Divinity: Original Sin 2 has been out for several months now, and one of the major issues players are having with the game is Builds. What Build do I use? What’s a good Build for a Warrior? Ranger? Mage? etc. Since the game is can be rather difficult early on, this has come much more into focus than one would expect. In this Build Guide were going to cover the Crystalline Cleric. Let’s jump into this Build and see just how it works.
Crystalline Cleric – Warrior/Mage Build
The Crystalline Cleric is a hybrid Warrior/Mage Build that leans a lot more to the Mage side of things in the offensive department, only with the defensive capabilities of a Warrior. The Crystalline Cleric does a mix of Water and Physical Damage to its enemies and is especially deadly against Undead (as a Cleric would be). They use tons of Armour buffs to prevent damage, and hound their targets with relentless fury.
Crystalline Clerics might be the “tankiest” Build in the game as they have access to every heal in the game and nearly every Armour buff. They crank their Hydrosophist Ability to the max and make excellent use of their heals to support their party and to damage opponents. Because Undead take Physical Damage from healing, Clerics are especially deadly vs. this enemy type. Healing costs almost no AP when you are standing in water or on ice, which you almost constantly are. Crystalline Clerics also use Hydrosophist Skills to Chill, Freeze and kill, depending on what type of Armour they are facing. In short, this Build is extremely versatile and durable.
Crystalline Cleric Attributes and Equipment
Crystalline Clerics focus on Intelligence to increase the damage of their Necromancer and Hydrosophist Skills. Crystalline Clerics should start putting points into Wits once Intelligence is nearly maxed to help increase their Critical Chance. Critical Chance is extremely useful to this Build because Critically “Hitting” is one of the few ways you can increase your damage with healing. Crystalline Clerics will also want enough points into Strength in order to use Strength-based Armour, and enough points into Constitution in order to use a good Shield.
Crystalline Clerics will use a mix or Armour types, giving them a good balance of both Physical and Magic Armour, slightly favoring Physical if possible. This is because they will have more Magic Armour buffs, and more effective ones, so they will be able to replace it more rapidly. Crystalline Clerics should look for Armour with Hydrosophist, Warfare, Intelligence, Wits and Critical Chance in that order for best results. Points into Scoundrel will also help, but they are just a bonus if you can get them.
On the Weapons front, Crystalline Clerics can use either a Water Wand or any One-Handed Weapon. The upside to using the Wand is that you will have an extra ranged attack, which you will most likely need in the first half of the game while your skill selection is more limited. It also provides an Intelligence bonus, which is a plus. One-Handed Weapons will allow you to make Attacks of Opportunity if you take the Opportunist Talent, which don’t particularly hit that hard as a Cleric because of the lack of Strength. However, you will need to be close to your opponents anyway to be able to use Decaying Touch, and many of the short-range heals you have, so it will provide you some extra damage. Players can choose either if they wish, but I would recommend the Wand early on.
Crystalline Cleric Talents and Abilities
One of the hardest parts about making a Build in Divinity: Original Sin 2 is getting your Abilities distribution correct. It’s easy to get spread too thin, and often people make the mistake of not spreading points around enough. The bonuses you gain from Abilities in this game are somewhat different than the original, so it’s easy to see why people can get confused. Let’s take a look at what Abilities and Talents you need for a Cleric.
Crystalline Clerics have one of the simplest ability distributions in the whole game, however, it can be varied a bit here and there to personal taste. In Act I, players will get Hydrosophist to 2, Necromancer to 2 and then Warfare to 2. Then players should place points into Hydrosophist and Warfare as they see fit. I like to drop in them in a 3:2 ratio until Hydrosophist is maxed and then continue placing points into Warfare. Players can also put 1 more point into Necromancer if they wish to use Blood Storm and Grasp of the Starved, which are both extremely good, but not required. 1 point into Huntsman for First Aid is also good, and 2 points if you want Tactical Retreat, which is very useful to any Build.
As far as Talents go I’d recommend the following:
Elemental Affinity – This Talent works extremely well with this Build because you can cast Rain for 1 AP immediately, or use Raining Blood for 2 AP, or use Flesh Sacrifice for 0 AP. Fun fact, standing on Frozen blood actually confers this bonus to both Necromancer and Hydrosophist Skills! Winning!
Savage Sortelige – This Talent is a must for any Mage Build and will allow your Skills to Critically Hit. Healing Skills cannot Critically Strike your opponents without this, so it is an absolute must in Act 2 when you start getting some decent Critical Chance.
Hothead – This Talent is really good with this Build because it will increase the Critical Chance of Necromancer and Hydrosophist Skills, including healing. You should never be below max health, and it’s easy enough for you to restore it should any be missing.
The Pawn – The Pawn will allow you to get where you need to go, and you need to be in melee range as often as you can later on in the game. This requires a point in Scoundrel though, so keep that in mind.
Living Armour – Since you have extremely powerful heals with this Build, this can work really well to help restore Magic Armour. It isn’t required, but it’s definitely a solid choice.
Crystalline Cleric Skills
Now that you’ve decided which Talents and Abilities you want, you’ll need to identify just which Skills work best with this kind of setup. Crystalline Clerics will use a mix of Hyrdosophist Skills, Necromancer Skills and a few Warfare Skills to deal damage and buff/heal their teammates. Since Builds evolve over the course of the game, I’m going to put the Skills in order from earliest obtainable to latest, because you won’t be able to get them all right way.
Hydrosophist Skills
Armour of Frost – The best way to buff your Magic Armour and also removes a variety of Status Effects. This will be extremely powerful in this Build because of high Hydrosophist Ability.
Rain – Use this skill to create wet surfaces to freeze with Global Cooling and to get Elemental Affinity. Alternate between Raining Blood to keep Elemental Affinity at all times.
Restoration – A good early game heal that can remove a couple of Status Effects. Can also be used on Undead to mess them up pretty good (deals damage to their Physical Armour). Only costs 1 AP!
Cleanse Wounds – A very good heal with an extremely short range. Only costs 1 AP and can take out Decaying or Undead rather quickly if you are in melee range. Also clears Status Effects.
Cryotherapy – An excellent way to regain Magic Armour quickly since you’ll be on Ice often. If you decide to take this Build to Lone Wolf it will get much, much more use.
Global Cooling – This skill doesn’t do a whole lot of damage no matter what, however it can freeze multiple enemies that have no Magic Armour. Can also Freeze blood which reduces the cost of both Necromancer and Hydrosophist Skills.
Healing Ritual – A good group heal with some range, that also will hit Undead and Decaying targets for damage if they are nearby as well. You won’t use this one often, but you will use it.
Winter Blast – Deals really good damage for 2 AP in an AoE that ignores teammates and also Chills enemies. Good for freezing small sections of the battlefield you can use for Ice Breaker or Chrotherapy.
Mass Cleanse Wounds – A great AoE heal that removes a ton of Status Effects and heals for a good amount. Can be acquired by dropping a Source Orb into your Armour.
Ice Breaker – This skill doesn’t gain any benefit from Intelligence or Strength, only Hydrosophist seems to increase its (non-critical) damage. Works well when paired with Global Cooling.
Necromancer Skills
Blood Sucker – This is a great pick up early on as it’s a good cheap heal for 1 AP. Can also damage Decaying enemies. Combine it with Raining Blood to deal good damage or get a good heal.
Mosquito Swarm – Deals decent damage and sets the Bleeding Status Effect. Has very good range (13 meters) which is nice. Also heals you for a decent amount of Vitality, which is nice.
Decaying Touch – This skill has very limited range but can deal good damage and set decaying, which allows you to damage enemies with healing. A non negotiable Skill for this Build.
Raining Blood – A great way to help get use of Elemental Affinity if you need and also helps to ratchet up the damage of Grasp of the Starved. Can be Frozen with Global Cooling, which has tons of uses.
Shackles of Pain – This skill is an excellent way of controlling the battlefield, as the AI in the game doesn’t like to hit you if you have this on one of them. Learn how to use this and predict enemy behavior when applied.
Bone Cage – A great skill for buffing up your Armour and the more dead bodies around the better. Between this and Armour of Frost you should rarely take any damage.
Grasp of the Starved – This skill when properly used deals insane damage and will all but 1 shot most enemies in its AoE. Be sure to use in areas with lots of Blood to maximize damage.
Blood Storm – Might be the single deadliest skill in the game. For 4 AP and 3 SP you get a skill that deals insane damage to all targets in a huge AoE, sets Diseased and Decaying, then does it again for 2 more rounds.
Warfare Skills
Bouncing Shield – This skill works really well with this Build because it doesn’t scale off of Strength, only Warfare, which you will have a lot of. You can also increase the damage by upgrading your Shield.
Deflective Barrier – A great skill for buffing your Physical Armour and also dealing some damage to enemies. I like to use this turn 1 or 2 of any engagement to get the best results.
Phoenix Dive – This skill is useful for closing the gap to enemies. You won’t need it if you took Tactical Retreat, but you’ll want at least one of these for sure. Will put you in range to use Decaying Touch and Cleanse Wounds.
Challenge – As of February 1st, 2018 this Skill now only costs 1 AP, making it viable for nearly every Warfare oriented Build. Buffs Physical and Magic Armour in addition to increasing your damage by 15% for 1 turn.
Final Tips
Healing deals Physical Damage to Undead and Decaying targets and it doesn’t scale off of any Attribute, only Hydrosophist and Character Level. Because of this, the only other way to increase the damage of it is to increase your Critical Modifier (Warfare does not increase the damage although it is Physical). In order for healing to Critical Strike you must have the Savage Sortilege Talent, so be sure to get this in Act 2 to boost your damage. If Warfare ever effects “healing damage” in a later patch this Build will become godly…
Be sure to combine the Boots you are wearing with Nails to prevent yourself from slipping on Ice. It’s also a good idea to do the same for any other melee type characters that may need to move through the Ice to attack as well.
This Build does very good damage with Water-based Skills due to the high Intelligence and high Hydrosophist, so feel free to slot more of these if you find they are helping you (especially early on when you can’t get all the Skills listed above). Ice Fan and Hale Strike can work well here.
If you find the enemy using Cursed Fire on the battlefield often and mucking up your style of play, slot the Bless skill once you get it. It only costs 1 AP and will allow you to return to business as usual. Be sure to alternate between Rain and Raining Blood to keep the battlefield covered in a freezable surface and to keep up your Elemental Affinity Talent. Don’t be afraid to use a “leap” skill to move and “start over” if where you are standing is too much of a disaster to be saved. You want to fight on Ice ALL the time if you can.
Always attack the Armour type that is weakest if you can, and Freeze enemies if their Magic Armour is low, instead of trying to “heal them to death”. This Build is very versatile and you can deal a mix of Water or Physical Damage with fairly good results. Crystalline Clerics are probably one of the best, if not the best Support characters in the game because of this and their ability to heal.
Lastly, this Build is just a powerhouse in Lone Wolf, as many Builds are. You can defeat entire encounters solo without this Talent, so when you add this it just become unfair. If you’re up for a really cheesy time be sure to try it out.
Be sure to check out our other Build Guides! Good luck Sourcerers, Rivellon is counting on you!
20 responses to “Divinity Original Sin 2 Builds: Crystalline Cleric”
Hmm… Why not use bull rush as a gap closer? You already got 1 in poly. Also, I see potential for a 2 handed water staff instead of 1h/shield. You sacrifice defense for a more balanced offense. It gives you the ability to chip at that magic defense a bit more for CC. Additionally, you get access to warfare skills that will scale with int; which can also be used as gap closers or to chip away at magic Armour. In lone wolf you could probably drop hothead for something else using that idea; because you now got points to drop in two handed instead… Or just use them in combo for more crits + Opportunist if you want.
The main issue I have with this build stems from it being built around using an elf for affinity. You’re already going to be forced to put points into con to meet the requirements for the shield… Add flesh sacrifice and now you must compensate for a scaling con reduction… A really irritating issue to deal with when trying to optimize a build. I suppose you could just use rain blood instead; once you get it but now you lose 10% extra damage and that sweet ap point- Which amounts to an extra attack.
Another issue is that the AI generally ignores tanky characters for your squishier friends. Unless you are running solo the main goal you have is to make sure that you have enough defense to avoid getting CC’ed before you can kill the enemy; or heal that armor next turn. A solo fighter other hand has too either kill the majority of enemies in a single turn- or be able to outlast the enemy enabling you to set the pace of the battle via CC.
Additionally, Cleanse Wounds along with its more potent versions do not work with decay; because it clears the status effect. It’s great against undead but in any other circumstance; there’s not really much use for it unless companions have living armor and is not fane. Not to mention if you want to put a point in scoundrel for the pawn- you might as well pick up vampiric hunger being an incredibly powerful heal. Along with cloak & dagger being another gap closer which doesn’t break cham cloak. Great for preserving your life.
you could try adding Fortify or Chameleon Cloak in order to help protect against physical damage or avoid damage all together for a turn.
Cas
I’ve been using this build as a starting point for an Undead character I’m playing in a game with a few friends. My friends are running a Water focused summoner and an aerothurge based battlemage. I’m hitting act II and struggling mostly in that I feel like I lack any tankiness. I’m trying to play aggressive and forward to keep pressure off of my squishier teammates, but I feel like my armor just gets shredded even though it’s the highest in the party. I’ve been trying to use armor of frost, soothing cold and fortify (which I plan to replace with Cage of Bones when I get the chance) but I still feel like I can’t keep up with the damage I’m taking. Any advice?
With only limited memory slots, i’m confused how to select the best skills? This is my first time playing DIvinity 2 and am only Level 5.
@Anon: “I’m struggling with breaking down magical armor”
Same here. I’m trying this build with a Ranger in my first Lone Wolf. It’s only possible for the ranger with special arrows to bring down the enemies magic armor.
Obviously Crystalline Cleric is a supporter class only. AoE freeze doesn’t work against magic armor and he is unable to bring enemies armor down.
I’m in act 2 and i think i start with a different class or respec :/
*powered by Google Translator
I’m really enjoying these builds thank you so much.
I using the hydrophonist party recommendation with this build. I am finding that I’m struggling with breaking down magical armour as the tidalist is the only dedicated magic damage dealer. I’ve only just started act 2. I’m thinking about evolving the crystalline clerc and my magic archer to deal more magic damage. Does anyone have any other suggestions?
Hello,
Im highly interested to this build, but Im new in this game.
Could you please help me to define how to level it?
I mean – I see final stats which I should have at endgame but how to progress with stats and skills?
Thank you
@gunnydkol you don’t have to take every Skill I’ve listed. Many are not needed, but they all work well in this Build.
Cas
I struggle a little bit understanding some of your builds. It may be due to me just starting the game and not really understanding how character progression fully works yet, but I figured I’d ask anyway. For instance, the Crystaline Cleric build has 22 skills listed, but you don’t talk about raising memory to 19+ in order to slot 22 skills (my understanding is you get 13 slots + 1 per point of memory over 10).
It seems many of your builds list more skills than it’s possible to take. It also seems like the screenshots and attribute point examples for almost all of your builds show point totals above the ~20 points you get to spend. I understand that some of that comes from gear bonuses, but it almost appears that all of these builds are based upon lone wolf point spending.
Trying to plan a group for my first real playthrough and just finding it hard to comprehend how I can do a 4 party group with these builds. I am thinking to do the following group:
Eternal Warrior (Beast/RedPrince), Crystaline Cleric (Lohse – Main), Tidalist (Sebile), Ranger (Ifan)
Hi,
Love this build, however being new to this game, i am a little confused as to how to go about creating this build in-game…
I was looking for a mod or something, or i was looking to simply create from the info i can see here, however this is not the case…
Ideas please…
To anyone reading this now, half an year later: the build was clearly made based on being an ELF. Elves can hurt themselves(no action cost) for 1 ap and 10% extra damage, while creating a blood surface under them. This combos really well with the necromancy skill to absorb blood and the Elemental Affinity talent that he suggests.
BUT!
If you are NOT and elf, getting blood surfaces isn’t that easy early on. That means you shouldn’t go for that talent as your first one! I’m using an human for the extra crit(5%) and initiative(+2), and learned that the hard way. I’d go Savage Sortilege from the get go, then either hot head or Pawn next.
Hey thanks for all the great builds, when might this eternal warrior be released?
I think i will give this comp a try 😉 How do you deal with water and fire? I always thought that this isnt a good Element comp. Thank you in advance and keep the good work up.
Absolutely. The Battlemage Build doesn’t deal nearly the AoE that the Stormchaser does, so you can absolutely have another Melee. I actually run a Tidalist, Ranger/Summoner, Juggernaut and a Battlemage in my party. But you could replace the Tidalist with Cleric no problem.
Cas
Thank you very much. Are there also viable Mixed Party comps with Battle mage and cleric?
you are better off with Sebille as the Cleric because it reduces the cost of Necro Skills by one and buffing arrows with Blood doesn’t do that much more damage. Beast is a good candidate for Stormchaser because of his Skills. I don’t recommend any other melee if you go Stormchaser though because it will strip the armour of teammates nearby and you dont’ want that. Perhaps take the 2H melee and make it a Tidalist or maybe a Druid.
no problem. I love this Build. I cant wait for my Eternal Warrior though, it might be the most powerful Build I’ve made yet (that doesn’t use Source Skills like candy of course).
Cas
Thank you cas. After playing 400 hours in Classic and Tactical Mode I have felt I need more healing in classic mode than the tactical mode. Its surprising but true.
I just love the death knight and the juggernaut build.
What would be a good 4 men group (original characters) with this kind of setup in tactician?
Thinking about Crystalline Cleric (idk), Stormchaser (Beast), Ranger (Sebille), 2H Warrior (Red Prince)
Or would be a Tidalist in this Set-Up better?
Thank you in advance
That is a pretty good setup. Death Knight isn’t really the best Build, but I have a 2.0 version of coming called “Eternal Warrior” that is even more powerful and doesn’t require the loss of health. Between the Juggernaut and Elementalist, which I’d drop Geo from since Juggernaut, you should have Magic Damage types covered and Ranger can always help in a pinch with arrows. Plenty of Physical there as well.
You may need a healer early on, but I would suggest taking a few points of strength on your ele and a few int on your Death Knight to be able to balance armour types. The Juggernaut, using a shield and the ranger should both be fine though. This will prevent the need for healing as much.
Cas
It is a great build as always. I am looking for suggestion for a good team builds for tactical mode. I want to use a Custom Human Tank (Death Knight) with 2H Melee, Beast as warrior (Juggernaut), Red Prince as mage (Elementalist), Sebille as Ranger. Will this be an optimal setup for Tactical Mode? Will I need a healer i.e. use beast as cleric.
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