Divinity: Original Sin 2

[Fardaza]

This is what I've been playing since my almost 5 month absence from gaming. I created my own character and then chose Red Prince, Ifan, and Lohse. RP is a 2-handed knight, Ifan is a ranger/summoner, and Lohse is a hydro/aero mage. My main is a geo/pyro mage. Am getting close to the end of Act 1. What a blast! The combat system is oftentimes confusing, but it's still fun.

The inventory IS a mess! I've read several crafting how-to sites, and it's still confusing for a hoarder such as myself. I just can't bear to get rid of anything that MIGHT be useful later.

[Anonymous Bosch]

This is what I've been playing since my almost 5 month absence from gaming. I created my own character and then chose Red Prince, Ifan, and Lohse. RP is a 2-handed knight, Ifan is a ranger/summoner, and Lohse is a hydro/aero mage. My main is a geo/pyro mage. Am getting close to the end of Act 1. What a blast! The combat system is oftentimes confusing, but it's still fun.

The inventory IS a mess! I've read several crafting how-to sites, and it's still confusing for a hoarder such as myself. I just can't bear to get rid of anything that MIGHT be useful later.

Crafting and inventory management can indeed seem a little overwhelming, all the moreso if you're a hoarder. I found it helpful to have each party member's inventory fulfilling one particular purpose. So the character with the highest bartering contains all the items marked as "Wares" to sell, another contains all the crafting items (preferably not your main, to avoid struggling to find a specific item you just picked up), another holds quest items, etc.

Also, bags and containers in general can make inventory management a LOT easier. You can, for example, place all your consumables in a bag and then place that bag in your hotbar so that when used during combat, you have all your consumables in one handy place. Likewise, you can use one container for all your keys, another one for all your potions, scrolls, arrows, grenades etc. Suffice to say, containers can definitely improve inventory management and item organization.

BTW, I highly recommend checking out MajorSlack's series of Divinity: Original Sin 2 video walkthroughs if you'd like to get the most out of the game and aim to get going as quickly and easily as possible. You don't need to watch the entire series, but the first four or five videos supply a wealth of tremendously useful info, and his 'Level 4 Power Start' provides a rock-solid blank slate template from which to experiment with any character builds you like.

[Paingod]

I picked this up on sale yesterday for 60% off and dove in.

I had forgotten the sheer volume of crap you could collect in the original Divinity games and there's no shortage of that theme going around in this one. I remember distinctly the feeling in the originals where so many other RPG's had bolted everything down so you could look but not touch. If you could touch, it must have been important. I got myself overloaded with plates and forks early on and had to cut that nonsense out. I've already done the same thing here.

I'm wondering if I did things right to begin with. They create a nice scenario where you can pick your own character (I did) and then tailor the party around them instead of trying to find the weakest link in the available options and fill it. The problem is that I don't know what all the options actually add up to. I suspect a good group needs a tank, mage, thief, and healer. I don't know which versions of those I want in my party.

I felt pretentious in choosing "Undead Elf" as my race, like they gave me the option to be undead, so of course I'm going to choose it. I do like the flipped healing dynamic, though. Wading through poison that's been dumped on the ground to get healed is kind of fun. I just feel like it's maybe too gimmicky - immune to deathclouds, able to pick locks with their fingers, able to "play dead" and be ignored, healed by poison - all for the low price of just needing to wear a hood. If I wasn't able to hide my Undead nature, that'd be more interesting and less like I was snickering behind my hand. I mean, I've got a barrel of infinite undead healing in my inventory - just add bottles. Are there barrels of unlimited healing for other races?

I'm (so far) underwhelmed by my Conjurer, but I'm only level 3. I typically favor pet classes in any game that offers them. My pets do shape up as workable damage soakers and do poke back, but there's no variety to them except the material I summon them on.

Visually and mechanically, though, the game is great. I likely need to give it more time to soak in and get used to the classes. Maybe actually read up on them before going any further.

[Anonymous Bosch]

I picked this up on sale yesterday for 60% off and dove in.

I had forgotten the sheer volume of crap you could collect in the original Divinity games and there's no shortage of that theme going around in this one. I remember distinctly the feeling in the originals where so many other RPG's had bolted everything down so you could look but not touch. If you could touch, it must have been important. I got myself overloaded with plates and forks early on and had to cut that nonsense out. I've already done the same thing here.

I'm wondering if I did things right to begin with. They create a nice scenario where you can pick your own character (I did) and then tailor the party around them instead of trying to find the weakest link in the available options and fill it. The problem is that I don't know what all the options actually add up to. I suspect a good group needs a tank, mage, thief, and healer. I don't know which versions of those I want in my party.

I felt pretentious in choosing "Undead Elf" as my race, like they gave me the option to be undead, so of course I'm going to choose it. I do like the flipped healing dynamic, though. Wading through poison that's been dumped on the ground to get healed is kind of fun. I just feel like it's maybe too gimmicky - immune to deathclouds, able to pick locks with their fingers, able to "play dead" and be ignored, healed by poison - all for the low price of just needing to wear a hood. If I wasn't able to hide my Undead nature, that'd be more interesting and less like I was snickering behind my hand. I mean, I've got a barrel of infinite undead healing in my inventory - just add bottles. Are there barrels of unlimited healing for other races?

I'm (so far) underwhelmed by my Conjurer, but I'm only level 3. I typically favor pet classes in any game that offers them. My pets do shape up as workable damage soakers and do poke back, but there's no variety to them except the material I summon them on.

Visually and mechanically, though, the game is great. I likely need to give it more time to soak in and get used to the classes. Maybe actually read up on them before going any further.

FWIW, I'd highly recommend starting out by playing an origin character instead of a custom character. Because if you have any interest in sinking your teeth into the meat of Divinity: Original Sin 2‘s story, you definitely ought to opt for an origin character. By not picking an origin character, you miss out on getting to play out their own intricate stories, personal quests, and choosing their unique dialogue options, which makes them a much more appealing option for first-time players. Besides, origin characters can still be customized to the same degree as a custom character, so the only real benefit to playing as a custom character is being able to change their name, which is a lot less interesting than some of the experiences you’ll have as an origin character.

[Paingod]

I'd highly recommend starting out by playing an origin character

I took your advice as it sounded reasonable. I went back and rolled up a Beast Rogue. It seemed a good fit. Then 90 minutes into my foray on the first island I found myself repeatedly frustrated by a lack of lockpicks. Suddenly it didn't seem quite so good a fit and I re-rolled back to an Undead Rogue - Fane. He's been quite workable. Less by way of free Sneak, but being able to jump in and rip apart a hostile from behind and then play dead until it's safe to get up has been outstanding. The free lockpicks don't hurt my feelings either. So that's three characters created and tested before really even getting into the first island. I think the Rogue Fane will stick.

My party is Rogue Fane, Fighter Red Price, Cleric Ifan, and Conjurer Lohse. Rogue, Fighter, Cleric, Mage. Classic adventuring party. I started on Classic difficulty and it seems hard enough for now, though I wonder if I could handle Tactical. I really like that the Cleric covers both Necromancy and Hydrosophist, so he can heal the living and dead almost equally. I think that (based on what I've been reading) it makes sense to stick to maybe two classes per character. Scoundrel/Hunter, Warfare/Pyromancer, Hydrosophist/Necromancer, Summoning/Aerotheurge.

Something that keeps tripping me up, though, is dialog based on who's in lead. I usually run around with Fane up front but sometimes someone else happens to be the last person I selected and I start a conversation with them that doesn't turn out at all like I was expecting it to. Last night I found a cave filled with fire slugs and Lohse was able to smoothly talk right past them without a fight. Then I was going back through and (I can't remember if I prompted it or if they did) I ended up talking with the Red Price (who lacks the ability to chat with animals). It provoked them into a fight that led to a party wipe because I was completely unprepared for it and was started at the 'hard' end of the situation first.

I do find the ability to split your party up both interesting and frightening. Last night I found some super-cool gloves in a chest that allowed me to teleport a character or items around. This let me teleport the Red Prince over to a tree stump I found with a Hole under it. I thought he'd dig up an item. Instead he slipped down the hole. This opened up a couple new items and I saw another cave entrance I figured I'd just poke his head into. He fell down another hole - a one-way tunnel. I promptly froze him in place and proceeded to run my party around looking for a way down there that wasn't one-way. It took a few minutes and some rushed exploration without stopping to talk to anyone, but I did get to him.

Having settled on a character and group, I'm having more fun than starting over repeatedly.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Such a good game. My main (Fane) was a ranger/conjurer. Once powered up, the conjured fiend (?) is pretty good. Can tank well or use range attack with pretty good stats. I only conjured some of the other options situationally (bone spider? black ooze?) since they never lasted long. Still, if I remember correctly, you can have multiple conjured guys at once, so anything that can soak up some damage can be helpful.

[Paingod]

The developers did a pretty good job of creating differences based on your actions, but one thing struck me as an "Oopsie"

In my exploration of the first island I snuck past a Magister's court and found a little deck with half a ladder stuck to it. It seemed obvious that I could use that ladder to fall out of the keep and to freedom. My characters agreed and all gained 12,000xp for "escaping". Problem was, I walked back into the keep because I had a lot left to do and was set upon by every guard in the place because I had 'escaped' ... despite absolutely none of them having witnessed my transgression.

So far that's the only 'story breaking' thing I've found, where it made absolutely no sense.

[Jaymann]

The developers did a pretty good job of creating differences based on your actions, but one thing struck me as an "Oopsie"

In my exploration of the first island I snuck past a Magister's court and found a little deck with half a ladder stuck to it. It seemed obvious that I could use that ladder to fall out of the keep and to freedom. My characters agreed and all gained 12,000xp for "escaping". Problem was, I walked back into the keep because I had a lot left to do and was set upon by every guard in the place because I had 'escaped' ... despite absolutely none of them having witnessed my transgression.

So far that's the only 'story breaking' thing I've found, where it made absolutely no sense.

It's intentional. I always studiously avoid all ways of exiting the fort until 100% completion.

[Paingod]

It's intentional. I always studiously avoid all ways of exiting the fort until 100% completion.

That's a little unfair of them, given how some of these things aren't really clearly marked. I assumed I would have "escaped" if I fell off the ladder, not just found the ladder. The sewer drain escape from the torture chamber is easy to stumble through. Going down to the docks and out onto the beach was obvious, and far more of the "hard way" to get out.

Does it change what happens in the first Keep significantly to "escape" too early? I suppose some quests may not even come up if you've already been marked as free.

[Jaymann]

It's intentional. I always studiously avoid all ways of exiting the fort until 100% completion.

That's a little unfair of them, given how some of these things aren't really clearly marked. I assumed I would have "escaped" if I fell off the ladder, not just found the ladder. The sewer drain escape from the torture chamber is easy to stumble through. Going down to the docks and out onto the beach was obvious, and far more of the "hard way" to get out.

Does it change what happens in the first Keep significantly to "escape" too early? I suppose some quests may not even come up if you've already been marked as free.

I think you can still complete the quests, but it is very irritating to be KOS. Although at some point I ending up killing all the guards anyway for exp.

[Paingod]

I think you can still complete the quests, but it is very irritating to be KOS. Although at some point I ending up killing all the guards anyway for exp.

I didn't bump into a guard fight that was too hard to handle once my team was around level 4 or so and I had cleaned up 2/3 of the Keep. Hardest fight so far was stumbling into the fire slug queen and triggering her and her guards all at once. I couldn't dump enough water on the field to stop from cooking my team. Tackling that same situation from the other side was much easier and she ended up being taken down as the last, lonely enemy.

The corrupted seed/ship and arena fights are pretty darn hard before level 3 as well.