Larian Studios Forums Divinity - Original Sin Divinity Original Sin - Help/Tips/Tricks [DOS: EE] Questions on: Class set-up(s) & Leveling

For classic party-combat CRPGs, a "well balanced" party generally included members who specialize particular functions that will optimize the group's efficiency in battle. The specialization is due to the limited number of available points you can invest in talents, skills, and attributes. It's impossible to have one character who is brilliant at everything, and although you can have characters who are "jack of all trades but masters of none", a combination of different characters who specialize in a small number of different skills that cover each other's gaps obviously make the party more efficient because it allows all of them to eventually become masters of those skills. A well-rounded party generally include members who can perform the following functions:

1) tank: someone who can soak up damage and shrug it off, basically to act as the focus of enemy attacks and preoccupy them while the other party members do their thing. Warrior type classes generally fulfill this role, but in DOS, it is also possible to skip having to level a character as a "tank" and use summons for that function.

2) healer: pretty self explanatory. This is (usually) a caster who uses healing spells to keep party members healed and buffed with spells that will enhance their stats and skills during combat to optimize their "survivibility." In DOS, this will typically be a caster who specialize in the water school of magic or, if you have a party where every member has the zombie talent (where you are healed by poison rather than normal healing method), earth school of magic.

3) damage dealer: this character's job is to inflict as much damage as possible against the enemy. They may or may not be able to take much punishment from the enemy AI, so sometimes you need to keep them out of harm's way and use a variety of strategies to distract the enemy AI from focusing on them during the battle. A lot of classes can fulfill this role in DOS, everything from two-handed melee warriors, spell casters, sneak attack rogues, archery rangers, etc.

4) since DOS has a crafting system, you may want to have a character that have at least a couple of points in non-combat utility skills like crafting or blacksmithing.

5) I typically prefer my main two characters to be mages, one acting as the healer who also doubles as the caster for crowd control (CC) spells and "set up" spells (water and earth are both very good schools of magic for that) that help facilitate the other mage, who is a dedicated damage dealer who specializes in offensive spells (fire and air). I then recruit NPCs like Madora (melee tank) or Bairdotr to fill the skill and role gaps in the party. I also like to have Jahan in the party as a "miscellaneous mage"/summoner (3 mages is really OP...). When playing lonewolf (where you can not recruit NPCs and only has 2 characters in the party, but get more points every time you level the characters), I usually have a hybrid mage/rogue and a hybrid mage/warrior, and rely entirely on summons to tank for the party.

Anyway, these are just the basics. And yes, you will be able to respec your characters' skills starting at a certain point in the game (it will cost 1000 gold).