Divinity Original Sin 2: Top 10 Necromancer Skills, Ranked
Necromancers in Divinity: Original Sin 2 tap into the dark arts to tread the fine line between life and death, just like Necromancers in other popular media. However, Necromancers in the Larian Studios title don't need specialized training to access these otherworldly abilities. In fact, the right investment in the Necromancer Skill School can transform any Spellcaster into a terrifying dark magic user.
Additionally, players might find it interesting to realize that almost any character can use even the most basic Necromancer Skill. Theoretically, this adds an interesting lifesteal element to any combat playstyle. However, just which Necromancer Skills work with which types of characters?
10 Totems Of The Necromancer
Requires: 2 AP, 3 Source Points, Necromancer 5
What better way to turn the tide of battle than to sow chaos in it? Granted, Totems Of The Necromancer has quite a steep Source Point cost and Necromancer 5 requirement. However, in exchange, the Necromancer can almost instantly turn the tide when outnumbered in battle.
With Totems Of The Necromancer, the caster can spawn a Bone Totem near every opponent in the target area. The Totems spawn regardless of whether the enemies are alive or dead. This means a Necromancer with high-enough Initiative can interrupt an enemy assault by spawning Totems right on their faces. On top of that, the Bone Totems have ranged attacks, meaning they can still attack opponents trying to get into battle anyway.
9 Raise Bone Widow
Requires: 2 Ap, Necromancer 2
There can't ever be enough summons for a party. Raise Bone Widow gives the party an extra member, courtesy of a massive bone spider. It can deal decent damage to enemies, and consume corpses for healing and increased damage.
Raise Bone Widow does have two caveats. First, its strength depends on the Summoning rank of the caster, meaning this best fits a summoner character. Likewise, Necromancer 2 does make for a rather steep investment. Consequently, Raise Bone Widow is only truly worth the while if the caster can also utilize other Necromancer Skills of second rank or lower.
8 Bone Cage
Requires: 1 AP, Necromancer 2
There's strength in numbers, and Bone Cage transforms a ruined battlefield into pure defense. Thanks to this Skill, its caster gets a massive increase in both Physical Armour and maximum Physical Armour based on each corpse within 13-meters. In turn, Bone Cage can transform any melee fighter into a defensive powerhouse.
When used strategically, Bone Cage easily grants a power boost to tanks or melee damage dealers before getting into battle. Likewise, Spellcasters could use Bone Cage to get an extra level of protection against melee attackers.
7 Death Wish
Requires: 2 AP, Necromancer 2
Death isn't always a disadvantage, and Death Wish transforms near-death into strength. With this Skill, a target gets a damage boost based on how much Vitality they've lost. For instance, Death Wish gives an 80-percent damage boost to a character with only 20-percent Vitality.
At its core, Death Wish seems useful for emergency situations. For instance, a tank about to die the next turn can get a massive buff from Death Wish to dish out as much damage as they could. Likewise, Death Wish paired with Living On The Edge easily grants a 1-Vitality character with a whopping damage boost of at least 90-percent.
6 Silencing Stare
Requires: 2 Ap, Necromancer 3
Skills easily become the lifeblood of any build in Divinity: Original Sin 2, which makes the Silenced status its worst enemy. While Silenced, a character can't use Skills or scrolls, which easily spells a quick death in combat. Necromancers with enough prowess can use Silencing Stare not only to Silence all enemies in a frontal cone, but also destroy a huge part of their Magical Armour.
Silencing Stare spells bad news for enemies clustered together or a powerful boss protected by nearby minions. The skill's only setback is that its Silenced status only lasts for a single turn. However, players can do a ton of damage in that one turn. Additionally, the potential of combo debuffs with other Necromancer Skills with the Necromancer 3 rank can make Silencing Star a great setup.
5 Black Shroud
Requires: 1 AP, 1 Source Point, Necromancer 3
Blind enemies can't exactly attack opponents at a distance, and Black Shroud can cause huge trouble to clusters of enemies. With Black Shroud, the caster summons a cloud that sets Blind and Suffocating to characters inside it. Essentially, Blind forces its victims to only attack targets adjacent to it. Likewise, Suffocating destroys a certain amount of Magical Armour per turn.
Necromancers can use Black Shroud to force enemies out of hiding or away from favorable positions. Likewise, they can start spell combos by pairing Black Shroud with other Necromancer 3 Skills or lower, such as Silencing Stare or even a good rousing explosion from Raise Bloated Corpse. A character with Glass Cannon can capitalize on Black Shroud for an easy debuff and still have a ton of AP leftover for massive combos.
4 Mosquito Swarm
Requires: 2 AP, Necromancer 1
Despite its simple nature, Mosquito Swarm can become one of the most practical Necromancer Skills out there. For just one level in Necromancer, a caster can deal 100-percent physical damage with a swarm of mosquitoes and heal for that same damage. Essentially, this is very neat for emergency heals.
However, a usually unnoticeable side effect of the Mosquito Swarm is its ability to set a two-turn Bleeding status to its target. Remember, Bleeding targets leave blood trails. In turn, a close-enough caster can pair Mosquito Swarm with Blood Sucker to maximize their healing.
3 Living On The Edge
Requires: 3AP, Necromancer 2
Living On The Edge cements the Necromancer stereotype of unholy life extension. At the cost of 3 AP, the caster receives Death Resist for two turns; in other words, they literally cannot die for that duration.
At its core, this Skill suits glass cannons who deal damage but also can't take them – Spellcasters, mostly. This Skill can become a means to turn the tide on any battle by allowing a powerhouse to become unkillable for two turns, which could be enough time to finish the fight.
However, since this Skill does imply access to other lifesteal Skills, Living On The Edge may suit melee attackers as well. Tanks can pair this Skill with Decaying Touch for the additional debuff, or Mosquito Swarm for emergency heals.
2 Last Rites
Requires: 3 AP, Necromancer 3
Due to the lack of a resurrection Skill, players of Divinity: Original Sin 2 need to manage their Scrolls of Resurrect or risk losing their dead characters. And it doesn't help that these Scrolls only exist in Story Mode. However, thanks to Last Rites, players get a nifty resurrection Skill.
With Last Rites, a caster sacrifices their own Vitality to resurrect a target with full health. This becomes extremely useful in battles that favor another character's skillset over the caster. Moreover, when paired with Living On The Edge, Last Rites essentially becomes a means to turn the tide of battle, especially when used for tank-like Knights or even specialized Witches.
1 Shackles Of Pain
Requires: 1 AP, Necromancer 2
Shackles Of Pain easily becomes Divinity: Original Sin 2's literal version of an eye for an eye. Anyone with two points in Necromancer can spend 1AP to "shackle" themselves to an enemy. In turn, any damage the caster receives gets transferred to the target instead. Physical Armor resists this ability, which makes this a perfect way to end a barrage of physical attacks on a boss.
Essentially, Shackles Of Pain becomes a great defense and deterrent for anyone prone to damage such as Spellcasters. While this Skill only lasts three turns, it's still a lot of time to recover, escape, or even stage a counterattack. Additionally, the Necromancer 2 requirement for Shackles Of Pain instills the benefit of learning other lifesteal Skills from the rest of the Necromancer School.
Post a Comment