Larian Studios Forums Divinity II The Dragon Knight Saga / Flames of Vengeance (English) Divinity II - The Dragon Knight Saga [Spoilers] Legends of a hardcore gamer.

Despite the title, anyone can post here about their trial and error of ED, DKS or FoV.

As I type this I sit watching my character stand in front of Maxos Temple before I charge in. I wanted to get this started, or at least catch everyone up. And what exactly is this? It is basically a Let's Play, or blog, or whatever you wish to call it in a typed format. I'm pretty sure I am not the only one that just wants to share his/her stories of ingame triumph! ...or defeat... So with that out of the way, I shall begin!

I borrowed ED from a friend and played it for awhile, reaching lvl 15 on a Mage/Range hybrid. I, like then stood in front of Maxos Temple. Strange. Anywho, I was very happy with the character because she could kill anything with a combo of Poison Arrow > Magic Missle > Magic Blast, but I feared that I was pumping too much into Int and not enough into Dex. Or that if I did put some into Dex, it would be too much and I hate wasting points that can be spent elsewhere. Basically, the build was to use a bow as a weapon and to apply Poison Arrow for a DoT (Damage over time), so I needed just enough Dex to equip the best bow and after many failed attempts of Google I couldn't find the best bow, so I gave up. Upset because I had felt like I wasted those 7 points into Dex, I deleted her...

Later on that day my mom, sister and I went shopping. We passed a Gamestop and I searched for some decently priced games. I got DKS for $29.99 and Risen, which I have yet to play, for $12.99.

When I got home, which was about 6pm I took a nap, then put in DKS for the first time. (Here's where the actual good stuff begins.) Upon seeing the options from the menu, of course being the noob I am picked FoV first not knowing I would start out at lvl 35, which at my time of playing is unheard of. After running around a little, saving a possible spy from some guards then watching a tree shock a guard to death then getting a quest to try and decipher whatever it was the tree just said to me... Then getting shocked to death by the tree myself... I decided that I had no idea what to do, nor what the plot line was referring to. So, I turned off my 360, turned it back on and did the right thing this time. Started ED again.

Since I had already played a Mage/Range hybrid with more of a focus on Mage than anything else I wanted to not do that. I wanted to not use magic...at all. I wanted to just be a chick with two giant swords/axes/hammers/etc on her back that tanked hits and kicked butt. Which led to this character:

Character: Niim lvl 1
Vit: 1
Spir: 1
Str: 4
Dex: 1
Int: 1

DEFAULT WARRIOR WHOO~

After flirting with the mindreader, grabbing a skill book, increasing Lockpick, killing some chickens for Hp resto items, searching the chest to find no good loot...yet again. And getting both discounts from the Farglow shop before buying and selling some items, since you start out with lvl 15 gear now...which shocked me. As did how to navigate the inven for about .2sec. ^^; I headed out for Broken Valley.

Some of the most helpful tips I ever read on here, where the following: (And yes I have been creeping on these boards since I borrowed the game about 4 days ago.)

* Mindread before you go out to kill things/quest.
* Try to hold onto your quest. That way you can kill mobs to lvl up while you are of lower lvl, as EXP decreases as you lvl up. Meaning, if you kill mobs, turn in quest, gain lvl. You gain less EXP from the next mobs to decide to kill. As to where if you kill mobs, kill, kill, turn in quest, you get the most out of your EXP. I hope that made sense...
* Mindreads are best when they are expensive, though sometimes it can still be a waste because a Mage with 1 Str can't use a godly sword requiring 30 can it?
* Mindreads are almost ALWAYS worth "wasting" the EXP you gain back anyways.
* Wisdmon before Battle Tower is a good idea, but only raised it to 2/5 because you get an amulet that has +3 Wisdom enchant. Once you gain entrance to Battle Tower, respec.
* Talisman of West, East, South.
* The Mace is behind the farm fence.
* Follow the blood stains and dead bodies, that poison WILL kill you.
* Whirlwind can break crates/boxes very nicely.

I think I'm going to skip forward some because everyone knows the default questline and what you have to do, but if I think of anything particularly important I shall say. Like the time I had to fight a Troll at full Hp because those dumb guards couldn't kill it and were drunk.

So I reached lvl 14 and was rather I guess bored but not really. I had done everything I could, minus some of the harder mobs *cough* the entrance to Maxos Temple *cough* I had yet to create my creature so I went and did that, not that it's much of a help at this point anyways, but it's something, so~ It's there. I got dropped from the sky by Bellagar as I attempted to slay what was in front of the Maxos Temple. Looted some dead bodies, saw a door I had no idea how to open, and still don't because I didn't bother Googling it because there is no way to get back here. But I shall now for those like me, and for future characters. Interesting... You can access it later, just remember the location and don't forgot when the chance comes to Mindread. I did kill the Skeleton in Lovis Tower, saving before doing so, lol. Completed Lovis Tower, boring, boring. Blah Blah. Reached lvl 15, killed everything possible in Broken Valley, including the 3 Dragon Slayers right before Maxos and turned in all quest. Now more interesting stuff!

Since I didn't yet want to go into Maxos Temple, I did something I read about. Ojab Fjords or whatever it's called is home to higher lvled mobs that give 3 - 5k EXP each. And I thought "What a nice way to lvl up. If I can do a hit and run..." So I went and tested out my theory. Sure enough, I could kill them with a hit and run. Minus the Mages, that was more of a get hit, then run. I killed everything along the long road downward towards the waterfall, the things across on the beach, and told the young ladies to find that mans family and return the ring. Lil gold diggers. I then saved, since I was now lvl 16 close to 17. I wanted to explore the waters so I swam. I found a Imp and Goblin Chief lvl 21. Upon their deaths I reached lvl 17 and saved. Because I was still not satisfied, I ventured future, only to be ran off by a Goblin Mage and one of those floating oranges whose name always escapes me... Still not satisfied, I ventured to the other side of the waters only to find a bunch of Black Ring people that could no doubt OHKO me. \: So I settled for lvl 17 and venture my way back. I heard the lady inside my head talk about the waterfall, so I saved then peeked in, only to be killed by skeletons rather quickly. The bombard of arrows and spells were too much I tell ya! I reloaded, ran up the hill, talked to the guy whose name is like...Crabbe. Then I went to Maxos Temple and saved in front of the doors. Now here I am typing this thing out. THIS HAS BEEN A BASIC RUNDOWN OF MY DKS ADVENTURE. Only I'm not done. I think before I end this, I shall share some stats:

Character: Niim lvl 17, 395 Hp/196Mp ~ 6.8k till lvl18
Vit: 35
Spir: 4
Str: 60
Dex: 1
Int: 2

With equips.

Skills:
Whirlwind - 1/5
Jump Attack - 1/5
Battle Rage - 5/5
Life Leech - 3/5
Bleed - 3/5
Thousand Strikes - 1/5
Potion Efficiency - 1/5
Wisdom 2/5 (5/5 with equips)
Dual Wield - 5/5
Lockpick - 3/5

One thing I shall say is that Jump Attack is underrated and Thousand Strikes is overrated. Also, is Potion Efficiency worth it since I already generate most my Hp back rather quickly... On top of Life Leech I don't really lose any... I think I'm just leaving it out when I respec honestly, along with Wisdom.

Thank you for reading, if you did, and I hope you guys will share some of your gameplay, even if it isn't such a novel like mine... ^^;

There are no stat requirements on equipment in DKS, just level requirements.

The floating oranges are beholders.

In D2:ED (playing a warrior) I put a couple points into Potion Efficiency, but didn't bother re-investing after getting the battle tower and unlearning my skills. I didn't learn it at all in DKS.

I also wasn't impressed with Thousand Strikes in D2:ED, though mostly because I did so much damage with regular melee attacks that I didn't really need an extra attack. I don't know if balancing changes in DKS would make me reevaluate that opinion, though, as I have not played a warrior again (yet).

Mana Efficiency comes in handy. In D2:ED I put 5 points in so I could summon my creature and still have enough mana left to be able to use the healing spell (level 1) if I needed to. In DKS I'm playing a ranger, and it helps with the active ranger skills (since I didn't put any stat points into spirit or intelligence).

In DKS I found the creature helpful even with just the basic parts. IMO he is most helpful with a mage head. Some people (especially playing mage or ranger characters) like the fighter head for its Fatality skill bonus, but I tried it for awhile and went back to a mage head.

When you are done in Maxos temple you will get access to Sentinel Island. Your first encounter there you can mindread to go up a level, so the higher level you are (I made it to level 22 in the fjords) the more of an experience bonus that will be. You don't need to get to a high level, but it would be better if you got to a new level before entering, to get a full level bonus.

I just found out not an hour ago about the stat requirements from another post of yours. I also was puzzled when I found a really good bow on my warrior and could equip it. I looked and there was no Dex requirement, I just thought it was that type of weapon, now I know better. ^^;

Beholder's, yes, that's what they are! Haha. xD

I regret putting anything in Potion Efficiency. I don't rely on potions very much. I try to not use them actually. I'd rather rely on food and some downtime that waste them and have none when they are needed. Besides, Food + my Hp Regen gets me to full Hp rather quickly. The only time I use potions is when things are in large groups and they out damage my Hp Regen or I can't get a hit in so Life Leech doesn't work...

The only time Thousand Strikes has come in handy for me is on bosses, which I have fought 1 of since I obtained it and I will talk about that in a second.

I most likely won't take Mana Efficiency mainly because I don't use my Mana enough for it to really matter. The only time it's even really dented is right after I summon my Creature or use Battle Rage. Even then it recovers by the time I need to again. But when I make my Ranger, I think I will take it. Because like you, I am not putting anything into Spir/Int. And I will definitely need it on my Mage. c:

Right now my Creature has the Ranger head I think because I haven't found a Mage head, though when I do, he will have that. I like to think of my Creature as the thing I am not. If I am playing a combat character, my Creature should be a ranger. If I am a ranger, Creature should be combat. (: That way they can pull mobs away from me when needed and I think it's more effective to cover all types of combat when in a team than having both you and your Creature hacking away at the same dead combat mob while getting blasted by a ranger mob, lol.

I am at Sentinel Island right now about to find that ladies ring and I'm lvl 20. I think I read your tip too late. >________________<' OH well, next time I will be sure to not make that mistake. ^^;

I don't feel like turning my game on to get my exact stats, but I am lvl 20 right now and sit at 56 Vit I think and 59 Str with equips. I am going to start stripping before I lvl up that way I don't add in my equips to my base stats because then I would just be thrown off. I got through Maxos Temple with ease until the Maze which Google solved for me. I would most likely still be running around if it weren't for that, haha. Then it was easy then on out. I liked it though, it was fun. (: It wasn't too combat oriented, but it wasn't JUST puzzle after puzzle. The only thing I dislike is that because I was higher lvled I got hardly no EXP for anything I did.

Cheat: You can abuse the barrel respawns to lvl up which I did by accident. I checked it, then got attacked and thought "Oh, maybe there's something important in there." There isn't. Found the cup though, then the woman inside my head is like "The difference was dust when I took my test." GET OVER IT HAG.

After making it to Sentinel Island, which is lovely by the way. I really enjoy the like...feel of it. How it's the waiting room for my servants to be and The Island is so cool. I wish my character could look like her. She's awesome, and I bet a very talented Mage. <3 For my people, I did some research and decided that these were the best for me:

Hermosa, Barbatos, Wesson, Jonelath

Though I did give up to Malicite Gems, which kinda upsets me a little because I will most likely need them as I only have 3 at the moment. ):

And Vacca gets upset if you take his gem which can be sold for a nice 5k. It was worth his death, he was just as savage as his kin, the filth liar!

Before going forward in the story line I wanted to make sure I did everything in Broken Valley, because I think here soon it gets destroyed...though I am not 100% sure. Like the above states I got my 3rd Malicite Gem which was from the sleeping trio. Beer, Apple and Health Potion is all you need, along with 3 Mindreads and some dialogue you can chuckle at. The other 2 are bought from a merchant in Broken Valley Village, though I don't recall his name. I'm horrible with names. ;~;

My Lockpick now also sits at 4/5. Because of that, I ran through the entire Broken Valley AGAIN to find any missing chest. Also running into Bellagar again and he made me fight Goblin Training Dumbies...which was...weird, but that's his style, so~ He's my favorite character in the game thus far. Talked to the fortune teller for her last fortune and then she runs away screaming, lol. Something about The Damned One. Got that achievement though. (: I also noticed some experience I missed, though small amounts, I could have gotten it earlier...which rather depresses me, but whatever. Along with the now known fact the The Island's Mindread can lvl you up no matter what. >_______<'

OH! The "boss battle" I was in. Haha, the Killer Bunny. In ED I fought her on my Rage/Mage Hybrid when I was lvl 13 and trapped it on a cliff type deal and it took an hour to slay with the help of my creature. Was interesting. Got to lvl 14 though~ Wasting every mana potion I owned. >: But this time she was much easier, kinda. I pondered if she still hit 400's, and YES. IT. DOES. Scared the shit outta me too. Seeing a 398 pop up on my screen had me jumping backwards in .2sec. Though, with the help of Thousand Strikes, she was down in 3 uses of that. That is the only time it was helpful though. Sadly. Waste of points, and I wish it wasn't single target... Bout it for updating anyone who comes along and reads this. The fact that I am about to reach Battle Tower is the only thing not stopping me from restarting this character because I just feel like I messed her up. :C

Quick question! Is this game like Oblivion, where if you take Vit early, it increases your Hp more or no? Like, in Oblivion, the higher your Endurance, the higher your Hp would raise each lvl you got. If that is the case, I am definitely restarting because I lvled Str first, then Vit as yo where I should have done it the other way around...

Once you have the battle tower, potion ingredients are easy to get, and you will not need to worry about conserving them (you still may not need them very much, though). I tried not to use potions early in the game, but once I effectively had an unlimited supply, I stopped using food (level 1 of the healing spell was usually enough, though, so potions were mainly for healing in the middle of tough fights).

Playing a ranger I thought a fighter creature might compliment that build, but it tended to draw more opponents into a fight than a ranger/mage creature would, making things more difficult. Any advantage you have due to the Ranger Stealth skill is lost if your creature runs up to the nearest opponent.
In D2:ED playing a warrior I just automatically went with a fighter creature. I ran into trouble trying kill a couple opponents 4 levels above me (trying to level), and found a ranger head made the creature much more helpful. When I found a mage head after that I switched to it.

The experience you got mindreading the island may not have been as much as it could have been, but the difference isn't going to matter once you've gone up another dozen levels. I did as much as I could in the fjords to get to level 22 before heading to Sentinel Island, and got very little experience from opponents after that.

Playing a ranger I opened the barrel in the mirror room about a dozen times, jumped back and took out the majority of the opponents with a couple exploding arrows (getting hit many times during the 5 second cooldown, with Static Charge and retaliation auras being triggered almost constantly). It was fun seeing so many opponents die at once.

If you sell Vacca's gem before you talk to him again, you will not need to fight him (so you can complete the quest he gave you).

You can get most of the way through the battle tower (opened after you return Sassan's ring) before you need to worry about completing anything left in Broken Valley. There is a warning in-game before then. In Broken Valley entering the quarry tower can wait until later, and on Sentinel Island you have to wait to get the treasure from the boat in the tree (though you may want to use the item yourself, rather than complete that quest).


There is a set HP and mana boost per level, as well as the amount from Vitality and Spirit. Investing in Vitality early does not give any extra bonus.

You can't even enter it.

And I have yet to find the hidden wall the guard mentions when mindread. You know, Raze?

You can't enter the quarry tower on DKS, but you can on ED. I died in there... ._.

I think Rory was referring to the mine itself, rather than the quarry tower. In any case there are a couple movable walls in the mine, but none in the tower that I found (or have seen mentioned).

Well, if you mindread the guard that runs out to greet you when you approach he mentions his "hidden loot" in a wall there.
And I can never find it... returning 20-30 hours later...

From the D2:ED walkthrough;


In the mine there is a wall that can be removed with a lever handle that you find elsewhere in the mine, and another opened by a pressure plate (which opens a room and gives you access to a switch to open another wall. You don't need to mindread Rory to find either; it is just a hint to search more carefully.

Ah, it was in the mine, not the office.
My bad... did find that mine cache.

Just a minor update with this thread. I plan to complete the game on this character sometime soon to see what all I must do. I'm not going to go out of my way to research anything anymore for this run through because I have already missed so much that I don't care anymore, so I just want to get this run through over with and start another on which I will definitely take my time on.

Quick questions again:

1. Since the next build I plan is a ranger, are their skills (Like Explosive Arrow, Poison Arrow, etc) determined by Dex or Int?
2. Which do you think would be best: Pure Dex, Pure Int, Balanced Dex/Int? I'm thinking about doing Pure Dex, but I am not experienced enough with the game yet, so I feel the need to ask.
3. Is there ANY reason I would need to use Int on a ranger build if I am not using spells?

If you have played a ranger type build yourself, any tips on stats, skills, etc would be helpful and I would be grateful. C:

I don't know if the ranger skills get a damage bonus based on stats. I've got saves with plenty of spare stat points, so could probably test that in a couple days, or so.

With my ranger I went primarily with dexterity (with some strength and vitality, no spirit or intelligence). In DKS there are several unique bows you can buy, which focus more on ranged damage, so get the majority of their damage bonus from dexterity. I didn't pay too close attention to the damage ranges on random magical bows, but I didn't see anything (normal, balanced or magical) that came close to the unique bows.
You'll also probably want to get your dexterity up at least somewhat to help with critical hits.

The ranger skills require mana, but I found between equipment bonuses / enchantments and (eventually) the Mana Efficiency skill I didn't need to put any stat points into spirit or intelligence.


Poison Arrow I boosted before the Battle Tower, but only put 1 skill point in after unlearning my skills. I tried Stun Arrows after finding some jewellery with that bonus, and put a point in myself; it is quite helpful early in the game.

Once you put a few points into Splitting Arrows, it pretty much becomes a 'die' button for most opponents that get close. That and Explosive Arrows you will probably want to max.


I described my ranger playthrough in the topic Who's playing DKS on nightmare difficulty ? (which you've already seen).
From my (currently) second last post in the topic, I quoted my stats and skills on level 37:

I think one of the things I want to try is to use Poison Arrow to it's full extent. I know at the full upgrade (15) it's dealing almost 500dmg/sec, which I find absolutely amazing honestly. But I am a huge fan of DoT's. ^^;

Basically, with equips, this is what I want:

100 Dex
At least 50 Vit
Anything left over will most likely go into Spirit.

As for skills, I know I want these maxed: Explosive Arrows, Poison Arrows, Splitting Arrows, Death Blow, Mana Efficiency, Lockpick, Ranger Strength

I know I want at least 1 point in these, if not more: Way of the Ranger, Ranger Surprise, Evade, Stun Arrows, Ranger Stealth*

* This will have 2 points invested because that gives the best bonus for the points spent.

I have some more questions though, because it just occurred to me that if certain skills affect range, then a Ranger could possibly be the best DPS class in the game...

1. Does Battle Rage affect range damage?
2. Ranger Surprise worth the investment?
3. Does Bleed affect hits done by a bow?
4. Using some of your "spells" (I call them this since they consume mana) would that mean that Confusion is applied on top of the affects as well? If so, this would void the use of Stun Arrows completely. Because you could damage, while having a chance to stun.
5. Mana and Life Leech work with bows?

Assuming all of the above are true...

100 Dex, 75 Vit, 25 Spirit with equips.

As for skills (In order): Poison Arrow(max) > Ranger Strength(max) > Battle Rage(max) > Bleed(10) > Mana Leech(1) > Evade(1) > Explosive Arrows(max) > Death Blow(max) > Splitting Arrows(max) > Ranger Stealth(2) > Way of the Ranger(max) > Ranger Surprise(max)

Betting half of these things that I hope are possible aren't, so I will have enough skill points if I take those out. ^^;

Maybe I'll max Poison Arrows sooner rather than later. I was going to look at that if I started needing more single target damage, but so far that hasn't been too much of an issue. It could come in handy for boss type opponents, though.


Battle Rage, Bleed and Life/Mana Leech skills only apply to melee attacks. The leech enchantments can be put on bows, though, so I assume those will work with ranged damage (I've always gone with Increased Damage and Increased Magical Damage, and if I started getting 3 enchantment slot bows I doubt either leech would be my next choice).

I never tried Ranger Surprise or Confusion.

You got this from Lancet's walkthrough?
If so, I am pretty sure skills aren't updated for DKS yet, so you may find values are lower... (as they are for several other skills).

I did Hassat, and no it states they are not updated for DKS, though I assume they would remain around the same. If not, then I really need to rethink my build... >>;

Yeah, plenty have been really remade.

Level 15 of Poison Arrows is listed in the game as doing 619.5 dps for 3 seconds.


Loading a level 34 save before defeating Keara, I headed back to the battle tower to remove all retaliation enchantments from jewellery (and put a level 10 healing aura on anything that didn't have an existing healing aura on it), and learned level 10 of Poison Arrows (I already had Explosive Arrows at level 10), which is listed as 147 dps for 6 seconds. My stats at this point were 60 Dexterity and 7 Intelligence. I killed Keara a couple times with Poison Arrows and Explosive Arrows, then boosted either dexterity or intelligence and repeated.
Unfortunately, I forgot to learn Confusion, or I could have checked if it ever kicked in.

I moved out of Keara's line of fire to try to keep the combat log from becoming too cluttered. A side effect to this was that fights could vary in length, especially if she decided to go the long way around the room to get to me. That in turn meant she would vary in the amount she healed, so the damage required to kill her was not consistent. Random critical hits were also a factor.


For Poison Arrows, there was no significant difference between my base stats and boosting dexterity or intelligence. Critical hits didn't show any clear difference either, but there were not enough of them to get a decent sample size (I included the average and standard deviations below, anyway), and the values had a fairly large range.
The total number of hits required to kill Keara were pretty consistent, regardless of stats.




For Explosive Arrows, there was no variation in damage in any of the tests; all normal and all critical hits did the same amount. The number of critical hits was fairly consistent, excluding a Death Blow delivered once both times I killed Keara with my intelligence boosted.
At least the second time I defeated Keara with dexterity boosted she took the long way around the room once and delayed coming after me a couple times, so that (and the 1 less critical hit) accounts for the extra shots required to defeat her.




Based on this, I would say active ranger skills do not get a damage bonus from your stats.

Basically, anyone can use ranger skills and get the full effect of them. The only reason to even use Dex in the game would be to increase normal bow damage or crit bonus. Cool.

Now we need to see if COnfusion works. ^^;

It would probably be best to test that going through a cave or flying fortress, in case bosses are immune to the stun effect. General Raze at least can be stunned (using Stun Arrows), but that doesn't stop him from running for a regeneration chamber.

Well, the stun-message appearing (immune!) would tell enough, no?

Never actually using Confusion, I didn't know there was a message appearing when a target was immune. I have used Stun Arrows that had no effect, but I didn't notice any messages on-screen, and didn't check the combat log.

Really?

Confusion spams the hell out of your screen. Especially in combo with Magic Missile.
It would be more helpful telling when it hit than when it is resisted though (especially with, what, 8% chance max?).

Either way, not really worth it I guess...the % for Confusion maxed is lower than Stun Arrows first point.

I got Risen a couple of days after getting DKS, too! My sig is for you (I'm sure there are others, they are very good RPG's. I can't decide which one to play ;/).

I'm going to try to redo my character because my current one is suffering from me trying to do too much at once. I will keep the current one, but I'm going to go full mage the second time around. I just got done with battle tower and played around in the Fjord a bit.

Both on console, btw.

In the long run I love much more DKS than Risen. But Risen has his own nice thing's. But the skill system in Risen do not match with my playstyle.

To be honest : I've stopped playing Risen since months (now I'm L 10 hero I believe) and have only eyes, ears and feelings for the Dragon Knight Saga, which I really love more and more !!

I've been jumping around between Oblivion, Risen, and DKS lately. It's fun because I can play one for a couple of days and tire of it (The leveling systems are all very different so it's good variety), then switch to another one. I really enjoy the story of DKS and most of the fights, but it's fun to switch between different stories and playstyles. And I'm anticipating Skyrim, of course.