Larian Studios Forums Divinity - Original Sin Divinity Original Sin - Help/Tips/Tricks Just starting, please advise on Warrior/Mage build

Hello guys, new guy around here.

I just would like your advice as I would like to avoid the initial pitfalls with my characters.

I am seeking to make a Warrior/Mage kind of character, which I envision as mostly Warrior that has access to a couple of dramatic and impressive spells he can use rarely to spice things up good... Think like fight fight fight melee melee melee... jump back and conjure some massive inferno or electric storm or anything impressive looking and damaging and get back to fighting.

I don't seek to have access to all schools of magic, just one I will be good at is enough.

How do you suggest to spread my initial points to that end, which magic school to take and what not to do.

For example I heard that Air focus is very good and that I should not train Two Handed weapons skill since some endgame weapon is not working with it or gives it for free or something like that.

Also is there any point to take 1h over 2h weapons if you do not want to use shields?

Thanks!

focus on your warrior skills first, make sure you have at least 8 strength to start. add another point to strength at level 3, then with a claw amulet or belt, or random magic item, you can boost your strength to 10 so you can wear decent armor early. even though you want to have mage skills, if you are focusing mostly on being a warrior, don't put any points into intelligence. focus on strength, constitution, and speed.

good skills to start are the heal skill, the battering ram (to get you into combat fast, and bonus knockdown and damage on the way), then either the spin damage skill or warming (warming is great if you have a fire mage or witch behind you; it lowers the enemy resistance to things like fire and blind or slow). toss a point into leadership if you can, it helps. best to do that for both your starting characters even, especially if one is combat oriented and the other ranged or magic.

around level 4, start thinking about what mage skill you want to add to your warrior. witch or air is good. even both if you really want a battlemage type, otherwise pick one and put a couple of points into it, and put the rest into offensive/defensive skills and your warrior skill.

witch spells allow you to buff your damage, increase your elemental resists by 50%, or debuff the enemy. if you are focusing primarily on being a warrior, you will have low int (you can add a point or two when you get to higher levels) so pick spells that don't rely so much on having high int to succeed (focus on buffs instead of debuffs, IOW; let your focused mages use the debuffs until your own int reaches 7 or 8). air spells can give you resistance to physical damage, and of course teleportation, which IMO is the single most useful spell in the game.

that's about it, really. you should do fine with such a character.

two handed weapons do quite a bit more damage than 1h, and are only a point slower. assuming you plant to be primarily a damage dealer instead of a tank, I would recommend 2h over 1h.

OTOH, if you DO plan to play the tank role, then definetly go 1h + shield, as not only can shields block ALL physical damage, but you get the added benefit of whatever stats and bonuses the shield adds to your character.

Ive had really good luck putting all starting points into str with my knight, and then utilizing equipment for whatever is lacking (mainly constitution) and so forth. what that gives you is a tank that can take a beating and dish it out double. but yes warrior skills first.

for mages (up to where i am) i have 2 wizards/elementalists (whatever they are, the stock builds are irrelevant for me) that use aero/hydro and aero/pyro. both have tele, blitz bolt and staff of magus, and both utilize destruction while the hydro has healing and what i see as support. the lightning is good all around, with exceptions of course.

my forth is a ranger that specializes in aoe. cloud attacks, explosions, ricochet. for example if hes not hitting more than one opponent, i'll have him hold off on his turn and have a mage or two tele one or 2 others into range and *hope* they stay put

or tele enemies into close quarters with knight and unleash the whirlwind or battering ram

all in all your best off finding what works best for you, and what strategies work best as well. to get that you may end up restarting a few times. im on my 4th reset after dumping probably 20+ hours in total for my first 3 tries. and now im around 35-40+ hours and hoping i can find the respec guy fast

dude thats my entire guide video section...thos are my main characters...fire/earth mage and tank warrior =), JAHAN IS HEALER!

You have a lot of good videos, although ive never seen any of the ones on builds. I thrive on strategy and this game has it and more. I ended up using the henchman editor mod so that way i can have Raistlin as my aero/hydro mage, and Tannis Half-Elven as my ranger =D. jahan is eating cake at the inn

"Storm Warrior"
Attributes: +3 Strength, +2 Intelligence
Abilities: +2 Aerotheurge, +1 Man-At-Arms, +1 Stealth
Talent 1: Know-It-All, (Open)
Talent 3: (Open)
Talent 7: Guerrilla
Talent 11: Lightning Rod

With one book of Mortal Technique, you will have enough ability points for 5 Aerotheurge by Level 11.

Awesomeness: Continue pumping Strength while leaving Intelligence at 8. Give yourself the biggest two handed weapon you can use. Use Lightning Strike to bounce around the battlefield, Air Body to tank. Start every battle from Level 7 onward with Rage + Invisibility + Guerrilla combo. Stand in lightning puddles and laugh like a mad god!