Rediscovering Divine Divinity…

I started a playthrough yesterday as a Warrior, and I'm really enjoying it so far. I don't know why I waited so long to go back to this game.

That first dungeon is massive.. and I'm loving every second of it.

Any tips for early-game characters?

It's been so long since I played I can't even remember what I concentrated in. I can tell you two things. One skill you need is lockpicking. Keep that sucker maxed out whenever you can. It drove me nuts when I couldn't open a chest. The other skill you don't need is summon vermin. I had such high hopes for that skill and it sucked big time.

Here is a lot of information on Divine Divinity from The Locus Inn part of this website I believe Mythros made it. Don't quote me on that, but I know he is a huge Divine Divinity fan.

Thanks. I'm level 8 right now, and I've been hoarding most of my skill points so far. I spent one point each in Elven Sight, Alchemy, and Evade Trap.

I'll take your advice and drop a point in Lockpick.

Can anyone tell me if Identify is worth investing in?

I finished it as a wizard using hell spikes which is a broketastic spell (of the kind you finish the whole game with). The only thing I remember well is that the game opens up after you get through the first dungeon and sadly many players quit in the first dungeon.

Well, another skill I think you should focus on ( Alongside with lockpick. A very important skill as already mentioned. ) is Wisdom which gives you extra XP. I managed to get around lvl 52 near the end with that skill. Also it makes you lvl a bit faster and that is very useful at start when you are weak.

You can ask me if you have any questions, too.
Especially background (lore) questions.

Tips?!

Ok, so right at the start jsut head straight south out of town, cross the bridge, then make your way NE up to the store with the bard outside it. Pay him for a song, when the wizard exits run in and loot the id5 dagger and spellbook from him.

You could go back and do the newbie dungeon now, or you could find some potions of poison and a bow and head straight down south to the elf forest. Poison your bow and take out some ogres and fire beatles kiting them with poison. 15,000xp each, you should get to 10 in 2 minutes. Head all the way south and grab the unique gloves from the funeral pyre then back up NE and grab the 2h sword out of the stone (optional).

Now you're off to a strong start. That newbie dungeon will be cakewalk.

edit: you dont need to max lockpicking. get to 2 or 3, the rest can be found via quests/items. The same as a bunch of stuff, If I recall.

Originally Posted by SirJames
Tips?!

Ok, so right at the start jsut head straight south out of town, cross the bridge, then make your way NE up to the store with the bard outside it. Pay him for a song, when the wizard exits run in and loot the id5 dagger and spellbook from him.

You could go back and do the newbie dungeon now, or you could find some potions of poison and a bow and head straight down south to the elf forest. Poison your bow and take out some ogres and fire beatles kiting them with poison. 15,000xp each, you should get to 10 in 2 minutes. Head all the way south and grab the unique gloves from the funeral pyre then back up NE and grab the 2h sword out of the stone (optional)..

I asked for tips, not exploits.

I didn't even know I could travel that far from the starting town yet. I've cleared the area around the town just short of the bridge, and every level of that first dungeon except the bottom. That final dungeon level is a real bitch though, so I guess I might do some more exploring after all.

I have to invest in the Poison Weapon skill before I can poison arrows I assume?

I've heard varying opinions on the Wisdom skill. Some have said it's not worth it.

Should I bother putting any points into Identify?

Originally Posted by SirJames
Pay him for a song,

Not A song,

for MY song, please !

And anyway, it's rather the recitation of a poem than the "singing of a song".

Why do I keep getting encumbered even though I'm not over my maximum weight capacity?

Pretty early on I found +1 identity gloves and a +1 identity ring. I found that useful enough to avoid wasting skill points. Considering how easy it is to make money in this game, at 100-250 gp for merchants to identify, I'd save my skill points. (also, the teleporter stones make getting to the merchants quite easy.)

As for the last part of the catacombs, playing a warrior I found very difficult. What was key to getting through was investing 1 point in Meteor Storm (I think it's called)… my God, what a difference that made! It all depends if you want to stick to pure warrior or go battle mage.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Why do I keep getting encumbered even though I'm not over my maximum weight capacity?

Are you becoming encumbered and then dropping/eating/using an item to lower the weight but remaining encumbered even when the new weight total is below the encumberance threshold? If so, you will have to shift an item in inventory and it will fix it - this is a bug that I don't believe was ever addressed with patches.

Originally Posted by Sersanah
Are you becoming encumbered and then dropping/eating/using an item to lower the weight but remaining encumbered even when the new weight total is below the encumberance threshold? If so, you will have to shift an item in inventory and it will fix it - this is a bug that I don't believe was ever addressed with patches.

No, I mean I don't understand what the encumberance threshold is. For instance, it shows a number like 1570/2200, and I assume the first number is my current weight, while the second number is my maximum weight. I get encumbered when I go over a certain amount, even though it's well below my maximum.

Not that I remember, but maybe the system is based on being encumbered BEFORE reaching the absolute max carry weight? Many games do that.

Originally Posted by JDR13
No, I mean I don't understand what the encumberance threshold is. For instance, it shows a number like 1570/2200, and I assume the first number is my current weight, while the second number is my maximum weight. I get encumbered when I go over a certain amount, even though it's well below my maximum.

If I remember correctly, there are two levels of encumbring. In the first one, you get slowed down and can't run, in the second one, you can't even move. This happens when you surpass the max weight.

Also, DD is not a very punishing game in terms of wrong character development choices. So don't be very picky about the skills you choose. Always try to pick the skills that are interesting in your eyes and you think they improve your experience with the game. Also, save couple of skill points from your early level for some very useful skills that require high levels to get unlocked.

Awww, those are more "getting started" tips from an experienced player who knows where to go already.

Poisoned weapons are extremely powerful early on. Maybe a tippy tip would be "always buy empty bottles" for your alchemy so you can make loads of poison.

Exploits would be casting Command on scorpion traps. :þ

Also, with that final floor of the first dungeon it looks like ur being attacked by overwhelming amounts but most are very weak and die in one hit. Focus on the bosses who summon more skeletons and don't pull too much of the room at once.

I think you must "strengthen up" your strength, because - if I remember correctly - encumbrance is calculated on strength.

Level 11 now, and wandering the countryside a bit. Are there any special tactics for fighting Orc Drummers? Those things are brutal!

Also, is it just me, or are ranged weapons somewhat weak in this game?

Poisoned weapons flatten them in no time (the Alchemy skill where you manually add poison - not the automatic weapons skills). One of my favourite parts of the game was bottling poison and applying it to my weapon.

Frost is definitively overpowered - if you want to have an "easy walk", use Frost.