Divinity Original Sin 2 Tutorial Guide: The Hold

Eltimar will guide you through all the missions and secrets that can be found in the tutorial mission of Divinity Original Sin (THE HOLD) so you don’t miss a thing. 

August 25, 2020

Welcome to the first of many Divinity Original Sin 2 guides! With Baldur’s Gate is coming out soon, we figured that gamers might look towards Divinity 2 to fix their gaming itch. Since Divinity is also a very complex game, Eltimar fired up a new playthrough and wrote a complete walkthrough for the tutorial deck, also known as THE HOLD. 

The Hold – Tutorial Floor

Divinity Original Sin 2 The Hold Tutorial

Step 1

In the definitive edition, you will start the game chained to a table. Magister Siwan will approach you and set you free, telling you to meet her upstairs once the sedative wears off. You have been drugged. At this point in the game you will have no equipment. You will be wearing rags and a Source Collar.
Divinity Original Sin 2 Fort Joy Hold Tutorial
There is a grinning skull next to you that you can click on. If you are not undead you will spout a few unanswered phrases like a crazy person, but if you are undead yourself you can have a brief conversation with the skull. It introduces undead characters to the fact that they are undead and people will be hostile if you don’t mask your corpsey goodness. It is not super important though so let’s move on.

Step 2

There are a few crates with some gold or minor items. After moving a crate away from the door (this is a tutorial area after all) you will find a sheep that you can talk to if you have the talent “Pet Pal”. If you don’t it’s not a big deal. You will want to have a character with Pet Pal eventually, but it is not vital at this particular moment.
Divinity Original Sin 2 Fort Joy Hold Tutorial 2
There is a vase in the sheep room that will have a Cargo Room Key. This will stop you from having to punch your way through a door, though you can still do that if you would prefer to. In the next room you will find some food and a letter. Loot whatever you want to and take a glance at the letter. It provides you with a little bit of insight into one of the game’s favorite mechanics… pressure plates. Put a box or barrel on each of the pressure plates near the door and head on into the prison room.

Step 3

In the prison room you will encounter a prisoner by the name of Hemwar. He wants you to let him out of prison and promises to make it worth your while. There are a few ways of going about this. You can accept, barter for a reward, or just leave him there. For the sake of the guide we’ll assume you choose to help him.
Divinity Original Sin 2 Fort Joy Hold Tutorial 3
Once you pull the lever you will be thrown into a conversation with the magister. If you have some persuasion you can convince him that you are his friend. If not, you are going to have to stretch out those murder muscles because there is going to be a fight. It is super easy, so just kill him and take his key. You can also attempt to pickpocket him if you have sneak before pressing the lever so if you are feeling particularly roguelike maybe try that option as well. Give the lever another press and oh no you are under attack again. Damn you Hemwar. Curse you and your sudden but inevitable betrayal. Anyways kill him. Oh and there is probably going to be a giant fire. Just don’t stand in it. You’ll be fine.

Step 4

So once that whole situation is taken care of head into the last room on this floor. There will be a couple of healing potions for you to grab, though you shouldn’t really need them yet. There is also a bed that you can nap in, and a rather uncomfortable looking operation table. Once you are done looking around head to the door with a puddle of poison in front of it. If you have some fire damage available you can blow it up, otherwise kick the door down and move into the next room.
Divinity Original Sin 2 Fort Joy Hold Tutorial 4

(In order to attack a door you can hold control and left click the door. This will cause your character to attack the door or even object. It is important to note this will cause durability damage to your weapon, if you have one, so just keep that in mind.)

The room through the poison door is a simple hallway with a few decks of cards. Have a quick look around and then press the lever to bring you back to the beginning of the area. It’s time to jump onto that ladder and head upstairs.

The Hold – First Floor

Divinity Original Sin 2 The Hold First Floor

Step 1

Upon arriving on the second floor, you are going to find yourself in what can only be described as a mad scientist’s laboratory. There are weird electrical devices, random jars, and a couple of skulls lying around. Importantly though you should grab the gold cup sitting on the table, as it is worth a pretty decent amount of money for early in the game. Also the jawless skull is worth some cash as well so grab that.
Divinity Original Sin 2 Fort Joy Hold First Floor 1
I should also take this moment to let you know that items with red colored names are owned items, and that picking them up is actually stealing. If you are caught doing so, you will be confronted by whoever owns the item in the area. Once you have searched through all the searchable containers go have a quick talk with Magister Siwan. You are going to be ordered to go find another Magister named William in the officer’s quarters. I am not here to tell you which conversation paths to take in general conversation, so do whatever you want to. This will start the quest Troubled Waters.

Step 2

In the room to the south of the room you just exited you are going to notice a rather large pool of blood, and what appears to be an utterly mangled body that appears to be smoldering. Walk past the two Magisters guarding the door and speak with Magister Waters. If you agree to help her out you will start the quest Death Belowdecks. There is also a broken source collar on the floor, but it’s red and not particularly important anyway.
Divinity Original Sin 2 Fort Joy Hold First Floor 2

Step 3

This room has a ladder that leads up onto the deck of the ship, but the hatch is currently locked. Later on in the prologue, this hatch will allow you to travel swiftly back below deck to save some companions before making a hasty retreat to the lifeboat.
Divinity Original Sin 2 Fort Joy Hold First Floor 3

Step 4

This is the main gallery of the ship, and is also where most of the prisoners are kept, including all of the playable NPC’s that you will be able to recruit a little later on. You are going to want to speak with them all and get to know them a little better. There are also numerous other unimportant NPCs that honestly will not play much part in the game about five minutes later, so you can talk to them or not.
Divinity Original Sin 2 Fort Joy Hold First Floor 4

The important NPCs you should talk to are:

  • Fane – An *elf* that is busy reading a book. He is a little pompous and arrogant, but is deeply inquisitive and honestly is one of the most entertaining of the playable NPCs. He is, in actuality, a member of a long dead race central to the plot of the game and he is the only undead playable NPC companion.
  • Lohse – A human bard who has been stricken seemingly with some form of stage fright, as she will no longer sing. She also has a playful attitude but is hiding something truly dark and malevolent beneath the surface. Her side quest storyline is one of the best in the game.
  • Sebille – An actual elf, unlike that fake elf Fane. She has the ability to learn abilities from eating the flesh of the dead. She is a little grim and morose, but she is also an exceedingly powerful character with interesting abilities and one of the stronger side quest storylines. She will also lick your arm for you… so that’s a thing.
  • The Red Prince – A truly arrogant and annoying character. Though he has one of the coolest side quest storylines, his attitude is so immeasurably smug that it may just drive you insane. That being said he is a strong choice as a character just due to his story significance.
  • Beast – Beast is a gruff but well-meaning Dwarf who has gotten on the wrong side of the queen of his people. His side quest story is, in my opinion, one of the weakest in the game, and you can experience almost the entirety of it without even needing Beast in the group. Honestly he is not my favorite choice of playable NPCs but if you like dwarves then go for it.
  • Ifan – Ifan is a bit of a broody loner who was once a member of the Lone Wolves, a group of mercenaries. Interestingly this is also the name of a talent in the game, which makes your character more powerful alone. Ifan is kind of like that, he seems to prefer to be left alone, but will stick his neck out to protect those in danger.

Don’t forget you are also investigating a murder. Ask around about that and then grab the greasy key near Magister Viktar in the south-eastern corner of the room. This will allow you to enter the kitchen (5).

After you are done in the kitchen (5), speak with Magister Payde in the north-east section of the room. He will allow you entrance to the officer’s quarters (6), in order for you to get registered with Magister William.

After you meet with William, you will be able to return to this room. Everyone will be dead or unconscious so feel free to loot all of the bodies you can. You can also check on the the unconscious forms of the other playable NPCs. They are alive, but you cannot awaken them. You should also take this moment to grab a bedroll. It is perhaps the most important item you will get in the game. You should always have a bedroll with you.

Once you have sufficiently searched the area go back to area (6) and head upstairs.

Step 5

In the next room you will discover a dagger, which you can use as a weapon, and a bunch of random food. You will be unable to open the door to the officer’s quarters (6) so back to the main galley (4) and north to the door in the north-east corner.
Divinity Original Sin 2 Fort Joy Hold First Floor 5

Step 6

This rather elaborate room will not look fancy for long. You will notice a Sourcerer named Wendigo speaking with three magisters. Magister William will claim she has admitted to being the murderer we were searching for. She will confirm that she did murder the other sourcerer and then she will claim that others need to die as well.
Divinity Original Sin 2 Fort Joy Hold First Floor 6
To the surprise of everyone, she will remove her collar and a combat will break out for a very brief moment. She will kill everyone in the room, except you. You will only be knocked down and now the ship is on fire. Luckily you will have infinite time to look around at this point, so search the room for equipment and money. You can also backtrack to other rooms to explore and see what has happened. After you have searched the rest of the floor for money and equipment, head up the stairs here to continue your journey.

The Hold – Second Floor

Divinity Original Sin 2 The Hold Second Floor

Step 1

When you arrive on the second floor of the ship, the first thing you will probably notice is that things are going horribly wrong. Water is shooting in through the window holes, and the ship itself is on fire. You will be able to see a source hound in the room to your north (2) and a dining hall to the south (3). There isn’t a whole lot to take note of in the small hallway we are currently in, aside from a barrel of water that you can use to put out the fire to your west.
Divinity Original Sin 2 The Hold Second Floor 1

Step 2

This is an encounter where pet pal will come into play. Though there is actually no way to save the dog, you will get an optional conversation path if you can speak with the dog. If you don’t have pet pal, you can choose to just leave the dog where it is, or fight it for a little bit of extra experience. The fight is relatively easy and you should not have any significant problems with it. Aside from that there isn’t too much else in the room. Feel free to loot anything you want and we can continue onto the next room.
Divinity Original Sin 2 The Hold Second Floor 2

Step 3

The dining room is relatively barren with the exception of a gold cup which you should definitely pick up for selling purposes. There is also a painting, however it’s not worth anything so you might as well just let it sink.
Divinity Original Sin 2 The Hold Second Floor 3

Step 4

This room lies to the east of the starting hallway. There are two ways into this room, through either (3) or (4). It does not particularly matter which door you go through, though I should note that both are locked. They can be lock picked or broken down, in this room you will encounter two cowering magisters.
Divinity Original Sin 2 The Hold Second Floor 4
You will be forced into a conversation with the two magisters and they will be immediately suspicious that you, a Sourcerer is wandering free. If you have some persuasion skill you can try and talk them out of a fight, but as the requirement is 2, and most characters will only have, at most, one persuasion, expect to have a fight. Again this fight is relatively easy. Both magisters start the fight wounded. Feel free to murder them both with impunity. They definitely deserve it. There are a few letters and a journal in this room. Grab anything you want to take with you. Also, if you are playing multiplayer, you can troll your teammate by picking up the Bust of Alexander and transferring it to their inventory. Otherwise you should just leave it there. It is actually worthless.

Step 5

This rather large room is the main cargo hold. It is full of boxes, supplies, and, of course, dead people. Loot their bodies. I would especially note that you should loot the body of Magister Priest Medwyn in the north-west corner of the room. He will have a key and a letter for you to look at. Grab both.
Divinity Original Sin 2 The Hold Second Floor 5
If you are not playing Fane, you will find him hiding in a small little alcove just off of the north-west corner of the room near Magister Priest Medwyn. At this point you will find out that he is undead! What a twist. Anyways he doesn’t give you much useful information and is seemingly unconcerned about the state of the ship. Apparently undead are not particularly concerned about drowning. Once you have finished exploring the rest of the floor, head to the stairs in the south-west corner of the room and ascend to the deck of the ship.

Step 6

The moment you enter this room it will be severely damaged and a strange mist or fog will spread throughout most of it. If you are not undead DO NOT ENTER THIS MIST, it will immediately kill you. Loot what you can, and if you are not undead this means you will have to be very careful looting the bodies of the Magister Knight and Magister Inquisitor that are on the edge of the fog. Once you are done in here head back to (5)
Divinity Original Sin 2 The Hold Second Floor 6

The Hold – Deck

Step 1

The moment you step onto the deck, you will get the amusing cutscene of a magister thoroughly crushed by the leviathan that is wrecking the ship. You will also find yourself facing off against a pair of Voidlings. They are very easy to kill and I don’t imagine you will have much problem dispatching them. Finish them off and we can move on.
Divinity Original Sin 2 Fort Joy Hold Deck 1

Step 2

Here you will encounter a whole lot of fire and some burning magister bodies. Your goal is to throw water barrels onto the fire to clear a path between yourself and the smoldering corpses so that you can loot them. Once you get the fire under control, you will discover that the ship’s captain is dead and there is pretty much no hope that the vessel is going to survive against the monstrous attack. Grab any items around and head to the life raft (3).
Divinity Original Sin 2 Fort Joy Hold Deck 2

Step 3

Here you will discover the dwarf Gil being a bit of a coward and telling the children to leave everyone on the ship to their fates. The children try to guilt you into going to help the unconscious people in the hold of the ship (the playable NPCs). You don’t have to go after them necessarily, but if you choose to abandon them they will have a much more adverse reaction to you when you meet them later, and you will miss out on some fight experience. So I would recommend you begrudgingly go to help them out. Head to the ladder to the west to quickly reach the first level of the hold.
Divinity Original Sin 2 Fort Joy Hold Deck 3

The Hold – Final Battle

If you choose to return and help your wayward companions who were unconscious in the hold, you should also be prepared for a fight. You will not be able to rouse Magister Siwan, who is most definitely going to die when the boat inevitably sinks, but that isn’t your immediate problem (though you could just kill her yourself for a little experience and some possible loot).
Divinity Original Sin 2 Fort Joy Hold Final Battle
In the main gallery you will see all of the playable NPC’s have decided that it has become a good time to wake up. Unfortunately they appear to have made some friends, in the form of four voidlings. Fortunately for you, they are really easy to kill, and you get experience no matter who deals the killing blow. Take them all out. Now it is finally time to abandon ship. You will have a choice, you can go back down to try and save Magister Siwan, at which point the boat will sink and she will die, or you can just abandon her and jump ship, in which case the boat will sink and she will die. Either way you are going to wash up on the shore of Fort Joy after the cutscene.
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Eltimar

Eltimar

Contributor

I was introduced to the world of gaming at a pretty young age. My dad would invite his friends over, and they would descend into the basement for hours. At first, I was too young to really grasp the games they were playing; Dungeons and Dragons, Ravenloft, Greyhawk. But it was when they began to shift their focus to computer games, that I became really interested.

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