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However, despite Ysuran’s potential in the game, he suffers a lot from lack of natural defenses and weak constitution. At the hands of a novice player, Ysuran is likely to meet his doom in more ways than one. As such, players who want to maximize Ysuran’s potential in the dark arts may want to build him in a particular way.

Gameplay Style: Supreme Offensive Spellcasting

Compared to the stereotypical Wizard, it’s Ysuran as a Moon Elf Necromancer that adds much of the “dark” in Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2 gameplay with his arsenal of more devastating spells. While arguably just as built for utility as the usual Wizard in a party, Ysuran’s repertoire of damaging spells with equally just as much debuffs and summons make him a jack-of-all-trades on a spellcasting level.

What Ysuran lacks in terms of health and Constitution, he more than makes up for in terms of his capacity as a combatant. However, given his sheer flexibility it’s not immediately advised for players to dwell into Ysuran unless they’ve already gotten a few playthroughs of the game done. It’s only then that Ysuran becomes a viable choice for tougher difficulties, as his flexible combat options can definitely give players unexpected advantages.

Attributes: Maximum Spellcasting

Considering how Ysuran doesn’t have enough defenses to begin with, it makes sense for players of the Necromancer to prioritize building his spellcasting expertise instead for long-term Dark Alliance 2 builds. Through high-enough Intelligence to boost Ysuran’s Energy and WisDorn to boost his Experience points, the Necromancer should be able to maximize their damage output while at the same time get much more Experience ahead of his peers. This should let him learn more spells to compensate for his lack of survivability.

Strength: 15 (+2 Hit, +2 Damage) Dexterity: 16 (+3 Armor) Constitution: 14 (+2 Hit Points) Intelligence: 28 (+45 Max Energy) WisDorn: 20 (+25-percent EXP) Charisma: 10 (+0% buy/sell)

Skills: Diversity In Spells

Ysuran as a Necromancer gives him one of the most expansive Skill lists in the game, which also makes him one of the most diverse characters available to play in a Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2 session. This alone makes Ysuran quite a tricky fellow to level up, especially since he has three (3) immediate approaches to combat: dishing offensive spells for kills, debuffing opponents to incapacitate them, or having minions do the killing for them.

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Build Focus

When it comes to most successful playthroughs, Ysuran sees success in players capable of balancing his summoning capabilities and offensive spellcasting. In turn, much of Skill improvements on the Necromancer’s part has to do with providing him with the means of shielding himself, while at the same time giving him room to use staple attack and summoning spells. Here’s the ideal Spell division:

3 Animate Dead: This lets the player summon the Undead to aid them. At higher ranks, much stronger Undead would be available to players. 5 Flame Arrow: This conjures magic flaming arrows for attacks. 5 Great Fortitude: This boosts the Hit Point regeneration rate for players. 5 Shadow Shield: This summons a Magic Shield to provide armor.

General Focus

A key consideration Dark Alliance 2 players should have when building Ysuran is to ensure his other skills allow him to tap into other aspects of his Necromantic arsenal. These include having a constant supply of extra lifesteal abilities, as well as abilities that boost his overall spellcasting performance. These allow the Necromancer to function much longer in combat without having to worry about survivability. Here are things to consider:

5 Enchant Item: This decreases the overall cost of enchanting and upgrading items. 5 Endurance: This radically increases Ysuran’s carrying capacity. 5 Enervation: This attack channels death energy in a forward arc, with each rank affectign one more enemy. 5 Iron Will: This boosts the regeneration rate of Magic Energy.

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5 Life Drain: This drains Hit Points from nearby enemies to restore the Necromancer’s. Each additional rank increases an enemy affected by this. 5 Vampiric Touch: This is an attack that also steals Hit Points from the enemy. 5 Willpower: This grants more Magic Energy for Ysuran to use. 3 Armor Proficiency: This allows the Necromancer to wear heavier armor. 3 Clarity: This reduces the overall casting cost of Spells. 3 Empower: This Skill boosts the effects of certain Spells. 3 Melf’s Acid Arrow: This attack is an acidic arrow.

Equipment: Secure Emergency Attacks

Despite Ysuran’s access to deadly spells and various necromatic minions, the Necromancer isn’t entirely chock-full of unlimited Magic Energy. When reserves run out, the Necromancer must rely on traditional weaponry they possess to survive. Unfortunately, Ysuran becomes rather basic in Dark Alliance 2 gameplay outside his skillset. And while they’re usually able to equip various armaments, there are recommended combinations of weapons and armor that give them the best shot at survival. In this equipment build, a Flawless Defending Staff and a Superior Morning Star could get the job done when there’s a need to eliminate foes up close.

Weapon 1: +5 Flawless Defending Staff Weapon 2: Superior Morning Star Chest Armor: +5 Remarkable Guardian’s Full Plate Mail (AC 39) Shield: Imperial Iron Shield (AC 10) Helmet: +3 Imperial Half Plate Helmet (AC 16) Gloves: +5 Flawless Unrelenting Half Plate Gloves (AC 19) Boots: +3 Grand Full Plate Boots of Speed (AC 17) Ring 1: +5 Flawless Blazing Ring Ring 2: +5 Flawless Blazing Ring Amulet: +4 Imperial Ice Witch’s Amulet

Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2 was re-released in 2022 for the PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

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