Ten years later, Pillars of Eternity is getting a turn-based combat mode

It’s been exactly ten years since Pillars of Eternity thundered out into the world, and developer Obsidian Entertainment is celebrating the occasion with a new patch and the announcement it’ll be adding turn-based combat to the acclaimed old-school RPG.

“Coming later this year,” the studio wrote in a post on its forums, “Watchers will be able to help us test a brand-new feature: turn-based combat. We’re excited to explore this new way to experience encounters in Pillars of Eternity, and your feedback will help shape its future.” Obsidian says more details on how to participate in the test will be shared “in the near future”.

That does suggest it could be a while before Pillars of Eternity’s turn-based combat mode is ready for its full release, meaning players will just have to make do with classic real-time with pause battling until then. But the wait will hopefully worth it – turn-based combat worked well enough when it was introduced to Pillars of Eternity 2 as part of a post-launch update back in 2019, so it should be a welcome addition to the original Pillars of Eternity too.

In the more immediate term, Obsidian isn’t letting today’s 10-year anniversary go by without something tangible for fans. It’s also released a brand-new Pillars of Eternity update – officially titled Patch 1.3.8.0.87535 – promising a “wide range of fixes and improvements across visuals, combat, quests, and more” that the studio says should make the experience “a little smoother”. You’ll find the full patch notes at the end of this story.

“It’s an RPG with design firmly rooted in nostalgia, but one that absolutely doesn’t rely on it to be enjoyable today,” Eurogamer contributor Richard Cobbett said of Pillars of Eternity in his Recommended review ten years ago. “Instead, it’s both a great reminder of why those games worked so well, and a brand new adventure well worth the hours upon hours (upon hours upon hours) that it takes to pick away at its secrets and its world.”

General Fixes & Platform Support

Mac users may now access the latest updates and bug fixes without issue.
Resolved a longstanding issue where the game would boot to a black screen on systems using Turkish and certain other non-Latin-based language settings.
GOG Achievements should now unlock correctly.
Kickstarter and Backer rewards on Steam and GOG are once again granted properly to new players.
Steam Linux users: support is now live and will be maintained in future patches.
Epic Games Store users will now properly receive their Royal Edition digital rewards.
Saved games now sort by most recent activity, regardless of save type (Manual, Auto, or Quick).

Visual & Audio Enhancements

Characters should now reliably speak when selected—Eder has once again found his voice.
Grimoires will now properly vanish from view when reading scrolls.
Cutscenes and maps now perform better when viewed in 4K resolution.
Fixed rare T-pose occurrences in select cutscenes.
Removed unintended “knock” sounds in some dialogue nodes.
Act introductions and developer commentary no longer echo unintentionally.
Ferry boat in Oldsong no longer appears to be sinking.
Corrected VFX alignment for multiple Woodskin spell variants, including Spell Holding and Spell Bind versions.
Visual and audio effects restored for Delemgans, Adragan, Pwgra, and Menpwgra spells.
Party members immune to poison will no longer complain about being poisoned.
All animal companions now make proper footstep sounds.
Hiravias’ Spiritshift FX now play correctly upon reverting to his natural form.
Taena’s VO will now trigger correctly in both instances where it can be heard.

Quests & Dialogue Fixes

Resolved softlocks involving Aldwyn’s services, both in Brighthollow and the Salty Mast after hiring Lyrinia.
Simoc in Sacrificial Bloodlines will no longer drop a duplicate quest reward if slain.
Slaying the High Monk after receiving Alia Braccia will no longer grant a second copy.
A Mother’s Plea now correctly fails if Ranga is killed before acquiring the potion.
Abrecan will still accept the letter he requests, even if you already possess it.
Krivi’s Od Nua rewards can now only be claimed once.
Anamfath Leader in Twin Elms will now continue The Child of Five Suns quest even if Vincent Agosti is dead.
Failing Athletics or Dexterity checks in Durgan’s Battery now properly applies the Concussion affliction.
Tealdor’s Bounty can now be continued later even if you initially leave the conversation.
Turning in the final pieces of the Blade of the Endless Paths while Dunstan is defending the keep now grants proper rewards.
Grynde’s “ripple sponge addict” accusation exploit has been fixed.
Crothar’s fate no longer influences the state of Korgrak’s quest.

Combat & Mechanics

Fixed a crash involving the Shadow Step ability.
Shadow Step is now ground-targeted and no longer treated as a modal.
Spellsword Wizards will now prioritize Second Wind over Deleterious Alacrity of Motion when wounded.
Party AI will no longer waste Second Wind when Endurance is low but Health is too low to benefit.
Party AI will no longer target charmed/confused allies with harmful abilities.
Movement commands now hold position briefly, as seen in Deadfire. (Watchers may still attack if able.)
Trap Accuracy no longer double-applies the attack’s Accuracy modifier.
Constant Recovery now scales properly and outperforms Veteran’s Recovery, as intended.
Ryona’s Buckle Tenacity Accuracy bonus now updates dynamically with Endurance changes.
Iron Circle damage reduction now deactivates correctly when above 26% Endurance.
Killing Bolt traps now correctly target Fortitude and no longer display slash damage.
Chain Lightning traps now properly deal damage.
Abydon’s Hammer will no longer cause permanent Might increases when reforged.
The Lady’s Hand now uses a visible trigger for easier tracking on the character sheet.
Black Sanctuary shield correctly applies endurance regen during Withdraw.
Royal Deadfire Cannoneer belt no longer causes trap recursion.
Eyestrike and similar effects no longer trigger on beneficial “attacks.”
Powder Burns and similar modals no longer damage allies unintentionally.
Fulvano’s Blunderbuss now correctly charms targets on spellchance.
Knock Down now respects suppression mechanics and prevents stacking.
Characters under Crushing Doom are no longer able to move while proned.
Izali’s Boon Stealth bonus now properly clears after resting.
Scrolls of Minoletta’s Bounding Missiles and Boiling Spray now match their respective spells in description and range.
Scrolls of Restore Endurance now have updated ranges consistent with the spell version.
Salty Mast hirelings now maintain their boons when aiding at your stronghold.
Skyward Kick no longer causes bugs like vertical launch or permanent prone states when missing.
Multiple Unconscious effects no longer allow movement during incapacitation.

UI & Interaction Improvements

Culture selection on character creation is now preserved in rare level-up cases.
Double-clicking a weapon now equips it to your first weapon slot.
Right-clicking creatures now opens their bestiary entries (if discovered).
Retraining UI no longer shows white portrait bugs.
“Best of” damage types now show correctly in the character sheet.
Burial Isle vision sequences can now be properly canceled.
Traps that trigger aggression now show appropriate cursor warnings when opened.
Trapped chest in the Abbot’s Quarter during The Rising Tide can now be looted after disarming.
Queued looting actions can no longer be exploited to loot multiple times.
Ancestor Pendant’s Guardian Spirit no longer displays erroneous ability info.
Invalid names at the end of character creation will now prevent finalization.
Attribute bonuses from culture are only displayed after culture is selected.

Localization

Several Talents that were previously missing translations are now fully localized across supported languages.

Known Issues

In rare cases, the spell cursor may show an incorrect icon. This should now happen far less frequently, but further improvements are being investigated for a future patch.