Larian Studios Forums Divine Divinity (English) Help/Tips/Tricks your thoughts on a few skills?

I am going to start a new charector, A female survivor, that specializes in a bow. So what are these skills like. Explosive Arrow, Pickpocket, Reflect Missle, elven sight (what is the difference between this and ranger sight?) lockpick (this is not just for doors is it? It will work on chests too) and finally Heavens gift? IS this even worth it, and how do you use it.

Just some thought on these skills. I am obviously going for a more RPG feel to this one, and not just how can a make the strongest possible charector ever. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/puppyeyes.gif" alt="" />

I just started the same type of character, but have not played with any of the archery skills yet. Pickpocket: you need level 1 or 2 for quests, but that can be found as a bonus on a ring or other equipment. It can be used for stealing, but its not like you are ever short on money in the game. Lockpick can open / lock doors, chests, etc. Heaven's Gift: just make it the active skill and right click repeatedly - potions, gold and items will appear. It is a slowish way to get a practically unlimited supply of potions and gold, but unless you are frequently running out of potions, I would not bother with it. Elven Sight is much better than Ranger Sight.


Elven Sight (Passive)
You can see further and thus target and attack your enemies from afar.

Level 1 Increase sight range by 2. Required level 1
Level 2 Increase sight range by 4. Required level 5
Level 3 Increase sight range by 8. Required level 9
Level 4 Increase sight range by 10. Required level 13
Level 5 Increase sight range by 12. Required level 17


Ranger Sight (Passive)
Grants you the keen eyesight of a ranger to help you see your enemies from afar.

Level 1 Increase sight range by 1. Required level is 6
Level 2 Increase sight range by 1. Required level is 12
Level 3 Increase sight range by 1. Required level is 18
Level 4 Increase sight range by 1. Required level is 24
Level 5 Increase sight range by 1. Required level is 30

I have a female survivor that specializes in bows. She didn't care for the explosive arrow. But the elemental arrows are great. Of course later on more monsters are more resistant, but she cleared out the orc camp by herself with her elemental arrows. Even the giant orcs and giant elite orcs.

maybe it's just me, but the elven sight skill seems to be better than the ranger sight skill by far.

that's the one i went with.

i also have a female survivour with a bow proficency, that i picked right from the start because i almost always play female characters except in BGII (i played a male for the romances) and i wanted to try something other than a vanilla fighter for once.

anyway, just curious about something. i have been putting skill points in both bow expertise and axe expertise. is the axe expertise a good idea? or should i be going with something else?

I thought that an axe might be a really good choice from the beggining as well. The ones that you seem to get at the beggining are huge, but a lot of people on here have told me that the sword is the better way to go. I prefer the 2-hander for my warrior (just cause he looks like a bad ass version of connan the barbarian) but i think if you balance it out a really good one-hander and a shield are a far more productive combination. I like the bow-sword hybrid, but I mostly go with the bow. My female survivor is shaping up to be a really nice hybrid of all classes, with the emphasis on the bow, instead of a huge ass swords.

P.S. Does a mage get a better chance of finding random spell books than a warrior or survivor does? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

I saw the little chart comparing how the 3 classes level up in stats differently. Warriors get 50% more vitality, Wizards get 50% more mana, and survivors get...not much, as they sit in the middle. Warriors get huge benefits from increasing STR in addition, and Survivors get a small advantage in increasing Offense/Defense ? Otherwise Survivor is almost exactly a wizard, the percent loss of vitality is balanced by the same increase in mana..

I see there are essentially 2 ways to play these type of games
1) have a ton of health and deal incredible damage before you are hurt too bad
(warrior)
Or
2) Have a ton of mana and expend it killing monsters before they can hurt your much smaller health points, running away then casting spells as necessary.

Is there a 3rd path, another play style? I'd hope that the Survivor might be it, but I don't see it yet. It seems like a weaker version of both wizard and warrior. Warriors and Wizards can be just as good with bows can't they, and the both can cast invisibility-like spells, so whats the point?

unfortunatly what you say is far too true in most cases. If you look at games like Diablo, ultima, shadowbane, neverwinter, everquest, liniage(sp?)......ect. All these games have that same basic feel to them. "do I go in and kick ass melee style, or do i stay back and spell his ass to death." I really started to not like these types of games because of those points, but after a while i realized that these games have a great potential for real role playing. you just have to look a little deeper, and get past the "GOD CHARACTOR" complex. There is far too much emphasis put on making the ultimate player, and unfortunatly it comes from the on-line games. Games like this also, however, allow you to really get back to the roots (ya I know, really cheesy) of what an RPG is supposed to be all about. I see a lot of fixes for so many "glitches" in this game, and I think that is detracting from the overall game experience. I mean if i talked to ralph in real life, and pissed him off, then I would break a quest as well. thats just the facts of life. I know it sounds lame but remember the old days when D&D used to be fun, well this is the same thing, these people have just put our imaginations into a real life image. At the end of the game I may only be LVL 35 (hardly) and I may have not solved all the quests, and I may have a few useless skills but isn't that what makes it fun? things that I feel contribute to this GOD complex are things like the frost sword............. really, Why? you are just kidding yourself, and truely dulling the fantasy that is a "Role Playing Experience"

Ok I speel off a lot, and tend to go off topic even more, but it seems that I am in good company here so, when in rome..............

Peace all, and thanks for the advice. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/up.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wave.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/offtopic.gif" alt="" />

I'd definately agree with Bow Expertise & Elven Sight (max them) and Reflect Missiles (but only one or two points in the latter).

True Shot : seems good for an archer (adds damage 100% of the time).

Spiritual Damage : If it applies to missiles (not sure) then go with that as this damage applies 100% of the time also. Contrast this with the Warrior skills of poison/fire/etc that have a low %chance of happening, at least initially.

Pickpocket : I'd say skip it and see if you can snag any items that give you "free" levels of pickpocket if you must use it.

Lockpicking : a must, but remember that small quests from Rob in Verdistis can get you some lockpick skill levels. (Three in total IIRC).

Tips : lightweight items like rings, gloves, and helmets that give skill bonuses are good ideas; some also have charm slots (Enchant skill required) and are not very heavy to carry about. I use this strategy a lot for skills I only want occasionally. I was lucky enough to find a ring of something that gave charm +1 and wisdom +1 for example, and it only weighs 10.

Go Shopping, Dwarven Style : The Dwarven Jeweller is located right next to the two Dwarven Smiths in the Dwarven halls. Stick to the Dark Forest paths and run past the Trolls to get there first, then use the teleportal after that. I think you could get there at quite a low level if you run & dodge rather than fighting, and they generally have very good stuff. Don't forget to "lift" the teleport scroll from the Dwarven Village mayor first, though...

Mind you, If it plays the way you want to, do your own thing and never mind us!

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

True Shot is currently broken. I've got links to a few posts in the old forum (which is still down), but don't know if anyone has posted detailed info here.

PS I think Spiritual Damage is just applied to melee attacks. you can get two levels of Lockpick in the thieves' guild
Free skills, and spell books you can buy

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thats like my most used skill, and it doesn't even work? How can you tell if it works or not? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/memad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/memad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/memad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/memad.gif" alt="" />

Save the game under a new name just before a strong opponent or opponents. Kill them and keep track of the average damage per hit. Use iZakaroN's SaveEditor to remove all of the skill points from True Shot in that saved game, then re-load and fight the same opponents with the same equipment again. If there is no significant difference between damage done with and without True Shot, then the damage bonus is not being applied. Damage is somewhat random, so you would have to take enough shots to get a good idea of the average and range of damage against particular monsters (who's hit points are also random).

Unfortunately, computer generated dynamic plots are near impossible to program and hack and slash is far easier (and tends to be more popular with the majority crowd, despite what we think). Deus Ex is the only RPG I've seen do this well. You can talk or fight or sneak your way through the game with equal rewards.

I am playing a female wizard and use hand held weapons more than a bow, if I use a weapon at all. I mostly use magic for fighting and defending. At 39th level I have just over 1000 mana points(includes item bonuses) and I have not found to many enemies that I can not kill. Being a pen & paper DD player I love the way I can customize my player in <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />