Larian Studios Forums Divinity - Original Sin Divinity - Original Sin - Enhanced Edition 2nd playthrough with EE - need advice on classes

My friend and I beat Divinity: Original Sin on Normal/Default difficulty back when it just came out. We had an AMAZING time. We are online biddies, but this game literally bonded us and gave such great experience and unforgettable times.

We never expected for something like Enhanced Edition to appear, but since it has, we decided to give it one more go! A lot of things changed, so this 2nd play-through should not as repetitive as playing the original game 2nd time.

In our first play-through, I was a Fighter and my buddy was a Wizard or Battlemage (not sure which one). That created a pretty balanced team with strong melee, magic, and crafting skills/abilities.

This time we want to try a different approach, but unsure how. I do recall that during our 1st play-through, opening chests, digging secret graves, and locating secret switches/buttons/doors was problematic, even though I was reading a walk-through once in a while... I remember in that heavy snowy/winter place with some bosses, there were chests we couldn't even get to, let alone open. This time, I think one of us will be a Rogue with quite a few points spent on lock-picking, finding secret doors, and digging skills. I think these skills were dependent on Perception or something like that... We have no idea what class the other player should pick for interesting and balanced gameplay and to explore as much as possible in this game. So here are some questions:

1. Has Enhanced Edition made the game easier than the original/vanilla game on Classic Mode/Difficulty??? I hope not because the default/Normal/Classic Mode was perfect for us during the 1st play-through.
2. First 70% of the game were challenging and engaging, but closer to the end, the game became easier and the final boss fight was just cake. Has that imbalance been addressed in Enhanced Edition?
2. Is Rogue an interesting class to play?
3. Is it worth spending points on lock-picking, finding secrets doors/switches, and digging-related skills?
4. Which class would you suggest for the 2nd player, if the 1st player ended up being Rogue? I thought maybe Wayfarer or Cleric or Enchanter? We definitely do not want the game to be too easy or too hard with whichever combination we would pick. Being able to craft would be very welcome!

Some 4K Screenshots @ Maximum Settings (Right-Click and select "View Image" to see these screenshots in their full glory):




The original Divinity: Original Sin would not run @ 4K and @ consistent 60fps on my PC, but the Enhanced Edition runs @ 4K and @ consistent 60fps 90% of the time! It also saves and loads drastically faster!

1. No idea. Likely harder because some stuff was nerfed (no more OP shields, no more throwback boulder in geomancy, no more witchcraft blind spell, no more 1 AP furtivity). Since it would be your second play, you could try the hard mode.

2. No idea about end game yet. But see 1.

3.... 2bis. I don't think so. But I never played them much. I have a hunch they've been nerfed in enhanced, while remaining boring. Even though furtivity got nerfed, it was in the end not that much tied to rogues because daggers used 2 AP (gaining 50% through guerilla is lost if you stealth a 3 AP attack). Now they use 3 AP to attack baseline (instead of 2), 6 if you dualwield. Maybe damage was balanced to account that though, no idea. Rogues are the only ones that kept the jump though, but I don't know if it's the only skill that works to access some specific area (I think aerothurge teleport or pyramid toss should work aswell).

3. No. Just buy lockpicking gear that you use solely for that (same goes for charisma, which you can craft, and maybe a bit of bartering if gold is still not an issue in the game). Perception is more debatable. Crafting/Blacksmithing requires 2 or 3 points only, if you need it.

4. I think heals are mandatory (can't stand potions and food). Long range is mandatory to complement a rogue in a party of 2 (hello aoe spells). An invocation that can tank a little bit the attention off your rogue would be nice too. I don't know what your class names are, I just go with warrior - mage - rogue - ranger archetypes.

Mage got some big spells nerfed (boulder, shields, blind), but it was necessary and it doesn't really make the gameplay less interesting. Mage got a charm in witchcraft, and way more spell slots at early levels (like everyone, but it's pretty noticeable with mages since they have usually multiples school). They lost the all-elemental-resist spell (both warriors and rangers got it, selfcast I think?), but it's pretty minor as you'll adapt with the new shields.
You can dual wield wands and maybe combo them into cc or more damage (poison spell > fire wand to explode and air wand to electrify the cloud?).

Warrior got the new stances (defensives stance) and the taunt. They lost the jump (as rangers, so only the rogue has one).
As usual, shield (not the spell) are sucky at the beginning but more impressive lategame. Even if I build warriors as tanks usually, I don't take any weapon spec early game and give them 2H weapons.

Marksman, no idea, but I think it's been unchanged mostly. (you can still make the sniper build with guerilla). I've seen they have amazing damage and cc overall.

For rogues, already gave the talk ^^

Damn, those are big changes and nerfs, but I doubt they left the game imbalanced for most classes. They created a well-balanced game in the first place IMHO, so I trust they made appropriate changes in Enhanced Edition.

Which new classes would you suggest, aside from Warrior + Wizard/Battlemage combination that my friend and I have already exhausted.