After further review, Divinity: Original Sin 2's infinite damage loop is being removed

News
By published

It turns out it's an "unintended bug," despite what we heard yesterday.

I was surprised yesterday when Divinity: Original Sin 2 producer David Walgrave told me that the damage loop seen in the video above would not be removed. "It appears that it is not a never-ending loop and you're not doing anything else while you're doing it," he wrote. 

As you can see in the video, however, the trick cycles through a feedback loop that drains a troll's entire health bar. (Head to yesterday's story for an explanation of how it works.) So even if it is within the confines of Original Sin 2's spell logic, it's just a tad OP.

I followed up with Larian, and today the developer informed me that after looking into the trick further, "the team determined that this is in fact an unintended bug, for which a patch will be issued ASAP."

Despite this particular instance of clever spell synergies being identified as a bug, Larian reiterated what it told me yesterday, saying that it "applauds creative approaches to the game" and only 'fixes' one if it "really breaks the fun of the game or something goes wrong at some point."

So while there are many, many allowable—and possibly very powerful—spell synergies accounted for, this was apparently one that slipped through testing undetected, and wasn't intentional. Personally, I didn't plan to pursue the trick, as wiping 6000 HP with a few spells doesn't feel quite like it's in the spirit of the tactical turn-based combat I've been enjoying so far. Though if you were enjoying the trick, I'm sorry to say it's on its way out.

With or without the Soul Mate loop trick, Divinity: Original Sin 2 is one of my favorite games of the year. Fraser digs in to why in his review.

Tyler Wilde
Tyler Wilde
Editor-in-Chief, US

Tyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the '80s and '90s, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on early PCs. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, all the shooters they call "boomer shooters" now, and PS1 classic Bushido Blade (that's right: he had Bleem!). Tyler joined PC Gamer in 2011, and today he's focused on the site's news coverage. His hobbies include amateur boxing and adding to his 1,200-plus hours in Rocket League.