Divinity: Original Sin 2 Kickstarter Update #43: The Undead Revealed
Divinity: Original Sin 2 Kickstarter Update #43: The Undead Revealed
Game News - posted by Infinitron on Thu 31 August 2017, 18:41:36
Tags: Divinity: Original Sin 2; Larian Studios; Swen VinckeToday's Divinity: Original Sin 2 Kickstarter update reveals the long-awaited details of the game's Undead race. Like vampires in the Elder Scrolls series, Rivellon's undead can't be seen in public without alarming people and must disguise themselves. At first, by hiding their skeletal faces and torsos, and later on by using a unique artifact called the Mask of the Shapeshifter to transform themselves. An undead character can be of any race, and is damaged by healing spells and healed by poison. The update also reveals Fane, Original Sin 2's Chris Avellone co-created undead origin character, who is unique in that he doesn't belong to one of the game's four playable races. He's the last of the Eternals, Rivellon's ancient precursor race, woken from his slumber after millennia - typical Avellonian stuff. All in all, the undead seem to be the apotheosis of Larian's focus on systemic depth, and so it's not surprising that they decided to design Original Sin 2's Collector's Edition box around them. All that and more in the update's accompanying video:
The Undead Will Rise!
The dead are finally here! You can customize your Undead in the character selection screen. You can give yours a beard, some cool jewels or even change the color of their bones. Which is cool, but also kind of weird. Just the way we like things! You can play an Undead of any race or gender your heart desires. Will you be an Undead Lizard? Undead Dwarf? Dare we say, an Undead Elf? It’s all up to you!
In addition to their good looks, the Undead have some very unique game mechanics in the world of DOS2. For example, they have the skill “Play Dead” in which they can pretend to be a corpse - a great way to get out of combat or avoid attention from patrolling guards. We can’t take all the credit for that one: the skill was inspired by community suggestions! Another racial ability they have is that they don’t need lockpicks to pick locks. They just use ye olde bones!
The Undead also heal via poison and are poisoned by healing potions. So, while your Undead can stroll through poison fog, they’re going to have a devil of a time fighting an AI smart enough to throw healing at it. (Sorry again about unleashing AI 2.0 on you guys because it is TOTALLY smart enough to do this.) You can also use the Zaikk’s Talon, a unique item found in the Hollow Marshes, to turn health potions into poison. Which is rude but hey, do what you like!
A very important thing to remember while playing an Undead is that you cannot just traipse about with your bony face free to the world. You’re a monster. A hideous, frightening monster! So cover your face. Or, consider ripping the face off of a nearby corpse to disguise yourself as someone of that race! The Mask of the Shapeshifter will allow you to take on the appearance of any mortal race you would like.
For example, you can shift to a Dwarf for better prices from a Dwarven merchant, or shift to an Elf to dine on a corpse and learn their memories with the Elven racial ability Corpse Eater. Multiple masks can be made, and they can even be used by other living characters to disguise themselves as other races, allowing them to approach situations in new ways.
Fane! I’m Gonna Live Forever!
But just who is Fane, the sixth and final Divinity: Original Sin 2 Origin character? We’ll tell you! But skip this section and scroll down to the Collector’s Edition header if you don’t want any spoilers!
As some of you may remember, famed RPG dev Chris Avellone worked with us to create this origin story as part of our Kickstarter stretch goals. Fane is a part of an ancient race that predates all of the currently living race: The Eternals. He was an eager and ambitious scholar, entombed by his elders for pursuing forbidden knowledge. Centuries passed, until one day an explorer opened Fane’s tomb… and, for his troubles, had his Source promptly devoured. Much less hungry and free to roam the land of Rivellon again, Fane has a lot to adjust to, as nothing is the way it was during his time.
Simultaneously with the release of this update, a number of websites (Rock Paper Shotgun, PCGamesN, RPGWatch, TheSixthAxis) published their Original Sin 2 Gamescom 2017 previews. They contain this information, plus gameplay impressions. But in a few hours (21:00 CET) you'll be able to see some gameplay yourself on Larian's Twitch channel. Just two weeks left until release!
The Undead Will Rise!
The dead are finally here! You can customize your Undead in the character selection screen. You can give yours a beard, some cool jewels or even change the color of their bones. Which is cool, but also kind of weird. Just the way we like things! You can play an Undead of any race or gender your heart desires. Will you be an Undead Lizard? Undead Dwarf? Dare we say, an Undead Elf? It’s all up to you!
In addition to their good looks, the Undead have some very unique game mechanics in the world of DOS2. For example, they have the skill “Play Dead” in which they can pretend to be a corpse - a great way to get out of combat or avoid attention from patrolling guards. We can’t take all the credit for that one: the skill was inspired by community suggestions! Another racial ability they have is that they don’t need lockpicks to pick locks. They just use ye olde bones!
The Undead also heal via poison and are poisoned by healing potions. So, while your Undead can stroll through poison fog, they’re going to have a devil of a time fighting an AI smart enough to throw healing at it. (Sorry again about unleashing AI 2.0 on you guys because it is TOTALLY smart enough to do this.) You can also use the Zaikk’s Talon, a unique item found in the Hollow Marshes, to turn health potions into poison. Which is rude but hey, do what you like!
A very important thing to remember while playing an Undead is that you cannot just traipse about with your bony face free to the world. You’re a monster. A hideous, frightening monster! So cover your face. Or, consider ripping the face off of a nearby corpse to disguise yourself as someone of that race! The Mask of the Shapeshifter will allow you to take on the appearance of any mortal race you would like.
For example, you can shift to a Dwarf for better prices from a Dwarven merchant, or shift to an Elf to dine on a corpse and learn their memories with the Elven racial ability Corpse Eater. Multiple masks can be made, and they can even be used by other living characters to disguise themselves as other races, allowing them to approach situations in new ways.
Fane! I’m Gonna Live Forever!
But just who is Fane, the sixth and final Divinity: Original Sin 2 Origin character? We’ll tell you! But skip this section and scroll down to the Collector’s Edition header if you don’t want any spoilers!
As some of you may remember, famed RPG dev Chris Avellone worked with us to create this origin story as part of our Kickstarter stretch goals. Fane is a part of an ancient race that predates all of the currently living race: The Eternals. He was an eager and ambitious scholar, entombed by his elders for pursuing forbidden knowledge. Centuries passed, until one day an explorer opened Fane’s tomb… and, for his troubles, had his Source promptly devoured. Much less hungry and free to roam the land of Rivellon again, Fane has a lot to adjust to, as nothing is the way it was during his time.
Simultaneously with the release of this update, a number of websites (Rock Paper Shotgun, PCGamesN, RPGWatch, TheSixthAxis) published their Original Sin 2 Gamescom 2017 previews. They contain this information, plus gameplay impressions. But in a few hours (21:00 CET) you'll be able to see some gameplay yourself on Larian's Twitch channel. Just two weeks left until release!
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