Divinity: Original Sin II Update #41

We are now less than a month and a half away from the planned September 14th release date for Divinity: Original Sin II. The folks at Larian Studios are busy with the finishing touches and they expect the next major game update to be the release version. And to sate our curiosity for the time being, they treat us to a new Kickstarter update where Swen Vincke gives us a tour of the Larian offices in Ghent, while discussing all the new features that are now in the game.

First off, we learn that the PC version of Original Sin II will come with in-built controller and splitscreen support. Then, we’re introduced to skillcrafting, a feature announced during the initial campaign but not discussed since. In short, skillcrafting will allow us to combine skill books of various types to create new skills, like Blood Storm or Corpse Explosion, on the fly.

The game will also have another type of crafting – runecrafting. The runes you craft can imbue your equipment with special powers. The role of Source in Original Sin II also gets a mention. Not only is it a mysterious power that plays an important part in the game’s story, it’s also a scarce resource that can be used to cast powerful spells.

The video update concludes with a presentation of the improved ragdoll physics that make death animations much more satisfying, and a call for volunteers to help Larian with their PAX West booth.

See for yourself:

And if you prefer reading your updates, here’s an excerpt:

Take Control… ler!

Good news everyone! Divinity: Original Sin 2 will have controller support for PC on release! And for those who have been asking, yes, DOS2 does support split screen play with controller support. So you can play co-op with your best friend, fiance, your grandma, your pet chihuahua: you name it! Okay maybe not the chihuahua. They can get bitey. In addition, you can use controllers and split screen to go one step further to play a four player game on two connected PC’s.

Got Skillz?

Now you can create new skills using our Skill Crafting mechanism! As an example below, we can combine a necromancy and fire spell to get a completely new and powerful ability; Corpse Explosion!

Simply combine any elemental book with any non-elemental book to gain a new skill. Experiment away!

As you most certainly know in addition to these skills, your character will also have Source Skills. You can use the power of your Source Skill to talk to spirits (via Source Vision) or even suck the power out of them (via Source Vampirism). You can also power up your Source through items of power or Source pools.

Rune It!

In addition to Skill Crafting, we are also introducing Rune Crafting! Players can find or craft runes to improve weapons and gear. For example, if you combine Pixie Dust, Wood and Oil you’ll create a Small Flame Rune! You can then enchant items with available Rune Slots to give the item additional effects. In this example, we’ll be adding +10% damage as Fire damage to our Magical Composite Bow.

You’ll be able to find and create small, medium and large runes, and identical runes can be combined to create stronger runes!

Beautiful Death

Witnessing your character’s death throes is now 50% more fun with the addition of ragdoll physics and better death animation! Did your character catch fire? Instead of a pile of ash, now they’re be a pile of scorched bone! Were they on a hill when they died? Now physics will take over and send them on a death spiral! You’re welcome.