Players of Divinity: Original Sin 2 (DOS2) love Larian Studios's hit RPG for two reasons: immersive narrative and complex gameplay. Moreover, more tactical-oriented fans love the acclaimed RPG for its unique approach to combat. After all, players can use almost everything - from their character's talents, the environments, and even the game system - to their advantage. As such, players need to remember that, sometimes, their "difficult" battles may in fact have simple solutions.
Thankfully, players can employ a number of advanced tactics to turn the tide of a tricky battle to their advantage. Moreover, a lot of these advanced tactics often stare players in the face!
10 Quicksave Becomes The Best Friend
RPG fans understand the relevance of the Save button in bad encounters. Thankfully, DOS2Â frequently saves the game for players before important circumstances. Players who notice their game file quicksaving should consider halting for now and preparing the crew for battle. After all, these quicksaves often prelude important cutscenes and, more frequently, combat.
However, just because the game quicksaves for players doesn't mean they can be reckless. Ideally, they should immediately use this interval between the quicksave and the battle to look for advantageous positions on the map. That way, players who end up reloading their quicksave will end up in the best position before combat.
9 Persuasion Rocks
Sometimes, the wrong choice and not having enough Persuasion can trigger unwanted combat. And unfortunately, these often involve NPCs players might want to get to know more. In a game like DOS2 where player decisions can alter the course of the game, players should invest enough points to Persuasion to avoid a lot of unnecessary combat encounters.
Of course, players can't just invest Persuasion in all characters. However, they can at least invest Persuasion to their favorite "talky" character to get as much unique dialogue as possible when talking to minor and major NPCs. Why fight when players can skip them entirely?
8 Scout Ahead To Plan Ahead
A spellcaster could've Fireball'd the enemy if they just didn't leave their positions. Unfortunately, the rogue can't Sneak anymore since the party lies within the enemy's visible range. These small mistakes in a battle can ruin a party's flow, and these often lead to unexpected party wipes. As such, the party should assign a "scout" that can bait the opponents into attacking them. Meanwhile, the rest of the party should use this opportunity to get into positions - but far enough that it doesn't drag them to combat.
Ideally, characters who prefer melee combat or can soak damage with high Armor work great as scouts. After all, getting into combat first does force all attention on them. Likewise, characters with movement Skills like Spread Your Wings, Tactical Retreat, or even Phoenix Dive make ideal scouts as they can retreat to better positions should the need arise.
7 Never Forget Movement
Status effects like being Crippled or Knocked Out can become a real pain, especially when enemies use these to dish out their more powerful attacks. However, parties can easily avoid these situations with the right builds. First, like in the advice for scouts, all characters should at least have a form of exit. Mobility Skills like Tactical Retreat and even Teleportation work wonders here.
However, players should also remember to invest in Dodging and useful counter-combat Attributes and Skills. For instance, Leadership gives dodge bonuses to allies, Perseverance gives back Armor after recovering from other statuses, and Retribution reflects damage back to attackers. Moreover, Skills such as Uncanny Evasion and Evasive Aura can do wonders against persistence attackers.
6 Think About The First Round
Similar to chess, winning isn't always about who goes first. Rather, those who maximize the first round often wins the match. In DOS2, players often lose encounters not just because of enemy Skills and perks. Sometimes, enemies can lure players to make rookie mistakes as early as the first round.
For instance, an enemy caster can only trigger a party wipe with a Laser Ray if they're too close together. Likewise, an enemy Magister can only trigger a Whirlwind if they get in melee fast enough. If players reload a Save because of these, they should use the first round to make sure enemies never get to pull their favorite moves.
5 Turn Dialogue To An Advantage
In most instances, players end up in encounters after talking to enemy combatants. However, players should remember that the enemy is actually just talking to one of their characters. As such, they have up to three more characters to move around without triggering reactions.
In difficult battles, players can take advantage of pre-combat dialogue to manipulate battle conditions. They can use this time to reposition themselves, buckets and crates, or even set traps. However, they shouldn't damage the enemy spoken too much or this will skip ongoing dialogue and trigger combat!
4 Teleportation Is A Divinesend
Thank the Divine for Teleportation. In combat, players can use Teleportation to reposition themselves and enemies to both convenient and inconvenient positions. Unfortunately, teleporting other NPCs outside battle can reduce reputation and trigger combat. However, there's actually a loophole for this situation.
In essence, characters only lose reputation (and therefore risk post-Teleportation combat) with NPCs they can interact with. Moreover, NPCs who receive too much damage (or critical) post-Teleportation will trigger combat immediately.
As such, NPCs that usually turn into enemies like Silent Monks can theoretically be repositioned via Teleportation indefinitely for as long as they don't get too much damage.
3 Chests Rock
Almost everything in DOS2 can be altered or attack, which explains how most items have HP. However, in indoor battles, players should try to use heavy chests to their advantage. In combat, players can still interact with these objects should they choose. As such, there's always the option to move things like chests around. Thing is, players who drop chests just beside NPCs will make the chest damage the NPC.
And yes, the heavier the chest, the more damage they give. In combat, a well-positioned chest on a cornered enemy might just block their path and leave them stuck.
2 Rules Apply To Everyone
One of the most important lessons in DOS2 is that: rules apply to everyone. As such, players should note about other game elements that also hinder them in combat such as distance and cover. After all, the same rules apply to NPCs.
For instance, a battle in Act 2 will have players face against a Magister that uses Mass Shackles of Pain on three prisoners. As such, damaging said Magister reflects damage back to the prisoners. Ideally, players may heal the prisoners while killing the Magister and their allies. However, players can distract the Magister with pre-battle dialogue and alter the environment from there.
As it turns out, teleporting the prisoners too far from the Magister (or vice versa) makes them unreachable by the Mass Shackles of Pain. Additionally, leaving the Magister far away won't add him to the initial battle. As such, players can kill the other enemies first, and then fight the Magister. Moreover, the script will make him cast the spell but not reach the prisoners as they're too far.
1 Alter The Script
Cutscenes in all games follow a certain script - even after player choices. In DOS2, minor cutscenes almost always show players consequences to their choices. However, players can use this technical knowledge to their advantage.
For instance, in Act 2, a Magister plans on executing a family of three. According to the script, players only get to persuade the Magister to stop after he kills one family member. As such, players can potentially save only two lives. Even teleporting the member-to-be-killed will only have another Magister execute them when dialogue resumes.
However, they can, in fact, save all three family members. If players trigger dialogue prior to the death of member-to-be-killed, they have room to populate the front of the house with crates. Afterward, they can teleport the family member far enough to not receive lethal damage. That way, the cutscene can occur but without the NPC dying.
That or the player can attack the Magister before the cutscene even happens!