Character creation

Character creation is the process of building a player character in Divinity: Original Sin 2. It occurs at the start of a new game. Whenever recruiting a new companion or mercenary, instead a preset is chosen.

Overview

Character creation determines a character's origin, race, class preset, attributes, combat abilities, civil abilities, talent, starting skills, and appearance. While the class preset provides default values for all combat statistics, every choice can be customised before confirming the character.

None of these choices are permanent. All attributes, abilities, talents, and skills can be changed on each level-up, and full respecification is available from Act Two onward via the magic mirror aboard the Lady Vengeance. Enabling the Fort Joy Magic Mirror gift bag feature also makes a mirror available in Act One.

Creation steps

Origin

The player first chooses between a pre-written origin character or a custom character. Origin characters have unique backstories, personal quests, and Source skills. Custom characters have no personal quest but offer complete freedom in race and appearance selection.

Race

If creating a custom character, the player selects a race. Each race provides two racial talents and a racial skill:

Playable races
Race	Racial talents	Racial skill
Human	Ingenious,  Thrifty	Encourage
Elf	Ancestral Knowledge,  Corpse Eater	Flesh Sacrifice
Dwarf	Dwarven Guile,  Sturdy	Petrifying Touch
Lizard	Sophisticated,  Spellsong	Dragon's Blaze
Undead	Undead	Play Dead

Undead characters can be of any base race and receive the racial talents of that race in addition to the Undead talent.

Class preset

The class preset determines starting attributes, combat abilities, civil ability, skills, talent, and equipment. There are 14 presets organised into three archetypes: mage, survivor, and warrior. The preset can be fully customised before confirming.

Attributes

Six attributes define the character's core statistics: Strength, Finesse, Intelligence, Constitution, Memory, and Wits. All start at a base of 10, with 3 bonus points distributed by the class preset. The player may redistribute these points freely.

Abilities

Combat abilities determine which skills the character can learn and how effective they are. Civil abilities affect interactions outside of combat. The class preset provides starting values in two combat abilities and one civil ability.

Talent

One talent is selected at character creation. Talents are passive abilities that provide unique bonuses. Additional talent points are earned at levels 3, 8, 13, and 18.

Skills

Each class preset starts with three skills. These can be swapped during character creation for any skill the character meets the ability requirements for. Additionally, each character starts with a Source skill.

Source skills
Character	Source skill
Ifan ben-Mezd	Summon Ifan's Soul Wolf
Lohse	Maddening Song
The Red Prince	Demonic Stare
Sebille	Break the Shackles
Beast	Blinding Squall
Fane	Time Warp
Custom Origin	Dome Of Protection

Appearance

The player customises the character's appearance, including hair, skin colour, and body type. The Beauty Salon gift bag feature expands the available appearance options.

Instrument and tags

Musical instrument

Each character selects a musical instrument during creation. This determines the instrument played when using the  Encourage racial skill (humans) or performing in dialogue. Available instruments include lute, flute, drums, and more.

Notes

Character creation choices are not permanent. The magic mirror allows full respecification of all statistics except race.
The class preset is a convenience – every attribute and ability point can be moved before confirming the character.
Undead characters heal from poison and are harmed by conventional healing, which significantly affects gameplay strategy.