By Sharnelle Earle
Updated
Whether it's more of a challenge, extra content, or original work that the player wants, Divinity: Original Sin 2 has it all.
There are many different Divinity: Original Sin 2 game modes that affect the difficulty and challenges you face within the game. The developers provided different options for all types of gamers so that everyone can have the best experience playing the games they love. Divinity: Original Sin 2delivers on all fronts: extra content, more difficult challenges, story mode, and more.
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There are also packaged editions and additions that change the whole experience of Divinity: Original Sin 2. These options can become confusing and make players indecisive due to the variety available and the lack of in-game explanations. It's as simple as knowing how you like to play games and going with the mode that best suits that.
Updated June 15, 2021 by Sharnelle Earle: Revisiting the different modes of Divinity: Original Sin 2 is always a treat. Each one keeps the game feeling unique. We have gone over how the Definitive and the Classic edition offer various modes to new and returning players. There is never a bad time to dive into the game once again and try out the modes that best suit the experience you want.
8 Explorer Mode - In Game
Explorer Mode is for those who enjoy a good time andnot a hard time. Gameplay won't feel overwhelming or confusing, leaving room for exploration and basking in the vast RPG world Larian Studios gives us. Fights are adjusted to feel fair and the mode allows players to use smart thinking over blunt strength.
This mode increases the player's stats and decreases NPC stats, making sure that no one can overpower the crew and ruin the immersion desired. After all, it's not always about blood, sweat, and tears. Sometimes you just want to make out with the shifty and obnoxious skeleton. This is the Divinity 2 game mode for story immersion.
7 Classic Mode - In Game
Play as the game was intendedwhere everything is right in the middle. There are no nerfs or buffs to anyone's stats for a harder or easier time. Every encounter is balanced and players can experience the game as the developers sought it out to be.
Classic Mode is for players who don't have a strong opinion on the way that they play RPGs. It's for those who want to do a normal run before challenging themselves a second and third time. Nothing is too hard, but nothing is too easy either. You must fight your way through Reaper's Coast in your own personal way.
6 Tactician Mode - In Game
This is for players who enjoy combat above all other mechanics and moments in RPG games. Divinity: Original Sin 2 is recognized for its turn-based combat system which in itself can be seen as harder to master than real-time fighting and frantic swinging.
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But some people like a challenge. This is a super hard mode where every enemy can outsmart you and outpower you if you let them. Tactician Mode makes combat more active and challenging with an increase to all players and NPC's stats.
5 Story Mode - In Game
One of the reasons people who like RPGs play them is because of the story. These game developers and writers create something from nothing, with whole new races and world conflicts that feel so real yet so far away.
With Story Mode, players can focus on just that. After all, life gets too stressful sometimes and people don't want to play their favorite game to get more anxious. Story Mode doubles the increased buff of player characters and doubles the nerf to NPC's. It gives the player a permanent resurrection spell at the beginning of the game so that they don't have to purchase scroll after scroll.
4 Honor Mode - In Game
Honor Mode is quite literally a hard mode. No deaths are allowed and only one save file is available. Death is permanent and every choice made and every step taken is worth a million in gold. This is the ultimate test of mettle and strength. If everyone dies, your save game erases and you must start again.
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In the Classic Edition of the game, Honor Mode is its own difficulty option. In Definitive Edition, it's an option under the difficulty Tactician instead of a standalone mode. Tactician is one of the hardest modes, so if the player wants a super challenging mode in Definitive Edition they have to click Tactician then click Honor.
3 Definitive Edition
We've talked about the different Divinity Original Sin 2 game modes, but now let's talk about the different editions. Definitive Edition is the upgraded version of Divinity: Original Sin 2. When the game was first released in 2017, the people spoke and the developers took notes. People were unhappy with different parts of the game. Because of this, they created a Definitive Edition in 2018 where they added more quests, fights, story beats, and more.
Many players thought that the story beats for the later acts in the game were tedious and boring, so they changed the ending for Definitive Edition. This edition is the best option for starting the game if the player hasn't played Divinity Original Sin before because it contains more content and better balancing.
They added a skill cap at level ten and a stat cap at level 40. Some users say this makes it hard to play the Lone Wolf talent since it doubles your points. Balancing was greatly fixed for combat and power usage. They also added improvements to performance and visuals.
Notable Changes Include:
- A complete update to the story, improving dialogue and story arks
- New quests, containing new battles and stories
- Changed the journal/quest log completely so that it's easier to follow what you have to do and separating general lore
- Balancing changes so that battles feel more challenging. This includes things like wands creating surfaces, enemies reflecting damage more often, abilities gaining increased and reduced cooldowns, some abilities no longer one-shot, and more...
2 Classic Edition
The Classic Edition of Divinity: Original Sin 2 was the first official game made for the sequel of Divinity: Original Sin. The way the game felt in terms of gameplay, physics, plot details, and so on was updated and optimized into the Definitive Edition we know today. Classic Edition itself has a weaker story and makes you feel overpowered in combat.
In Classic Edition you can create cheesy, overpowered player builds for a more comedic time. The journal was harder to manage and understand. Classic Edition is basically just a somewhat watered-down version of Divinity: Original Sin 2. Definitive Edition is the complete, story-driven, balanced game that Larian Studios wants people to know and play. They just allow players to keep Classic Edition because that was the actual game, released in 2017, before they revamped itand came out with Definitive Edition in 2018.
1 Divine Ascension
When purchasing Divinity: Original Sin 2 on the store page of Steam, there are options to buy DLC. Some of these DLC and packages include every Divinity game, while others contain extra content. That extra content is Divine Ascension, a large addition of lore that lets players get a detailed history of the game.
Players who want to immerse and dive into lore after their experience (or before it) without buying a physical book can purchase Divinity: Original Sin II: Divine Ascension to receive digital merchandise of some goodies. You get a detailed Reaper's Coast map, a history book, over 200 pieces of concept art, and the original soundtrack paired with new songs.
NEXT: Ranking Larian Studios Games From Best To Worst
