Obsidian Entertainment has made a couple of huge announcements for the original Pillars of Eternity. The first one is that a new patch has just gone live for the game which includes general bug fixes and quality-of-life improvements for combat, presentation, quests, dialogue, UI, and more. The full patch notes can be viewed on the game’s official website forums.
The second, and biggest announcement is that Obsidian will be introducing a new turn-based combat mode for Pillars of Eternity later this year. There’s currently no specific date on when turn-based combat will be added but Obsidian Entertainment says it will release more details at a later date.
In the meantime, Obsidian Entertainment has released a small gameplay video on its social media accounts giving players a sneak peek at what turn-based combat will look like once it’s fully finished development (which you can see below).
Greetings, Watchers! The Pillars of Eternity team has released Patch 1.3.8.0.87535. For details on what’s included, visit the Obsidian Forums here:https://t.co/5mVMv2CMSOIn addition, a new Turn-Based Combat mode is in development for Pillars of Eternity coming later this year.… pic.twitter.com/dhZSPfwyCpMarch 26, 2025
For those unaware, Pillars of Eternity normally uses a ‘real-time strategy with pause’ combat system where you command your heroes in real-time while occasionally pausing the game to give them direct commands and to give yourself time to plan your next move.
This new turn-based combat system is planning to implement makes the game play more akin to Baldur’s Gate 3 or Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader where each character be it party members or enemies, takes turns based on their place in the initiative order to move into position and smite each other.
We are living a renaissance of turn-based combat in RPGs and I love it!
Over the past couple of years, we have been seeing turn-based CRPGs becoming popular again thanks to titles like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Wasteland 3, enabling the rise of modern hits like Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader and promising upcoming PC titles like Shadow of the Road.
Obsidian Entertainment didn’t need to go back and include a new turn-based mode for the original Pillars of Eternity, especially since it’s currently busy developing The Outer Worlds 2 and making updates for the recently released, Avowed but I’m so glad it did.
I always preferred turn-based combat in my RPGs but now that Pillars of Eternity is getting a turn-based combat mode, it may finally convince me to try out the game for myself.
Who knows? Perhaps this turn-based mode could be an experiment Obsidian Entertainment is conducting to see if it could lead to the idea of a Pillars tactics game becoming a reality. Either way, I can’t wait to finally experience one of the best PC games Obsidian Entertainment has ever made, when the turn-based combat mode drops for Pillars of Eternity later this year.
