Pillars of Eternity Turn Based Mode is Live

The wait is over and the Turn-Based Mode for the original Pillars of Eternity is now live!

This new feature lets you experience Pillars 1 in a whole new way, with combat fully reimagined around turn-based pacing and flexibility. If you enjoyed experimenting with the system in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, we hope you’ll find this version both familiar and improved so please let us know what you think.

We’d also like to make sure we get a message to all those that played and sent in feedback on the Public Beta to help Turn-Based Mode become the best it can be: THANK YOU! Furthermore, we recognize that this is a large feature and while we have squashed the largest bugs that presented during the beta window, more issues may yet to be discovered. Still, please know that we will continue to release patches for this feature for a short while longer. So if you have an issue or would like to share feedback please contact us via https://support.obsidian.net/.

Thanks!

And now for what to expect in this update.

Major Features

• Turn-Based Mode (TBM) has been added to Pillars of Eternity!

  • Turns are now influenced by character speed, combat pacing has been adjusted for increased lethality, and certain actions (such as swapping weapons, drinking potions, or enabling modals) are now classified as free actions with per-turn limits.

  • Players can select Turn-Based Mode when starting a game or swap between real-time with pause and turn-based combat in the options menu, keybinding, or HUD toggle button.

General

• Added support to change to the original Pillars of Eternity main menu art by clicking base game and DLC icons.

Combat and Mechanics – Turn-Based Mode Specific

• TBM Turns have been reworked compared to Deadfire:

  • Characters no longer take 1 turn per round. Instead characters take turns as frequently as their Initiative (based on RTwP Recovery) allows.

  • Faster characters (high dexterity, lighter armor, and/or speed improving effects) may end up taking multiple turns each round, while slower characters may act less or even potentially skip an entire round, if encumbered by enough speed penalties.

• TBM Lethality has been significantly increased over RTwP:

  • In addition to legacy lethality changes from Deadfire (increased Graze Range, reduced Miss Range, Basic attacks perform Full Attacks, etc…), TBM now increases damage (dealt by any source) by 35% globally.

  • This change helps to keep combat moving forward and highlights careful tactical decision making.

• TBM Intellect has been reworked vs. RTwP:

  • The effect of Intellect on duration in TBM has been increased from +/- 5% → 10% per point.

• TBM Initiative has been reworked from Deadfire’s:

  • The new formula for Initiative is:

    • Base RTwP Recovery * 2 + 1

    • All modifiers to initiative happen after the above calculation.

  • First turn initiative uses a default recovery of 2s.

  • The minimum initiative a character may achieve can never be below 1.

  • Initiative from Reload Time is reduced by 25%.

• TBM Free Actions have been reworked from Deadfire’s:

  • Swapping weapon sets, drinking potions, and toggling modals (or within a modal group) are all now considered free actions.

    • Each of these Free Actions are now limited to 1 activation per turn within their respective action type category.

    • E.g. you may drink a potion and change your active paladin aura, but you may not drink two or more potions in the same turn, or change paladin aura → attack → and then change it back.

  • Additionally, no individual Free Action may be activated more than once in a turn.

• TBM