Pillars of Eternity’s New Turn-Based Mode Beta: What’s Changing, Why It Matters, and How It Plays
Obsidian is rolling out a public beta that finally brings a fully integrated turn-based mode to Pillars of Eternity. The original release championed real-time with pause (RTwP), while its sequel, Deadfire, later experimented with an optional turn-based ruleset. Players have asked for years to see that option back-ported to the first game; now it’s here as an open beta on Steam and the Xbox PC app, ready for hands-on feedback.
Project director Josh Sawyer outlined the team’s goals: preserve the feel of classic RTwP while giving turn-based battles the pacing, clarity, and tactical bite fans expect. That means the new system doesn’t attempt a literal frame-for-frame translation of real-time behavior. Instead, it maps the spirit of RTwP – what Dexterity represents, how recovery works, how speed influences flow – into a discrete, readable sequence of turns.
A rebuilt action economy that mirrors RTwP intent
One of the biggest pain points in Deadfire’s initial turn-based pass was the action economy. In practice it could feel detached from the rhythm of the RTwP design, making some builds either sluggish or weirdly explosive. The new beta rethinks that layer. Your speed and recovery now govern how often you act, divorcing the number of turns you take from a fixed round structure. The result is closer parity with the real-time version: fast characters act more often, heavy armor and slow weapons tax your cadence, and recovery management once again becomes a core tactical puzzle.
Another pain point – free action abuse – is addressed head-on. What previously felt like loopholes enabling stackable freebies is now constrained: instant-type actions are limited and clearly labeled. Expect fewer edge-case exploits and a cleaner decision tree each turn.
Solving the “too slow” problem with sharper lethality
Many players loved the board-game clarity of turn-based in Deadfire but bounced off its pace. Obsidian’s answer here is twofold: prune the cheap freebies (which inflated turn counts) and increase lethality so fights resolve with more decisive swings. This higher-stakes curve, previously achievable via mods, now ships as the baseline in the beta. You’ll feel openings matter more, debuffs bite harder, and alpha strikes actually end encounters when executed well.
Switching styles between fights
Not every encounter needs the same granularity. The beta lets you swap between RTwP and turn-based from combat to combat. Sprint through trash mobs in real-time, then flip to turns for boss mechanics you want to dissect. It’s a best-of-both-worlds convenience that respects player intent without forcing a campaign-wide commitment.
Why this update lands now
Pillars of Eternity is a decade old, yet it continues to anchor Obsidian’s world-building – see Avowed, set in the same universe, which has renewed interest in the lore and systems that started here. A modernized combat option gives veterans a reason to revisit builds and gives newcomers a gentler on-ramp to the intricate interactions the series is known for.
Hands-on expectations and feedback
It’s a beta, so rough edges are expected. Obsidian explicitly invites players to stress the system, surface regressions, and report outlier builds that break pacing. The more data the team gets across difficulties and party comps, the better the final tuning pass will be.
Design notes: translating RTwP into turns
For players curious about the nitty-gritty: think in terms of cadence. Dexterity and recovery control your personal tempo. Light weapons and buffs accelerate your turn loop; heavy setups ask you to plan around longer gaps by leaning on positioning, disables, and pre-cast effects. Because free actions are curbed, opportunity cost returns to center stage – choosing a buff instead of a strike truly costs you an attack window. The upshot is a system that rewards foresight without drowning you in bookkeeping.
Community context
Long-time fans have argued for a turn-based option since the Kickstarter days, and some have pointed out the studio’s heritage with pure turn-based systems. Whether you preferred RTwP’s kinetic flow or always wanted chess-like clarity, this update attempts to bridge that divide rather than declare a winner. And because you can swap modes between encounters, the argument can finally move from theory to practice – use what fits the fight.
What comes next
Sawyer has said before that if a future Pillars of Eternity 3 ever materialized with a blockbuster RPG budget, he’d build it turn-based from the ground up. Iterating here, inside a beloved ruleset, is a practical step toward that vision. Meanwhile, Obsidian keeps momentum elsewhere – fresh off shipping new adventures like The Outer Worlds 2 – while circling back to polish the foundation that made the studio a modern RPG mainstay.
Whether you’re chasing ironman-clean tactics or simply want a reason to re-roll a Cipher, the beta is a smart, player-first update. Install it, kick the tires, and tell the team where it sings and where it still stumbles – the final cut will be better for it.