The Best Builds For Fane

Fane is arguably one of the most interesting characters in Divinity: Original Sin 2. He’s the only undead option among the Origin characters, and has a deep connection to the story and the lore of the world. As a result, having him on the player’s team makes for a more engaging experience.

Fane also has some interesting quirks and abilities that make him a unique fighter. These can be combined with a number of interesting builds that really expand upon his talents and make him a strong character. Here are some of the better builds players should try out on Fane.

Updated January 3, 2025, by Demaris Oxman: After the runaway success of Baldur’s Gate 3, plenty of players may find themselves interested in Larian Studios’ other flagship series, Divinity. Whether gamers are revisiting the titles or trying them out for the first time, it’s easy to see why Divinity: Original Sin 2 is counted among the best fantasy RPGs of the 2010s.

BG3 players know how important the “origin” characters can be in Larian’s games. Divinity: Original Sin 2 is no different, especially when it comes to the undead Fane. His past deeds turn out to be a major plot reveal, and fans of lore will always want him in their party. His character journey is fascinating, too. Over the course of the story, players watch his attitude towards the modern world shift from haughty disdain to intrigued fascination. As players take Fane through Rivellon, there are a number of roles he can take on in the party. For players who can’t get enough of this offbeat skeleton, this list has been updated to include more information about how each build’s skills function, and the specs required to make them powerful.

13

Master Of The Earth

Geomancer & Polymorph

As an Undead, Geomancer will always be one of the best skills for Fane to use. He will be damaged by normal healing potions and restorative spells; instead, the only way to heal him is through poison. In DOS2, Geomancer is the school that focuses on dealing poison damage. With every Combat Ability point invested in this school, Fane’s Poison and Earth elemental attacks will deal 5% more damage. Not only will this increase his healing, but it will allow him to unleash devastating attacks upon foes. Poison will eat away at enemy Vitality, while Oil-based attacks will mire them in muck.

While this build is dedicated mainly to the Geomancer ability, investing some points in Polymorph is also useful. This will allow him to learn Poisonous Skin, which can amplify his poison-based healing even more. Its skills also offer some handy mobility that can help Fane stay out of harm’s way.

Build Elements

Recommended Skills

With this build, Fane is primarily a damage dealer, who can heal himself (and other undead party members, if applicable) when need be. AOE Geomancer skills are his bread and butter, with the occasional Polymorph skill for some support utility.

12

Support Mage

Geomancer & Hydrosophist

Undead characters like Fane aren’t incredibly hardy. Normal healing spells and consumables will damage them; the only way they can heal is through poison. With this build, though, Fane can be responsible for not only his own survivability, but the rest of the party’s as well. The Geomancer combat skill gives him plenty of poisoning opportunities to heal himself and harm enemies. It also includes spells like Fortify, letting Fane make the party’s damage-dealers more durable. Meanwhile, Hydrosophist allows him to heal and support allies with skills like Restoration and Magic Armor.

This build also turns Fane into a master of manipulating surfaces. Ice surfaces from spells like Hailstorm can trip opponents up; Poison surfaces deal damage and ignite when they make contact with fire. When he’s out of Source or his skills are on cooldown, have Fane throw grenades to further manipulate the battlefield, creating a playground of fire, poison, and ice.

Build Elements

Recommended Skills

This build gives Fane a core focus on not just restoring health, but maintaining the party’s Magic and Physical Armour. With those defenses in place, enemies will have a much more difficult time damaging the party’s Vitality.

11

Master of Minions

Summoning & Necromancer

Despite DOS2’s flexible class system, Fane is fragile regardless of build. The inherent difficulty in healing Undead can mean that Fane’s deaths are frustratingly frequent. The best way to keep him alive in battle is to keep him away from most of the fighting, letting him aid his companions from afar. And what better way to do that than with an army of minions?

The Summoning and Necromancer skills allow Fane to raise creatures, totems, skeletons, and many more strange yet helpful companions for the party. These summons give the party much more firepower, and can serve as distractions for enemies. The more allies the player has, the more opportunities there are to hit foes where it hurts.

Build Elements

Recommended Skills

Of the skills below, the Summoning ability is the most important for Fane in this build, since it affects the stats of all summons. In addition, consider elemental infusion skills. These allow a summoned Incarnate to deal damage in the form of Poison, Cold, Fire, etc., as well as gain access to specific spells associated with the respective element. All are useful, but the right choice depends on what enemies Fane is fighting.

10

Ranged Damage Dealer

Huntsman & Summoning

It’s initially a bit of a stretch for Fane to play as a Ranger build, as he’s more geared towards magic. Over time, though, he can grow into the role of a long-range damage dealer. The key is to combine Fane’s Summoning ability with Ranger skills. This way, he has a few minions to keep enemies busy while he deals damage from afar.

Fane’s special talent, Play Dead, also helps. The Ranger is often a glass cannon build, and Fane can use this talent to fake death whenever an enemy is too close. It helps if he has a pool of poison to lie in as he plays dead, as the healing he takes from poison doesn’t disrupt the special skill.

Build Elements

Recommended Skills

These skills are focused on keeping the user away from the action. Tactical Retreat is especially important to learn as soon as possible, as it allows Fane to easily get to high ground and take advantage of the other skills key to this build.

9

Wayfarer

Huntsman & Geomancer

Wayfarer is similar to the Ranger class, but adds some helpful Geomancer skills to the mix that benefit Fane tremendously. With moves like Contamination and Poison Dart, he can create pools of poison to receive healing passively while damaging enemies who get too close. This way, he becomes more flexible in battle.

While the Wayfarer can survive close encounters a little better than the Ranger, they still benefit from Fane’s Play Dead. The same tactic of lying in a pool of poison helps tremendously.

Build Elements

Recommended Skills

Making heavy use of the Poison skills will dramatically increase Fane’s chances of survival. Place him in a distant location, and create Poison surfaces or clouds around him. Fane can pick them off with ranged attacks, and if they get too close, the poison will do its work. Meanwhile, Fane will restore health thanks to his undead quirks.

8

Toxic Rogue

Scoundrel & Geomancer

Rogue is an interesting choice for Fane, considering the benefits both in and out of combat. Rogues gain a number of mobility and stealth options, which complement a poison build. Poison is strongly encouraged due to Fane’s undead skills, which allows poison to heal him.

Outside of combat, Fane is a handy rogue thanks to his fingers. Fane has the ability to use his bony fingers as unlimited lockpicks. This makes thieving easier and more profitable, as lockpicking is now free.

Build Elements

Recommended Skills

Inflicting status effects is a key aspect of this build. Use stealth to get close, then use a few Scoundrel attacks. Meanwhile, as usual, employing poison will both hurt enemies and help Fane.

7

Geo Fighter

Warfare & Geomancer

This build has Fane step into the traditional Fighter class, while heavily leaning on Geomancer skills. Fane fights on the frontlines with a two-handed weapon and heavy armor. While in the middle of the action, he can summon a variety of poison-based spells to harm foes and heal himself in combat.

Everything from Poison Darts to Poison Wave can turn the battlefield into a toxic cloud. Fane also benefits from having an Artillery Plant bombarding his enemies and providing the occasional poison cloud.

Build Elements

Recommended Skills

Using Corrosive Touch, followed by a physical attack or a Warfare skill, easily deals heavy damage to physical foes. If players choose to make use of Artillery Plant, put a few points into Summoning to buff up the summon’s stats.

6

Shadowblade

Scoundrel & Polymorph

Utilizing Fane as a Shadowblade is very effective, as an undead Shadowblade benefits from critical-based combat and terrifying DPS potential. The Polymorph branch not only benefits Fane in battle with buffing spells Skin Graft and Apotheosis, but fits the lore of a character who is looking to blend in through shapeshifting.

Like the Rogue, a Shadowblade benefits from Fane’s infinite lockpicking fingers. Fane can stealthily infiltrate enemy camps and slit a few throats without cost, before anyone knows he’s even there.

Build Elements

Recommended Skills

Fane is already seeking to blend in, to hide, and not draw as much attention to himself. Use Chameleon Cloak to improve stealth, and Scoundrel skills will be unbeatable.

5

Cleric

Hydrosophist & Necromancer

Cleric may seem like a strange choice for the undead Fane, but there’s a surprising amount of synergy here. The attribute focuses of the class increase his Vitality and give Fane a lot of staying power on the front lines. He can also tap into Necromancer skills for thematically terrifying spells, appropriate for an undead creature like himself.

The real potential, however, lies with Hydrosophist skills. With these, Fane can keep allies alive with powerful heals. He can also use them to lay waste to undead foes. However, this means Fane must be careful not to use spells like Mass Cleanse Wounds, which will negatively affect him along with his enemies.

Build Elements

Recommended Skills

These skills allow Fane to keep allies alive, though sometimes at a cost. Cryogenic Stasis and Living on the Edge fit the theme of a being who is still technically alive…even though they shouldn’t be. Meanwhile, Blood Storm allows this build to literally rain hell down on their enemies, in between keeping team members alive.

4

Pyroclastic Mage

Polymorph, Geomancer, Pyrokinetic, & Scoundrel

The Lone Mage is a bit of a cheese Mage build that is powerful for most encounters but can get boring very quickly. The idea behind this is to utilize a combination of mage skills in conjunction with Fane’s Time Warp ability.

To use this effectively, players should trigger a cascade of specific skills: Apotheosis, Adrenaline, Peace of Mind, Time Warp, and Pyroclastic Eruption. The first turn lowers the AP cost of moves to nearly nothing, raises various stats, and blasts the enemy with a powerful attack, before Time Warp immediately grants Fane a second turn. On this bonus turn, Skin Graft, Adrenaline, and another Pyroclastic Eruption can finish most foes off without them ever getting a chance to attack.

Build Elements

Recommended Skills

The order described above tells players everything they need to know about using these skills. Just make sure Fane has three source points before heading into battle, and he’ll be hard to defeat with this build.

3

Witch

Scoundrel & Necromancer

Witch is a nice build for Fane, due to the combination of Rogue-like abilities and Necromancer skills. As with the Rogue and Shadowblade builds, Fane can sneak into areas with his finger lockpicks and gains helpful evasion skills. He can fight up close with melee, or at range with spells, making this a flexible class perfect for a variety of scenarios.

The magical side of this build taps into powers that both heal Fane and harm enemies. Necromancer is a versatile tree, full of both healing spells and debilitating attacks. Coupled with Scoundrel’s mobility, this makes for an adaptable build that lets Fane pick up the team’s slack and makes him self-sufficient at the same time.

Build Elements

Recommended Skills

As with the Toxic Rogue build above, inflicting status effects is an essential aspect of the Witch build. Some of these deal damage over time, some make the enemy less effective, and some soften the target for the kill.

2

Inquisitor

Warfare & Necromancer

Inquisitor seems to be a class type that Fane was built for. With large two-handed weapons, he can be in the midst of battle, brutalizing opponents. Necromancer and Warfare skills combine nicely to eliminate enemies as quickly as possible.

Through the Necromancer tree, Fane also gains some helpful support moves like Infect, which can decrease the enemy’s damage when attacking him and his allies. Living on the Edge can also make Fane momentarily invincible, giving him time to chug a few poisonous vials or have an ally drop a poison pool at his feet. This helps increase his survivability as he wreaks havoc on the front lines.

Build Elements

Recommended Skills

While Necromancy is occasionally used for healing in this build, it can also be used for damage and to set status effects. This makes it easier for Fane to then use his Warfare skills to take enemies out.

1

Default Wizard

Geomancer & Pyrokinetic

It could be argued that Fane’s default class is perhaps his strongest. As a Wizard, he specializes in a variety of elemental spells. This makes him a master manipulator of the battlefield, as he can incinerate enemies, heal himself, and cause all manner of chaos.

The key is to lean on any and all skills that create and distribute poison and slow effects. Enemies will be bogged down in an agonizing soup of poison clouds and pools while Fane receives a near-constant heal effect. Fane can then mire foes down with sticky pools of oil from Geomancer attacks, and incinerate foes in fiery explosions by igniting those surfaces.

Build Elements

Recommended Skills

This build gives Fane the chance to go wild when it comes to damage. It’s not about subtlety here — use fire spells to burn enemies to ash, use Oil to create explosions. And if it’s necessary, Fane can use poison for a bit of healing.