Larian Studios Forums Divinity: Original Sin 2 Divinity - Original Sin 2 - Suggestions and Feedback Did mage just become even weaker on release?

I actually finally found way for mages to be useful.

Keep them outside every battle and outside combat range. In combat, unless the players or the enemies move, the buff counter won't go down.

However, if you're not part of the battle, your cool down will count normally.

With all the buff skills, slowly buff everyone from the side line. You can get your whole team hasted and fortified before the first turn even begins as long as you stay out of the combat trigger range. As long as you don't heal or deal damage, you can keep on cleansing the enemy CC while keeping you whole team buffed.

Yeah, it's sad you have to exploit the game for them to be useful.