Every time Beast kills someone in combat it says they were "murdered in cold blood." It happens all the time. Doesn't matter if I started the fight or not, if fact I haven't actually ever started a fight with anyone. It's just Beast too, none of the other party members. So is this intentional? Is it related to the story or the weapon I have equipped maybe? Or is it just a bug?

That sounds like a bug. You could try killing and resurrecting Beast, if he hasn't died at some point yet, to see if that resets whatever the problem is.

Did you use Beast to attack a neutral or friendly NPC (including getting the first hit in on NPCs that would turn hostile after a dialog, etc)? Maybe that reaction got stuck somehow, or there is some kind of alignment issue triggering it.

If you create a new profile (on PC) and start a new game in story difficulty, does this happen if you pick Beast as your avatar and skip through the tutorial until combat, or choose another character, get into Fort Joy and recruit Beast? On console you would have to start the game from a different account, if available, to get a separate drive space for saves (quick or auto saves are per profile, so ones from a new playthrough will overwrite those from an older game).


If you are playing on PC, try verifying local files, to see if that helps, or on console try clearing the cache.

In the Steam library, right click on the game and select Properties, switch to the Local Files tab and then click on the 'Verify Integrity of Game Cache...' button.
With the GOG version, in the (optional) Galaxy client, select Divinity: Original Sin 2 in the left column, then click on the More button, and in the Manage menu select 'Verify / Repair'.

To clear the PS4 cache: press and hold the PlayStation button on the controller, select 'Turn Off PS4', wait another 30 second after it finishes shutting down, and start it again.

On Xbox, to clear the cache:
- press and hold the Xbox button on the front of the console for 10 seconds until it shuts down
- unplug the power cable and wait 30 seconds
- plug the console back in and turn it on
- log into the same Xbox Live account you were using, start the game and let it sync, if required


If that doesn't help and you are playing on PC, please email supportdos2@larian.com with your latest save (or a Dropbox or Google drive link, etc), and possibly the most recent one before recruiting Beast and the oldest after, or the earliest save if he is the avatar character. If you are using any mods, also include a list of those enabled and/or the modsettings.lsx from your profile folder.
Each save is a folder in the '..\Documents\Larian Studios\Divinity Original Sin 2 Definitive Edition\PlayerProfiles\<ProfileName>\Savegames\Story' folder.
In Windows Explorer you can zip a file or folder by right clicking on it/them and selecting 'Send To | Compressed (zipped) Folder' (and similarly in OSX/Finder).

PS4 saves can be sent, as well, but they would need to be transferred to a USB flash drive first.
In the Saved Data in System Storage section of the Settings menu, click Copy to USB Storage Device, select the relevant save(s) and Copy. From there you can zip the files, then copy to email or upload somewhere and provide a link.

I play on PS4 I probably should have mentioned that. I have never attacked anyone who was neutral or friendly no. I completely turn off my PS4 every night, so I think that would clear the cache too correct? I don't think Beast has ever died though so I will try that. If that doesn't work I will make a new profile and check if the bug carries over. Thanks for all the help so far.

Yes, turning the PS4 off nightly should clear the cache.

I just killed and revived Beast and that didn't fix it. I will try to start a new game and see of it carries over.

I've done some more testing, and it's actually not just Beast. It actually happens when anyone in my party kills someone with a melee weapon. Bows and staffs or wands don't trigger it, just melee weapons.

Ok, I think that rules out an alignment issue. Did you try in a new profile?

There is a game update currently going through the submission process (no ETA yet). If the problem is in the install, the update may overwrite or reset it. Otherwise, especially if this persists in a new account, you could try uninstalling the game, clearing the cache and reinstalling. That should not affect your current saves, but you can back them up to a USB drive first, if you wish.

I tried staring a new game on another profile, and it does carry over. I will try uninstalling and reinstalling it when I get a chance. If that doesn't fix it hopefully the patch does.

Just reinstalled the game. It still happens.

Sorry for the unnecessary troubleshooting. Apparently I have not had the combat log enabled in a while, and I thought 'murdered in cold blood' was to refer to attacking friendly / neutral NPCs.
However, it just comes from the damage type used to kill an opponent. Maybe there was some filtering intended/assumed when the line was written, but it is just flavour text, and doesn't indicate any kind of crime or alignment problem.

I can see why you thought that. I mean I thought the exact same thing. That's a very strange choice for flavor text, or maybe I am missing some joke. Either way, thank you very much for all your help.

I can see how it could be a colloquialism for great decisiveness and force, though I must admit I'm thinking more in terms of "I could murder a curry." If that is indeed what it is, it admittedly has rather broad scope for misinterpretation.

I hear "murder" used in that context so infrequently, that I honestly forgot it could even be used in that way. It makes a little more sense now.