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Divinity Original Sin 2 Beginner's Tips To Building The Best Party
Destiny 2 Faction Rallies - See All The Gear, Weapons, And Rewards

Divinity Original Sin 2 Beginner's Tips To Building The Best Party

By Matt Espineli on Sep 28, 2017 08:30 pm

Best Party Practices

Building up a party in Divinity: Original Sin II takes time. With how mechanically complex the game is, there's a lot to take into consideration as you assemble your merry band of adventurers. To help you create the best party possible, we've gathered tips detailing what to look for. In addition, we've provided pointers that'll help you better manage your party.

For more about the acclaimed RPG, be sure to read our Divinity: Original Sin II review. The game is out now for PC, but it's been in Steam Early Access for almost a year. It's the sequel to our 2014 PC Game of the Year, Divinity: Original Sin, and it netted over $2 million from 40,000 fans on Kickstarter. It features over 1,200 characters, all of them fully voice-acted.

For more on how to better play Divinity: Original Sin II, check out our in-depth guides below:

Always Have At Least One Capable Healer

A healer is essential to any party, since without one, you have no way of recovering in battle outside of potions and food. While the Cleric is an obvious choice given its assortment of healing spells, Wayfarer and Ranger also make for great healers thanks to their First Aid ability. And with the added perk of their ranged elemental attacks, they can also fight back. No matter what you do, prioritize having at least one designated healer in your party at all times.

Give Your Spellcasters Skills That Can Combo With Each Other

While it's fulfilling to land a spell combo with a single character, it's not an efficient practice. You're better off delivering a combo with multiple spellcasters instead, as it leaves each character with some leftover AP to use during battle. To ensure that you get the most out of this tactic, assign your spellcasters with roles that complement each other. For example, you can combine the Wizard's damage dealing magic with the Enchanter's elemental spells to create devastating combos. Before you know it, you'll be chaining crazy elemental reactions and creating cursed clouds of cursed blood that shoot lightning. And with the extra AP you have left over, you'll continually keep battles in your favor.

Keep A Ranged Character In Your Party

It's important to have ranged characters in your party to cover the rear. A solid class to have is the Ranger, as they're a wonderful mix of physical and elemental damage. In addition, their bow/crossbow lets them stay at a safe distance, which is important, as you'll want to maintain the high ground to take advantage of the bonus damage provided. The Wayfarer is also a great choice, offering more flexibility with their ability to bind enemies in place and create flammable oil surfaces. To further flesh out your ranged options, you can also equip spellcasters with Wands that can shoot elemental projectiles.

Have A Heavy Damage Dealer

Magic and arrows are great fun but don't forget to add a heavy damage dealer to your party. The Fighter is a solid choice due to its various offensive and defensive skills. However, the Rogue is also perfect for dealing damage; their teleportation and invisibility abilities give them plenty of opportunities to sneak up on enemies and inflict powerful backstabs. And with their Adrenaline Rush skill, you can set in motion a series of devastating attack strategies with the extra AP it grants.

Strategically Position Your Party

Before a battle begins, it's possible to separate your party and have them all move independently of each other to specific positions on the map. For example, you can set up your ranged character on a hill, and have your rogue sneak behind an enemy; you can even have some characters be outside of the combat zone. This is incredibly useful during pre-battle planning, as it allows you to use the most of your environment to your advantage before things heat up.

Spread Your Key Support Items

Over the course of a long battle, your party will get hurt often. To guarantee everybody has a fair shot at recovery, make sure to evenly distribute your potions across your party. This way you won't be in the red when the inevitable surprise attack nearly decimates someone's HP. It's also a good idea to have every party member carry at least one Resurrection Scroll at all times. Death waits at every corner in the world of Rivellon, so it helps to be prepared.

Balance Outside Of Combat Party Skills

Outside of combat, it's important to give your party skills that your protagonist doesn't have. Make sure someone has points in thievery so they can pick locks (we suggest doing this for a skeleton party member due to their infinite finger lockpicking ability). Give another member the Pet Pal trait so you can talk to animals. It also helps to have an elf in your party since they can consume body parts and gain the knowledge of the deceased.

Manage And Talk To Your Party

Crafting a solid party battle formation is only one side of the equation when building the best party. You also need to maintain their interests and loyalty to you. When outside of battle, talk to party members often and complete any quests that might arise from your conversations with them. Doing so unlocks special gear they can wear, as well as increase their bond towards you. You can even unlock the option to romance them as well.

Be attentive to your party's needs. Mistreat them too much and they'll dislike you and may even leave you.

Utilize Party Members For Appropriate Conversations

Throughout your journey, you'll often find yourself talking to a multitude of NPCs, but using the dialogue options available to your character will only get you so far. That's why it's important to give your party varied social tags, since the more you have, the easier of a time you'll have communicating to individuals you wouldn't normally be able to on your own. For example, a character with the Noble tag can better converse with aristocrats, while a character with the Outlaw tag can easily gain the favor of criminals. Whenever you meet an NPC of a specific background, talk to them with the character best suited for the situation. Having a varied set of tags opens up the dialogue options you can experience, as well as help you avoid sticky situations.

Destiny 2 Faction Rallies - See All The Gear, Weapons, And Rewards

By Oscar Dayus on Sep 28, 2017 04:39 pm

Everything You Need To Know About Destiny 2's Faction Rallies

Destiny 2's Faction Rallies are now live, bringing with them exclusive rewards packages including weapons, armor, and shaders. Three factions are currently available, each of which you can pledge your allegiance to and hence work towards those rewards.

To join a faction, simply talk to its leader in the Traveler. Arach Jalaal (who represents the Dead Orbit faction) and Lakshmi-2 (Future War Cult) are situated in the Hangar, while Executor Hideo (New Monarchy) is currently in the Bazaar. You can see their locations and what gear they have to offer (that we've gotten our hands on so far) in this gallery, along with the exclusive "powerful" weapon that each one offers.

You can obtain these items by trading them for Rewards Tokens, which you earn by "destroy supplies in Lost Sectors and doing Public Events, Crucible matches, strikes, and the Leviathan Raid." The Powerful weapon, meanwhile, will be sold to all players next week for 50,000 glimmer, though members of the winning team will only need to part with 1,000 glimmer. The winner will be named at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET / 6 PM BST on October 3 (3 AM AEST on October 4 in Australia). For more, check out the latest Destiny 2 update 1.0.3 patch notes or our Destiny 2 raid guide.