min maxing and how far apart levels are and you have already put points everywhere (i did, thinking i could do all ) you could rely on ur other chars for that extra back support, especially if you don't wanna support.

You also have to take notice on what you enjoy playing, what you might enjoy playing might not start strong. Archers and Rogues IMO are weak at start and get good mid to late game. Where as Pyro + Geo gets a bit more weaker late game, especially due to resistances (for my mage, i went into geo, pyro and then i also started investing in Witchcraft, once i got pyro to 3 and geo to 2). WC is also really good for buffs and debuffs, and if you find Geo/Pyro lacking late game (like i did, mind you im not the best player around, someone else might say otherwise and find it much more stronger late game), i had WC to fall back on.

If you do take rogue, make sure to get walk on surfaces, that will allow you to just walk on...well fire and other stuff mages are throwing. And/or you can deck out your mages in buff shields. The avatar of fire/storms and things that give resist stun, fire. Put that on your warrior and let them jump in.

I like the scoundrel, like the mobility and find the dual wield interesting. I like to add wc for that extra dark arts feel, and to be useful when not right into the fray. I have doubts on aero, I just don't know if it fits well into the build.. I've opened a thread about this char..