Fans of Larian Studios excited for Baldur's Gate 3's full release can return to one of the studio's most acclaimed RPG titles, Divinity: Original Sin 2, in the meantime. Original Sin 2 takes players to the land of Rivellon, where they – and perhaps one to three other companions – try to achieve divinity and save the world. Like most RPGs, players out to save the realm will face some mighty resistance; however, thanks to Source, they can tap into wildly-strong abilities to turn the tide of any difficult battle.
However, fans might realize that some strategies can help them win most battles without spending Source at all in Divinity: Original Sin 2. After all, this resource isn't very easy to find across the game. How exactly can players prevail in combat without ever spending Source?
Updated on May 3, 2022, by Rhenn Taguiam: Fans of Dungeons & Dragons can wait for Baldur’s Gate 3 to enter early access in 2023 to get perhaps the most accurate D&D 5e experience in a tactical RPG format. However, fans who can’t wait for the game any longer can actually try out developer Larian Studios’ other hit RPG, Divinity: Original Sin 2. As fans would report, Original Sin 2 is probably the closest analog to a gamified D&D 5e campaign as possible, prior to Baldur’s Gate 3. What makes Original Sin 2 unique in terms of gameplay is its inclusion of Source, a rare resource that can pave the way for extremely devastating effects on the battlefield. However, being the flexible game that it is, Original Sin 2 actually offers ways for players to never use Source in combat.
See If There’s A Way To Negotiate
One of the easiest ways to avoid using Source in combat is to try never to be in combat in the first place. Players who get to interact with NPCs that seem powerful should probably save the game first and try to find ways to talk the enemy into a peaceful conversation.
Fans would be surprised as to how a high Persuasion or Intimidation skill could potentially allure or scare potential opponents into submission. In fact, if players use their cards right, they can potentially talk their way out of a major conflict with the final boss of the game.
Get Powerful Foes Out Of The Way
In the event of inevitable combat with extremely powerful bosses, it would greatly help players to find ways to get them out of the way as soon as possible. This is where Skills such as Teleportation and Nether Swap (both Aerotheurge 2) come in handy, as these Skills let players displace tougher foes to give their party a chance to prepare for a counter-offensive.
Doing this can also potentially stall for enough time for players to kill weaker foes and even heal themselves. That way, players can focus their resources on killing the tougher foe once they come back.
Lure Enemies To A Trap
Sometimes, a bit of observation prior to combat can go a long way when it comes to eliminating tougher enemies. In fact, sometimes luring opponents to a false sense of security can give players the opportunity to eliminate them without ever using Source.
A good example of this is fighting Alice Alisceon, which is a ridiculously tough foe given her incredible resistances and powerful moves. However, players can actually discover a nifty combo that “transfers” her devastating damage from allies to herself. And teleporting her to the right location can find her facing a fierce demon hunter, making players avoid unnecessary combat entirely.
Use Few Party Members First
Just because the game can allow players to control up to four party members doesn’t mean they have to use all of them in combat. The game’s party separation feature allows them to control individual party members without the rest following, making it extremely useful to have stealthy Rogues and Rangers scout areas first to detect enemies.
Likewise, players can use this opportunity to have tanks and other frontline fighters enter the battlefield first and get the attention of opponents before the rest of the party push through. That way, weaker members of the party are at just the right distance to dish out attacks but also escape to recover.
Keep Everyone At Teleport Distance
Another optimized way of the split-party tactic to avoid using Source is to have everyone at teleport distance, especially party members that are split from the rest of the group. For example, tanks who proceed to battle first should be followed by a spellcaster with teleportation spells. However, they should be far enough to avoid getting into the initiative count but close enough to reach the tank if need be.
That way, players always have the option of getting their tank or other frontline units out of combat should things go haywire. A key benefit here is that enemies almost never heal themselves, meaning players can be in tip-top shape while fighting enemies that retain their weaker HP.
AOE Ensures Everyone Gets Attacked
Players should try as much as possible to learn AOE Skills, as they easily become great substitutes for Source Skills. Remember, the most powerful AOE Skills such as Hail Storm (Hydrosophist) and Meteor Shower (Pyrokinetic) actually cost Source. However, lower-tier Skills can still deal devastating AOE damage. These include Fireball, Laser Ray, and Supernova (Pyrokinetic).
Despite the lack of damage compared to other Source Skills, these AOE Skills still pack plenty of punch. Moreover, the right consecutive order of AOE Skills can build up DPS that may annihilate enemy groups without having to spend Source.
Always Use Arrows, Grenades, Traps
As evidenced by Elemental Arrowheads (Huntsman) or Throw Explosive Trap (Pyrokinetic), players can make great use of elemental arrows, grenades (e.g. bombs), and traps to hinder or damage opponents. Granted, these do deplete some items in their inventory space. However, they can still cause damage without the need to have Skills on cooldown.
Additionally, these items more often than not cause surfaces to appear after they are used. Players can take advantage of these situations to maximize their damage output. For instance, using Fossil Strike (Geomancer) to damage enemies and create an oily puddle can lead to a huge explosion if followed up by a Fire Arrow or Cluster Grenade.
Adjust Opponents To Line Them For Attacks
In most tactical RPGs, players often move their characters to attack opponents. Unfortunately, in Original Sin 2, players often get outnumbered by enemies that not only move first but aim to surround the party. This disadvantage can result in a party wipe. As such, instead of simply "moving" to attack enemies, players should consider moving enemies directly to make it easier for the party to attack them.
Thanks to Teleportation and Nether Swap (Aerotheurge), players can move enemies to more favorable positions. This Skill helps push melee combatants away and pull ranged combatants closer. With Teleportation, players can move enemies next to the party's tank or in range for a great AOE. Likewise, Nether Swap can switch the places of two characters, enabling a tank to end up inside the enemy's ranks.
Have Mobility Skills At The Ready
Winning combat isn't always about dishing out damage – it's about knowing when to regroup. When fights get too tricky to handle, players should consider repositioning their characters to more favorable positions. Skills such as Tactical Retreat (Huntsman), Phoenix Dive (Warfare), Cloak and Dagger (Scoundrel), and Spread Your Wings (Polymorph) become great mobility Skills in this regard, especially for Ranger and Rogue archetypes.
Players can use these Skills defensively, such as retreating from being cornered or getting out of an opponent's range. Likewise, they can use these Skills offensively by, for example, rushing towards opponents, chasing escaping opponents, or luring them to a disadvantageous position.
Get Stealthy
Players who have four-man parties likely have a person maximizing Scoundrel Skills. Most Skills in this category utilize the game's Backstab mechanic, where attacks from behind automatically cause Critical Hits. In turn, Rogue archetypes should make full use of Backstab-based Skills to eliminate the strongest-looking foes in an enemy squad in order to reduce active threats. Likewise, Rogues can take care of pesky minions of groups that outnumber them.
Interestingly, Scoundrels might want to get the Glass Cannon Talent. While this Talent negates the protection from statuses provided by Physical and Magical Armor, it allows the character to begin each round with Maximum AP, which is very useful for consecutive deadly attacks.
Keep The Distance
Enemies can't overwhelm players if they're too far for them to reach. Thanks to the Far Out Man Talent, characters with this perk can essentially extend their effective range by two meters. These two meters can determine the difference between enemies reaching players and the latter being able to attack opponents, delaying their approach for a round or two. For Huntsman and spellcaster archetypes, Far Out Man can make them more efficient on the battlefield.
Likewise, a ranged combatant with both Glass Cannon and Far Out Man can deal a ton of damage in a single turn. This may be a worthy advantage despite the vulnerability it imposes.
Temporarily Retreat For A Setup
Payers who enter battles don't necessarily have to stay there. In fact, players in a tight spot can decide to retreat and regroup to fight another day. What's interesting here is that most NPCs stay where they are by the time the fight ends, unless they have a scripted position. Meanwhile, players can use their time to retreat to plan a counter-attack.
Chances are, NPCs who abruptly finish fighting won't have the room for healing spells. As such, players who end up retreating should take the time to heal and try to approach the battle from a different position. Moreover, enemies end up at a disadvantage this time, as they start with less than full health. These situations make it easy for Rogue archetypes and Ranger archetypes to stage a powerful counteroffensive.
Have Backup At The Ready
Cooldowns easily become the most irritating part of combat, as sometimes that one Skill players need ends up being available just when they're about to get party wiped. However, players can easily counterbalance this caveat by having that relevant character with powerful Skills exit combat. That way, Skills get their cooldowns much faster, and the character can go back in the heat of battle and dish out their powerful spells.
Granted, said character might find it difficult to escape battle if an enemy tries to get closer to them. If players want to use this approach, they should make sure that the other active party members force any nearby opponents to stay away from the backup character.
Pick Enemies Off One At A Time
Teleportation remains one of the most useful Skills out there thanks to its ability to interact with the game environment. However, instead of using Teleportation mid-combat, players can also use this Skill to set up combat to their advantage. In instances where opponents exist on farther sides of an area, a character can Teleport that character to their position to pummel it to death. Chances are, this will only trigger combat against that one NPC.
Even if combat gets triggered for the entire area, players have to worry against one NPC first while the rest of its allies try to get into position. This more or less gives the party at least one round to eliminate that single NPC and another round to retreat or reposition.
Avoid Having Too Much Source
Players may want to consider avoiding having too much Source when engaging in combat. Granted, Source becomes extremely useful in exploration, especially when having to Bless or Curse game objects. However, certain powerful NPCs also possess the ability to perform Source Skills, which can easily turn the tide against players.
Interestingly, most of these powerful NPCs more often than not use Source Vampirism to steal Source from players prior to using these Skills. In turn, characters without Source can't be used as power reservoirs by these NPCs to launch their more powerful attacks.
Divinity: Original Sin 2 was released in 2017 and is available for the PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and macOS.