ZeroTheHero
Banned
So, the latest game in the Divinity franchise by Larian.
http://www.larian.com/
It's a RPG with a lot of freedom in terms of character creation and also in the adventure. Most of your choices have consequences one way or another, some dire and some not. It's basically a RPG sandbox and I urge you to play the game "blind". Don't watch guides, let's play's or walkthroughs -it will make the game pointless. More so than "regular" games.
I'll make a short "new player guide" here to help you out without having to trial and error yourself through the first half of the game.
Character creation:
There are several classes to choose from but the class is actually only suggested skills and abilities. The class choice affects starting equipment but that's also replacable quite early so in reality class choice doesn't matter at all and the class suggested point distribution is generally very, very bad.
The system gives the illusion that you're entirely free when making a character and it's tempting to make a hybrid class, a melee mage or even to build further on the Cleric or Shadowblade class. Well, I can assure you it's not a good idea. The equipment in this game makes sure that hybrids will be terrible. Cloth armor requires intelligence while leather requires dexterity. Mail and plate armors requires strength, naturally. The difference in power between an armor that requires 7 ability and 10 is HUGE, so it basically force you to put 13-15 points in either Strength, Intelligence or Dexterity and ruling out any combination of the two since you need to focus the other half of the points in two of the three remaining statistics; Constitution, Speed and Perception.
Everyone needs Speed, a melee character wants Constitution and an archer wants Perception. So, there you have it... you don't have any freedom at all unless you want to severly hamper the effectiveness of your character.
Having low intelligence rules out the effectiveness of magic, the exception is regarding pure buff spells so you could sprinkle a tank or melee damage dealer with Witchcraft for the buffs, for example.
Base stats all start at 5 and the cap is 15. You get 1 point to but in these every other level. 3-5-7-9 and so on. Your characters will eventually reach level ~20.
Optimized starting points by archetype:
@lvl1 - @lvl9
Heavy Armor type (Weapon & Shield or Twohanded)
Str 8 - 10
Con 6 - 7 *I'd stop this at 8
Spd 6 - 7 (Amount of action points)
Cloth type (Spells & staff)
Int 8 - 10
Spd 7 - 9
Leather type (Ranged or dagger)
Dex 8 - 10
Spd 6 - 7
Per 6 - 7 (Long range hit bonus and critical chance)
You can hire two henchmen to strengthen the group or you can choose the "Lone Wolf" trait that boosts your characters considerably but force you to play with two characters throughout. I've done the latter with success as defensive warrior and archer and gotten +int gear to get it decent enough to make healing spells OK.
Following this guide you'll be able to wear and use the best possible gear you'll find at all times. Gear is very significant in this game, which is a bad thing really but it is what it is. Hybrid classes works great at the beginning of the game but it becomes apparent that you've fucked up once you reach around level 5. Since Wizards basically only need two statistics they are easily extremely powerful but many spells also cost a lot of action points compared to a melee attack so it's quite balanced in that regard. An archer get arrows that imitate most spells, so one archer is a Wizard-lite and honestly an invaluable asset to the group.
If you're making a group without "lone wolf" trait, I'd suggest Wizard and Archer types since you'll find another wizard and a warrior in the first town that you can hire. Two wizards can complement each other (oil+fire spells or water+ice etc.) Alternatively you can create a proper shield warrior since the one you'll find is a twohanded damage dealer. Shield tanks are great if you invest points in shield skill. I never need to heal mine much. Always nuke enemy mages first with your archers.
http://www.larian.com/
It's a RPG with a lot of freedom in terms of character creation and also in the adventure. Most of your choices have consequences one way or another, some dire and some not. It's basically a RPG sandbox and I urge you to play the game "blind". Don't watch guides, let's play's or walkthroughs -it will make the game pointless. More so than "regular" games.
I'll make a short "new player guide" here to help you out without having to trial and error yourself through the first half of the game.
Character creation:
There are several classes to choose from but the class is actually only suggested skills and abilities. The class choice affects starting equipment but that's also replacable quite early so in reality class choice doesn't matter at all and the class suggested point distribution is generally very, very bad.
The system gives the illusion that you're entirely free when making a character and it's tempting to make a hybrid class, a melee mage or even to build further on the Cleric or Shadowblade class. Well, I can assure you it's not a good idea. The equipment in this game makes sure that hybrids will be terrible. Cloth armor requires intelligence while leather requires dexterity. Mail and plate armors requires strength, naturally. The difference in power between an armor that requires 7 ability and 10 is HUGE, so it basically force you to put 13-15 points in either Strength, Intelligence or Dexterity and ruling out any combination of the two since you need to focus the other half of the points in two of the three remaining statistics; Constitution, Speed and Perception.
Everyone needs Speed, a melee character wants Constitution and an archer wants Perception. So, there you have it... you don't have any freedom at all unless you want to severly hamper the effectiveness of your character.
Having low intelligence rules out the effectiveness of magic, the exception is regarding pure buff spells so you could sprinkle a tank or melee damage dealer with Witchcraft for the buffs, for example.
Base stats all start at 5 and the cap is 15. You get 1 point to but in these every other level. 3-5-7-9 and so on. Your characters will eventually reach level ~20.
Optimized starting points by archetype:
@lvl1 - @lvl9
Heavy Armor type (Weapon & Shield or Twohanded)
Str 8 - 10
Con 6 - 7 *I'd stop this at 8
Spd 6 - 7 (Amount of action points)
Cloth type (Spells & staff)
Int 8 - 10
Spd 7 - 9
Leather type (Ranged or dagger)
Dex 8 - 10
Spd 6 - 7
Per 6 - 7 (Long range hit bonus and critical chance)
You can hire two henchmen to strengthen the group or you can choose the "Lone Wolf" trait that boosts your characters considerably but force you to play with two characters throughout. I've done the latter with success as defensive warrior and archer and gotten +int gear to get it decent enough to make healing spells OK.
Following this guide you'll be able to wear and use the best possible gear you'll find at all times. Gear is very significant in this game, which is a bad thing really but it is what it is. Hybrid classes works great at the beginning of the game but it becomes apparent that you've fucked up once you reach around level 5. Since Wizards basically only need two statistics they are easily extremely powerful but many spells also cost a lot of action points compared to a melee attack so it's quite balanced in that regard. An archer get arrows that imitate most spells, so one archer is a Wizard-lite and honestly an invaluable asset to the group.
If you're making a group without "lone wolf" trait, I'd suggest Wizard and Archer types since you'll find another wizard and a warrior in the first town that you can hire. Two wizards can complement each other (oil+fire spells or water+ice etc.) Alternatively you can create a proper shield warrior since the one you'll find is a twohanded damage dealer. Shield tanks are great if you invest points in shield skill. I never need to heal mine much. Always nuke enemy mages first with your archers.
Last edited: