What is the Strongest Build in Divinity: Original Sin 2 in 2024?

After playing over 500 hours and extensively testing different class combinations, I can confidently say the Necromancer build stands above the rest as the undisputed powerhouse. However, the Conjurer, Rogue, Ranger and Battlemage builds also stand out and can be extremely potent. Ultimately, build strength comes down to properly planning attributes, abilities, talents, skills, gear, and party synergies.

Necromancer – The Solo Destroyer

I‘m leading with the Necromancer not just because of its sheer damage potential, but also due to its unparalleled self-sustain capabilities. With the right mix of Warfare, Necromancer skills and gear prioritizing Intelligence and Critical Chance, you can craft the ultimate solo machine capable of decimating groups of enemies back-to-back without taking a scratch.

The key is balancing your offense and defense. Skills like Living on the Edge and Death Wish make you hit harder at the expense of defense, while Bone Cage and Vampiric Hunger make you surprisingly durable.

Here‘s a snapshot of my last end-game Lone Wolf Necromancer‘s stats:

With a whopping 80 Intelligence and the Savage Sortilege talent, my Necromancer crits almost constantly. This allows Warfare skills to devastate both physical and magic armor. An early game Necromancer may sometimes struggle against high physical armor, so carrying a ranged physical option helps smooth out the experience until your damage scales up.

Let‘s analyze a sample Necromancer skill rotation and damage dealt against a group of 4 enemies:

In a single turn alone, my Necromancer dished out 22,000 magic damage while recovering 11,000 health – making it almost impossible to take down. And I still had 4 AP leftover!

The Necromancer shines whether played as a main character or as part of a 4-person squad. It does have some weaknesses like being prone to crowd control effects and lacking armor penetration options early on, but those can be offset easily by your party members. Overall, it hits the perfect balance of offense and defense.

Conjurer – The Swiss Army Knife

The Conjurer is hands down the most flexible class, bringing tremendous utility to just about any party composition. With skills like Power Infusion, Elemental Totems, Conjure Incarnate and Rallying Cry, you have powerful summons to overwhelm any fight.

I especially like grabbing the Incarnate Champion infusion upgrade which further boosts my Incarnate while granting it 2 bonus skills. This adds substantial damage and control capabilities.

Here‘s a typical skill rotation for my 4-person elemental squad featuring an end-game Conjurer:

With these 5 skills (costing just 6 AP), I‘ve dramatically shifted the dynamics of a fight by altering the terrain, controlling enemy movement and summoning what is essentially a secondary character in the shape of an Incarnate Champion. This type of flexibility and action economy is what gives the Conjurer its strength.

I‘ve found Conjurers work better in a party than solo since you have more bodies to draw attacks away from your squishy summons. But the utility offered is unmatched – you have a small army at your disposal capable of both magic & physical damage. Plus totems allow easy access to higher ground, environmental manipulation and defensive buffs.

Rogue – The Silent Assassin

While the Rogue may not have the raw power of Necromancer, it is still easily one of the strongest DPS classes. Much of its prowess comes from skills and combos centered around mobility, stealth and deception. Backstabs, Parry and Feign Death make a Rogue almost impossible to pin down.

My ideal Rogue build uses Dual Daggers with points invested in Scoundrel for critical multiplier bonuses and key skills:

• Adrenaline + Backlash + Sawtooth Knife can frequently one-shot enemies
• Cloak & Dagger lets you re-enter Stealth after attacking
• Chloroform bombs disable dangerous targets from range
• Parry perfectly complements Evasion allowing you to avoid nearly all direct attacks

Rogue stats focus heavily on Finesse for critical chance as well as Wits for initiative advantage. Getting that first attack off unseen makes or breaks most fights. They also have great sustain from skills like Doctor, First Aid and Lone Wolf.

In summary, the Rogue‘s advantage comes from misdirection, unpredictability and exploiting tiny openings. Enemies have no idea what hit them or from where. While not overtly powerful, played well it is easily among the top damage dealers available.