Divinity: Original Sin 2 · Lone Wolf pair · Fane the blood mage + Huntsman

One bar,not two.

Divinity 2 hides one rule behind everything else: crowd control only lands after you empty the matching armour bar. Physical damage empties Physical Armour, magic damage empties Magic Armour, and the two never help each other.

A battlemage throwing air damage next to an archer firing arrows is two people filing at two different bars. Point both at the same bar and the same party doubles its effective damage without changing a single number on your gear.

Play the simulator. It is the whole guide in fifteen seconds.

As you are now Illustrative numbers
Physical armour120
Magic armour120
Vitality150

    Enemy turns taken: —

    The call

    Keep Fane a mage. Change what his magic damages.

    You do not have to abandon the battlemage fantasy to fix this. Necromancer spells scale with Intelligence like any other school, but they deal physical damage, and Warfare boosts them. Fane stays a caster in robes with an Intelligence stat and a spellbook. His spells just hit the same bar your friend's arrows hit.

    Option A · stay as you are

    Aerotheurge battlemage + archer

    Fane strips magic armour, your friend strips physical armour, and nothing gets crowd-controlled until both are gone.

    It is playable on Classic. It gets genuinely unpleasant on Tactician, because every fight is a race you start two bars behind. Your damage is not bad, it is just spread across twice the health pool the game actually asks you to break.

    The Battlemage preset makes this worse than it needs to be: it splits Strength and Intelligence, and hands you Battering Ram (physical, weapon-scaled) next to Shocking Touch and Blinding Radiance (air). Three starting skills, two damage types, two scaling stats.

    Option B · recommended

    Intelligence necromancer + archer

    Both of you strip physical armour. Knockdown, crippling and bleeding land in round one and stay landed.

    Fane keeps Intelligence as his only damage stat. Necromancer spells provide the damage, Warfare multiplies it by up to 50%, and Necromancer's own passive returns 10% of the vitality damage you deal as healing per point — which works on Fane despite him being undead. That split is why the build maxes Warfare and leaves Necromancer at 4: one is damage, the other is only healing.

    Your friend changes almost nothing. A Huntsman archer is already pure physical. They only stop using Elemental Arrowheads on fire and poison puddles.

    "But everyone says Geomancer / Hydrosophist"

    They are right, in general. It is the strongest pure magic combination in the game: Hydrosophist raises healing and magic armour restoration so it doubles as the defensive school, Geomancer's oil and poison set up the freezes and cripples, and both schools lay surfaces you can stand in — so Elemental Affinity is live almost every turn.

    That advice assumes a magic-heavy party or a self-sufficient solo caster. It is answering a different question than yours.

    Why it loses in this pair

    • It rebuilds the split. Your damage goes to magic armour, the archer's to physical. Same problem, different school.
    • Half of Hydrosophist is unusable on Fane. He is undead, so Restoration and Healing Ritual damage him. You would max a school and throw away its healing half. Armour of Frost still works — armour restoration is not healing.
    • Elemental resistance is everywhere; physical resistance is rare. Act 2 has fire-immune enemies and the late game is thick with high magic armour.

    When to flip back

    • If the archer rerolls elemental. The rule is match damage types, not necromancer is best. Two magic characters should absolutely be Geo/Hydro.
    • Keep the useful parts anyway. Hydrosophist 4 is already in the plan for Armour of Frost and Blood Storm.
    • Consider Geomancer 2 for Fortify — physical armour, no healing involved, so no undead penalty. Poison also heals Fane, which makes poison potions his medicine either way.

    The one wrinkle, stated plainly

    Warfare skills take their damage from your equipped weapon. A wand or staff converts them to that weapon's element, and even a sword scales them off Strength — which you do not have. So Battering Ram from a Strength-12 Fane does very little damage. That is not a mistake in the build; it is why the build carries a sword and shield rather than a wand.

    Treat Warfare as a passive damage multiplier — +50% physical damage on every Necromancer spell and Corpse Explosion at 10 — and use its skills for what they do besides damage: Battering Ram for the knockdown, Phoenix Dive to reposition, Bouncing Shield because it scales off the shield's armour and not your weapon at all.

    Character one

    Fane, the bone caster

    Intelligence to 40, Warfare to 10, a sword and shield as stat sticks, and a floor covered in blood as ammunition. He is the durable half of the pair, the one who opens fights, and — by Act 4 — the one who ends them in a single turn. The build is RedGael's Scarlet Storm; the level-by-level path below turns it into a checklist.

    Build

    What to spend points on

    Attributes · in this order

    Intelligence to the 40 cap first — 15 invested points, reached at level 9 — with two small detours the spreadsheet insists on: one point of Strength at level 2 for the Act 1 sword, two of Constitution at level 3. Memory to 16 by level 11. Then Wits to 40 by level 15 for critical chance and initiative, then Constitution with everything after.

    Finesse stays at 10 until Arx, where a dagger and a pair of gloves ask for 14. Set that at the mirror when you hold them, not before.

    Combat abilities

    Warfare 2 and Necromancer 4 at creation. Then one cheap dip per level, each for a specific skill — Scoundrel 2 for Adrenaline, Pyrokinetic 2 for Corpse Explosion, Aerotheurge 2 for Teleportation, Hydrosophist 2 for Armour of Frost and Raining Blood — and then Warfare straight to 10 by level 12.

    After that: Polymorph to 5 for Skin Graft and Apotheosis, Hydrosophist to 4 for Blood Storm, and Scoundrel to 10 last for critical multiplier. Necromancer never needs to read more than 4.

    Talents

    • Lv 1Lone Wolf. Non-negotiable, both of you.
    • Lv 3Executioner. +2 AP when you land a kill. A burst build triggers it most turns.
    • Lv 8Elemental Affinity. −1 AP on Necromancer spells while he stands in blood. Flesh Sacrifice or Raining Blood makes that every turn.
    • Lv 13Savage Sortilege. Spells cannot critically hit without it. It waits until 13 because Wits — and therefore crit chance — only starts climbing at level 10.
    • Lv 18Hothead. Extra critical chance and accuracy at full health, which lifesteal keeps you at.

    RedGael's four-person column takes Glass Cannon at level 8. It is incompatible with Lone Wolf, so for you it does not exist — Elemental Affinity moves into that slot. Living Armour and Picture of Health are the reasonable swaps if you would rather have bulk than crit.

    Undead

    Playing a skeleton

    • Poison heals him, healing hurts him. Carry poison potions as his healing items. Never drink a health potion on Fane.
    • Necromancer lifesteal still works. The passive heal from dealing vitality damage bypasses the undead trait entirely. Four points is 40% of every hit back.
    • He picks locks with his finger. No lockpicks consumed, ever. He still needs Thievery points to do it, so put Thievery on Fane.
    • The mask is a build piece, not a disguise. Get the full Mask of the Shapeshifter in Act 1 (Face Ripper from Kniles, then Windego in the marshes). In elf form Fane gains Flesh Sacrifice: 0 AP, +1 AP, +10% damage and a blood pool under his feet — the elf racial the whole build is designed around. It occupies the helmet slot and costs him a small amount of Constitution per cast.
    • NPCs recoil unless his face is covered, and Dorotya in the Undertavern refuses the undead outright — the mask solves both.
    • Time Warp is his alone. 2 AP, 1 Source Point, 3-turn cooldown: the target takes another full turn the moment their turn ends. Whether it survives the elf form is not documented — check the skill bar after you shift and swap forms between fights if it does not.

    Why Necromancer stops at 4 — and where the damage actually comes from

    This trips up almost every new necromancer. Necromancer spells deal physical damage, so their multiplier is Warfare (+5% per point), not Necromancer. Each Necromancer point adds only 10% lifesteal. Nothing in the build requires more than Necromancer 3 — Grasp of the Starved and Blood Storm both stop there — so it reads 4 and stays there until every other point has somewhere better to go.

    What the saved points buy

    • Warfare 10 by level 12 instead of splitting with Necromancer: +50% on every Necromancer spell, Corpse Explosion and Bouncing Shield.
    • Scoundrel 10: +50% critical multiplier on a caster with Savage Sortilege and Wits 40.
    • Polymorph 5: Skin Graft, Apotheosis, Chameleon Cloak — and five free attribute points, since each Polymorph point grants one.

    What this page used to say

    • An earlier version argued for Necromancer 10 (full lifesteal) and Summoning for a third body. Both work. This is simply the stronger allocation for a burst caster in a Lone Wolf pair, and the video makes the case better than this page did.
    • Raise Bloated Corpse keeps the one summon that matters: a walking bomb that does not count toward party size.
    • The mirror makes all of this reversible. If you miss the tankiness, put the spare late points into Necromancer rather than Constitution.

    Every skill in the build, and where it comes from

    SkillAPNeedsTypeWhereWhy
    Mosquito SwarmNecro 1PhysicalCreation · Mona · KerbanBread-and-butter nuke with lifesteal. 1 AP standing in blood.
    Decaying TouchNecro 1PhysicalCreation · Mona · KerbanDecay flips enemy healing into damage.
    Battering RamWarfare 1KnockdownCreation · Kalias · GarethDamage reads your sword, so it is small. The knockdown once armour is gone is the point.
    Bouncing ShieldWarfare 1PhysicalKalias · GarethScales off the shield's armour value. Your hardest hit in Act 1.
    AdrenalineScoundrel 1BuffHilde · Exter · Papa Thrash+2 AP now, −2 next turn. Mandatory.
    Corpse ExplosionNecro 1 + Pyro 1PhysicalCraft: Necro book + Pyro book250% physical from a corpse for 1 AP. The early-game secret weapon.
    Raise Bloated CorpseNecro 1SummonMona · KerbanA walking bomb. Raise it, walk it in, detonate it.
    InfectNecro 2PhysicalMona · KerbanHeavy single hit that spreads Disease.
    Peace of MindPyro 1BuffStingtail · SamadelWits, and immunity to fear, charm and madness. Finds hidden loot.
    TeleportationAero 2ControlGawin · Gratiana · the GlovesGroup enemies onto a corpse, or drop a corpse onto them.
    Armour of FrostHydro 1ArmourRezik · Simone · BreeMagic armour and a cleanse. Armour restoration is not healing, so it is safe on Fane.
    Raining BloodNecro 1 + Hydro 1SurfaceCraft: Necro book + Hydro bookLays the blood Grasp feeds on and Elemental Affinity wants you standing in.
    Chameleon CloakPoly 1DefenceDoctor Leste · Exter · OvisInvisible for two turns. The escape button.
    Phoenix DiveWarfare 2MobilityGareth · HaranJump to high ground for the damage bonus, or out of a corner.
    Nether SwapAero 2ControlOvisSwap an enemy into the blood you are about to detonate.
    Skin GraftPoly 3BuffOvisResets every cooldown. Once per fight, and it is why the finale casts everything twice.
    Grasp of the StarvedNecro 3PhysicalRyker's desk · Tarquin · Bree250% damage and Cripple to everything standing in blood, 5m radius. The build's namesake.
    Blood StormNecro 3 + Hydro 3PhysicalCraft: Necro + Hydro, one a Source bookScreen-wide physical damage that also lays the blood for Grasp. Costs the whole Source pool.
    ApotheosisPoly 5BuffOvis · Eithne · Friel (lvl 16+)Source skills cost no Source for two turns. The key that unlocks the finale.
    Mass Corpse ExplosionNecro 2 + Pyro 2PhysicalCraft: Necro + Pyro, one a Source bookDetonates every corpse in range. Teleport the group onto the bodies first.
    Flesh SacrificeElf formBloodMask of the Shapeshifter+1 AP, +10% damage, blood under your feet, for a little Constitution. Opens every turn.
    Time WarpFaneExtra turnInnateThe target acts again immediately after their turn. Usually the archer.

    = 1 AP  ·  = 1 Source Point  ·  Mass Corpse Explosion's Source cost is not listed on the wiki; the 1 shown is from in-game tooltips — confirm on yours.

    Level by level

    Fane's path, one level at a time

    This is RedGael's "Scarlet Storm" blood mage, Lone Wolf column, laid out so nobody has to open the spreadsheet on a phone. Every number is what the character sheet reads after Lone Wolf's doubling — you spend half as many points as the increase shown.

    Two habits make the whole plan work: Warfare before Necromancer — Necromancer spells deal physical damage, so Warfare is their multiplier and Necromancer only adds lifesteal — and Intelligence to 40, then Wits to 40, then Constitution. Talents arrive at levels 1, 3, 8, 13 and 18.

    One deliberate departure from the spreadsheet: Lone Wolf hands you a bonus combat ability point at level 1 that the sheet never spends. This page puts it into Necromancer immediately, which pulls everything from level 12 onward one level earlier. Same destination, sooner.

    Act 1 · Fort Joy

    Levels 1 – 8
    1create

    Character creation — ignore the presets, pick everything by hand

    SpendIntelligence 16 Warfare 2 Necromancer 4
    Three attribute points into Intelligence. One ability point into Warfare, one into Necromancer, and Lone Wolf's bonus point into Necromancer too — 40% lifesteal from the first fight.
    TalentLone Wolf.
    SkillsChoose Mosquito Swarm, Decaying Touch and Battering Ram as starting skills. Fane also arrives with Time Warp and Play Dead.
    DoCivil ability: Thievery — his finger picks locks for free — and Lone Wolf's bonus civil point into Bartering. Equip any one-handed weapon and any shield off the beach; the shield is a stat stick and a weapon in one.
    2
    SpendIntelligence 18 Strength 12 Scoundrel 2
    Strength 12 is the only Strength you will ever buy on purpose: it is exactly what the Act 1 sword needs.
    BuyAdrenaline (Scoundrel 1, 0 AP: +2 AP now, −2 next turn) from Hilde, next to Griff's kitchen in the ghetto.
    DoFind Kalias in the Fort Joy caverns for Warfare books: Bouncing Shield scales off the shield's armour value, not your weapon, and is your hardest-hitting attack for a while.
    3
    SpendConstitution 14 Pyrokinetic 2
    TalentExecutioner. +2 AP on a kill. This is a burst build; you will trigger it most turns.
    CraftCorpse Explosion — combine any non-Source Necromancer book with any non-Source Pyrokinetic book. Not sold anywhere. 1 AP, 250% physical damage from a corpse, and the whole reason Pyrokinetic is in the build.
    BuyPyrokinetic books come from Stingtail, the lizard near Griff's kitchen — buy before you resolve Griff's oranges quest, he may not survive it. Take Peace of Mind: Wits, and immunity to fear, charm and madness. You will need the Wits for a hidden ring at level 8.
    4
    SpendIntelligence 20 Memory 12 Aerotheurge 2
    BuyTeleportation (Aerotheurge 2) from Gawin, north-east of the bonfire. Mona, in the tent by the kitchen, stocks Necromancer books from around now: take Raise Bloated Corpse and Infect.
    GetGloves of Teleportation from the crocodiles on the beach west of the fort — Teleportation without the book or the memory slot. While you have them: The Viper's Tongue sits up the broken steps near the beach waypoint, reachable only by teleport. Strength 11, +1 Warfare, 165% critical damage — your sword until Slane.
    5
    SpendIntelligence 24 Hydrosophist 2
    Buy · craftArmour of Frost (Hydrosophist 1) from Rezik. Then craft Raining Blood: any Necromancer book + any Hydrosophist book. Cast it under yourself as much as under the enemy — it is the blood Elemental Affinity wants you standing in.
    PlayThe early game is a drain tank. Teleportation drops an archer onto a fighter, Mosquito Swarm strips armour, Battering Ram knocks down whatever has none left, Corpse Explosion finishes it.
    6
    SpendIntelligence 26 Memory 14 Warfare 4
    Warfare now climbs every level until it reads 8.
    WeaponFang of the Winter Dragon — dropped by Slane the Winter Dragon, chained north-east of the fort. Strength 12, +1 Strength, Intelligence, Warfare and Hydrosophist, 10% critical chance. Optional: it means killing the one kind creature on the island.
    GetAttar of the Blood Rose: the Blood Rose grows in Radeka's cave; combine it with an empty potion bottle and drink it for a permanent +1 to every attribute. One per game — the buff is lost if that character dies, so drink it on whoever is safest.
    7
    SpendIntelligence 30 Warfare 6
    MaskTake the Face Ripper from Kniles in the fort's dungeon, then kill Windego in the Hollow Marshes: she drops the full Mask of the Shapeshifter. In elf form Fane gains Flesh Sacrifice — 0 AP, +1 AP, +10% damage and a blood pool under his feet. That is Elemental Affinity switched on for free every fight.
    VendorsEscape the fort. In Amadia's Sanctuary: Kerban (Necromancer), Gratiana (Aerotheurge), Simone (Hydrosophist), Exter (Scoundrel and Polymorph), Samadel (Pyrokinetic), Gareth (Warfare, once rescued).
    8
    SpendIntelligence 34 Warfare 8
    TalentElemental Affinity. Necromancer spells cost 1 AP less while you stand in blood. Flesh Sacrifice, Raining Blood or your own bleeding all count.
    GetRing of Intelligence: a dig spot on the beach below the Sanctuary, near the Void Salamanders, with a squirrel standing on it. It needs high Wits to see — cast Peace of Mind first. The only ring in the game with a rune slot, so it stays relevant to the end.
    DoFinish the island, take the Lady Vengeance. Buy from Exter during the voyage — he vanishes once you land on Reaper's Coast. Use the mirror on the lower deck if anything above is out of place.

    Act 2 · Reaper's Coast

    Levels 9 – 16
    9
    SpendIntelligence 40 · capped Polymorph 1
    Polymorph is not doubled by Lone Wolf, but each point grants a free attribute point — that is why you can afford +6 Intelligence this level.
    BuyPhoenix Dive (Warfare 2) from Gareth on the ship or Trader Haran in Driftwood — your jump to high ground. Chameleon Cloak (Polymorph 1) is castable from here.
    VendorsDriftwood: Trader Ovis in the square (Polymorph, Aerotheurge, Pyrokinetic), Trader Bree (Necromancer, Hydrosophist), Trader Haran (Warfare), Papa Thrash in the Black Bull (Scoundrel). Tarquin (Necromancer) waits at Stonegarden until you bring him his second artefact, then returns to the ship.
    10
    SpendWits 16 Polymorph 2
    Intelligence is done; every attribute point now goes to Wits until it too reads 40.
    GetThe Undertavern beneath the Black Bull. Dorotya offers the Spider's Kiss: permanent +2 Intelligence (choose the Curved Quill) for −2 Constitution. Permanent means the mirror cannot undo it. Go to her alone — and Fane must be wearing the mask; she refuses the undead.
    AlsoSmoke Ferocity Herbmix (Drudanae + Augmentor) in the dreamer pipe at Effie's: +2 starting AP and +2 AP recovery for 50 turns. The Glowing Idol of Rebirth — an auto-resurrect — is one of Dorotya's other rewards, worth it on Honour mode.
    11
    SpendWits 20 Memory 16 Polymorph 3
    BuySource Skin Graft (Polymorph 3, 1 AP, 1 Source): resets every cooldown, once per fight. Sold by Trader Ovis. Also Nether Swap (Aerotheurge 2, 1 AP) from Ovis — swap an enemy into the blood you are about to detonate.
    DoCollect Source points and learn to use them; you will need a full pool for the next two levels. Meistr Siva in Driftwood starts that quest line.
    12
    SpendWits 24 Warfare 10 · maxed
    Every physical hit you land is now +50%.
    GetSource Grasp of the Starved (Necromancer 3, 2 AP, 2 Source): undead hands rise from every blood surface and hit everything on it for 250%, plus Cripple. The book lies on Ryker's desk in his Stonegarden mansion; vendors only stock it from level 13.
    PlayRaining Blood first, Grasp second. From here on the opener is: cover the floor, then punish everyone standing on it.
    13
    SpendWits 28 Hydrosophist 4
    TalentSavage Sortilege. Spells can now critically hit. Taken here rather than earlier because crit chance only became worth anything once Wits started climbing.
    CraftSource Blood Storm (4 AP, 3 Source): combine a Necromancer book with a Hydrosophist book where at least one is a Source book. Physical damage over a huge area and it lays the blood for Grasp. It costs your whole pool; it is the opener, not the rotation.
    GearDanna Dumora (chest, +2 Intelligence, +1 Necromancer) drops from Ghalann in Stonegarden. An Mey Falin (belt, +1 Warfare, +1 Polymorph) is sold by Eithne in Cloisterwood.
    14
    SpendWits 34 Polymorph 4
    CheckIf Blood Storm → Grasp is not deleting groups yet, the problem is gear level, not the build. Replace every armour piece more than two levels old.
    DoSave gold. Source books are expensive and two are coming.
    15
    SpendWits 40 · capped Polymorph 5
    AheadPolymorph 5 unlocks Apotheosis, but vendors only stock the book from level 16. Attribute points from here go to Constitution.
    DoFinish Reaper's Coast before you leave. Level 16 or 17 at the boat makes Act 3 comfortable.
    16
    SpendConstitution 18 Scoundrel 4
    Scoundrel from here to 10: +5% critical multiplier per point, on a caster who now crits.
    Buy · craftSource Apotheosis (Polymorph 5, 2 AP, 3 Source) from Trader Ovis or Eithne: for two turns every Source skill costs no Source. Craft Mass Corpse Explosion (Pyrokinetic 2 + Necromancer 2): a Pyrokinetic book + a Necromancer book, at least one of them a Source book. Detonates every corpse in range.
    DoSail for the Nameless Isle. The endgame combo in the playbook is now fully available.

    Act 3 · Nameless Isle

    Levels 16 – 18
    17
    SpendConstitution 22 Scoundrel 6
    WeaponThe Eternal Stormblade in the Murky Cave, guarded by four Eternals: +15% critical chance, 200% critical damage, +3 Memory, +6 Initiative. Needs Strength 13 — meet it at the mirror, then use its Memory to move your own points into Constitution.
    GetThe Academy's Teachers' Hall: the Intelligence master gives a permanent +5 Intelligence for −5 Finesse, one character per teacher. Take it on Fane. Politely decline the God-King's covenant — its bonuses come with a curse.
    18
    SpendConstitution 26 Scoundrel 8
    TalentHothead. Extra critical chance and accuracy at full health — where Necromancer lifesteal keeps you most of the time.
    CheckFinal spell list in memory: Blood Storm, Grasp of the Starved, Apotheosis, Skin Graft, Mass Corpse Explosion, Corpse Explosion, Mosquito Swarm, Raining Blood, Adrenaline, Teleportation, Nether Swap, Phoenix Dive, Armour of Frost. Drop Battering Ram, Bouncing Shield and Peace of Mind when slots get tight.
    DoLeave the isle around 18. Arx holds the last five uniques.

    Act 4 · Arx

    Levels 18 – 21
    19
    SpendConstitution 30 Scoundrel 10 · maxed
    WeaponRancour, a dagger sold by the unarmed elf trader in front of the cathedral: +25% critical chance, +3 Wits. Needs Finesse 14. Its level is fixed the first time you speak to her, so do not talk to her early. Drop the shield and dual-wield Stormblade + Rancour: nothing survives your turn, so buy stats, not defence.
    ArmourRuvola — +5 Intelligence chest, in the secret room behind the Passions of Lucian painting in Kemm's vault · Luronta Temva — +2 to every attribute, legs, from Trader Keyren · Soft Touch — +5 Intelligence, +5 Memory gloves, from the same elf as Rancour · Kallisteis — boots with immunity to Knockdown, Cripple and Slow, from Trader Aravae.
    20
    SpendConstitution 34 Necromancer 6
    The build is complete. Spare ability points go to Necromancer for lifesteal.
    RespecThe Stormblade, Rancour, Soft Touch and Luronta Temva want Strength 13 and Finesse 14 between them — meet those with as few points as possible at the mirror, trim Memory to exactly what your final list needs, and put everything freed into Constitution.
    DoGreen Tea before the final fights: −2 AP on every skill (minimum 1) for three turns. Lady Kemm gives it to a noble, or brew it in her teapot from green tea leaves.
    21
    SpendConstitution 38 Necromancer 8
    NoteOnly a full clear reaches 21. Level 20 is the realistic finish.
    PlayFlesh Sacrifice → Apotheosis → Adrenaline → Blood Storm → Skin Graft → Adrenaline → Flesh Sacrifice → Grasp of the Starved. See the playbook.

    The finished sheet at level 20

    Attributes · invested
    • Intelligence40
    • Wits40
    • Constitution34
    • Memory16
    • Strength12
    • Finesse10
    Combat abilities · invested
    • Warfare10
    • Scoundrel10
    • Necromancer6
    • Polymorph5
    • Hydrosophist4
    • Aerotheurge2
    • Pyrokinetic2
    Talents
    • Lone WolfLv 1
    • ExecutionerLv 3
    • Elemental AffinityLv 8
    • Savage SortilegeLv 13
    • HotheadLv 18

    Strength and Finesse end higher than shown in practice — exactly as high as the Stormblade, Rancour and the Arx armour demand, set at the mirror once you hold them. Gear, the Spider's Kiss and the Academy push Intelligence well past 40; the cap only applies to invested points. RedGael's spreadsheet has this Lone Wolf column and a four-person version side by side: open it on a desktop.

    Character two

    The hunter, from above

    Almost no changes needed. A Huntsman archer is already pure physical damage, which is exactly what this pair wants. The work is positional: Huntsman's entire passive bonus is conditional on standing higher than the target.

    Build

    What to spend points on

    Attributes · in this order

    Finesse to 40 (again, level 7 with Lone Wolf), then Memory to 16, then Wits to 40, then Constitution. Wits matters more here than on Fane: it buys critical chance on a character who already gets crit chance from the Ranged ability, and initiative decides whether you get to alpha-strike before the enemy moves.

    Combat abilities

    Take Huntsman to 2 immediately so the tier-2 skill books open, then alternate Warfare and Ranged to 10 — both give +5% damage per point and Ranged adds critical chance, and both apply unconditionally. Huntsman to 10 comes third, because its +5% per point only pays out from high ground. Finish with Aerotheurge 2 for Teleportation and Scoundrel 10 for critical multiplier.

    Ordering Huntsman third is deliberate, not a demotion. It ends at 10 either way; unconditional damage just arrives sooner.

    Talents

    • Lv 1Lone Wolf.
    • Lv 3Hothead. Crit chance and accuracy while at full health — which an archer standing on a roof usually is.
    • Lv 8Executioner. +2 AP on a kill, and the archer is the one landing kills.
    • Lv 13The Pawn. Free movement each turn, so climbing to high ground costs nothing.
    • Lv 18Picture of Health.

    Skip Glass Cannon. It gives AP but strips your immunity to crowd control, and the AI reliably hunts the character who has it. In a two-person party losing one character to a stun-lock is losing half your actions.

    Habits

    How the archer actually plays

    • Move first, shoot second. Every turn starts with Tactical Retreat or a climb. Huntsman 10 on high ground is +50% damage; the same shot from level ground is +0%.
    • Scout the terrain before initiating. Whoever starts the conversation starts the fight, so walk the archer onto the roof first, then have Fane talk.
    • Retire Elemental Arrowheads on fire and poison. It adds elemental damage to your shots, which goes to the wrong bar. The exception: blood and frozen-blood surfaces give blood arrows, which add physical damage and scale with Warfare. Fane makes blood constantly, so this skill stays useful — just be picky about the puddle.
    • Marksman's Fang pierces armour. Keep it for the enemy whose bar you have not broken yet.
    • First Aid is your CC cleanse, and it also removes Crippled and Knocked Down. Do not cast it on Fane.

    Huntsman skills worth memory slots

    SkillAPNeedsTypeWhy
    First AidHunt 1 · Lv 1HealYour crowd-control cleanse: clears Crippled and Knocked Down. Never on Fane.
    RicochetHunt 1 · Lv 1PhysicalHits several targets. Your default opener against a group.
    Pin DownHunt 1 · Lv 1PhysicalCripples once physical armour is gone.
    Tactical RetreatHunt 2 · Lv 4Mobility1 AP to reach high ground and gain Haste. Never unequipped.
    BarrageHunt 2 · Lv 4PhysicalThree arrows into one target. Single-target armour stripper.
    Sky ShotHunt 2 · Lv 4PhysicalIgnores line of sight. Shoot over the wall you are standing on.
    Marksman's FangHunt 2 · Lv 9PiercingIgnores armour outright. 2-turn cooldown. Keep it for the enemy whose bar you have not broken.
    Ballistic ShotHunt 2 · Lv 9PhysicalDamage grows with distance. Rewards the sniping position.
    Reactive ShotHunt 2 · Lv 9PhysicalFree shots at anything that walks into range on the enemy's turn.
    Arrow SprayHunt 3 · Lv 9PhysicalCone of 16 arrows for packed groups, at point-blank range for a single big target.
    AssassinateHunt 3 · Lv 16PhysicalHuge single hit. Opens fights from stealth.
    Arrow StormHunt 5 · Lv 16PhysicalThe Source finisher. Strips a whole encounter's physical armour at once — for your entire Source pool.

    Equipment

    Gear is a stat budget, not a wardrobe

    Armour values in Divinity scale hard with item level, so the single highest-impact habit in the game is replacing gear constantly. Rarity is a distant second. Everything below assumes you are already doing that.

    Fane

    What to roll for

    In priority order

    • Intelligence — his only damage stat. Gear takes it past the 40 cap.
    • +Warfare — multiplies every spell he casts. +Necromancer is only lifesteal; nice, not a priority.
    • Critical chance — worthless before Savage Sortilege at 13, the third-best stat after it. RedGael's three: Intelligence, Warfare, crit chance.
    • Wits and initiative — going first is what lets the opener happen.
    • Memory — cheaper on gear than on attribute points, and the finale list is long.

    A one-handed sword and the highest-armour shield you can find through Acts 1–3: the sword carries stats, the shield carries physical armour and powers Bouncing Shield. In Arx the shield goes and he dual-wields two stat sticks. His weapons never deal his damage.

    Hunter

    What to roll for

    In priority order

    • Bow damage, then bow damage again. Every Huntsman skill is a percentage of the weapon, so the bow is the single biggest number on the sheet. Replace it the moment a higher-level one appears.
    • Finesse — the scaling stat.
    • +Warfare, +Ranged, +Huntsman — in that order, matching the investment logic.
    • Wits and critical multiplier — an archer crits constantly; the multiplier is where the damage actually lives.
    • Initiative on jewellery. Worth more here than on Fane, for reasons in the turn-order panel below.

    Leather and mail (physical armour). Do not let a pretty magic-armour chestpiece onto the character who stands in the open.

    Lone Wolf does not double gear

    The talent doubles points you invest. A +2 Warfare roll on a helmet is +2, not +4. This trips people up when they plan around gear and come up short — budget your invested points as if the gear were not there, and treat every ability roll you find as a bonus on top.

    Runes, on-thesis

    The same rule that governs this whole page governs your sockets: an elemental damage rune in the archer's bow splits your damage. Flame, frost, venom and thunder runes add magic damage to a physical attack and quietly recreate the problem you just fixed.

    Put Masterwork runes (physical damage) in the bow, and attribute or armour runes everywhere else. Fane's weapons are stat sticks — damage runes there do nothing for his spells, so socket them for Intelligence or critical chance.

    Sourcerous Sundries

    A Larian gift bag, enabled from the main menu, that adds vendors selling Diamond Dust (armour), Azure Flint (weapons) and Quicksilver (jewellery). Combine one with an item in the crafting menu to raise it to your current level. It is the direct answer to "replace your gear constantly".

    It disables achievements for the save. If you care about those, skip it. Higher-rarity items need more upgrade materials.

    Guaranteed pieces for Fane, act by act

    These are the fixed drops and vendor items the build is planned around. A random piece two levels higher will often beat them on raw armour — RedGael's own note — so treat the list as a floor, not a wardrobe. Requirements are the attribute the item demands before you can equip it.

    ActItemSlot · needsGivesWhere
    1Gloves of TeleportationGloves · lvl 2Teleportation skillSaltwater crocodiles on the beach west of the fort
    1The Viper's TongueSword · Str 11+1 Warfare, 165% critical damageUp the broken steps near the beach waypoint — teleport up
    1Fang of the Winter DragonSword · Str 12+1 Int, +1 Warfare, +1 Hydro, 10% critSlane the Winter Dragon, chained north-east of the fort
    1Ring of IntelligenceRing · lvl 5+1 Int, the only ring with a rune slotDig spot with a squirrel on it, beach below Amadia's Sanctuary — needs Wits to see
    2Danna DumoraChest · Int 12+2 Int, +1 Necro, +1 Wits, +1 Con, Bone CageDropped by Ghalann, Stonegarden
    2An Mey FalinBelt · lvl 13+1 Warfare, +1 Polymorph, +2 Con, Deflective BarrierSold by Eithne, Cloisterwood
    3The Eternal StormbladeSword · Str 13+15% crit, 200% critical damage, +3 Memory, +6 InitiativeMurky Cave, past four Eternal guardians
    4RancourDagger · Fin 14+25% crit, +3 WitsUnarmed elf trader at the cathedral — her stock's level is set the first time you talk
    4RuvolaChest · Int 14+5 Int, +2 Wits, +2 ConSecret room behind the Passions of Lucian painting, Kemm's vault
    4Luronta TemvaLegs · Str 14+2 to every attributeSold by Trader Keyren
    4Soft TouchGloves · Fin 14+5 Int, +5 MemorySame elf trader as Rancour
    4KallisteisBoots · lvl 20+2 Wits, +1 Scoundrel, immune to Knockdown, Cripple and SlowSold by Trader Aravae

    Permanent boosts you can miss

    • Attar of the Blood Rose (Act 1) — Blood Rose from Radeka's cave + empty potion bottle. +1 to every attribute, one per game, lost if the drinker dies.
    • Spider's Kiss (Act 2) — Dorotya in the Undertavern. +2 Intelligence for −2 Constitution. Permanent, mirror-proof, mask required for Fane.
    • Academy lesson (Act 3) — the Intelligence master: +5 Intelligence, −5 Finesse. One character per teacher.

    Consumables that change a fight

    • Ferocity Herbmix — Drudanae + Augmentor, smoked in the dreamer pipe at Effie's in the Undertavern: +2 starting AP and +2 AP recovery for 50 turns. Act 2 stops being hard.
    • Green Tea — −2 AP on every skill for three turns. Lady Kemm's gift to a noble, or brewed in her teapot. Save it for the last fights in Arx.
    • Glowing Idol of Rebirth — auto-resurrect. One of Dorotya's rewards, or Ashen Idol + Resurrection scroll. Honour mode insurance.

    One character, high Lucky Charm

    RedGael's rule for finding the random gear that beats the table above: give one character a high Lucky Charm and open everything. Only the party's highest Lucky Charm counts, so it goes on the hunter and nowhere else.

    Thievery on Fane, Lucky Charm on the hunter. The civil split below already does this.

    Level planner

    Where every point goes

    Drag to your current level. Lone Wolf gives you 2 attribute points and 1 combat ability point per level, and then doubles every point you invest — so these are the numbers your character sheet should read, not the number of points you spent. Fane's column is the level path above, level for level; Polymorph's free attribute points are included.

    4Level
    1 · Fort Joy20 · Arx
    9Attribute pts
    6Ability pts
    Fane

    Blood mage

    Attributes

    Combat abilities

    Talents unlocked

      Hunter

      High-ground archer

      Attributes

      Combat abilities

      Talents unlocked

        Civil ability points are not doubled by Lone Wolf and arrive on their own schedule. Split them rather than duplicating: give Fane Thievery (his finger is a free lockpick) and Bartering; give the hunter Persuasion and Lucky Charm. Only the highest Lucky Charm in the party counts, so a second investment is wasted. Add Loremaster to whoever carries the magnifying glass.

        The talent

        What Lone Wolf is actually buying you

        It is the strongest talent in the game and the reason a duo is easier than a foursome, not harder. Two characters share none of the downsides people assume.

        Raw numbers

        • +2 maximum AP and +2 AP recovery per turn
        • +30% vitality
        • +60% physical armour and +60% magic armour
        • Immediately +1 combat ability point and +1 civil ability point
        • Every invested attribute and combat ability point counts twice

        The caps still apply

        Attributes cap at 40 and combat abilities at 10. Doubling does not raise the ceiling, it halves the cost of reaching it — which is why you hit Intelligence 40 at level 7 and two maxed combat abilities at level 8.

        Three exceptions: Polymorph is not doubled, civil abilities are not doubled, and bonuses from gear are not doubled — the talent multiplies points you invest, nothing else.

        Rules of the pair

        Never recruit a third. A third active party member switches the whole talent off on both of you until you drop back to two. Two is the hard limit.

        Summons are free. A Bloated Corpse does not count toward party size, so Fane's walking bomb costs you nothing.

        You do not level faster. Experience is awarded per character regardless of party size, so you are the same level a four-person party would be — just individually far stronger.

        Playbook

        Opening rounds that end fights

        With Lone Wolf you each act with 6 AP. That is enough to remove an enemy from the fight before it takes a turn, provided you spend it in the right order. Focus one target at a time, always — until level 16, when Fane stops needing to choose.

        Read this before the playbook: how turn order actually works

        Divinity does not sort every combatant by initiative into one list. It alternates sides. The team holding the single highest initiative goes first, then the other team, then back — and you can never take two allied turns in a row while the enemy still has someone left to act.

        What a duo assumes

        HunterFane→EnemyEnemyEnemy

        What actually happens · 2 v 4

        HunterEnemyFaneEnemy→EnemyEnemy

        What follows from it

        • Only one of you needs initiative. Your highest-initiative character decides whether your team acts first; the second character's initiative changes nothing, because an enemy is slotted in front of them regardless. Stack Wits and initiative gear on the archer and let Fane run lower.
        • The archer's job in round one is the enemy that acts next. Kill it or knock it down and your two turns effectively become consecutive. This is the real reason to focus fire.
        • Once your two turns are spent, the rest of the enemy team acts back to back. Being outnumbered means the back half of every round belongs to them — plan your defensive cooldowns for that stretch, not for the start of the round.

        Two ways to buy an extra slot

        • A summon takes its own turn. A Bloated Corpse adds a third body to the rotation without counting toward party size — walk it in on its own turn, detonate it on yours.
        • Time Warp grants a whole extra turn to its target, which is the one clean way around the alternation rule.
        • Ties go to the enemy, and many bosses have initiative you cannot legitimately out-roll at the level you meet them. Assume you are acting second in boss fights and open accordingly.

        Standard opener

        Acts 1–2

        Break one enemy's physical armour, land the knockdown, blow up what falls.

        1. Hunter takes high ground with Tactical Retreat.
        2. Barrage into the enemy that acts next. High-ground bonus applies.
        3. Ricochet to chip everything nearby.
        4. One enemy turn — forced by the alternating order
        5. Fane: Flesh Sacrifice. +1 AP and blood under his feet — Elemental Affinity is on. (No mask yet? Raining Blood for 2 AP instead.)
        6. Teleportation pulls a second enemy onto the first.
        7. Mosquito Swarm finishes the hunter's target. 1 AP in blood.
        8. Corpse Explosion on the body you just made — the neighbour eats 250%.
        9. From level 12: Grasp of the Starved on everything still standing in the blood.

        Hunter 6 of 6; Fane 5 of 7 with Flesh Sacrifice. Executioner refunds 2 more if the Swarm killed. Grasp costs 2 of your 3 Source and has a 5-turn cooldown — it is the opener, not the rotation.

        The finale

        From level 16

        RedGael's "strongest single turn in the game". Everything in one turn, then cast half of it again.

        1. Apotheosis first: Source skills are free for two turns. Cast it before anything that adds AP — you cannot bank above 6.
        2. Flesh Sacrifice: +1 AP, blood underfoot.
        3. Blood Storm (4 −1 in blood, Source free). Everyone hit, the whole floor red.
        4. Adrenaline: +2 AP.
        5. Skin Graft (Source free): every cooldown resets — including Adrenaline and Flesh Sacrifice.
        6. Flesh Sacrifice and Adrenaline again: +3 AP.
        7. Grasp of the Starved (2 −1, Source free) on a floor that is now entirely blood.
        8. Mass Corpse Explosion on the bodies. Then Corpse Explosion, Mosquito Swarm for whatever twitches.

        Ends with AP to spare. Use Teleportation or Nether Swap before Blood Storm if anyone is standing outside the radius. Green Tea beforehand makes it longer still.

        When it goes wrong

        Recovery

        You are outnumbered and someone is about to die. Disappear, armour up, remove the problem.

        1. Chameleon Cloak on Fane: invisible for two turns, and the AI forgets him.
        2. Armour of Frost on whoever is about to be stunned or frozen. It also cleanses.
        3. Teleportation throws the hardest hitter off a ledge or into a corner.
        4. Hunter uses Tactical Retreat to break away and regain height.
        5. First Aid to clear knockdown or crippling — on the hunter only, never on Fane.

        Keep leftover AP. Unspent AP carries into the next turn up to your maximum. A poison potion is Fane's heal.

        Which crowd control needs which bar empty

        Needs physical armour at 0

        Knocked Down, Bleeding, Crippled, Maimed, Atrophy. Everything you two apply lives here.

        Needs magic armour at 0

        Stunned, Frozen, Chilled, Shocked, Blinded, Charmed, Feared, Silenced, Petrified, Madness. You are giving these up, deliberately.

        A short list ignores armour entirely and works from turn one either way: Taunt, Provoke, Slowed, Ruptured Tendons, Suffocating and Wet. Overkill also spills through: a hit larger than the remaining armour breaks it and lands its status effect in the same action.

        Two skills in your kit ignore the rule outright. Marksman's Fang deals piercing damage straight through both bars, and Silencing Stare destroys magic armour in a cone and applies Silenced in the same cast — which is how a party that never touches the magic bar can still shut down an enemy caster.

        Tricks

        Things the game never tells you

        Combat

        • Focus one enemy. Two half-armoured enemies both act. One dead enemy does not. This matters more than any damage number.
        • Unspent AP carries over up to your maximum. Ending a turn with 2 AP saved is often better than a bad 2 AP attack.
        • Height decides damage for both of you, not just the archer. Shooting or casting downhill is a bonus; uphill is a penalty.
        • Healing damages undead enemies. Skeletons appear throughout the game — a healing scroll is an attack.
        • Teleportation wins fights, not just travel. Pull the ranged enemy off the cliff into your melee, or drop a group into a chokepoint. Aerotheurge 2, 2 AP.
        • Check enemy armour before choosing a target. Equip a magnifying glass and put Loremaster on one of you so you can read their bars mid-fight.

        Terrain and surfaces

        • Barrels are pre-placed weapons. Oil, ooze and water barrels can be picked up before a fight and thrown into it.
        • Nails plus boots gives permanent immunity to slipping on ice. Craft it for both characters and forget the most annoying crowd control in the game.
        • Nails plus a repair hammer makes lockpicks without consuming the hammer. Sell the surplus.
        • Blood is a resource for Fane. Grasp of the Starved needs it and Elemental Affinity reads it. Raining Blood and Flesh Sacrifice are not damage spells, they are ammunition.
        • Bless removes cursed surfaces and is worth a Source point when the floor is working against you.

        Money and loot

        • Pickpocket every merchant before you trade with them. Each character gets one attempt per merchant, so run both of you past each vendor.
        • Gear level beats gear rarity. A plain level-12 chestpiece outperforms a magical level-9 one, because armour values scale hard with level. Replace armour constantly.
        • Sell to the vendor whose attitude is highest. Bartering and attitude both move the price.
        • Runes go in every socket you own. Damage runes in weapons, and whichever armour rune covers the bar you are short on.
        • Trade Fane's healing potions away. They are dead weight on him; poison potions are his healing.

        Playing together

        • Decide who talks before you approach. The speaker's Persuasion is the one that gets checked, so route important conversations through whoever has it.
        • Positioning happens before dialogue. Combat starts where you were standing when the conversation ended.
        • Do not both take the same civil ability. There is no stacking benefit and you halve your coverage.
        • Pet Pal on one of you unlocks a genuinely large amount of quest content. Fane can take it and talk to animals through the mask.
        • Quicksave before every conversation that looks like it might have a check in it. Dialogue outcomes are permanent and Divinity is happy to let you lose.

        Source and skills

        • You cap at 3 Source points. Refill at Source fountains, from corpses with Source Vampirism, and at puddles of Source.
        • Source skills are not all 1 point. Grasp of the Starved is 2, and Blood Storm and Arrow Storm are 3 — a full pool for a single cast. Check the cost before you plan a round around one.
        • Memory is a real constraint. Every skill occupies a slot; some Source skills take two or three. This is why Memory 16 is in both plans.
        • Skill books combine. One book from each of two schools crafts a hybrid skill — Raining Blood and Blood Storm from Necromancer + Hydrosophist, Corpse Explosion and Mass Corpse Explosion from Necromancer + Pyrokinetic. Use a Source book for the Source version.
        • Buy books the moment your ability rank allows. Vendors restock as you level, and the good Necromancer books appear early.

        Respeccing

        • The Magic Mirror is free and unlimited. It sits on the lowest deck of the Lady Vengeance from Act 2 onward and rebuilds attributes, abilities, civil abilities, talents and skills.
        • It cannot change race, gender or origin. Fane stays Fane and stays undead.
        • You can respec in Act 1. Turn on the Fort Joy Magic Mirror in the Gift Bag features menu and a mirror appears under the Fort Joy arena.
        • Respec before each act, not mid-fight. A free rebuild means you should experiment rather than agonise over the plan.

        Route

        How to move through the game

        Divinity does not gate content by level, it just kills you. Two levels below an area is a wall; two levels above it is comfortable. Explore everything peaceful before you start anything violent.

        1–8Act 1 · Fort Joy

        Talk to everyone, fight almost no one — and leave with four items

        Fort Joy is where most parties get mauled, because the map contains several encounters far above your level with no warning. Clear quests, loot and conversations first; the experience from non-combat objectives is substantial and it is what carries you to a safe level for the fights.

        Do not board the Lady Vengeance without the Gloves of Teleportation, a sword (Viper's Tongue or the Fang), the Ring of Intelligence, the Mask of the Shapeshifter and the Attar of the Blood Rose drunk. Then buy from Exter on the voyage.

        9–16Act 2 · Reaper's Coast

        The long act, and the one that finishes the build

        Use the Magic Mirror on the ship the moment you board: rebuild Fane to the path if he drifted, and confirm both of you have Lone Wolf. Intelligence caps at 9, Warfare at 12, Wits at 15 — the character is essentially complete before you leave.

        Three stops matter: the Undertavern (Spider's Kiss, Ferocity), Ryker's desk in Stonegarden (Grasp of the Starved), and Trader Ovis at levels 11 and 16 (Skin Graft, Apotheosis). Leave at 16 or 17, not before.

        16–18Act 3 · Nameless Isle

        Short, dense and combat-heavy

        Much smaller than Act 2 and much more fight-per-metre. The finale combo is live from the first encounter here. Detours worth the walk: the Murky Cave for the Eternal Stormblade and the Academy for +5 Intelligence. Decline the God-King.

        18–21Act 4 · Arx

        Endgame

        Five uniques, one respec. Kemm's vault for Ruvola, Keyren for Luronta Temva, Aravae for Kallisteis, and the elf trader by the cathedral for Rancour and Soft Touch — only once you are as high level as you are going to get. Then the mirror: meet Strength 14 and Finesse 14, trim Memory, dump the rest into Constitution, and drink Green Tea before the last doors.

        Starting from where you are

        Your next session, in order

        You have already started, so nothing here requires a new save. Tick these off as you go — the list remembers itself on this device.