Hello out there.

Divinity 2 looks great, but I end up getting frustrated with it too easily. It seems that if I do the main quest, it gets harder than I expected when clear out the small catacombs under the church. If I explore a side quest (help the pseudonymous alchemist with an assassin after him), it starts out overly challenging, then I level up and it becomes challenging, and then I get to a boss fight of sorts where it culminates in impossible. Backtracking and making a note to trek out all the way out there again later just sounds like a bit of a pain.

When there's no such thing as respawns or farming areas, it becomes really hard to guess how the developers actually want you to play the game. At any time you might walk one screen too far and everyone's suddenly 5 levels ahead of you. Maybe if it were balanced more like D&D games, where exploring a whole area only gained you a level or two so the order you did things in didn't matter as much...

I think I've given up on mindreading because it's just massive experience debt that has way too high of a fetch-quest-to-meaningful-side-plot ratio.

So how do you get over the hump at the start of the game? I'm assuming it probably gets easier after a while if you methodically DO ALL THE THINGS all the time, but I can't really know for sure because I haven't been there (that's how Divine Divinty was for me, anyway). I also get the vague impression that there are junk skills mixed in with the good stuff, but I doubt that that's my problem at this stage.

Anyway, I don't know if it's my imagination or what, but the level of danger doesn't seem to be communicated in advance too well, and there's not much gatekeeping done to make manageable challenges the most obvious low-hanging fruit to reach for at any given time. Maybe they're trying to encourage me to cultivate discipline on my own. I don't know.

In general you can put off doing the main plot quests until you have explored and done many of the side quests in the area.

Most of the side quests are easier than the one with the assassin. My first game I did that relatively early, and I had to use a couple temporary boost potions to survive (reloading a couple times after dying, or trying for a better loot drop, I also adjusted my strategy for better results). My second game didn't get to that quest until later, and it was quite easy.

You don't need to reload a save before entering the destroyed chapel, just avoid the miller's cellar until you are stronger.

The rewards of mindreading far outweigh the experience cost, and in a few levels the experience from opponents make a large debt now seem negligible. In my first game I reloaded for many 'useless' mindreads, but in the second mindread everyone and didn't worry about reloading.

When you start having trouble, there are usually other areas you can explore first, quests to do in town or ones you've completed and can turn in, etc.

I spent a few hours just getting lost around town and trying to figure out the fetch quests. I mostly found the fetch quests boring and not worth the reward, which is at least half the reason that I don't want to bother with mindreads at all anymore. If it's viable to skip mind reading altogether, I'd probably prefer it, because there are only so many "I must have dropped X while doing Y" quests that can fit in one play session, and I wasn't finding that part fun at all.

About easier quests being available, I must have missed something, because I don't recall having any other combat-oriented quest log entries left when I went after the assassin - just one where you confront some guy who killed his wife, and that took some potion chugging at level 1-2. Even killing goblins in the wild got a bit hard, since the level 3 goblins hurt you pretty bad at level 1-2 and there aren't enough wimpy wild boars to pick on to pay off exp debt and level up on top of that. I couldn't find a large supply of noob-grade monsters to pick on anywhere, really.

I never went out of my way to complete any fetch quests, or look for items mentioned in mindreads. In general they are not designed to do in a linear manner, but as a reward for exploring. Wait until you happen to be in an area to talk to a specific NPC (etc), if you don't feel like completing a particular quest. I delayed turning in side quests as much as possible, to get slightly more experience points overall (experience from opponents is lower if you are at a higher level, while quest rewards have fixed experience).

There are a few required mindreads, but you can skip most of them if you wish. I don't know why you would want to pass up stat or skill points (for the more costly mindreads), or opening up additional additional quest solutions, etc. Loot from mindreads isn't that great for the most part (especially at the beginning of the game), but the experience cost for such mindreads isn't that much either, and you can get some very nice loot (set, unique or high quality random items). Some storage areas that you can get the password from mindreading can contain stat or skill books.

If you are only on level 2, there should be lots of things to do before confronting the assassin.


I didn't give a lot of detail for the start of the game (no quest order, etc), but below I quoted some sections (edited for spoilers) from the Larian forum topic Who's playing DKS on nightmare difficulty ? about my ranger character (who used unarmed combat as a backup a little bit at the start of the game):

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At the start of Broken Valley, more than a couple level 2 goblins were a challenge if they got to melee distance. I briefly considered lowering the difficulty to hard, and possibly learning Summon Ghost (though I was trying to save skill points for other things), but found it much easier to simply stop trying to jump backwards or dodge if there were too many opponents, and just run past them a few steps, turn, and fire.
In D2:ED (with a duel wielding strength based warrior) on level 2 I tried kiting the level 4 chief to the far north west, near the necromancer's cave, but found it too difficult (though I hadn't assigned the stat points I got for leveling). In DKS, also level 2, I took the left branch of that path, and when I got around to the burnt church, was able to take on a couple level 2 warriors, a level 3 healer (who cast a lot more fireballs than healing spells) and a level 4 chief.

When pausing the game, moving the camera and casting Poison Arrow the character doesn't always turn to face the target, but that is not too big of a deal, and otherwise an effective strategy for larger groups or strong opponents for your level. For weak or moderate strength opponents you don't need to pause, and jumping back or dodging are usually good enough.

Anyway, I'm almost up to level 3, so need to head to the village and mindread everyone (went hunting first, and have not been there yet).

After mindreading almost everyone in the village (I skipped the bandit prisoner, since I did that in D2:ED and it effects something later in that quest, so I wanted to try it the other way), I got a bracelet with a +3 melee bonus (from the beholder on the north side of the river), and +2 to Mindread. The melee bonus made a noticeable difference in unarmed combat on level 2.

I had almost all the opponents in the starting section of Broken Valley cleared before I paid off my mindreading debt and got close to leveling. In the secret tunnel under the burnt chapel, I was level 2 fighting level 4 skeletons; no sooner did I get to level 3 than I started running into level 5 opponents. I cleared all of the tunnel that you can do before the escape, except a certain room with a chest. I wasn't sure if that would be available later, so went back to the village to do a quest to level (that and Stun Arrows on a newly purchased piece of jewellery allowed me to finish off that room).

In D2:ED on normal difficulty (warrior), I got access to the full Broken Valley on level 6 (after doing everything I could), and a couple of the opponents in the dragon sequence brought me up to level 7. After taking out the skeletons at Lovis' tower main gate (which required a bit too much hit and run) I explored off to the east and west before returning to the area around the tower.

In DKS on nightmare (ranger), I also left the starting section of Broken Valley on level 6, but leaving lots of quests unfinished. The first few goblins and skeletons after that brought me up to level 7. Combat was easier around the tower, and I cleared around there and then to the west and (on level 8) took out three level 12 opponents, one at a time (and getting quite low on hit points each time), before backtracking to a more level appropriate location.

I wasn't really planning on getting Stun Arrows, but bought some earrings with that skill bonus, and have found it comes in quite handy, particularly when fighting multiple mages. From the description I figured it would just save a bit of running around, but actually, less running around is nice, and it can significantly help with larger groups or small groups of rangers/mages in confined quarters.
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For my archer I put a couple skill points into Poison Arrow and Stun Arrows, and used jewellery with these bonuses, but (other than Ranger Strength) didn't bother maxing any ranger skills until I had access to Explosive Arrows and Splitting Arrows. Way of the Ranger I tried quite late in the game; on level 40 I bought a bow with a +5 bonus to that skill, put 5 points in right away after a test and eventually maxed it (don't usually bother with temporary boost skills).

I played the game years ago ... lost it and now I just bought it again for the mere 10$. So I started and tried to get everything in the Training Area ... as I couldn't come back later on. I left as a warrior and focused leveling up mindreading and lockpicking without ever putting any point into another skill. I'm level 12 right now and I can tell you: Apart from a specific fluffy animal, which totally caught me by surprise I really didn't have any mentionable difficulties.

1) Don't straightly run into combat. Think! Seperate enemies, jump around like there's no tomorrow (which effectively hinders mages to hit you regularly) give yourself time to heal up ... and don't attack enemies which outlevel you by far. It might further be useful to kill any chicken which comes around. The loot is one piece of chicken which heals up 12 HP each time you eat.

2) There are so many quests alone in the first village. You could: Save some piggies, lure away guards to change food supply, help a soldier in distress and punish another one in the same questline. There is a merchant who claims to have lost money due to a fraud soldier, the Black Board Inn is infested with drunken soldiers and you could kick them out.

Just don't travel through the wilderness and try to kill monsters you cannot survive ... do small things. They reward far enough ... in almost all cases I chose the experience bonus whcih grants perfect level opportunities.

3) Did you check up your gear? Perhaps it would be a good idea to change your main weapon(s). You have a blacksmith right there. Mindreading merchants almost always grants boni to their prices,

Harvest the goblins outside town. Hit and run, hit and run. If you are a ranger type you can sneak around and snipe the ones furthest from the main group. Over and over again. By the time I got to the chief he made his big speech about ATTACK ATTACK... and there was nobody else left. mua ha ha ha.

The assassin quest is one of the tougher ones. Put it off for a while.

Mind reading is fine. You'll gain more than enough xp from new quests than you'll lose. In Flames of Vengence (part 2) I mind read like crazy, had an xp deficit of something like 2/3rds of my experience and leveled up on the first big battle in the zombie part of town. There's a LOT of xp to scarful up in the game.

Well, I finally got back to this one. The gameplay is alright, though run-and-jump tasks are impossible to control.

Combat is generally fine, but experience level spikes can hurt a lot. After finally pulling a goblin here and there, I got a few levels and coasted through the game to about level 7. Even managed to kill a few level 9 brigands under the ruins before heading back to town to stop the assassin.

Then I did the big meeting with the dragon, and now all the enemies are stronger again. I could back track all the way to town just to see if any new quests spawned, but it would be a trek and I doubt that they would. I guess I could take my time and level up to 8 slowly and avoid taking on too many foes at once, but...

This "peel one away from the group at a time" thing is kind of an old-school exploit that you have to use when games are programmed to stack the odds against you but compensate with derpy AI. It's not that modern-feeling. Tactical combat against a coordinated enemy would feel a bit more rewarding, and much less tedious.

I'm just finding the power swings a bit jarring, especially when there's no such thing as farming areas. You just have to wander around looking for anything you might have missed. :-/

Anyway, I guess I'll keep expecting more of this.

With jumping it may help to remap the keys used to move and jump (see below, when you get that far in the game, and a couple links in that topic), or you could try using a gamepad (if available).

Maxos Temple platforms (Spoilers)

After the meeting with Talana, the opponents east along the mountain, or west and up the mountain path are easier than heading towards Lovis' tower. That will uncover a couple hatches that lead into the derelict tunnels; after that you should be up another level or two and have a much easier time.

Are you sure you didn't miss anything? I was also level 7 shortly after meeting Talana, but had a bunch of quests ready to turn in.

There are teleporter shrines around the valley that can cut out a lot of the running needed to get back to town. If you play in the Developer Mode version of the game you could also bring up the cheat window and teleport back to town directly (by coordinates or teleport to a specific NPC or location).

Once you get to level 10 or 12 (depending on build, playstyle, etc) you should be able to handle the area you need to go to to finish the quest to get your necromancer creature. Until then a summon could help. Hide in Shadows may be useful to get a break from combat or to surprise attack (that and summon bonuses should randomly show up on jewellery). Charm can turn an opponent to fight for you; if you use it on a summoned opponent you will not miss any experience (usually the experience given when you kill an opponent that was charmed is reduced based on the fraction of damage you did, but summoned opponents don't give experience anyway), though even using it on non-summoned opponents may make combat a lot easier, more than compensating for getting slightly less experience.

Are you checking merchants for better equipment, etc, each time you level up? You can save before getting close and selecting them, then have the option to reload a couple times to try for something that fits your build.

Off the top of my head, there's a level 11 ogre who's killable but takes up a potion or two. Nearby there's a camp filled with way too many goblins. There's also a little dead-end side area with a few goblins and skeletons that won't get me to 8 by itself.

I could be missing some quests, but backtracking and talking to everyone in the whole town sounds a bit tedious. I felt like I did a fair number of them already.

I have several thousand gold worth of equipment total, at the moment. Maybe I could use a better weapon, but I don't know. Been holding on to an item I can't wear until 8, but I don't know if the 2 out of 3 set bonus exists or will make a difference.

Not having any luck finding teleporter shrines other than the one right when you arrive. I recently found a shrine in the little side area with a few goblins and skeletons, but I don't know what it's for and it asks for a password.

As I recall, if you approach the goblin camp slowly you shouldn't have to deal with too many at a time. Once you clear it out there is a teleporter shrine there, to go with the one near the village and the one up beside the smaller teleporter that asks for a password (you'll have to find 4 parchment scrolls throughout Broken Valley to get the password). There is also another small teleporter (needing the same password) across the bridge south of where you met Talana, and a teleporter shrine by Lovis' tower right on the lake.

The goblin camp and the dead end with the goblins each have a hatch that leads to the derelict tunnels, which contain easier opponents than around Lovis' tower, loot, and the solution to one of the bounty hunter quests.

What type of character are you playing? If a warrior, a bow can be used to draw opponents to you, and get a bit of damage in first (Rush Attack can sometimes put you in the middle of a group and start a bigger fight than intended). If a ranger, Stun Arrows are a good compliment to Poison Arrows until you are a high enough level to learn Splitting Arrows and Explosive Arrows.

I am actually playing Divinity 2 Ego Draconis now, and having the same problems. I am one to do the main quest to a certain point and then do side quests, but this game messes up my normal routine. So far, I have beaten Lovis' tower, and keep dying. I don't know where to go besides Maxos temple, and I don't know how to get the necromancer creature or the dragon form.

What level are you? The boss opponent at the end of Maxos temple is level 15, so it would be best if you were about level 14 before entering.

At the end of Maxos temple you get access to another area, which is where you become a full dragon knight and get the ability to switch to dragon form. Everything in Broken Valley and the next area should be completed before then, as most open quests will fail after you become a dragon knight (the mine tower in Broken Valley needs to wait until after that point, as does one quest in the new area that you need to be able to fly to do).

By the way, in the first encounter in the new area after Maxos temple you can mindread to go up a level, so the higher level you are (I made it to 22 in the fjords) the more of an experience bonus that will be. You don't need to get to a high level, but it would be better if you got to a new level before entering, to get a full level bonus (equip anything you have with a Wisdom boost).


Check out your map. From Lovis' tower, if you head to the far west, then go south, following the mountain, across the river you will come to a mining camp. That mine is where you need to go to complete the necromancer's quest; you should be able to complete it about level 10, or so, though a straight line approach wouldn't be the easiest way to get there.

Have you found the enchanter yet (west of Lovis's tower and then north)? if not a few enchantment upgrades for your equipment can make a big difference.

As a rough guide, here is an overview of what I did with my ranger playing DKS on nightmare difficulty (with minor spoilers, but in chronological order, so you can stop reading when you get to the first suggestion of what to do next).

I was level 7 shortly after getting access to the full Broken Valley, with lots of quests left to turn in. I cleared out the goblins to the east of the meeting place with Talana and to the west and up the mountain path, then cleared out the skeletons around Lovis' tower. I then headed west and (on level 8) was able to take out the first three level 12 Black Ring members (one at a time) south of the enchanter, but taking a lot of damage each time. Clearing around Bellegar's shrine close to Lovis' tower brought me to level 9. After that I headed to the derelict tunnels (which I could have done before the skeletons around Lovis' tower, with the 2 goblin area entrances available).

Next I cleared the bandits south of the tribal teleporter shrine down to the exterior of the bandit camp. Before getting too far into the Black Ring members around the quarry, I decided I should finish off the level 9 skeletons on Lovis' tower, and got to level 10 on my way up. Before using the scrying stone found at the top, I went to get the creature. After clearing the Black Ring soldiers and goblins south of the enchanter, the mine was relatively easy.

After that I teleported to the tribal shrine, and took the log bridge over to the bandit ambush. The creature was fairly helpful for only having the default parts. I continued up the mountain path and cleared Bellegar's shrine there and helped the 3 travellers.

Clearing out most of the Black Ring outside the quarry brought me up to level 11. Finishing off the last opponents in southern Broken Valley and 'failing' the bandit ambush quest brought me up to level 12, a couple bandits before reaching the last of Bellegar's shrines. I then headed to the bandit camp and did a couple quests there. I entered the Temple of Doom, but my creature didn't seem very interested in going after the first skeleton, and I wasn't very interested in standing around waiting for skeletons to stay in range long enough to shoot a few times, so reloaded (intending to return when I got a mage or ranger head for my creature).

After that I used the scrying stone, and had a much easier time than I would have at level 10 without the creature. Next I helped the archaeologist at the ancient monument. With few opponents left in Broken Valley, I decided to do the quest for the miller (much easier on level 12 than doing it in D2:ED on level 4, though the resulting loot was poor, unsurprisingly), then remembered the Hellgate that I didn't even try earlier (near the quarry), which brought me up to level 13.

I brought up my quest log at this point, to pick some to complete, then decided I'd rather kill stuff, and headed to the fjords (mountain path to the far south west). Clearing down the path in the fjords until just past the teleporter brought me up to level 14, and a little farther got me to 15. Finishing the path and the first couple opponents on the next beach brought me to level 16 (I wasn't sure what to do with my stat points at this point, so left them in reserve, and ended up going the rest of the game not distributing any more stat points).

I visited Lovis again (reloaded earlier when I got crappy loot), and I'm not sure if it was my level or just luck, but got a level 6 mage head on my third reload of the chest by the throne (I took the first loot I got for the other chests there). After entering the Temple of Doom my creature still wasn't any help, but if I was paying attention the skeletons were not too much of a threat.

At this point I ended up equipping the full Mining Guild set, and replaced my existing gloves with the slightly better Orobas Bracers (from the level 15 sets included in the Steam or North American Xbox releases of DKS, or available from the Developer Mode window in D2:DC). I added a couple Life Line enchantments to armour and a Static Charge enchantment to a piece of jewellery.

After entering Maxos temple I was a little less that half way to level 17, which I reached before getting to the end. Before taking the teleporter to the new area I returned to the fjords, and went up a couple levels, then headed to Broken Valley to kill some rabbits, use the two teleporters that needed a password and a couple other things. Finishing off the accessible areas in the fjords and turning in a few quests got me to level 22, after which I mindread the couple people left that could be mindread and headed back to Maxos temple to take the teleporter to the new area.

I have currently restarted as a Ranger, and am level 4. I am a mage, level 8, after Lovis Tower and I can't find the next area to go to. Nor have I found the Enchanter Yet. I suppose since I didn't know what I was doing, my mage was weak as could be. Fireball level 2, Magic Missile 1, Lockpicking 2, Summon Ghost 1, Polymorph 1.

With your mage have you cleared the derelict tunnels? There is a hatch in each of the goblin areas near Lovis' tower, and another close to the tower, surrounded by skeletons.

It is possible to make it to the enchanter on level 8, but you'd have to make sure you didn't take on too many opponents at a time (and it would help if you already knew where he was from a previous playthrough; I think my first game I didn't get there until I was level 11 or 12). I don't think I had a lot of enchantment ingredients or formula when I got there on level 8, so couldn't really take advantage of his service (I had a couple pieces of equipment I was hanging on to in order to remove the enchantments, and thus get the formula, but I don't think I added any enchantments to my equipment for another couple levels).

I have not played a mage character, but your skills seem reasonable. Spells get a boost from the magic damage bonus on weapons, so you should equip two one handed weapons with magic damage bonuses / enchantments (the off-hand penalty is not applied for spell damage, so there is no need to invest in the duel wield skill). A bow is also a good backup weapon for a mage, to use when spells are recharging or mana refilling.

class question! (mage advice and links to related topics)

Stat Point Distribution: What's the best way? (for a mage)