Larian is Killing Its Darlings: Why the New Divinity Ruleset is a Bold Move
The Bottom Line: Larian Studios is officially moving away from the "Original Sin" blueprint that defined the last decade of isometric RPGs. In a recent Reddit AMA, lead designer Nick Pechenin confirmed that the next Divinity entry is ditching randomized loot, overhaulng the action economy, and nerfing the infamous "elemental surface" bloat—all thanks to the hard-won lessons from Baldur’s Gate 3.
We’ve spent hundreds of hours in the trenches of Rivellon and the Forgotten Realms, and it’s clear: Larian isn't just making a sequel; they are building a bridge between Divinity's chaotic flexibility and Dungeons & Dragons' tactical weight. Here is our breakdown of how these changes will fundamentally shift the meta.
| Feature | The Old Way (DOS2) | The New Way (Next Divinity) | Our Take |
|---|---|---|---|
| Action Economy | 4-6 Action Points (AP) | Hybrid / D&D-influenced | Game-Changer. Reduces "infinite turn" cheese. |
| Loot System | Randomized RNG drops | Handcrafted Magic Items | Massive Buff. Makes every piece of gear feel impactful. |
| Surface Mechanics | "The Floor is Lava" (Blessed/Cursed) | Simplified & Scaled back | QoL Win. No more frame-dropping fire everywhere. |
| Combat Pacing | Slower, individual turns | Grouped enemy movement | Essential. Cuts the downtime in large-scale brawls. |
Ditching the AP Cheese
In Divinity: Original Sin 2, the Action Point system was easily broken. If you knew how to min-max your build with Adrenaline and Executioner, you could effectively take turns that lasted forever while the enemy sat there helpless. By moving toward a D&D-informed economy, we expect a shift toward more meaningful, singular choices.
Our analysis: We suspect Larian might be eyeing something akin to Pathfinder 2e’s three-action system. It provides more granularity than 5e’s "One Action/One Bonus Action" limit but prevents the "infinite turn" loops that made DOS2 late-game combat feel like a foregone conclusion. If they pull this off, combat will feel punchier and far less reliant on crowd-control locking.
The Death of "Trash Loot"
Let’s be honest: Original Sin’s randomized loot was a chore. We’ve all spent too much time save-scumming chests or comparing two identical-looking swords with a 2% stat difference. Pechenin’s admission that "randomization did not save us much time" is a massive admission of a flawed philosophy.
By moving to handcrafted items—the Baldur's Gate 3 model—every item can tell a story or enable a specific niche build. This eliminates the "MMO-ification" of the inventory and ensures that when you find a legendary hammer in a hidden tomb, it actually feels legendary, rather than just another pile of vendor trash.
Fixing the "Blackpits" Problem
If you played DOS2, you likely have PTSD from the Oilfield fight. The elemental surface system, while innovative at the time, frequently spiraled out of control. When every square inch of the map is Cursed Fire, tactical positioning goes out the window.
The decision to scale back on Blessed/Cursed surface variants and implement grouped AI movement (tech pioneered in BG3) is a direct response to this. We believe this will keep the "Larian flavor" of environmental interaction without the tedious waiting times and visual clutter that plagued the series' past. We want to play a tactical RPG, not a "wait for the fire to stop ticking" simulator.
The Verdict
Larian is currently the only studio with the pedigree to challenge its own established throne. While some purists might miss the 6-AP madness of the old days, we see these changes as a necessary evolution. By trimming the fat of RNG loot and tightening the action economy, Larian is positioning the next Divinity to be a more deliberate, high-stakes experience than anything we’ve seen from the franchise before.