How do you set your party's skills?

[Crystal_Pistol]

I'm rigid when it comes to RPGs. A knight is a knight. Wizards are wizards, etc. (I got this way playing D&D long ago.) So I get lost when creating a party b/c it seems that anyone can be anything, regardless of race/class. Do you practice a skill build where each player has set skills and that's that or do you keep it loose and let anyone have anything? Right now my party is a Rogue (leader), Huntsman, Wizard, and Fighter. It's hard for me to keep it all straight when they have duplicate skills, It creates redundancy and sometimes a waste of a skill slot. Do three of my players need to have Mosquito Swarm? Probably not. What's a good way to set up skills? Thank you.

[Chaoslink]

The game is built for characters to mix their skills around. Look up the crafted skill recipes if you want evidence. You’ll notice that all of them are a mix of one magic element and one physical skill. You’ll also notice spells that don’t require investment to scale and can be effectively used by anyone duping a point into them. Like Adrenaline from scoundrel. This ability is a massively popular skill dip because gaining 2AP at a critical moment can make or break a fight.

You also have to consider your damage output in terms of physical and magical damage. Your example party there is the dreaded 3/1 split just about any veteran of the game would advise against as your wizard will find themselves struggling to either break magic armor or capitalize on it with CC since they’re the only one doing magic damage. Dipping the archer into some Geo and Scoundrel to craft Venom Coating and combining that with a magic element with Elemental Arrowheads as well as other magic damage buffs, can offer your party additional magic damage to support the wizard.

Also, Warfare is king for physical damage. This should be your primary stat for all physical damage builds, regardless of the “spells” they use for attacking. It scales damage more than any other point investment.

[RACHMANOVSKI]

The best way? for me it's to play lone wolves, 2 character is way easier to manage, provides more AP (when lone wolf perks attributed), not costly to maintain which means more money to afford more skill books for varieties of magics.

My endgame battlemage usually have at least 3 skills from each magic schools which I can replace depends on the battle I'm about to have (indoor/outdoor situations).

But the most important thing is your approach own battle. Me? I like to Decay my enemies, disabled them from their weapon or cripple/stunned them, denying them of actions. So for me these skills are essentials: Decaying Touch, Restoration, First Aid, Tentacle Lash, Pinned Down, Hail Strike, or even Cryogenic Stasis (effective against undead). Both my party member specialize in either Physical or Magic but also have one or two attacks opposite of their specialization (i.e. my huntsman can conjure Hail strike, my mage can throw shield and do infect (Necro's physical damaged, based of magical/intelligence based skill)).

I don't CC as much, since I either took down enemy(ies) as quickly as possible or retreat to vantage point and strike (with additional High ground damage) -- which means both my party member have Adrenaline, to even boost their AP further.

Also must have: Chameleon Cloak, when stuck with 1 AP left and I've done all I could, doing a chameleon cloak is fantastic way to reposition your party to more advantageous place.

Also also must have: Skin Graft, it refreshes all cool downs, so my endgame party member can do all their skills all over again, combined with sebille/elf that have adrenaline/flesh sacrifice, you practically automatically have 1 extra turns immediately in one turn.

[Crystal_Pistol]

@Chaos Two of my team have Warfare. It's nice. Right now I've noticed combat is a matter of ranged fights. Only the warrior is the tank. The rest use crossbows (wizard uses spells). But that's a matter of how the battle unfolds. Often it starts w/my team fifty yards away from the enemy, so of course I start pinging them w/ranged attacks.

There are many details I need to read about. I barely craft anything (not a crafting kind of person as it distracts me from the quests. I start running around looking for mushrooms and twigs instead of finishing anything).

@Rach So you're a ranged kind of fighter? I do the same. I'm thinking of changing it up to use my rogue more in direct rather than ranged combat. She has rogue skills I hardly use b/c they require being next to enemies. Thx for the advice.

[Chaoslink]

I mean, bear in mind that you don't need a "tank", at least in the sense of a shielded melee guy that soaks damage. That's just a waste of a character in Divinity. Two handed melee are also often referred to as "tanks" on occasion, but they're not really more tanky than a mage, it just depends on the type of attack you're taking. Mages make the best "tanks" just because they don't really use their weapons, so a one hand and shield setup doesn't hurt them like it does a melee build. Not to mention that shields give more physical armor than magic and that's what the mage needs anyway.

Dagger builds are the better melee usually though. Their Backlash ability is a great initiator and with hit and "disappear" tactics using invisibility or dodge effects, they can sponge or avoid attacks better than most. Melee make the best support builds too as they can buff and whatnot on their first turns while you wait for enemies to come to you .

[Spawnling]

You dip into skills (put in 1-2 points into skills for utility)
e.g.:
A knight can pick 1-2 levels scoundrel to increase movement speed per AP spent.
You can also get pyro 1 for haste (to increase AP per turn and movement speed).
He can also add a point into Hydro for Armor of Frost (give target magic armor for 1AP) or Vampiric Hunger (Auto attacks heal for 50% of the damage dealt) combined with Living Armour Talent (healing restores magic armor) and Restoration.

There's also Polymorph, which scales with Strength. Tentacle Slash gives you a strong ranged attack and Medusa Head gives access to strength scaling magic damage.


A fire Mage might want to get warfare 2 for Phoenix Dive, which creates a fire surface around her, which works great with scoundrel 1 for The Pawn Talent and Elemental affinity. Allowing you to position you anywhere for 1 AP, move into the fire surface and get a discount on all fire spells. (And use Adrenaline for extra burst damage)
Polymorph gives a Fire mage Flaming Skin (heal from fire damage instead of being damaged) and Skin Graft (Reset all cooldowns. Pretty Strong if ýou're and elf and use adrenaline as it gives you + 6 AP [-1 AP to cast Skin Graft])


A rogue can take aero 2 for Uncanny Evasion (gain 90% evasion for a turn) as a defense tool and teleport + nether swap to position himself and enemies on the battlefield. (Same for the Knight)

All classes that deal Physical damage (Fighter, Rogue, Necromancer, Ranger) want to skill warfare to increase their damage output.

A ranger can get Geo 1 and Pyro 1 to buff allies from afar when needed.

In short you should look up skills and invest a few points into them for utility.

[RACHMANOVSKI]

Originally posted by Crystal_Pistol:

@Rach So you're a ranged kind of fighter? I do the same. I'm thinking of changing it up to use my rogue more in direct rather than ranged combat. She has rogue skills I hardly use b/c they require being next to enemies. Thx for the advice.

Yes, 1 Ranger/Wayfarer, 1 Mage-ish.

I don't really adhere to what usually constitute a Class necessarily, especially when the game allows it. I kinda pick which skills I like to utilize the most. Like that decaying touch, it requires your player to be on the close quarter to the enemies, in fact I have 2-3 skills that requires my mage to be close to the enemy, which is why it is important for them to have 2-3 mobility skill, so it can go away to vantage position after initial attack.

I'm currently starting new playthrough, trying to build one handed sword build and no shield because it looks cool. Pure style over substance, probably modifying my mage set up but with heavy emphasis on strength.

[Crystal_Pistol]

When I say "tank," I just mean any kind of fighter who slogs it out instead of using spells and ranged weapons.

I need to read more guides on this. I think my party is not optimal, wasted abilities, etc.

[Yojo0o]

A lot of guides for this game are really bad, and the game itself is designed very well in terms of how it teaches you, through encounters, strategies that do or do not work.

[Crystal_Pistol]

@Yojo That's okay if the guides are bad. I'll learn the hard way then.

One thing I have not liked is, when fighting enemies above me, I cannot zoom out far enough to see them. They hit me but I can't hit them b/c I can't see them on the screen. What's the solution?

[Spawnling]

Originally posted by Crystal_Pistol:

@Yojo That's okay if the guides are bad. I'll learn the hard way then.

One thing I have not liked is, when fighting enemies above me, I cannot zoom out far enough to see them. They hit me but I can't hit them b/c I can't see them on the screen. What's the solution?

The camera is a fixed distance to the terrain. I try to move the whole screen onto higher terrain and from there back in the direction of the battlefield, then aim abilities.

[Crystal_Pistol]

I forgot also that there is the direct overhead option, by pressing "O". I'm going to try that.