Divinity: Original Sin 2 is in full swing, and one of the major issues players are having with the game isBuilds. WhatBuilddo I use? What’s a goodBuildfor a Warrior? Ranger? Mage? etc. Since the game is extremely difficult this has come much more into focus than one would expect. In thisBuild Guidewere going to cover one of my personal favorites:Death Knight. Let’s jump into thisBuildand see just how it works.
Death Knight - Warrior Build
TheDeath Knightis a popular well-knownBuildaround the community, and it uses a mix ofWarfare, andNecromancer Skills. The reasonNecromancersynergizes well with melee characters is because most of itsSkillsare resisted byPhysical Armourand some have short range (making them slightly less useful toRangers). Characters who utilize this skill line will also be able to heal themselves for a good amount ofVitalityquite regularly, which is great because you should be taking more damage as a melee character. Note that anyRacecan play thisBuild, there is no obvious choice.
Death Knight Attributes and Equipment
When making aDeath Knightbuild you really only need to focus on a fewAttributes. First isStrength.Strengthis what all yourWarfare Skillswill use if you use aSword,AxeorMace, and it will boost your damage withSkillsthat useStrengthby 5% for each point. Secondly there isConstitution.Constitutionis very important for aDeath Knightbecause you want to get hit, but not die. ThisAttributewill provide some leeway by increasing your max HP, allowing you to take hits and then heal throughNecromancer Skillsand dealing damage. I recommend splitting the distribution of theseAttributesin roughly 1:1 ratio. You can put a few points intoMemoryas needed.
Because you’ll be focusing onStrengthandConstitutionyou will be able to use anyArmourthat has aStrengthrequirement and anyShieldyou wish, if you decide to use one. This means that you will have much morePhysical ArmourthanMagic Armour, asStrength-based Armouris skewed heavily towards physical protection. This is perfectly acceptable for thisBuild, because it is harder to be CCed by elemental effects than physical ones, an you will constantly be replenishingMagic Armour. You can also acquire gear (likeAmulet of the Deep) that grants immunity to things likeStunnedorFrozen, which is very useful.
When it comes toWeapons, you will have to choose between aTwo-Handedor aSingle-Handedand aShield. You will do roughly 50% more damage with aTwo-HandedWeapon, but you’ll lose out on a lot ofArmourand you won’t be able to capitalize on a fewWarfare SkillslikeDeflective Barrier. I strongly suggest going with aSingle-HandedandShieldearly on in the game when you have almost no gear, and then swapping over after you’ve geared up a bit and gotten a bit more comfortable with theBuild.
Death Knight Abilities and Talents
One of the hardest parts about making aBuildinDivinity: Original Sin 2is getting yourAbilitiesdistribution correct. It’s easy to get spread too thin, and often people make the mistake of not spreading points around enough. The bonuses you gain fromAbilitiesin this game are somewhat different than the original, so it’s easy to see why people can get confused. Let’s take a look at whatAbilitiesandTalentsyou need for aDeath Knight.
For this build you want to shoot for 10 points intoWarfareand 2 inNecromancer. This will maximize the damage of yourSkills, bothWarfareandNecromancer, as well as allow you to use the neededNecromancer Skillsfor aDeath Knight. You can of course add more points intoNecromancerto increase your healing, but none past 2 are needed for the use of the necessarySkills.
If you are looking to increase your damage after maxingWarfare, I suggest adding points into eitherSingle-HandedorTwo-Handed, depending on which setup you went with. By doing these last, you also grant yourself time to figure out which setup you like better before committing. It is also perfectly fine to have a point spent here and there in various otherAbilitiesin order to unlock otherSkills(like those mentioned below). Just be sure that you only spend the absolute minimum to unlock saidSkills.
As far asTalentsgo I’d recommend any of the following:
Living Armour- This Talent works AMAZING with this build because it triggers from every healing I have tested and passive healing fromNecromancerwill trigger this. This means you’ll constantly be replenishingMagic Armourjust by using yourSkillsand attacking. This should be your first or second pick.
Opportunist- Pretty much a must have for anyone playing melee. It nearly doubles your damage output. This should be your second or first pick.
Picture of Health- This Talent increases yourVitalitypool by 3% for each point inWarfare, which works perfectly with this build.This should be your 3rd pick.
The Pawn- This is a great Talent for this build as it gives you free movement every turn in order to attack. It does require 1 point inScoundrel(not including gear) in order to use however.
Leech- Heals you when standing in blood. Might be a bit overkill, but better than mostTalentsfor this build.
What a Rush- ThisTalentwill give you an extra AP when below 50% health. Since you’ll have a rather large HP pool fromConstitutionthis could come in very handy.
Comeback Kid- This essentially prevents you from dying once per encounter, which is really good to have while learning this build. I would recommend taking thisTalentearly and then getting rid of it later on when you can respec if you find you aren’t dying.
Death Knight Skills
Now that you’ve decided whichTalentsandAbilitiesyou want, you’ll need to identify just whichSkillswork best with this kind of setup. Let’s start withNecromancerfirst, since they should be pretty much the same no matter what other skill lines you use. SinceBuildsevolve over the course of the game, I’m going to put theSkillsin order from earliest obtainable to latest, because you won’t be able to get them all right way.
Necromancer Skills
Blood Sucker- This is a great pick up early on as it’s a good cheap heal for 1AP. Use after you’ve injured an enemy to get some quickVitality. Combine it withRaining Bloodfor best results.
Mosquito Swarm– This skill scales withIntelligence, which isn’t ideal. However, it does increase in damage fromWarfare, and it will give some damage at range and a decent heal to boot.
Decaying Touch- This skill again scales offIntelligence, which isn’t ideal. It isn’t particularly useful early game, as most enemies don’t heal anyway. Consider picking it up later on when the fights get tougher.
Raining Blood- This is a great way to cover the battlefield in blood for you to use to heal, and also make enemies bleed themselves. It requires 1Hydrosophistthough, so keep that in mind when making a decision about this ability.
Death Wish- This skill has great synergy with this build because you want to take damage so that you can heal from dealing damage. This will allow you to heal up faster when at lower health and is just really win/win.
Shackles of Pain- This skill won’t deal any damage when first cast, but only costs 1 AP and will help you deal damage as you get hit. Be sure to use it after you have taken down your target’sPhysical Armouror it won’t work.
Living on the Edge- This skill will prevent you from dying for 2 turns which will often buy you enough time to heal up through damage output. Use this when you think you might fall, or when you want to charge in and swing for the fences.
Warfare Skills
Battle Stomp- A good source of AoEKnockdownwith only a slight reduction to damage (10%) over a basic attack. Also clears non-cursed surfaces and clouds, which can help you get to where you need to go without taking damage.
Bouncing Shield- A must have skill forDeath Knightsthat useShieldsas it will significantly increase your damage output. Getting a betterShieldis very noticeable when using this skill. Disregard this if you use aTwo-Handed Weapon.
Whirlwind- A great skill that only gets better when surrounded by more enemies. Use this to soften other nearby enemies while still dealing damage to your primary target. Deals full damage, which is great.
Blitz Attack- Probably the best gap closer you may have that isn’t aScoundrelskill. Hits up to 3 targets for 70% of what you would deal with a normal attack. attempt to save it, if you can, when enemies are grouped.
Deflective Barrier- Another excellent skill for would beShieldusers. Not only does it grantPhysical Armour, it reflects all projectile attacks back at casters for the duration. Again disregard if you don’t use aShield.
Guardian Angel- Because yourVitalitywill constantly be seesawing with this build, and taking damage isn’t necessarily a bad thing onDeath Knight, this Skill fits in nicely. Be sure to time its use properly or you will just get yourself killed.
Challenge– As of February 1st, 2018 this Skill now only costs 1 AP, making it viable for nearly every Warfare oriented Build. Buffs Physical and Magic Armour in addition to increasing your damage by 15% for 1 turn.
Overpower- Destroys all a target’sPhysical Armourand knocks them down. At 1Source Pointit’s quite cheap, so be sure to use it as much as you can. One of the best Source Skills in the game.
Other Skills You Might Add
Chicken Claw- Turn target into a chicken for 2 turns. This skill is resisted byPhysical Armor, so it works well here. Chickens cannot attack or useSkills, so it’s a great way to remove an enemy from the fight while you kill it or another target.
Tentacle Lash- This Skill scales withStrength, which fits well here. Besides dealing good damage, it also prevents the target from being able to attack for 1 turn. Be sure they have little or noPhysical Armourbefore using.
Forced Exchange- Since you will be taking damage quite often with this build, this “OH SHIT” Skill might save your character, as well as make a really tough target go down easy. It costs 2Source Pointsso, you’ll probably only get one use per fight.
Fortify- Great way to recoverPhysical Armourwhich you will need a lot of. It also prevents you from being teleported and you’re able to use it on other teammates as well if needed. Yay for teamwork!
Reactive Armor- A great AoE that deals damage in relation to yourPhysical Armour. This skill is so good that it was nerfed in a recent patch, but not badly enough for me to not suggest it.
Final Tips
It’s a good idea to begin each fight with 50% Health or less to make best use ofDeath Wish. This will give you immediate access to a high damage buff that doesn’t rely on you being hit. This will also allow you to make use of your points inNecromanceras you heal. You can go lower if you want, but be careful ofRoguesas they can pierceArmour.
TheDeath Knightis a flexible build, so be sure to tweak it to meet your party’s demands. If you’re playing as the “Tank”, you’ll want to be sure that you have aShieldand you may want to increase yourConstitutiona bit more than suggested, especially if you are the only melee character in your party. If you’re playing the melee “DPS” role, you’ll want to make sure you have aTwo-handed Weaponbut I wouldn’t lowerConstitutionmuch if at all. If you find you are dying too much, whichever role you are playing, up yourConstitutionuntil you aren’t. It’s better to stay alive than die after all.
This build also has some good synergy withSummoning Skillsif you wish to play more of a hybrid character with a pet. You can drop a few points fromWarfareearly on and add them toSummoningto pick upConjure Incarnateand either of theInfusionsfor him. This will essentially drop you into the “Tank” role, however, since you’ll be missing out on extra damage fromWarfare. It is quite fun though and later on in the game you can dropSkillslikeSoul Mateon yourIncarnateand you two can dual tank together. Putting points intoSummoningwill also allow you to use theRaise Bloated CorpseandRaise Bone Widowabilities effectively, although you cannot use them simultaneously.
You can play aDeath KnightusingScoundrel Skillsinstead ofWarfare, but it synergizes differently. You will most likely deal more damage, but you will be less tanky, andScroundreldoesn’t increase the damage ofNecromancer Skillsthe wayWarfaredoes. If you’re going to theScoundrelroute, make sure you only put the bare minimum inScoundrel(3 or so) and the rest intoWarfarefor this reason. You will heal more in this setup becauseScoundrel SkillspierceArmourquite frequently and you should prioritize the gear on this character because they will need the best of what you can get to stay alive. Don’t getTentacle Lashif you go this route either, as it scales withStrength.
you’re able to beUndeadwhile playing theDeath Knight, as the healing fromNecromancer Skillswill still heal you, but I would advise against it if it’s your first play through, as the game is hard enough as it is. If you do, however, decide to play as anUndead, I recommend taking someGeomancer Skillsthat cause poison like:Poison Dart,ContaminationandPoison Wavein order to heal yourself as necessary. This will also allow you to slotFortifyandReactive Armor, which are both great for this build.
This build is particularly good forLone Wolvesbecause when there are less people to hit, you will be hit more often. When playing asLone Wolfin a duo or solo, be sure you take theExecutionerTalentinstead ofThe Pawn, as it will drastically increase your AP per encounter. Also if you are duoing, make sure at least one of you has theSumming SkillsSoul Mate, as it will help keep you both alive.
As of February 1st, 2018Provokenow goes through Physical Armour and will allow you to Taunt nearby enemies. Consider adding this to this Build if you wish to fulfill the “tank” role. Ideally you would use a Shield when doing this, as it will help buff your Armour. Soul Mate is also good if you decide to go this route.
Lastly, even if you build the perfectDeath Knightit won’t guarantee victory if the rest of your party isn’t up to snuff. This build won’t carry your whole team through, so be sure to research other builds for other roles and make sure each one is the very best they can be.
If you enjoyed this Build I highly recommend you check out theEternal Warrior Build Guide, as it is an improved version of this one. Be sure to check out our otherBuild Guides! Good luck Sourcerers, Rivellon is counting on you!
