Larian Studios Forums Divinity: Original Sin 2 Divinity - Original Sin 2 - Suggestions and Feedback Complete overhaul of attributes and abilities.

Previous system was flawed, new one is ugly and still flawed.
Unlikely as changes of this scale are to occur, I'd like to present my take on how the character attributes and abilities should look.

Base value of each attribute becomes 5, and players get 1 point per level. You still get 2 points of racial bonus and 3 points to distribute at level 1.

Fortitude (replaces Strength) - a point in Fortitude grants bonus Vitality and a big bonus to Melee Damage.
Melee damage in this case refers to ALL damage dealt with melee attacks and abilities, be it maces, daggers, staves or even touch spells.
Fortitude becomes the primary attribute of melee fighters as it grants them great damage and durability needed to excel in melee combat.

Precision (replaces Finesse) - a point in Precision grants bonus Accuracy and bonus Physical Damage.
Precision becomes the attribute to invest in when your attacks stop hitting their mark. It's a reactionary purchase for melee characters and the primary damage source for ranged ones.

Intellect - a point in Intellect grants a small flat bonus and a big percentage bonus to all Magic Damage.
Intellect would be the go-to attribute for characters that wish to boost their magic damage, as it's flat+percentage nature would offer it's benefit both to those that focus on it exclusively or deal smaller amounts via weapon enchantments.

Resilience (replaces Constitution) - a point in Resilience grants bonus Vitality as well as a small flat bonus and a percentage bonus to Armor.
Resilience becomes the primary attribute for tanks and others in need to increase their resistance and durability.

Wisdom (replaces Memory) - a point in Wisdom opens up one Skill Slot for abilities and allows for items of one level higher to be identified.
Wisdom is a fancier name for the utility stat that absorbs Lore into itself as part of changes to the skills.

Wits - a point in Wits grants bonus Critical Chance and improves the value of items that can be found or stolen.
Wits becomes the stat of thieves and rogues that absorbs some benefits of Lucky Charm and Theft into itself as part of changes to the skills.

With attributes cleared out of the way, time comes to look at the changes to Abilities.

To start with, gone is the distinction between combat and civil abilities, as it takes away from the ability to have a non-combatant on the team, or otherwise to vary the balance between combat and out-of combat utility of party members. Instead, certain abilities that have dual use(like sneaking) are rolled into relevant combat disciplines.
Weapon specific abilities are also gone, as they are boring stats rather than interesting ability unlocks.
With the selection narrowed down, 3 points to start and one point per level is entirely appropriate.

The new Ability list would look as such:
Appraisal: +1 level of item identification and improved barter prices.

Assassination: Increases sneaking speed and reduces enemy detection area. Unlocks abilities that require or enable invisibility.

Charisma: Improves conversation results. Unlocks abilities that boost the performance of allies or hinder enemies.

Cruelty: Increase DoT damage(burning, bleeding, poisoned). Unlocks abilities that apply and enhance or scale with such effects.

Elementalism: Increases the AoE of magic abilities. Unlocks spells that create elemental surfaces.

Knowledge: +1 Skill slot and additional enemy information when using examine.

Marksmanship: Increased bow/crossbow range. Unlocks abilities based on using a bow or a crossbow.

Martial: Reduces damage taken from Melee attacks. Unlocks abilities based on using a melee weapon.

Rejuvenation: Increase the amount of Vitality and Armors recovered. Unlocks abilities that recover vitality and/or armor.

(kickstarter)Shapeshifting: Regenerate some health every turn. Unlocks abilities that shapeshift the user.

(kickstarter)Summoning: Increase summoned creatures stats. Unlocks abilities that summon creatures.

Tactics: Increase positioning(flanking, backstab, high ground) damage bonuses. Unlocks abilities that mark enemies or allow the user to reposition.

Vampirism: Recover health in proportion to damage dealt. Unlocks abilities that take advantage of blood surfaces and grant further healing based on damage.

Under the above system, Skill Slots available to the player are simply Wisdom+Knowledge+Talent bonus(if it applies).

Skills can only be learned not by simply having a point in a single ability, but rather by having an appropriate number of points across abilities that are relevant to the skill effects.
To present some examples:
-Phoenix Dive would require points in Tactics and Elementalism, as it is an ability that both re-positions the user and creates an elemental surface.
-Rain of Blood would require points in Cruelty and Vampirism, as it is an ability that both causes massive bleeding and creates a blood surface.
-Contaminate and Ignite would require points in Elementalism and Cruelty, as they cause a DoT effect that interacts with surfaces.

Do keep in mind however that the above examples use existing abilities merely as samples and I do not necessarily suggest that they even remain in the game with any changes similar to what's suggested being applied.