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.