How to respec in Divinity Original Sin 2: the Lady Vengeance magic mirror (Act 2), the Fort Joy mirror via Gift Bags, and what you can and can't change.
DOS 2 Respec Guide — Magic Mirror Locations and Rebuilds
Yes — Divinity Original Sin 2 lets you respec completely, for free, and as many times as you want. The magic mirror aboard the Lady Vengeance (available from Act 2 onward) rebuilds every attribute, combat ability, civil ability, talent and learned skill on any character, with zero cost and no limit. Want it earlier? Enable the Fort Joy Magic Mirror from the Gift Bag features menu and an early mirror appears under the Fort Joy arena. The only things the mirror cannot change are race, gender and origin — so your character's identity is permanent, but everything else about the build is fully negotiable. This guide covers both mirror locations, exactly how respec works, and when you should (and shouldn't) use it.
Official resources: dos2.wiki — Classes · Steam store page · Game Rant — How to Respec · Screen Rant — Fort Joy magic mirror · CBR — the Magic Mirror explained
How Respec Works in DOS2
Interacting with a magic mirror opens a full character editor for the character who touched it. You can redistribute:
- Attribute points (Strength, Finesse, Intelligence, Constitution, Memory, Wits)
- Combat ability points (all ten skill schools plus weapon and defensive abilities)
- Civil ability points (Bartering, Loremaster, Lucky Charm, Persuasion, Sneaking, Telekinesis, Thievery)
- Talents
- Learned skills — your memorised skill loadout can be changed as part of the rebuild
- Appearance, voice and tags — cosmetic and tag changes are also handled here (tags affect dialogue and NPC attitudes)
The only things the mirror cannot touch are race, gender and origin — those are locked at character creation. The official wiki's Classes page spells out the philosophy:
Official source: dos2.wiki — Classes — "Every attribute, ability, talent, and skill can be changed freely on each level-up, and full respecification is available from Act Two onward via the magic mirror aboard the Lady Vengeance."
There is no gold cost, no item cost, and no cooldown — you can rebuild the same character five times in five minutes if you're experimenting. The one practical constraint: a respec into a new skill school only works if you actually have the skill books for it (or the gold to buy them from vendors), and your gear should match the new stats.
Don't agonise over early levels. Spend points however you want through Acts 1–2, learn what feels good, then use the mirror to rebuild your final composition before the endgame. Every guide's "ideal build" is a destination you're meant to respec into, not a prison you commit to at level 2.
Where Is the Mirror? Two Locations
1. The Lady Vengeance mirror (the "normal" way). After you escape Fort Joy and complete the "Lady o' War" quest, the ship becomes your base — and the magic mirror sits in its lower hold. It's available from the start of Act 2 onward and remains usable for the rest of the game. The ship's locations are documented in the campaign guide and on Polygon's Lady Vengeance map. Even after the ship becomes harder to reach in later acts, the mirror can still be accessed from the Hall of Echoes waypoint (CBR's explainer confirms this).
2. The Fort Joy magic mirror (Act 1 respec). This one is a Gift Bag feature — introduced in Larian's free Gift Bag #2 update (the same update that shipped the Switch cross-saves). To get it:
- Open the in-game menu and select Gift Bag Features.
- Scroll to and enable Fort Joy Magic Mirror (accept the prompt — enabling Gift Bags for a campaign disables achievements on that save, exactly like mods).
- The game reloads with the mirror spawned in the Fort Joy arena — head to the Fort Joy Ghetto, find the kitchen run by Griff, and take the hatch down to the arena staging area (Screen Rant's walkthrough documents the exact route).
The Fort Joy mirror behaves identically to the Lady Vengeance one, so you can fine-tune builds from the very first act — which is why the Gift Bag is widely considered the single best quality-of-life toggle in the game.
Enabling any Gift Bag feature (including the Fort Joy Magic Mirror) disables achievements for that campaign. It's a soft lock — you can still play normally, but no trophies. If you're achievement hunting, keep one Gift Bag-free run for the trophy list.
When to Respec (the community's actual advice)
The Steam forums and the DOS2 subreddit converge on a few rules of thumb:
- Respec when you know what's wrong, not when you're just bored. The most common early-game fix: a mixed-attribute character or a split damage-type party. The build guide explains why focusing one damage attribute and one damage type changes the whole game.
- Respec before hard fights. DOS2 lets you see what's coming in the journal; rebuilding your party's civil abilities to Bartering/Thievery before a shopping run, then back to combat skills, is a classic money strategy.
- Respec into your endgame plan at the start of Act 3. By the Nameless Isle the difficulty tightens and builds stop forgiving sloppy point spreads — that's the natural checkpoint.
- You never have to respec. It's a safety net, not a requirement — many players finish the whole game without touching the mirror and love it. It exists so that mistakes and experiments are reversible, not so you're expected to min-max.
What Respec Does NOT Fix
Three things the mirror can't do for you:
- Race and origin are permanent — an elf's Flesh Sacrifice stays, Fane stays undead, and the origin characters' unique source skills stay with them. Builds are resettable; identity is not.
- Skill books are not refunded. You keep every skill you've learned (it's part of the rebuild), but if you respec away from a school and later come back, you need the books again. Buy generously when vendors restock.
- Gear doesn't respec itself. A respec into a Finesse build leaves you needing finesse weapons, and armour requirements follow your new stats. Plan the gear before you commit the points.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you respec in Divinity Original Sin 2?
Yes — completely and for free. The magic mirror rebuilds attributes, abilities, talents and skills on any party member, unlimited times. Only race, gender and origin are permanent.
Where is the respec mirror in DOS2?
The main mirror is in the lower hold of the Lady Vengeance, available from Act 2 (after the "Lady o' War" quest). A second mirror can be unlocked in Act 1 via the Fort Joy Magic Mirror gift bag, located in the arena beneath Fort Joy's kitchen.
How do I get the Fort Joy magic mirror in DOS2?
Open the menu → Gift Bag Features → enable Fort Joy Magic Mirror, then find it in the Fort Joy arena (take the hatch near the kitchen in the Ghetto, next to Noosey). Note that enabling Gift Bags disables achievements for that campaign.
Does respecing cost anything in DOS2?
No — it's completely free with no limits. The only indirect cost is gear and skill books: a rebuild into new schools needs the corresponding skill books, and new stats need matching equipment.
Can you change your race or origin in DOS2?
No. Race, gender and origin character are locked at creation and can never be changed by the mirror. Everything else — attributes, abilities, talents, skills, appearance, voice and tags — is fully resettable.
Related Guides
- Divinity Original Sin 2 Build Guide — Best Builds & Stats
- Divinity Original Sin 2 Characters Guide — All Origin Characters
- Divinity Original Sin 2 Guide — Acts, Walkthrough and Progression
- Divinity Original Sin 2 RPG Guide — Genre, Gameplay and Systems
- How Long to Beat Divinity Original Sin 2 — Playtime Guide
Last updated: August 13, 2026.
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