Divinity Original Sin 2 Definitive Edition arrived a little over a 2 weeks ago, and with it came some interesting changes to the game. While most Builds remain untouched, there are some tweaks to a few of them. Players have been asking me to not only update these Builds, but also create new ones. In this guide I will be introducing the Blazing Deepstalker, and explaining just how it works.

Blazing Deepstalker – Warrior/Mage Build

The Blazing Deepstalker is a Warrior that uses Warfare and Pyrokinetic Skills to deal both Physical and Fire Damage to its enemies. Unlike many Pyro/Warrior Builds that focus on the use of Master of Sparks, Blazing Deepstalkers specialize in the use of traps. Traps deal Fire Damage, and only scale with Pyrokinetic and Character Level, much like Firebrand. This allows them to deal significant Fire Damage, while pumping Finesse, which increases their Physical Damage with Spears.

The best way to start this Build is by picking the Metamorph Class and removing the points from Strength and putting them into Finesse. Then remove the point from Two-Handed and place it into Pyrokinetic. Then select the Bull Horns, Ignition and Peace of Mind skills. Peace of Mind is one of the most powerful 1 AP buffs in the game, and works extremely well with this Build.

Blazing Deepstalker Attributes and Equipment

As far as Attributes go, you’ll be placing most of your points into Finesse, but you will also place some into Wits for increased Critical Chance and Initiative, and a bit into Memory as needed. Because Ignition is used primarily for Burning, and none of the other Pyrokinetic Skills you will be using scale with Intelligence, you will not need to invest into Intelligence (unless you want to meet the requirement for Armour).

Armour-wise you’ll be using Finesse based, which is usually balanced between Physical and Magical defense. This fits well here, as you’ll need to protect against both types of damage, being on the front lines. Look for bonuses of Pyrokinetic or Warfare in order to maximize your damage, but Wits or Scoundrel are not bad either.

Blazing Deepstalkers use a Spear in order to capitalize on the increased range that Spears have. However you could use any Two-Hander and use Strength instead, but you need to decide this during Character Creation, or you’ll be in a bad spot until you can repec in Act 2. In terms of bonuses you’ll want to look for one with Critical Chance, Warfare, Two-Handed or even Fire Damage or a Rune Slot. You do not need Fire Damage on your weapon with this Build, but it is a nice to have. Note that it appears as if having Set Burning, Set Bleeding or Set Poison on your weapon will be applied 100% of the time with the Torturer Talent.

Blazing Deepstalker Abilities and Talents

Blazing Deepstalkers will begin the game with 1 point in Polymorph and 1 into Pyrokinetic. They will then place one point into Huntsman in order to obtain Throw Explosive Trap and Elemental Arrowheads. Next is 2 points into Warfare so that they can get Battle Stomp, Battering Ram and Whirlwind. After that will be 1 point into Scoundrel to get Adrenaline. From here on out they will place points into Two-Handed and Pyrokinetic, alternating, until they reach Act 2, where they will bump Huntsman up to 2. At some point place a point or two into Aerotheurge in order to gain Teleportation and Uncanny Evasion, then continue to increase Two-Handed and Pyrokinetic.

As far as Talents go I’d recommend the following:

Opportunist – This is always the first thing I recommend on melee Builds, and it holds true here as well. Extra damage is always good. Take this one during Character Creation.

Mnemonic – Consider taking this Talent second and dropping it later on in the game when you have more Memory slots. You will acquire at least 5 new Skills before you hit Level 4, and you will have to invest heavily in Memory in order to get them otherwise.

Torturer – This Talent will allow your Ignition and Bull Rush to be more effective, and Burning enemies receive -15% Fire Resistance. This will increase your overall damage by a a good amount.

Savage Sortilege –This Talent will allow your trap Skills to Critically Strike, just keep in mind they can only do so on YOUR turn. This means that you are better off detonating them, than letting them arm and just explode. Plan accordingly.

Executioner – Because you can get many kills easily with your trap Skills, you will make good use of this Talent. You will need the extra AP to buff, so this is a no brainer.

Far Out Man – This Talent works well for this Build because it increases the range of Phoenix Dive, Bull Rush, Battering Ram, Battle Stomp, Throw Explosive Trap, Deploy Mass Traps and Teleportation. In short, it just makes you more effective in general.

Blazing Deepstalker Skills

Character Creation

Ignition – This skill will set Burning on enemies in a large AoE, with the Torturer Talent. It also avoids friendlies and deals modest Fire Damage, so it’s a good utility skill for 1 AP.

Peace of Mind – One of the best buffs in the game, it only gets better as your Character Level increases. You really want it for the Wits to increase your Critical Chance, but the bonus Finesse is good too. Also removes a slew of horrible Status Effects.

Bull Rush – A great skill that allows you to gap close over and over, and sets Bleeding (with the Torturer Talent). Use this to hit multiple enemies each round if you can, or to get in range for a Whirlwind.

Character Levels 1-3

Battering Ram – This skill is great for Knocking Down enemies once they have no Physical Armour. Don’t use it until you are sure you can get the Status Effect, or you’ll just waste it. The damage it deals is modest compared to a regular attack.

Battle Stomp – This skill is great for clearing surfaces and Knocking Down many enemies at once. Like Battering Ram, it deals less damage than a regular attack (or Whirlwind), so be sure to use it when you can get the Status Effect.

Bleed Fire – This Crafted Skill is needed for 2 reasons. First it lowers Fire Resistance by an additional 20% on enemies with no Magic Armour. And second, it creates a fire surface with which you can detonate your traps when thrown. This is one of the cheapest spells in the game that creates a fire surface, without external factors.

Throw Explosive Trap – This skill gives you really high Fire Damage for 1 AP, and it has a 13m range. The trap doesn’t scale with Intelligence, only Pyrokinetic, so works well here.

Elemental Arrowheads – This skill will be used sparingly because it doesn’t add enough Fire Damage to be useful in many cases, and there will be some situations where you don’t need to deal Fire Damage. This skill’s damage will increase with level, and Pyrokinetic if used on a fire surface.

Character Levels 4-8

Whirlwind – This skill will be useful in distributing Physical Damage to enemies nearby, as well as some Fire Damage. If you’re using a spear the radius of this skill will be wider, making it easier to hit more enemies.

Enrage – This skill will Mute you when cast, but guarantee every target hit by your traps takes Critical Damage. Throw your traps down, pop Adrenaline, then Enrage and detonate your traps with a grenade for massive damage!

Adrenaline – A must have skill for nearly any Build, you’ll need this on your first turn in order to buff and attack. Use it any time it’s off cooldown in order to get the most of your turn.

Uncanny Evasion – This skill is pretty much a must have for any melee unit that doesn’t use Chameleon Cloak as a means of avoiding damage. Will make you virtually immune to weapon-based attacks for 1 turn.

Teleportation – Another skill that is useful on nearly any Build. Use this one to group enemies up in order to AoE them down with Whirlwind or Deploy Mass Traps.

Character Levels 9 and Up

Deploy Mass Traps – The best Fire Damage skill in this Build, you will get this one at the beginning of Act 2. It has a 13m range, and each trap explodes in an AoE, making it a very versatile skill. Because it doesn’t scale with Intelligence it does more damage by simply having higher Pyrokinetic.

Phoenix Dive – This skill not only allows you some good mobility, but also drops a fire ring around you upon landing. This makes it possible to jump into enemies and then buff with Elemental Arrowheads for 2 AP if you wish.

Challenge – This skill costs 0 AP and will increase your damage by 20%, and provide additional Armour for 2 turns if you kill the marked enemy within 3. An amazing skill that any Warfare-based Build should utilize.

Firebrand – Much like Elemental Arrowheads, you will use this skill less often than you think. However, it doesn’t scale with Intelligence so works well to buff your Fire Damage if you need to. Note that it is an AoE, but friendlies who don’t have high Pyrokinetic will see much less effectiveness.

Final Tips

I like to start combat by throwing traps before the encounter begins, in order to save the 3 AP cost that Deploy Mass Traps has. However because you need to trigger the explosion on your team’s turn (during combat) in order to give them the chance to Critically Hit, you must engage immediately after. This will allow you to detonate them with a skill or item, like a Grenade. Note that the damage done by them when cast this way is affected by the character who sets them off, enemies included. They will do more or less damage based on their Pyrokinetic ability, and they won’t Critically Hit if the person who detonates them does not have Savage Sortelige. For this reason, it is advised you either have the highest Initiative on your team, or simply wait until combat to cast them if not.

Race is not particularly important with this Build, but playing a Lizard gives the Dragon’s Blaze ability. It is an extremely cheap Fire Damage skill at 1 AP, and can also be used to detonate traps. You also gain some additional Fire Resistance as a Lizard, which can come in useful when you are causing explosions often. Elf is also a solid choice because it costs 3 AP to Deploy Mass Traps, 2 to Enrage and 2 to throw a Grenade. This means with Adrenaline you would have exactly enough to do this, if you didn’t throw the traps before combat began. Human gives you increased Critical Chance and Damage which works well with Enrage.

Enrage is just insane when used with this Build because you will be placing points into Two-Handed, which increases your Critical Damage and your melee damage. Since your traps will all Critically Hit when Enrage is active, it become invaluable when you need to deal massive Fire Damage, and great when you want to deal Physical Damage with Whirlwind.

Because traps scale only with Pyrokinetic, and not Intelligence, you can play this Build as a Ranger as well. You don’t gain the advantage of the Critical Damage increase from Two-Handed, so you’d place points into Warfare or Huntsman instead. This allows you utilized Elemental Arrows for increased Fire Damage as well, and those also scale off of Finesse and Warfare. Fire Arrows are a great way to detonate traps, so I suggest using them if you can.

Lastly, because you can Deploy Mass Traps without triggering combat in many cases, you may wish to invest somewhat into Sneak. This will allow you to get close enough to throw them out before combat begins, saving you 3 precious AP. This makes you sort of a rogue, wizard, hunter, warrior, but whatever. It works!

The whole concept of this Build is somewhat similar to the Frost Paladin. The primary damage you’ll deal until you gain Deploy Mass Traps is Physical because you will deal modest Fire Damage with Ignition, Throw Explosive Trap, and Elemental Arrowheads. The great thing about this Build, is for the most part, that it is compartmentalized. You can deal Physical Damage if you wish, or you can deal Fire Damage, but you usually aren’t dealing some strange mix of Fire and Physical Damage together to one target.

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As always, be sure to check out our other Build Guides, and good luck Sourcerers, Rivellon is counting on you!