Divinity Original Sin 2: The Ultimate Ranger Build

Rangers in Divinity: Original Sin 2 are a classic character class for players who want to add a ranged hero into their party. Known for favoring the bow, they tend to sit in the back and take as little damage as possible, as well as dominate the high ground to take advantage of the high ground damage bonus. It’s one of the ideal character builds for an original character.

Rangers are not just proficient in Huntsman skills. Like most classes in Divinity: Original Sin 2, Rangers also have a secondary skill tree. While this can be almost anything in the game depending on your personal preferences, this guide will focus on maximizing benefits from the default Ranger build the game proposes, which is a combination of Huntsman and Pyrokinetic skills.

Setting Your Attributes

The starting attributes of a Ranger by default are quite nice, but going forward, you’ll want to particularly focus on the following three attributes. Whenever you level up and gain extra attribute points, make sure to distribute between these three primarily, and then into other categories when needed.

Wits: This attribute increases your Initiative, allowing your Ranger to always go first in a fight. It also boosts your Critical Damage, which is key when playing a Ranger.
Finesse: Bows are the primary weapon of a Ranger, and to increase your damage, you must increase your Finesse, which influences all Finesse-based weapon damage.
Intelligence: Your secondary skills will come from Pyrokinetic magic, which is why having a decent Intelligence will help you gain maximum advantage from casting a few spells, too.

Choosing Your Abilities

The game’s ability system is very flexible, so technically you can pick any school of ability to complement your Huntsman skills. However, Pyrokinetic is a decent choice and is the default option in the game. As you level up, you’ll unlock ability points, too, which should be divided in the following abilities.

Ranged: This is your primary weapon ability for bows. Every level ups your Ranged damage by 5% and Critical Chance by 1%.
Huntsman: This is your primary skill tree ability. The higher it is, the more advanced Huntsman skills you can learn. Every level also increases high ground damage bonus by 5%.

Pyrokinetic: You secondary skill tree ability. The higher it is, the more advanced Pyrokinetic skills you can learn. Leveling it also increases your Fire-based damage by 5%.
Sneaking: This is optional, from the non-combat skill category. It will benefit you with a specific Huntsman skill, and can be used to get your Ranger into a favorable position before the start of a major fight.

Huntsman Skills

Most of the skills you’ll use as a Ranger will be Huntsman skills. There’s a bunch of different “spells” in this category that are both powerful in damage and useful for the rest of the party. Here are some of the best Huntsman skills worth having your Ranger learn.

First Aid: A simple necessity, this can be the difference between life and death early in the game. It both heals and removes some negative status effects, such as Crippled, Blinded or Poisoned.
Pin Down: A powerful shot that has a chance of setting the Crippled status effect on the enemy, reducing their AP. It dishes out a whopping 120% damage, too.
Ricochet: Against groups of enemies that stick close together, Ricochet allows a Ranger to chip away at their health from afar. The Ranger will fire a bouncing shot of 90% damage that switches to a target within 5m.
Barrage: Another great crowd control ability, which allows your Ranger to fire three arrows at the same time on different enemies, each dealing 60% damage.
Tactical Retreat: An absolute must have bail-out skill, which lets your Ranger teleport to high ground or away easily, and also sets Haste on them.
Marksman’s Fang: A very powerful shot that can pass through multiple enemies in a single line, going even through armor.
Assassinate: If you chose Sneaking as one of your skills, this is a very powerful skill. A single shot that deals 115% damage, and gains an additional 50% damage bonus when fired while sneaking.
Arrow Storm: Your go-to area-of-effect spell that sends down a literal storm of arrows upon enemies with damage dependent on how high your Finesse is.

Pyrokinetic Skills

Peace of Mind: A great supporting skill, it ups the target’s Strength, Finesse, Intelligence, and Wits, and removes most mental status effects like Blinded, Terrified and Charmed.
Fireball: Simply a classic RPG spell, when chucked into an enemy it sets them on fire and creates a small 3m explosion.
Spontaneous Combustion: A basic fire spell that sets an enemy target on fire.
Flaming Tongues: A nice defensive spell that makes nearby enemies take fire damage, useful especially when trying to keep your squishy Ranger safe in the backline or on high ground.

Selecting Talents

Talents bring a bit of extra spice into the game. As you level up, you’ll get to choose an additional talent every now and then. Pick carefully, since a talent skill is a rare one to earn.

Arrow Recovery: A must-have for Rangers, you’ll have a 33% chance of earning back any special arrow you shoot, which makes it easier to save your resources.
Elemental Ranger: Arrows shot on enemies standing on elemental surfaces will deal damage of that element in particular. You basically get a free elemental arrow, if you think about it.
Duck Duck Goose & Opportunist: These two talents should be a given for any hero in your party. The first allows you to evade any attacks of opportunity if you get into a pinch and the second allows you to perform attacks of opportunity. Although a Ranger should always play ranged, sometimes it’s almost impossible, which is where these two come in handy.

Unique Gear And Weapons

During your journey, you’ll come across a lot of cool armor and weapons. For Rangers, there are quite a few nice options worth doing a side quest for. While a lot of the loot is randomly generated and can spawn some decent bows and pieces of armor, the unique gear is the one that you’ll really want to focus on getting.

There are two categories presented below. The first one discusses the best unique bows in the game and where to find them, and the second will introduce the best armor for a Ranger. Most of the extremely good gear is only found in Act IV, when entering Arx, so be patient and make sure to enter Arx with your pockets filled with gold.

Best Unique Bows

Darling Bow: One of the first nice bows you’ll most likely find in Fort Joy, it can be dug up next to the entrance to the alcove through a leafy tunnel. A diggable mound will appear when you approach the area. It grants you +1 Finesse.
Vard d’Layal: Found within Mordus’ house in Driftwood town, this bow gives you +2 Finesse, +1 Necromancer and +15% Life Steal.
Deiseis Riveil: Head to the bridge leading to the cathedral in Arx to find a trader called Non. The Deiseis Riveil bow gives you +3 Finesse, +2 Huntsman, +1 Ranged, +25% Cleave Damage and has a 25% chance of making enemies Bleed for two turns. It gives you the Glitter Dust skill.
Into Thin Air: Head to the cathedral in Arx to find an elven trader standing before it, selling this bow. It provides +3 Finesse, +3 Memory and always sets Weak, Floating or Erratic Wisp on enemies.

Best Ranger Armor

Second Skin: A pair of gloves found on the Fort Joy island. After defeating the Void Salamanders, speak to a squirrel nearby who will point you to the location of this hidden treasure. These gloves grant you +1 Finesse, +10% Poison Resistance and +1 Huntsman.
The Shadow Prince’s Signet: As you head to the Nameless Isle, you must face off against the mysterious Shadow Prince. Once you’re victorious, make sure to grab his signet which grants you +3 Finesse, +3 Wits and +1 Thievery.
Racht Muvora: On Reaper’s Coast, head to the Black Bull tavern and speak to Papa Thrash, who sells this chest armor. It provides +2 Finesse, +20% Water Resistance, +1 Ranged, +1 Sneaking, +1 Thievery, +0.25 Movement and +21 HP. 20% of melee damage is also reflected on enemies as Water damage. You’ll gain the skill Global Cooling when equipping it.
Kallisteis: In Arx, cross the bridge to get to Lucian’s Temple, and a trader will wait for you on the other side of the bridge, selling these boots. They give you +3 Finesse, +2 Wits, +1 Scoundrel, +1 Sneaking, +1 Thievery, +6 Initiative, +0.5 Movement and full immunity to some negative effects like Slowed, Crippled and Knocked Down.
Nazad Hunola: Found in Sanguinia Tell’s basement in Arx inside a chest, this chest armor provides +5 Finesse, +3 Intelligence, +10% Fire Resistance, +10% Water Resistance, +1 Huntsman, +2 Scoundrel, +0.1 Movement, +176 HP and deflects 20% of incoming melee damage from enemies as water damage.
Vo Charlen: Head to the groom’s house in Arx, and you’ll find the helmet in a chest. It gives you +5 Finesse, +2 Constitution, +3 Wits, +20% Water Resistance, +1 Huntsman, +1 Sneaking, +234 HP and full immunity to being Terrified or Charmed.

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