All Divinity Original Sin 2 Skills explained

The Divinity Original Sin 2 skills are all explained here, so you can fully understand what you're investing skill points into when you level up and get the chance. All characters can invest in any skill, but of course certain approaches are better suited to certain characters. If you're excited to become a Melee Necromancer, then the Ranged skill isn't going to do a huge amount to help out in that.

To help you pick the skills you’re interested in, we’ve listed what they do, and which stats they benefit from. That way, you can easily see which ones to look into and which stats to choose as you start on your journey into this incredible game. Here's every DOS2 skill, and what it does when you level it up.

Aerotheurge

This skill is all about the study of air magic. If you invest in the Aerotheurge skill set then you’ll be able to do things like teleport objects or enemies around, shoot lightning bolts from your hands, or even summon thunderstorms to smite your foes. It’s an Intelligence-based skill and one that allows you to lock enemies out of the fight by stunning them or blinding them. It’s a great partner to the Hydrosophist skill as the two combine to make stunning enemies almost trivial.

Geomancer

Another Intelligence skill, a Geomancer can dole out both Poison and Earth Damage. Not only can they cause massive earthquakes and even summon poisonous plants to do their bidding, but they specialise in manipulating physical armour. This means that they can increase the armour of their allies, as well as destroying the armour of those who stand against them. It’s an excellent choice for an Undead as Poison damage heals them. It also matches well with the Pyromancer skills, as both oil and poison clouds are highly flammable.

Huntsman

The Huntsman is a ranged Finesse class. They utilise long-range bows and crossbows to deal out piercing damage and gain a considerable damage boost if they have the high ground. The skills they have allow them to fire off multiple shots at once, teleport away from danger, or pierce through multiple targets. They benefit from using special arrow types, and crafting plays a large role when at higher levels.

Hydrosophist

As close to a healer as you get in Divinity 2, the Hydrosophist specialises in using water magic to manipulate the battlefield and heal their allies. They have access to an array of skills that restore health and magic armour to themselves and their comrades. They can also lay down vast sheets of ice to trip over enemies and even grant allies the ability to steal life from those they are attacking. This is another Intelligence-based class and pairs well with the Aerotheurge skills thanks to waters conductive nature.

Necromancer

Necromancers gain the passive ability to drain health from foes with their attacks. While the spells themselves are often Intelligence-based, it can often be a good idea to stick a point or two into this tree just for the passive benefits. They become far more powerful when there are corpses around as they can use the bones as armour, and even bring a corpse back to life to fight for them, albeit in a twisted form. The Necromancer skills are unique in the world of magic as they actually deal physical damage, making it a good pairing with a frontline warrior.

Polymorph

If you like to flit between different looks and skills, then this is the class for you. Many of the attacks that the Polymorph has access to deal damage based on your Strength stat, so it pairs well with Warfare as a result. The Polymorph can shapeshift between different forms, each with different effects. You can even turn your enemies into chickens for a few turns to stop them being so problematic. At higher levels, they can mess around with health, armour, and even approach godhood and make their Source-powered skills free to use for a couple of turns.

Pyrokinetic

Naturally, the Pyrokinetic skill tree deals with all things fire. As a result, it goes well with the Geomancer tree thanks to the flammable nature of the latter’s abilities. The Pyrokinetic tree also pairs surprisingly well with Warfare and can make for a powerful battlemage thanks to the ability to infuse your weapons with fire. They can also cause delayed explosions, grant haste, and even boost the stats of those targeted by special buffs. It’s a very versatile skillset and one that goes well with both mages and warriors as a result. 

Scoundrel

The Scoundrel is everything you could ever want from a rogue-like class. This is one of the two Finesse-based classes, and is heavily focussed on bleeding damage, backstabs, and sneaking. There are a wealth of status effects within the blade of a Scoundrel, and it makes them deadly out on the field. They can even use high-end abilities to summon explosive toys or loose a barrage of multiple strikes to an unaware foe. It pairs surprisingly well with Warfare as most of the damage you do is physical, but also goes quite well with Summoning. After all, who’s going to notice little old you when they’re fighting a demon?

Summoning

This is one of the most interesting skills in the game as it doesn’t rely on a stat, and instead becomes more powerful based solely on your own level, and your commitment to it. While low-level Summoners simply conjure an imp to fight for them, once you hit Summoner level 10, you’ll be summoning a huge demon to fight for you. You can even summon the beast in different places to infuse it with different elements. At higher levels, you can charm enemies to fight for you and even stop your summons dying.

Warfare

Warfare is generally viewed as a Strength-based skill set, but that’s not strictly true. While the skill itself does improve physical damage, the skills themselves tend to scale on a different stat depending on what weapons you are wielding. This means you can use them whether you are a staff-wielding mage or a dagger-wielding rogue. Of course, it does tie in very well with Strength builds, and with skills that can knock down opponents, deal damage based on your physical armour, and even absorb damage on behalf of your friends, it’s a skill set best suited to the tankier builds.

Want to change things up in your game? Then check out the best Divinity: Original Sin 2 mods to level up your adventure.

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