Larian Studios Forums Divinity - Original Sin Divinity Original Sin - Help/Tips/Tricks War Priest Build

I'm new to DOS, but I'm about to start my first game tomorrow using the 4 player coop mod with my 2 brothers and son. I'm not too worried about making a potentially poor build because I think it will be offset by the fact that we'll have double the party size from the get go, however, I do want to make something that will actually be fun to play in the long run.

So my idea for a build is a War Priest. I'm visualizing someone a little like the character, Kyra from the Pathfinder RPG. Basically I want a character that is focused on healing, but uses a sword instead of a mace, and doesn't use a shield. Also, I would love her to be able to forgo any heavy armor, using speed instead to move quickly about the battlefield.

Here's my idea for starting stats:

Abilities
Strength + 2
Intelligence + 2
Speed +1

Skills
One Handed + 1
Man At Arms + 1
Hydro + 2

Talents
Lone Wolf
Opportunist (or Escapist)

Minor Heal
Slow Current
Dust Devil


I figure that she can forgo Constitution because of Lone wolf, that way she can survive with no heavy armor and shield. Later I may get Body Building.

I know her weakness will be tanking, I'll have to play her mobile in combat, moving in and out of the fray, striking only when beneficial and healing her comrades as support. If she stands around monsters too long she'll probably get into trouble.

How does that sound? Is she doomed to get annihilated? Or do you think I could pull it off? Any tips to improve her?

I can't offer a lot of advice because I haven't played a cleric-type build in a while. I can understand your concern, as wanting STR, INT and SPD will tax your attribute resources heavily and you'll probably want to depend on gear for a lot of those bonuses. In particular you'll want Movement if your intent is to move around the battlefield.

I'm also uncertain what you see as the role of this character in combat. Other than healing, what else are you doing? Are you going to be a major damage dealer?


Can Lone Wolf really be used with the 4-player mod? Even if that works, it seems kinda cheaty, because if 4-players still works, you're getting all the benefits with none of the drawbacks.

Escapist is not a great Talent, most of the time you can just move away and flee combat normally.

Getting +2 Hydro at character creation seems like an odd choice. Are you sure there are no other abilities you really want to take? I'm not sure what benefit you'll be getting out of taking 2 levels in Hydro immediately. It can't be for the second healing spell, which you can't even use until level 7.

Some skills which might be good to help with your tanking:
Water of Life (Hydro 1) - +3 CON for 3 turns.
Become Air (Aero 2) - +50% Physical resist for 3 turns.
Elemental Absorption (Witch 2) - +50% Elemental Resist for 3 turns.

Lone Wolf does work with the 4 player coop mod and, yes, I realize this will probably be a lot easier than a normal two source hunter game. That's why I'm not that concerned if my build isn't totally perfect, in fact, if she ends up a little on the nerfed side, it might make the game more fun (read: more challenging) anyway.

How do those extra points in those magical skills help exactly? I just thought putting more points into hydro would make my heal spell more potent. Is that not the case?

Basically I want a character that focuses on healing, but can also deal some damage occasionally when circumstances are right. My vision is for her to hang in the rear every battle buffing the party, and only come up to attack when the enemy's backs are turned.

The 'Skills' abilities determine how many skills you can learn, and how many action points that higher level skills cost to use.

Okay, so...does putting 2 points in hydro mean I get two hydro skills to start with. If I put 1, I get only 1 skill? I guess I'm confused at what the benefit is of putting more than one point in an elemental skill ability. If there's no benefit at all, then I will use the 2 pts elsewhere.

With one point in hydro (level 1) you can learn up to 3 hydro spells; with 3 ability points in hydro (to get to level 2) you can learn 5 spells. Six ability points (1 + 2 + 3) to get to level 3 would allow you to learn 7 spells. Level 5 is unlimited.

That is indeed not the case. INT makes spells more potent, just points into the school don't do anything except let you learn more spells and use higher-ranked spells with less or no AP penalty.



If you want buffs, then you'll definitely want points into some other magic schools. You can probably skimp on STR, just enough to keep up with your swords, since STR only boosts accuracy and chance to hit. The rest of your points should go into INT and SPD.

First off, I like the concept. As far as I know there's no mechanical benefit to leaving one hand empty while using a sword. I love flavorful challenges but I just wanted to make sure you're aware.

If you're going to be staying out of the way, you might consider Sneaking and the Guerrilla talent. It's a great way to keep squishy characters out of the way as well as boost their damage. Still, her damage is going to be mediocre compared to a more focused mage or warrior.

That said, I suspect she's going to be a lot tankier than you expect. The Air spell can make up for a lack of armor and by the end even Glass Cannon mages become quite hard to kill. A Lone Wolf, non Glass Cannon character with a pile of HP is going to be pretty absurdly tough even without a shield and armor. You might even find yourself on the front lines eventually.

For spells, heals are okay but shields are even better - not least because you can cast them preemptively instead of waiting for someone to get hurt. On top of their stated benefits (resistances and such) they provide a health buffer that works against all damage. You'll see it as a colored bar surrounding your normal health bar. You get access to Earth Shield at level 7 and the others at level 10. Geomancy also has some fantastic cleric-y buffs like Bless, so definitely branch out from Water and take a look at the other schools.

Fighting healer works in many RPG systems, in Divinity not very much. Main issue is - Do not play a healer with unreliable spells, your party could start hate you.... .

However if you really need such a build start with fighter, make him reliable. Add Geo spells at start, on the 8th level add reliable Hydro spells.
So start attribute:
Str +2
Spd +2
Const +1
Skills:
+1 Geomancer - Spell Spider
+1 Man at arms - skill Dust Devil, Ram
Do not waste a point for any weapon skill! Not with this build never ever. Once you get int 8 you could invest 1 point to another Spell school rather then weapon. (1 point of Aero - Become air, Teleport, Bitter cold for defense purpose)
Think mainly about Leech, Bully, Picture of Health. Opportunist is usable too, but later. Do not get Escapist - it is one of the most useless talents. Glass-canon talent is very interesting for you on 15th level.
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Before 8th level you get next 3 attribute points.
I recommend distribution:
str +2 +2
spd +2
const +1 +1
Int +0
Warrior items have high requirements for STR, it rises a lot in the begining fo game but not so much later in the game. Some balance issue.
On 8th level - Add One skill to Hydro. You also get the 1 attribute point. Add him to Int to get 6. Around this level you can reach Teller of Secrests - Buy a book for +1 attribbute. Around this level also an item for +1 can be avaialble. So you get 7. Its enough to cast Minor heal and water of life at 100%. Dont be confused about name, Minor Heal is most usefull healing spell, even in the final battle. However get noticed, all spells are driven by Int. And only Int. Amount of damage and chance to breach saving throws. Skill level doesnt mater. Therefore if you dont max int, your spells are not useful for direct attacking spells. Generaly do not cast on enemy characters. Make sure you are focusing at healing, defensive, buffing or summoning spells.
1 point to Geomancy use for:
Spider, Oil and magic Shield spells. All of these spells have 100% success rate at int5

If you need healing from level 1 then go for int 7 at level 1, instead of Str. Your warrior skills modify accordingly. Hi SPD is mandatory.

Armor and weapon is tied by requirements. If you are going for STR - you will use sword (preferably double handed) and heavy armor. If you are going for Int you will use cloth and staff. <-- its not fighting healer then. Cloth armor and sword is super s*it combo.
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Another idea of helping wingman with a one handed weapon is scoundrell-mage. Game has oversized wepons, so the dagger looks soon like a stabby sword. You are VERY fast moving. You have leather armor.

In the build above, replace STR by DEX. Man-at-arms by Scoundrell. Get BackStab on level 1 mandatory. Bully ASAP. Skills - Walking shadow, Razors edge.
INT, spell progress and others see above. Make sure you add to all mentioned above one point of Witchcraft too. Later go for 2 levels of Marksman for Mute & Rapture skills and Sidestep talent. Alternatively you could use ranged attack by crossbow. Richochet skill becomes handy. You cant attack by ranged spells anyway. Level 12+ you can put few points to one handed weapons, not sooner.

Even if it doenst look for the first time, this Soundrell-mage build is badass. Maby not a classic sunshine war-priest rather Ninja-Shaman.

Let me know how it works :-]


Edit: I made mistake to mix attribute and skill points.

"On 4th level - Add One skill to Hydro. You also get the 2 attribute point due to LoneWolf."

Lone wolf gives you an extra skill point, not an extra attribute.

Oh. I confused myself. Fixed.

Played with this build using the 4 player mod over the weekend and it went great. I think I was the strongest character of the group even without armor or a shield. I often felt like I had double or even triple the action points in combat so it was very easy for me to move into combat, take a wack at an enemy or heal an ally, and then run back out of harms way again.

Everyone else in the party died at least a couple times and I had to come to their rescue (which they appreciated). My character (Kyra) only died once when my son, playing a pyro mage, nuked a trap and blew us both up.

Lots of fun, this build works great. Even without the armor, she still felt a little overpowered. I guess Lone Wolf is just a Mary Sue trait.

Of course Lone Wolf is overpowered if you don't actually lose a party member.

Looks good. So what is your current build?