In Divinity: Original Sin 2, if you play as one of the Undead, a healing potion will hurt you and a bottle of poison will patch you up. It sounds like a joke rule, but it changes how a whole party has to think about staying alive.
The mechanic is spelled out in PC Gamer's 2017 feature on playing undead: items and spells that would heal a normal character damage an undead one instead, while poison heals them. You can drink it like any other potion, or cast a skill such as Contamination, a Geomancer ability, and, in Andy Kelly's words, "soak up the lovely healing badness".
How it works, and what it costs you
Larian's own post for the game's current-generation console release lists Undead as one of five playable races, alongside Human, Elf, Dwarf and Lizard. According to PC Gamer, adding undead was one of the stretch goals of the game's Kickstarter, and backers made it happen.
The healing swap is the headline, but it isn't the only rule. PC Gamer notes that the people of Rivellon don't take kindly to the undead, so showing your face in town sends people fleeing and guards attacking. The practical fix is to keep your skull and bony limbs covered with armour, a cowl or a helm. If you want to go further, a "faceripper" found early on in Fort Joy lets you harvest faces and, with a magic mask, shapeshift into other races, which opens up their race-specific dialogue and even skills.
There are perks for the inconvenience. PC Gamer points out that an undead character's finger works as a lockpick, so you aren't burning through consumables, though tougher locks still need a decent Thievery skill. Undead characters also get extra dialogue options: a few profound, most of them funny, with plenty of gallows humour.
Why it's more than trivia
The useful thing to know, if you're new to the game, is that this rule cuts both ways. A party with an undead member has to think about every heal, because one meant for the living can hurt your skeleton. On the other side, poison, normally something to avoid, becomes a resource. So picking undead isn't only a cosmetic choice; it changes how you plan fights.
One caveat. The healing and poison rules here are what PC Gamer described in 2017 and haven't been re-checked against later patches, so specific skill details are worth confirming in-game.
It's also a timely thing to rediscover. Larian released Original Sin 2 on Switch 2, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on 15 December 2025, describing it as neither a remake nor a remaster. Owners of the Switch, PS4 and Xbox One versions get a free update to the version for their console, although in Japan the Switch to Switch 2 and PS4 to PS5 upgrades cost ¥100. Larian also notes that the game uses its own classless character building and combat system, so anyone arriving from Baldur's Gate 3 shouldn't expect the same rules.
Mia's take: If you're a Baldur's Gate 3 convert wondering whether Larian's older game is worth the detour, the undead are a good argument for it. A skeleton who drinks poison to heal and wears someone else's face to get past the guards is a better pitch than any trailer, and it's a rule that changes how you play rather than just how you look.
Reporting notes
