Larian Studios Forums Divinity - Original Sin Divinity Original Sin - Help/Tips/Tricks Beginner tips..

Hi everybody!
I've been playing D:OS for a few days now but I can't seem to get very far. Now, I know that the game isn't supposed to be easy, but my party keeps dying over and over again on easy difficulty. I've just found Evelyn but there's no way in hell that I can beat her.

So what I was wondering.. is there anyone who can point me in the direction of what to do in what order? I've picked up all the quests in Cyseal, got Jahan and Madora, done the archeologist and fab five quests, and am now at Evelyn. But I feel horribly underleveled and I'm not sure if maybe I missed some things along the way.

I appreciate that the game isn't supposed to be easy, but the constant trial-and-error and the fact that every time I face a new encounter my party wipes, is getting really annoying.

Poor thing!

Couple of points that might help you:

1. Never fight monsters more than 1 higher level than you - if you're doing this, chances are you're missing out on monsters elsewhere who are more appropriate for you.
2. Pet Pal! Worth tons of XP, not taking this on one person costs you a lot of experience from quests you cannot obtain otherwise.
3. Mixed parties work better in this game than deciding "well fire mages are best so I'll rustle up four of them." Everyone has strengths and weaknesses - a balanced group is great.
4. Steal stuff. Invisibility/Walk in Shadows lets you rob people in broad daylight, which in turn lets you buy skillbooks and better weapons/armor so you'll do a better job surviving.

Finally, the stuff in Cyseal is level coded for your ease:

Great thank you!
Another question: Is there an easy way to increase you AP?
I get the feeling enemies can do a bazillion actions while I can only shoot once per turn..

You can increase your speed or take the Glass Cannon talent at 5. You can use haste type spells (wildfire from pyro for example).

Also a few more tips:
- always focus on killing one enemy. AoE spells are great in total damage output, but three almost dead enemies harm you more than two at full health.

-use summons to soak hits. enemies like to target them.

-use terrain hazards to your advantage. enemies don't like crossing them so you can use that to make your ranged characters harder to get to

not bad:
http://kotaku.com/tips-for-playing-divinity-original-sin-1601825219

That guide is pretty good. I like to set the terrain up for victory beforehand. Put Oil and/or poison barrels in a convenient place, send one PC forward on their own to trigger the enemies and then leg it back to your ambush point. When the enemies pass the barrels, fire arrow and whoosh. Just make sure you're standing well back. It's how I did for Evelyn. If you can get past Deitmar before Evelyn then you're probably levelled enough.

Dmnqwk's points are all well made, especially #1.

Best skills/spells for early combat:

Midnight Oil - it slows the enemy AND sets them up for fire

Flare - Fire, fire is your best friend against undead

Summon Spider - this poison-immune critter is too useful even if you are arachnophobic like me!

Teleportation - Teleport that darn archer/mage right in the middle of your tanks (or oil/fire barrel)

Blind - Amazing level 1 witchcraft spell (CCs them for 3 turns!)

Minor Heal - Better than the other higher level heals too or cure wounds

Oath of Desecration - 50% increase in damage!

Power Stance / Battering Ram / Crushing Fist - More CC is always good, but remember CCed opponents have 0 defence so you can use power stance to finish them off regardless of the +1 to AP usage

Earth Shield - earliest elemental shield; after that you're set (at level 7), it absorbs ALL damage regardless of its weaknesses until it dispels, think of it as your armor

More speed but also a point or two of constitution and having either Strength or Dex high for specific types of weapons.

If character is a fighter basic type then armor specialist also benefits your movement and range in fights. And of course various hybrid builds play very nicely too.

You can bolster these with equipment too so it pays off to keep an eye on such items appearing at biggest traders. And otherwise, ofcourse. Vendors inventories change when you level up it seems.

Most important thing , i think, is changing how you approach each encounter, instead of repeatedly trying same kind of attacking.

Movement penalities are only on chest armor and shields. By combing chest armor with anvil (low crafting skill needed) you can turn every movement penality into a bonus - so armor specialist has no effect on this. The skill is less useful, if your warrior doesn't uses a shield, and shouldn't be a priority in early game.