Larian Studios Forums Divinity - Original Sin Divinity Original Sin - Help/Tips/Tricks GUIDE: 2x Lone Wolf Spell Swords - Hybrid POWER

If you are looking to explore hybrid build possibilities, I would like to share my experience and hopefully help some of you with early choices and building two really strong lone wolf hybrids for a really fun D:OS experience. These are 2 hander swinging melee powerhouses supporting each other with strong buff magic but also specialising strategically in all the magic schools covering everything between the two of them.

This guide is a work in progress.

Intro:
My favorite playthroughs through Baldur's Gate 2 were always with a solo fighter/thief/mage. As many of you know, its not really viable to spread yourself so thin in this one - but I believe I have managed to cover a lot of areas with my two lone wolf battle mages. I am not here to argue with the naysayers, I am purely sharing my experience.

So I am around lvl 15 now, with two lone wolves. They are simply unstoppable killing machines with very strong magic capability too, and I have not put a single point into bodybuilding or willpower on either. With intelligent play, positioning and tactics you can get your summons to soak up the nasty initial spells cast by enemies, and you can nullify the most dangerous targets.

Through careful placing of points I have even covered bartering, crafting and adequate perception for detecting traps and secrets.

Some facts for the naysayers :

- Yes I am playing on normal difficulty.
- No I have not finished the game yet. But I still believe I can offer valuable insight to new players, based on my experience thus far.
- No I do not use Leech.
- No I didn't buy a million of the ability/attribute books from the Teller of Secrets. I bought 2. One for each of my characters, which I believe to be fair.
- No save scumming for loot, I know how to efficiently set up an efficient shopping route on every level up at a certain point in the game. Explained later.

Now for the details :


CHARACTER CREATION
On character creation I went for 2 battle mages. Choice doesn't really matter since you will be customizing everything.

Char 1 (The Looter, Speaker, Barterer, Man at Arms, Geomancer and Hydrosophist Specialist) :

Attributes:
7 STR, 6 INT, 7 PER. 5 in the rest. You need some perception for detecting traps and secrets.

Abilities:
Remove all weapon points like 1 handed / 2 handed etc. Don't bother putting any points here later either. Only put in the Tenebrium skill once you acquire it. This is because you will later on use Tenebrium weapons so these points will become useless. Remove defensive points.

Put:
1 points in Man at Arms
1 point in Geomancer
1 point in Witchcraft
1 point in Hydrosophist
1 point in Scoundrel

Spells:
Start with Dust Devil and Walk in Shadows (only because these two are possibly bugged to never/very rarely show up at vendors) - you can buy other skills later. Your choice for the 3rd. Cure Wounds is excellent and my choice. Minor heal is good for even more healing, or Crushing Fist for CC.

Talents :
Pet pal
Lone wolf

Char 2 (The Crafter, Repairer, Identifier, Man at Arms, Aerothurge and Pyrokinetic Specialist) :

Attributes:
8 STR, 7 INT, 5 in the rest.

Abilities:
1 points in Man at Arms
1 point in Pyrokinetic
1 point in Witchcraft
1 point in Aerothurge
1 point in Scoundrel

Spells:
Start with Dust Devil and Walk in Shadows (only because these two are possibly bugged to never/very rarely show up at vendors) - you can buy other skills later. Your choice for the 3rd. Cure Wounds is excellent and my choice. Crushing Fist for CC or Oath of Desecration for damage.

Talents:
Scientist
Lone Wolf

PLANNING & REASONING :
1 point in scoundrel purely for the early invisibility, to help with robbing Cyseal blind and funding your spell book purchases. Chance to fail the cast because of low dex but we are only using this situationally. You will later use Invisibility from Aerothurge school on both chars.

Regarding the magic schools - even though char 1 will specialise and put more points in Geo and Hydro while Char 2 will put more points and specialise in Aero and Pyro - both chars will still put at least 1 point in all schools of magic including Witchcraft. This is because there some amazing '1 point wonder' spells from all schools. Blind, Oath of Desecration, Fortify, Wildfire, Minor Heal, Become Air, Invisibility - all are amazing must have spells on both chars.

Because char 1 will have the 2 extra points in perception, his initiative will be higher and so he will always move first in combat. For this reason char 1 will specialise in the 'combo setups' while char 2 focuses on the 'combo executions.' Let me explain : A nice combo is midnight oil (geomancer) - then igniting it (pyro). But why choose both geo and pyro on 1 char when it will often take him 2 turns to execute the combo? Same with creating wetness then electrocuting. This is why char 1 will specialise in Geo and Hydro - his initiative makes him go first and he can set up midnight oil or rain etc. - while char 2 specialises in Aero and Pyro - to electrocute or ignite combos on the same turn.


EARLY GOALS & GENERAL TIPS :

Assign the following points in the early levels :
Char 1 :
1 point in Pyro (for casting Wildfire / haste)
2 points in Bartering. The other 3 points you will get from traits and gear. The discounts go a long way to buying some awesome gear later.
1 point in Leadership.
1 point in Aero

Char 2 :
1 point in Leadership
1 point in Loremaster
2 points in Blacksmithing (only need 2, can max this from Scientist + gear)
1 Point in Crafting (only need 1, can max this from Scientist, Pragmatic trait + gear)


THEN rush to 5 points in Man at Arms on both your chars. You want to get the magic resist talent asap, next after glass cannon.

When you get your first extra talent point at around level 3 I believe - save it! Wait until your characters hit lvl 5, then immediately get Glass Canon on both chars.

Do quests around town before venturing out. To distract a shop owner so you can rob them - split your 2 party members (remove the chain) - have one talk to them then switch to the other char, make sure to hit sneak before looting each item. Invisibility makes this trivial though.

Get the pyramids asap. Set up a base at the abandoned house in north west Cyseal - it has all the blacksmithing and crafting tools available in one spot. Drag some containers here for storage if you like.

Steal paintings and golden plates / cutlery / chalices etc, anything that ain't nailed down. Combine simple white plate items and weapons with the furnace to smelt them down into bars - then use your crafter to craft again into more valuable gear to sell. (again, see the crafting guide).

Spells to get ASAP after doing quests around Cyseal and robbing the place blind :
Both chars:
Wildfire
Blind
Minor Heal
Crushing Fist
Cure Wounds
Oath of Desecration
Teleportation
Melee Power Stance
Melee Precision Stance

Char 1 :
Rain
Midnight Oil
Summon Spider

Char 2:
Blitz Bolt
Flare
Summon Fire Elemental (at level 4 I think)

Notable character trait choices :

Char 1 must be Romantic to get +1 to Lucky Charm
Char 2 must be Pragmatic for +1 to Crafting

Char 1 must be Egotistical for +1 Bartering

ATTRIBUTE SELECTION :
Get to 10 base STR asap on both chars. This is to be able to use the early to mid level plate and 2 handers. Then get 10 base INT, then put some points in CON. The rest is up to you, depending on bonuses from gear. Char 1 might find himself at lvl 10 with gear that is adding +3 INT - so then rather put a point in STR etc.

Some points in CON will help a lot with HP and max AP since you will be gaining so much via Glass Cannon. Speed is unnecessary due to Glass Cannon.

Ignore Speed and DEX.

GEARING & CRAFTING :
2 handers on both chars, no question. They just do insane damage, I can't justify using a shield over them.

Look out for and save the following gear (Keep these in a backpack so you dont accidentally sell):
- 1 of each of Hammer, Repair Hammer, Identifying glass, Pickaxe, Mortar & Pestle.
- amulet or boots with +bartering. Give to char 1 and equip when trading.
- belt or bracers with +blacksmithing and / or crafting. Give to char 2 and equip when crafting.
-amulet or rings with +Loremaster. Give to char 2 and equip when identifying.

See the crafting guide by ivra : Crafting Recipes & Guide - Part 5

Some very useful recipes here such as the +1 STR claw belt etc. (To help with wearing heavier plate etc in early game)

ALWAYS check vendors for Rubies, Tormented Souls and Elemental Essences (Essence of Fire etc). These are very useful in crafting and are quite rare.

When you find an awesome piece of gear that is not likely to be replaced for a long time - like a slot such as the sarong slot - for example you found a legendary sarong with +1 to INT, Wilpower and Bodybuilding and a couple of resists - combine this item with a Ruby asap using your crafter - it will add + to all resists.

Combine your best pair of boots with nine inch nails to add immunity to slipping - this is invaluable.

The best way to enchant a weapon (I am not covering ranged weapons here) :

First Equip your crafter with the highest crafting and blacksmithing gear available.

1. Prefer slashing such as 2 handed axes or swords. Use on the Whetstone wheel to sharpen and increase the base damage.

2. Check if there is an elemental damage on it. If not, combine one of the elemental essences with the weapon to add fire, earth, air or water damage.

3. Combine the weapon with a Tenebrium bar to add Tenebrium damage.

4. Combine with a Tormented Soul to add + STR.

I believe the bonuses get higher the higher your crafting, blacksmithing and character level is.

Note that the Tenebrium skill increases your damage for actual base Tenebrium weapons and for any other weapon that has had tenebrium damage added to it with a tenebrium bar. But even though base tenebrium weapons look powerful and have high damage - they cannot be enchanted further so it is usually better to get a really strong base legendary or other weapon, then enchant it using the process above.

TACTICS & GAMEPLAY :
You want to cast your summons asap, in strategic places between you and the enemies - so enemies waste their first casts and APs on them. While summons are distracting your enemies, have your two chars cast Oath of Desecration and Wildfire on each other. Other spells you cast will depend on the situation and what spell books you have gotten. Combo setups as explained earlier are also very good at softening groups of enemies.

Crowd control is very important. If there is an enemy caster and melee enemy near you - instead of direct damage blitz bolting the melee, rather crushing fist or blind the caster. Give priority to crowd control over damage.

Tip for setting up shopping route :

Credit to Icthyic - see his tip here and then see my post within the thread

Thank you for reading. If you learned anything at all from this then I am happy. Please feel free to leave any questions, comments and criticisms below and I will answer if I can.