Larian Studios Forums Divinity - Original Sin Divinity Original Sin - Help/Tips/Tricks Anyone tried an "Inquisitor" (Speed Mage) build?

No, I do not just mean a Glass Cannon using mage. I mean Speed. After seeing how well a Rogue can move around the battlefield for few AP, I'm thinking of trying an build based around a mage using close-range attacks.

Here's what I've got roughed out:

Inquisitor


Attributes:
INT = 7
SPD = 7
CON = 6

Talents:
Far Out Man

(Second talent depends on what abilities to prioritize:
Swiftfooted if you take Scoundrel 2 on character creation, Stench otherwise)


Abilities:

(If going for Swiftfooted:
Scoundrel 2
Witchcraft
Sneak

Starting Skills:
Walk In Shadows
Fast Track
Oath of Desecration)

(If going for Stench:
Scoundrel
Sneak
Witchcraft
Hydrosphist
Aerothurge

Starting Skills:
Walk In Shadows
Oath of Desecration
Minor Heal)


The reason why I'm getting Scoundrel is to get the Scoundrel 2 talent which grants you 20% more movement.


I have identified some skills which would be good for this build, but if I can get them all or when, I don't know. All the level 4 ones in particular are questionable.

SCN 1 = Fast Track
SCN 1 = Walk in Shadows (for escaping trouble)
SCN 2 = Charming Touch

HYD 2 = Freezing Touch
HYD 4 = Winterbreath

AER 2 = Shocking Touch
AER 2 = Invisibility

GEO 2 = Petrifying Touch
GEO 3 = Acid Breath

WIT 3 = Vampiric Touch
WIT 4 = Death Punch


I can definitely stop at Aerothurge 2 (3) and Scoundrel 2 (3). I should probably also stop at Geomancer 2 as well (3).

Death Punch is the big gun, so I'll definitely want Witchcraft 4 (10), and I'll probably also need more spells backup, so Hydrosophist 4 (10) may also be a good idea. Maybe Expert Marksman 1 for Tactical Retreat.

Assuming that's all, that's a total of... 30 points, so that's possible at level 12, with no other points spent elsewhere.


Later Talents I'll take will be Stench and Swiftfooted.

Interesting idea, I think I get what your aiming at a mage that runs all over and touches his targets for spell effects, thats it right?

No have not tried any touch spells at all, that is exactly the opposite of what I do with my mages, I do however max out Intel and SPeed and COn but I try to keep her as far from the sharp end as possible.

I would be afraid of being caught in the middle of a melee without any action points after using spells and approaching to lethal range.

Could be a slice. I dont know, but it is interesting, very contrary to what is usually thought of mages.

Freezing, Stunning and Petrifying Touches are all "hard" CC, if they land then the enemy is shut down. Plus, the touch-range spells are pretty low-level and start out with a 100% chance to inflict a status effect, which means that can help to overcome enemy willpower later on.

As for being close range, I could spring for a single rank into Expert Marksman for Tactical Retreat, a lot of people do that. There are only a few touch-range spells, too, so if needed, I can fill up the rest of the spellbook with longer-range spells and some summons or buffs.

After I'm done with Under Siege, I might give this a try.

What is under siege? I will google it....

Good point about the touch spells being few, having nearly guaranteed effects and all disabling immediately if effective.

Yes Tac Retreat will get someone out of the area so would cloak and dagger or Phoenix dive....

I like the many and varied types of teleports available.

Under Siege is a mod for Divinity: Original Sin.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=312959828&searchtext=


It's one of the very few campaign mods I've seen, which seems to be why it's highly rated, despite a lot of rough edges and polish needed. It presumably must be pretty hard to get campaign mods working.

Thanks, getting a campaign mod to work as difficult (except for Larian) hell yes I am sure it is.

I am afraid to mod or cheat my game now that it works without crashing on save or crashing when changing screens etc etc. I want to cheat a party and play like gods- but the cheat editor,( I tried to download it once a few weeks ago) and all I got was a bunch of crap, everything except the editor all seemed like adware or malware, but it was not from STEAM, Raze said I can get it off steam and I will probably do that in the near future, just for fun, after I played through the BG's about a hundred times I started using gatekeepers to try out odd and over-powered things and it was fun, so maybe when I get bored with D:OS I will try to cheat again.

Under Siege might be fun,sounds kinda like "The Magnificent Seven" but with orcs and swords not banditos and peacemakers?

What about the Far Out Man talent? That seems wonderful for this build!

Does far out man increase range on touch spells? Have not tried it I suppose since it increases rangeon all spells and scrolls that it does.

That improves touch spells quite a bit.

I just did a quick test: two battlemages, one with and one without Far Out Man, and it does indeed extend the range on touch spells as well. So I guess I should put that as one of my starting Talents (instead of Stench). I hadn't really noticed much because 2m is not a lot in this game.

Well I can confirm that Far Out Man works with Burning Touch. It increases the range from 3m to 5m. Which is a fantastic increase in the context of the build. Sure, yeah, it might "only" save you a few AP here and there, because you can probably move several metres with a single AP, but I still think it'd be well worth it.

It would also help with not getting into Attack of Opportunity range.

Edit: Ninja'd.

Wow that is cool, rethink on touch spells happening!

Not a lot but could be good, who wants their mage right next to something that wants to swallow them whole?

No not tried so far ... shame on me !!

Great idea !! Really great !

One day I gonna play with such a build, for sure !! I love being a mage after all, so why not a speedy mage ... ?

Thanks to share with us Stabbey !

Why Know-It-All on a starting character? Do you plan to re-specialize?

No. Why NOT Know-It-All? It's a point in INT in exchange for a Disposition drop. Does Disposition really matter all that much if this character isn't going to be doing the bartering? Besides, it's not like mages get a lot of good Talents. The only thing I have to watch out for is that taking Stench on top means almost a -50% drop.

Taking it at char creation is important because you need 8 INT for a success chance on your basic spells, and the Speed Mage has more things than just INT to spend attribute points on.

***

I've started the experiment. My other Source Hunter will be a sword + board fighter, to tank and take the heat. I'm now level 3 with a full party.

The biggest issue so far is that other than Burning Touch, you need to be level 4 before any of the touch spells become available, and they are pretty expensive, too that early on. So given my starting skill selection (Fast Track for Movement, Walk in Shadows for escaping, Oath of Desecration for my fighter) all my Speed Mage can really do is cast Staff of Magus on enemies. I picked up Minor heal to help.

Luckily, I've discovered that you can easily get to level 3 by visiting Hiberheim and returning. As for the money, well, I guess I'll be robbing Cyseal of its stuff.

This build may take a few attempts to figure out. I couldn't figure out what other skills I'd want to take, so I ended up just taking 5 skill schools: Witchcraft, Air, Water, Earth, Scoundrel. Even I know that's not optimal. I'll give it a go anyway.

Correct me if I'm wrong though, because I haven't made it that far in D:OS yet, but according to the Wikia, once you get the Hall of Darkness in the Homestead, you can exchange a Talent point for 10 Ability Point, and then 5 Ability Points for 1 Attribute point, resulting in 2 Attribute Points for each Talent Point.

Doesn't this pretty much mean that virtually all +Attribute Talents are a bust? Why take Know-It-All for +1 Intelligence at a penalty, when you can exchange the Talent Point for +2 Attributes (which you'll spend on Intelligence) instead?

Or am I missing something really obvious?

Oh, that. I'd forgotten about that. I've only played the game to completion once, and even then I never really used the Demon.

Okay, that's a good reason. I'll probably restart this character eventually and change it up then, anyway.

I lied and restarted anyway.


Attributes:
INT = 8
SPD = 6
CON = 6

Talents:
Far Out Man
Stench

Abilities:
Scoundrel
Witchcraft
Hydrosphist
Aerothurge
Willpower


Skills:
Oath of Desecration
Walk in Shadows
Minor Heal


The first touch-range disable you can get is Aerothurge's Stunning Touch. The others, I believe, require at least level 7.

I get a talent at Level 3, but I can't spend it until level 5, when I'll be able to afford Scoundrel 2 and can get Swiftfooted. That'll also let me take Charming Touch, but that's really more of an "I have nothing better to spend this AP on" move, because of my -40% fumble penalty from my 5 Dexterity. But it'll probably still be better than spending that AP on Staff of Magus.

I suppose in theory I could have skipped out on my points into Willpower and Aerothurge and instead gone:

Scoundrel 2
Witchcraft
Hydrosophist

Picked up Swiftfooted instead of Stench (which could be saved for Level 3) and spent the next three points on Aerothurge instead. That also seems like a viable approach.

***

In the meantime, I've picked up Blind and Slow.

I've picked up Wolgraff and Bairdotr as my Companions. It seems to be working okay so far, but then again, I am still only playing on Normal, I've only barely gotten Shocking Touch, and the real challenge will be the boss.


***

As soon as I get Crafting 3, I'll be trying to craft a pair of Lucky Rabbit's Paw Rings, which each grant +1 Speed AND + Movement.

The recipe is challenging, though.

(Magic Rabbit Paw + Thread) + Bowstring) + Jeweler's Kit: Ring.

Or in other words:

((Rabbit Paw + (Bonedust + Stardust)) + Thread) + (Sinew + Sinew)) + Jeweler's Kit: Ring.

I've tentatively called this build the "Inquisitor". It's a variation on the Enchanter, I suppose, which focuses on movement and close-range spells.

Something which became quickly apparent is that there aren't all that many touch-range spells. There's Burning Touch, Freezing Touch, Shocking Touch, Petrifying Touch, Enfeebling Touch, Vampiric Touch, and Death Punch. And I suppose Diving Light, Trip, Charming Touch also count, although for this build they have stat penalties.

Of the Elemental ones, Burning Touch is available at level 1, Shocking Touch at level 4, and the others at level 7. Burning is the only one which does damage, the others inflict a hard CC. Those are good of course, but that produces the interesting effect that I run my mage up, succeed in landing a status... and then the only damage spells I have to use are long-range...

So that prompted me to think of a couple of close range touch spells which do minor damage, but can't inflict any status effects.


NEW SKILL IDEAS

Aerothurge - Static Shock - "Stupid carpet."
Aerothurge: 1 // AP: 3 // Duration: Instant // Cooldown: 5 turns.
Delivers a minor electric shock to a target in touch range (3m). Air damage, no status effects.


Geomancer - Dust Knuckles - "Taste allergies, numbnuts!"
Geomancer: 1 // AP: 3 // Duration: Instant // Cooldown: 5 turns.
Delivers minor earth damage to a target in touch range (3m). Earth damage, no status effects.


Hydrosophist - Icy Grip - "Don't touch me with those cold hands!"
Hydrosophist: 1 // AP: 3 // Duration: Instant // Cooldown: 5 turns.
Delivers minor water damage to a target in touch range (3m). Water damage, no status effects.

***

I'm currently up to level 6, running alongside a Fighter, Wolgraff and Bairdotr, making the Inquisitor as the only mage, which is interesting at times. I've tricked her out with a bunch of +Speed and +Movement stuff, and she can actually run farther than Rogue Wolgraff... which suggests I should probably give some of the +speed stuff to him instead.

The character is certainly odd, as her only real damage spell is Blitzbolt from a legendary ring, and everything else is just really support.

I'm trying to work on a few variations of the Inquisitor that could be a full-fledged preset class, Attributes, Talents, Abilities, but it is tricky.

So far this party combination is working pretty well, but I can't be sure if it actually has anything to do with the Inquisitor.

I always only run one mage ( she rocks ), a fighter ( lonewolfed so party of 3 at most) and a Rogue ( Bairdotr or Wolgraff preferably Wolgraff).

I have never even cast a touch spell since I wasnt figuring being in the proximity of enemies was going to be super healthy.

I am curious about how you use her:

I would like to see her in action, is her init high enough to be first every turn and does she have enough AP to run up and start touching the enemy? Can she usually touch more than one enemy per turn? What escape and evasion tactics/skills are you using most and how?

It's too early to give good answers to these questions. I am level 6 and only have a couple skills. Once I reach level 7 and pick up Freezing Touch and Petrifying Touch, then my build will have more to do. Those skills are hard CC (like Stunning Touch), with a base 100% chance of effect.

She usually goes second in the round, after my Rogue, but she has a higher movement than my Rogue. Right now, I normally delay everyone's turn to let the enemies run up, because my Warrior has the Leadership skill, and is much farther back in the turn order.

I am using Far Out Man to extend the range of my touch spells to 5 meters. She has "Hide in Shadows" as her escape skill, and will probably pick up Cloak and Dagger later on. Neither are perfectly reliable because of the dexterity penalty.

I'll have to give a further report once I have more skills set up.