As an add-on to the complete Pillars of Eternity 2 walkthrough that we've reported on before, Sorcerer's Place has now also published a very detailed, gameplay video-supported subjective walkthrough of Pillars of Eternity 2. It includes plenty of commentary on both a good and evil playthrough of the game, as well as advice on myriad facets of the game, including combat strategies, ship building and combat, and character builds.

If you are someone who wants to delve deeper into the game, this is definitely the guide for you, so give it a look.

The guys over at Sorcerer's Place have been working long and hard on a complete online walkthrough for Pillars of Eternity 2, which is now finally available. The fruit of literally hundreds of hours of work, the walkthrough contains detailed information on all the areas of the game, including those from the 3 DLC packs ("Beast of Winter", "Seeker, Slayer, Survivor" and "The Forgotten Sanctum"), multiple solutions for all the quests, item lists, joinable companions, annotated maps and more.

If you are still playing the game, or intend to do so again, check it out! Additionally, Pillars of Eternity 1 walkthroughs are also available.

Ye Old Entertainment checked out The Forgotten Sanctum DLC for Pillars of Eternity II:

Pillars of Eternity 2 Review: The Forgotten Sanctum. The RPG's DLC that is worth playing in 2022

Ye Old Entertainment checked out Pillars of Eternity II:

Pillars of Eternity 2 Review: Modern day Baldur's Gate 2? Best isometric RPG of the last decade?

Eurogamer reports that Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire will no longer be coming to Nintendo Switch.

[...]

Meanwhile, in 2019, it was revealed that Obsidian's original Pillars of Eternity would be coming to the Switch. However, in February of last year, the publisher announced it would no longer be releasing any more updates for its Switch version of the game.

Versus Evil cited the Switch's hardware as the reason for this decision, stating it had, "reached a limit on what we can do with our updates to the game and have exhausted the options left to us from the PC original in regards to the limitations of the hardware we are working with".

Mortismal Gaming reviewed Pillars Of Eternity 2: Deadfire:

Pillars Of Eternity 2: Deadfire - Review After 100%

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Reviewing Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire after achieving 100%

Thanks Redglyph!

PCGamer Radio checked out Pillars of Eternity II - Deadfire:

WTF is Pillars of Eternity 2 Deadfire

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The Ultimate Edition release date for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire has been announced for January 28th 2020.

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The god Eothas awakened from his sleep, erupting from beneath your castle, killing your people and stealing a piece of your soul. Now only you and your companions can uncover the rogue god's machinations as he tramples over the Deadfire Archipelago.

The award-winning RPG from the masters at Obsidian Entertainment finally arrives, featuring all major updates and expansions.

Bend the world to your will as you explore the depths of infinite possibilities, including detailed character customization, total freedom of exploration, and more meaningful choices at every turn.

Featuring an enormous open world, a massive cast of characters, and a story you can play your way, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Ultimate Edition redefines the role-playing game experience for a new generation.

Features:

+ Play in either Turn-Based Mode or Classic Real-Time with Pause: Immerse yourself in a deeper single player RPG game experience - now with both classic real-time with pause and new turn-based combat, Deadfire builds on the foundation of classic tabletop gameplay more than ever before.
+ A massive adventure: Over 100 hours of gameplay per playthrough.
+ Play however you want: Detailed character creator character and over 1000 class permutations gives you the freedom to be whoever you want.
+ Gather your party: Build your party and customize your companions to join you on your quest. Assign multiple classes and deeper abilities for each. Witness their personal relationships, reactions to player choice, and interactions with each other unfold.
+ Beast of Winter DLC: Heed the call of Vatnir, a priest of the god of death, to halt the tide of destruction encroaching upon the living.
+ The Forgotten Sanctum DLC: Battle your way through the bowels of a vengeful, sleeping god.
+ Seeker, Slayer, Survivor DLC: Triumph or die in the Crucible of Kazuwari, where only the mighty reign.

Eurogamer reports that Josh Sawyer will re-examine Deadfire before starting a new game in the series:

Low Deadfire sales means Obsidian would have to "re-examine the entire format of the game" before committing to Pillars of Eternity 3

Will there be a Pillars of Eternity 3? It sounds like the series' design chief wants to work out what went wrong with the last game before taking on another sequel.

Old-school role-playing game Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire was critically acclaimed but sold poorly compared to its predecessor and other, similar games. Obsidian's Josh Sawyer has said he wants to work out why before committing to making Pillars of Eternity 3.

"That is not something that I get to decide, but I do think that the relatively low sales of Deadfire mean that if we consider making another Pillars game in this style, we're going to have to re-examine the entire format of the game," Sawyer wrote on his Tumblr.

[...]

Strat-Edgy took a look at Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire.

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Pillars Of Eternity 2: Deadfire

Table of Contents:

0:00 - Intro
1:44 - Story
10:00 - Roleplay
18:00 - Turn-based combat
25:24 - Ship Combat
28:06 - Character Building

These last few months have been difficult. I’ve been travelling a lot for work and 16 hour plane rides have a way of taking it out of a guy. I’ve been to Sweden twice in the last two months and, well, jet lag takes a surprisingly long time to wear off. I’ve been combing through games in my library trying to find something that will relax me but nothing jumped out at me. Then I ran across this video going over the latest patch notes for Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire. This was a game that made my eye brows raise initially when I heard the elevator pitch for it. An RPG where you play a pirate? Blimey mate, that sounds down right pleasant.

But I never bought it because the first game left such a sour taste in my mouth. I mean, it wasn’t a bad game, but the story did nothing to grab me and in the end, well, you know how this goes.

Well, this video about the latest patch notes couldn’t have come at a more fortuitous time, me harties, because I was in the midst of replaying the first game, and this time around, I played far more than eight hours, and you know what? The game was starting to grow on me, oddly enough. I still couldn’t force my way through it, however, so I was a little skeptical about the sequel. So when I saw that Obsidian released a patch that turned the combat from Real-time turn based and added an option for true turn based, and then I saw the game was on sale, it was as if someone grabbed me by the small of my back and whispered sweet nothings into my ear because me and this game were going to be spending a lot of quality time with each other.

So, does Pillars of Eternity improve over its predecessor, or am I damned to repeat past mistakes? Well, let’s dig in shall we?

Josh Sawyer reflects on the development of Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire at Digital Dragons 2019:

Josh Sawyer - Breaking the Mold RPG Evolution

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This post-mortem of Deadfire will examine the assumptions the team made between the first game and the sequel, how expectations changed through the public beta, and what lessons they learned after the game was released. The talk will focus on narrative design, combat design, the ship combat system, and the decision to fully voice all dialogue. The end of the post-mortem will deal with post-launch support, including patches, features, and other DLC content.

RPGamer have reviewed Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire and regard it as a solid improvement over its predecessor with some drawbacks.

The formula may seem familiar, but this series has so much to offer over its ancestors, and this sequel features many gameplay and graphical improvements over the first game. That having been said, the characters and story aren’t as compelling this time around, while the ending fails to give players much control over the outcome. The constant ship and crew management along with the underwhelming ship-to-ship combat and somewhat punishing difficulty had a bad habit of breaking the immersion. Those with an appreciation for the tabletop games and classic PC games this pays homage to will likely have an enjoyable experience. The learning curve is a bit steep, the seas may get choppy, and the deck can get rather slippery, but with some patience and perseverance, even the greenest sailor can go from lowly deckhand to decorated captain.

Thanks Farflame!

Obsidian has released version 5.0 for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire which includes the full release of turn-based mode and new content and fixes.

Greetings, Watchers,

It's the 1 year anniversary since the launch of Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire! We here at Obsidian can't thank you enough for the support and feedback you have given the game since the Fig campaign launched two years ago. Now we're here, a year out from the release of Pillars II and have one final patch for you all. The time has come for the launch of Update 5.0 for Deadfire! This patch brings some new features and bug fixes to Pillars II and our own Design Director, Josh Sawyer, has made a video to let you know what you can expect from the update.

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Patch 5.0 Highlights

There are a host of bug fixes in the 5.0 update that you can read on our forums, but here are some of the highlights for you:

• New Ship UI
  • An update to the UI has been implemented that will come up any time you engage with a ship on the seas that brings a more elegant way to perform ship-to-ship encounters.
• Turn-Based Mode Out of Beta
  • Thanks to feedback from the community, we have made a lot of changes to turn-based mode to account for bugs and balance fixes and it is now in full release with the 5.0 patch.
• New Story Content Added
  • After listening to feedback on the critical path of the game when it came to reactivity with Woedica and Eothas, so we’ve decided to go in and write new lines and get them recorded by the original actors to add more to that aspect of the game.
• Anarchist Path Adjustments
  • Some critical path items have been moved out of Neketaka to other locations in the Deadfire to address the difficulty and length that the game had if choosing to not side with a faction at Ondra’s Mortar.
• The Ultimate
  • The final God Challenge will be live with the 5.0 patch. This challenge, “The Ultimate” will turn on all other God Challenges, Trial of Iron, Path of the Damned, and Solo mode.

The Ultimate Challenge

In addition to the above changes, Patch 5.0 also introduces the Ultimate Challenge for Deadfire. The challenge is not for the faint of heart, and only the most devoted and erudite of our players stand even a chance in this challenge, but the first twelve players to triumph will be immortalized in Obsidian's studio lobby for all to see. The first twelve Watchers to succeed at the challenge will get their names and their Watchers' names, classes, and levels upon our Deadfire Ultimate Challenge plaque hanging in our lobby. And yes, that means that everyone who comes through our studio will bear witness to the glory of your triumph.

Not only that, but the first 50 players who complete the challenge will get a very special patch that not only celebrates your achievement wherever you wish to flex it, but also has Josh's face on it to let the world know you have his approval.

The Ultimate Challenge Submission Guidelines and Terms

In order to streamline the review and vetting process, please read the following submission guidelines and terms:

1. Cheating, including save-scumming, use of third-party tools or mods, and/or doing anything in a manner contrary to the spirit of the challenge is prohibited.
2. Console commands that do not require the "iroll20s" command be enabled are allowed.
3. Submissions must include a video of the entirety of your run and a save file of the run completed.
4. We reserve the right to disqualify a submission without notice or explanation.

If you have completed the challenge and wish to send it in for review and judgment, please send the following evidence to theultimate@obsidian.net:

• We require full video evidence of your run - acceptable forms of video include: Youtube playlist links, or direct download links via Dropbox.
• We also require the save game file with the completed challenge. 

Pillars Pen and Paper 

Josh has updated the Pillars of Eternity Pen and Paper ruleset and had it playtested with an intrepid band of merry developers - he is now pleased to release it to the general public for play and feedback. You can download it from eternity.obsidian.net later today. We will also be pushing it live to your backer portals and, for those who have it, game libraries as well.

Thank you again for your continued support! If you have any issues with the game, contact us through our support portal to help you on your journey.

Cheers,

The Deadfire team

TheGG reports that Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire has been nominated for best adventure game and best writing at the Webby Awards.

Baltimore – MD — April 11th 2019 – Independent games publisher Versus Evil and developer Obsidian Entertainment today announced that “Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire” has been nominated for Best Adventure game and Best Writing categories in the 23rd Annual Webby Awards.

Hailed as the “Internet’s Highest Honor” by The New York Times, The Webby Awards, presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS), is the leading international awards organization honoring excellence on the Internet.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

TurnBasedLovers reviewed Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire using turn-based mode.

Like most things in PoE, combat is simple on the surface but has a lot of nuances. All characters move and act in their turn, but in addition to movement and one standard action (which is an attack, casting a spell or changing weapon in hands) there are also “free actions” that you can perform. Those include: changing of battle stance to trade, for example, attack stat for defense, buffing certain ability (can be performed once per battle), restoring HP (also once per battle).

Buffing or debuffing can be also done by spells or other class abilities. In terms of the game, it’s called “Inspirations” and “Afflictions”. They don’t last long, unlike “Injuries” caused by critical hits and triggered traps, that persist until you rest and eat some food. Btw, certain food and places of rest also give “rest bonuses” that generally are active until the next rest. And in addition, there are a few “until rest” bonuses that you get after receiving some… ahem… “entertainment” in certain establishments.

There are actually quite a few parameters that can be affected by mentioned bonuses/penalties. There are four types of defense alone. And those just determine the probability of how different attacks hit, critically hit, graze or completely miss you. Only then armor/penetration rating come in play on how much damage you actually receive. And armor rating can also be different for different damage type.

[...]

Obsidian wants your opinion on the turn-based mode for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. Fill out the survey if you are interested, before February 21st 2019.

In case you haven't heard, we released a new and completely free combat system to Deadfire last month!

While it's still in its beta form and we are thankful for any and all feedback you may have given us so far, we hope you might be able to take a few minutes to fill out the following survey regarding Deadfire!

The survey will close on February 21, 2019, so please don't wait!

Also, we'd love it if you'd share the survey with any friends who are also fans of ours.

As you are the backbone of our Deadfire audience, we value your time and thoughts immensely, and your completion of this questionnaire would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much for participating, and for being a fan of Obsidian.

CohhCarnage tried out the turn-based mode for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. Also Marooners Rock wrote a little about it.

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Cohh takes a look at the new Turn Based Mode in Pillars Of Eternity 2 to see how it plays. - Watch live at https://www.twitch.tv/cohhcarnage

[...]

Turn Based Mode in Pillars of Eternity II offers players a new way to experience the game. It’s exactly as it sounds. Each character in the combat is placed into an initiative order. As such during each character’s turn they can perform an action and a movement. This will feel familiar to players who play Dungeons and Dragons. The only major change to that formula that each round a new initiative is created and the turn order will change as combat progresses. This does slow down the combat significantly as you only have to worry about one character at a time. This could be very useful and preferable for players who feel overwhelmed by the frenzy that is the traditional gameplay.

Thanks Farflame!

PCGamesN reports that Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire will be going turn-based from the 24th of January.

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Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire players are no strangers to choice. But when you boot up the game from January 24 onwards, your first decision will come even before character creation – real-time or turn-based?

Since the inception of the series, Pillars has been firmly rooted in the wonderfully messy but deeply tactical real-time and pause paradigm of the Infinity Engine games. That wasn’t a decision the dev team made, so much as a duty they fulfilled to nostalgia-driven Kickstarter backers. Now, though, Deadfire is fully playable in a new turn-based mode. It’s the most fundamental and far-reaching change Obsidian has made to any of its games after release.

[...]

Thanks wolfing!

RPG Site has reviewed Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire DLC Forgotten Sanctum:

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire - The Forgotten Sanctum Review

I didn't have very high hopes going into Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire's last DLC offering in The Forgotten Sanctum. The first two pieces of Deadfire's post-launch content both fell pretty flat for me: Beast of Winter felt merely like a stand-alone vehicle to reference some of Eternity's more esoteric lore while Seeker, Slayer, Survivor felt entirely inconsequential and frankly -- boring. However, not only did the completionist in me still want to see this through to its conclusion, the CRPG fan in me isn't sure if or when we'll ever see another game like this from Obsidian, which sort of gives this entry a bit more weight.

With the revealing of The Outer Worlds just a week before Sanctum's release alongside the studio's recent acquisition by Microsoft beyond that, suddenly this little download finds itself in a bit of a different light -- it's a little more than just Deadfire's last DLC, but potentially Obsidian's last contribution to the 'CRPG Renaissance' of the last handful of years.

Luckily, it seems like Deadfire is going to go out on a relatively high note.

[...]

All in all, The Forgotten Sanctum is a strong way for Deadfire, and possibility Pillars of Eternity in general, to end-- at least for the moment. It lacks a certain level of gravitas that perhaps would usually be expected out of a proper conclusion, but its strengths lie in the same places that Deadfires' always have - motivated character writing, a solid sense of cohesion between gameplay mechanics and narrative, and the events within hold proper sense of significance as part of the world put forth. Fans of Deadfire who have been let down by lackluster additions so far should definitely not let that steer them away from this final entry.

Score: 8/10

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire DLC Forgotten Sanctum was reviewed by Expansive.

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The final piece of DLC for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is here and we got an early look at it. Is this the conclusion we were hoping for?

Thanks Farflame!

PC Gamer report that the Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire devs accidentally added turn-based this week.

The developers of Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, the best RPG of the year, temporarily added turn-based combat to the game this week before hastily removing it—but not before players grabbed screenshots and gameplay footage.

Reddit user raggnarok first flagged the new combat mode, which was added on Thursday and removed a few hours later in a hotfix. In turn-based combat, each character could move a limited distance and perform one action per term, raggnarok said. You can see two of their screenshots below, one showing combat in action, the other showing a save game that has a "turn-based mode" marker on it (click the icon in the top-right to fullscreen),

[...]

For PC Gamer Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire is the best RPG of 2018:

Best RPG 2018: Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire

Obsidian's seafaring sequel dazzled us with a great world and fantastic quest design this year.

Our best RPG of 2018 award goes to Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity 2. It got fewer nominations than the other winners this year, but the staff members who voted for it made it clear how passionate they are about the game. Don't forget to check out the rest of our GOTY picks and personal picks as they happen.

Andy K: In terms of writing, quest design, and world-building, Obsidian is at the top of its game in Deadfire. This nautical sequel continues the story established in the first Pillars, but is standalone enough that you can dive into it without any prior knowledge. And what a grand adventure it is, making you a ship captain and letting you sail the deadly, alluring waters of the tropical Deadfire Archipelago. For the most part this is a classic Infinity Engine-style RPG, with reams of vivid, descriptive text, enchanted items with lengthy descriptions, dungeon diving, and magical beasts. But being able to crew and maintain a ship, and sail freely between islands, gives it a compelling seafaring twist.

Compared to the green and leafy Dyrwood, the relatively familiar fantasy setting of the original game, the Deadfire is a beguiling, strange, alien place, and uncovering its well-realised culture, politics, and history makes spending time there a delight. There are dozens of rounded, interesting characters to meet on your journey, quests that start small then spiral into something wild and unexpected, and a whole lot of deep, tactical combat to indulge in. The standout moment has to be Fort Deadlight, which sees you setting some amusing Hitman-inspired traps to get revenge on a villainous pirate.

[...]

The Forgotten Sanctum DLC for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire has been released on Steam and GOG.

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When a violent tremor shatters the islands of the Deadfire, the greatest wizards in Eora seek out the aid of the Watcher. The archmage Maura has vanished into the depths of a newly opened dungeon located in the Black Isles and threatens to awaken what lies forgotten there. Follow Maura's trail and determine the fate of one of the Deadfire Archipelago's most closely-held secrets.

• Traverse an expansive dungeon built into the flesh of a sleeping god.
• Encounter the highest-level challenges yet faced by the Watcher and their companions.
• Scheme with or defy the wills of Eora's most powerful wizards.

A preview for a new Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire DLC The Forgotten Sanctum.

Greetings, Watchers,

 

We have brought you to Harbinger's Watch with "The Beast of Winter" and the Crucible of Kazuwari in "Seeker, Slayer, Survivor", now prepare yourselves as we head to the Black Isle, and into "The Forgotten Sanctum".

 

The Forgotten Sanctum

When a violent tremor shatters the islands of the Deadfire, the greatest wizards in Eora seek out the aid of the Watcher. The archmage Maura has vanished into the depths of a newly opened dungeon located in the Black Isles and threatens to awaken what lies forgotten there. Follow Maura's trail and determine the fate of one of the Deadfire Archipelago's most closely-held secrets.

• Traverse an expansive dungeon built into the flesh of a sleeping god.

• Encounter the highest-level challenges yet faced by the Watcher and their companions.

• Scheme with or defy the wills of Eora's most powerful wizards.

You'll have a chance to take your Watcher and their crew to the Forgotten Sanctum on December 13th, 2018!

[...]

 

DSOGaming reports that Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire flopped selling only 110K units as of September.

It appears that the sequel to Pillars of Eternity, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, has sold poorly. According to reports, the game has only sold 110K copies worldwide until September 2018. And while the WRPG market is a niche one, this number feels really low and may explain the rumours that surfaced about Microsoft purchasing Obsidian.

[...]

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire patch 3.1 introduces new challenges and a mega boss.

Update #57 - Patch 3.1 - New Berath's Blessings, Challenges, and Mega Boss!

Posted: 10/26/2018

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Greetings, Watchers,

We hope you've been enjoying the Crucible of Kazuwari! In this Backer update, we're going to check out what's new in Deadfire's new Patch 3.1 that is available today!

Update 3.1

The patch is live! Some of the highlights of Update 3.1 include:

• UI Simplifications
  • Ship UI will now be hidden until you can access your ship
  • More options for auto-hiding elements of the HUD
• Spell Shaping
  • Available for Wizard, Druid, Priest, and Chanter classes; this passive ability allows spell casters to adjust the radius of certain AoE spells to increase the power level or area that the spell can reach
• Magran's Fire Difficulty Additions
  • All Challenges can now be done on any difficulty in the game! Play through with new challenges for a new, interesting game experience
• New Berath's Blessings
  • ...Can I Pet Him Anyway?
    • The time has come, friends... Edér can now equip a pet
  • Infamous Past
    • Gain the Infamous Captain passive ability and live the life of someone who has survived a mutiny
• Premade Characters
  • Characters can now be imported to use on various playthroughs through Deadfire. Characters can be chosen in character creation, or by visiting taverns and recruiting them as Adventurers

New Challenges

Berath's Blessings weren't the only thing to get some additions in this patch. Two new challenges have been added with the 3.1 update.

• Hylea - Vela is rather attached to the Watcher and won't leave your side, the poor thing, so it's up to you to protect her. If you don't, the game ends!
• Rymrgand - Food will start to expire! Foods like hard tack will expire more slowly, but you should still stay vigilant and ensure a supply of fresh food!

A New Mega Boss

A new Mega Boss can now be challenged! This colossal Ooze is prepared to face some of the strongest teams that dare brave it! Can you discover it's location and take on this fierce enemy?

Shacknews Feature

For the past few months, Shacknews editor, David L. Craddock, has been interviewing various people past and present associated with both the Infinity Engine games and Pillars of Eternity. From a deep dive into the world of isometric RPG's, Beneath a Starless Sky explores the events that would lead up to Obsidian's foundation and the journey that culminated in the release of Deadfire. Check it out!

Additionally, Shacknews also published a backstage view of Obsidian before the launch of Deadfire as a part of their inaugural episode in their new "24 'Til Launch" series. Take a look to see some familiar faces you may not have seen in a while.

[...]

Shacknews produced some documentaries on Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity 2's last 24 hours of production and the history of making RPGs.

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One day before Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire was released, Shacknews visited Obsidian in Irvine, CA, to learn more about the game's development and history, and what tasks remained before launch.

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Shacknews Long Reads Editor David L. Craddock hosts a panel of Obsidian developers to talk about the history and making of RPGs and the recently released Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire.

The Seeker, Slayer, Survivor DLC for Pillars of Eternity II has been released by Obsidian. Additionally patch 3.0 has arrived.

Greetings, Watchers,

 

Our newest DLC, Seeker, Slayer, Survivor, and Patch 3.0 are available today! In Seeker, Slayer, Survivor, Watchers will not only be able to tackle combat that challenges that test their penchant for destruction, puzzle-solving skills, and resource-management in the face of waves of foes, but also track down the mysterious malady that is plaguing the island of Kazuwari - and discover the island's ruthless purpose.

 

Seeker, Slayer, Survivor Launch

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Prove your worth in the crucible of Kazuwari, where the arena's masters and their worshipers exalt the victorious and delight in the blood forfeited by the defeated. Something corrupts the spirits that dwell in the very stones of the crucible, and only you can uncover its secrets.

 

In this new DLC for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire:

• Seek glory, treasure, and truth in an arena designed to test the mettle of you and your party.
• Slay your way through the most challenging foes you have ever faced, both past and present.
• Survive the trials and whims of the spirits and their worshipers to prove you stand above even the greatest the Deadfire has to offer.

Seeker, Slayer, Survivor is now available on Steam, GOG, and Origin, with Mac versions coming soon.

Patch 3.0

New Berath's Blessings! New Magran's Fire challenge modes! A new mega-boss!

There's a lot of new in Patch 3.0, and we can't wait for the community to experience all we have to offer. Check out some of the highlights below:

• New Magran's Fires Challenges
• Eothas' Challenge - Players must complete the game in a certain amount of time
• Galawain's Challenge - Beasts have random buffs set throughout the game.

• New Berath's Blessings
• Loaded Pockets -  NPC pockets are filled with more and rarer items for those Watchers who have sticky fingers.
• Legendary Crew - Three veteran sailors from the Kraken's Eye tavern are willing to cut you a great deal. Hire these experienced sailors for cheap!
• Discount Craftsman - Crafting and enchanting costs are reduced!
• Mythical Discovery - The Watcher's starting armoire has a Mythical Adra Stone that can upgrade any one legendary quality item to Mythic!

• Spider Queen Megaboss - Belranga has arrived and if the feedback by our beta testers is any proof, she's as terrifying as we were hoping she would be. Hunt her down now to find some...mouth-watering rewards

And these are but a few of the giant patch that is 3.0! Check out our full 3.0 Patch notes, or go see the changes live in-game now!

[...]

Thanks Silver Coin!

Patch 2.1.0 for Pillars of Eternity II is now available:

Patch 2.1.0.0034 is live!

Greetings and well met Watchers!

Patch 2.1.0 is now live! There are a ton of new features and fixes in the game, so I'll just leave you with the new stuff. For the complete patch notes, please visit our forums.

New Features & Updates

• Shroud of the Phantasm - A new community-designed cape, the Shroud of the Phantasm seems to grant the wielder the favor of Wael, though the will of the God of Secrets is all but impossible to discern for certain. Wearers gain the ability to manifest illusory duplicates and are rarely, if the God of Secrets is watching, struck with bolts of understanding capable of turning the tide of battle. You can find this magical item hidden within Berkana's Observatory.
• Ability Tree Preview - Thanks to our programming team, the Class Ability Tree can now be viewed outside of the level up screen! This can be done from the Inventory/Character Sheet UI, or when recruiting a new companion.
• New Magran's Fires Challenges added - New challenges and old favorites have been added for players that want a difficult experience with a twist.  These challenges can be found by clicking the head of Magran at the bottom of the Title Menu.
• Skaen's Challenge
• The Fog of War is greatly reduced around the Player's Character.
• Torches can help increase the vision area.
• Abydon's Challenge
• Weapons and Armor now degrade during adventuring.
• Weapons and Armor can be repaired for a price through the Enchanting Menu.
• Enchanting UI Update
• The Enchanting Menu has received a visual re-work. Enchantment progression paths are now much clearer, and it should be easy to tell if a new enchantment will replace or rework an old enchantment.
• Steam Workshop Mod Support - Mods will now be supported through the Steam Workshop page. Check it out to see what unique changes the community is bringing to the world of Eora!
• Audio Combat Remixing - Our audio team has remastered in-game combat sounds, resolving a suite of bugs and generally improving the game as per community feedback:
• Combat Chatter now provides more critical feedback and is easier to understand during combat.
• Creatures have been tuned to spam sounds less
• Ability audio has been tuned to react to other sounds (i.e. gets softer when combat chatter is playing)
• And much more!

Resolved Major Issues

• FPS degradation over time that was introduced in v2.0.1 no longer occurs.
• Party companion portraits are now saved after restarting the game.
• Items are no longer duplicated when using the Quickload feature during item transactions.
• Modals appear when a weapon is copied into a character's main hand.
• Pillars of Eternity 1 saves are now recognized across all supported languages.

• Players now leave Bekarna's Observatory as expected.
• Players now leave Fort Deadlight as expected.
• Pre-Ukaizo save data now allows for DLC completion.
• Players that obtain the submarine can now leave Nekataka via port icon.
• Players can now read the Harbinger's missive with no issues.
• Aloth and Konstanten will now appear as intended in Party Management.
• Players no longer get stuck in combat when boarding the Deck of Many Things while a hostile ship is nearby.

A preview of Seeker, Slayer, Survivor for Pillars of Eternity 2 from the Obsidian site. Sceenshots at the link.

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Greetings, Watchers,

We hope you've been enjoying all the soft balls we've used to ease you into Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire's combat until now, but the baby gloves are coming off. This month, we're releasing the Abydon and Skaen challenges in Patch 2.1, a Mega Boss for those who adhere to the "get good" philosophy, and an entire DLC focused around proving your worth through glorious combat. Prepare yourselves, Watchers - none of this is for the unworthy.

Seeker, Slayer, Survivor

Far from the bustling trade lanes of the Deadfire Archipelego, the most ambitious warriors of Eora gather to compete for divine favor. Face the challenges of Kazuwari's Crucible and seek treasure and truth in an arena designed to test the mettle of you and your party. Slay your way through the most challenging foes you have ever faced, both past and present. Survive the trials and whims of the spirits and their worshipers to prove you stand above even the greatest the Deadfire has to offer. 

Be ready, Watcher. Seeker, Slayer, Survivor comes September 25th.

[...]

Thanks Silver Coin!

The second of three DLCs for Pillars of Eternity II: Deathfire, is scheduled for release on the 25th of September.

Irvine, California – September 4th, 2018 - Independent developer Obsidian Entertainment, in partnership with indie powerhouse publisher Versus Evil revealed during their panel at PAX West the next major paid DLC release, titled “Seeker, Slayer, Survivor” for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, will release on September 25th.

“Seeker, Slayer, Survivor” is heavily focused around combat with a wide variety of deadly adversaries’ hell bent on destruction as players face down everything from dueling wizards to regenerating spiders. Based along three pillars of combat, the DLC will challenge Deadfire players in a new way. Choosing the Seeker, combat tasks players with looking for a solution to take down their foe, while the Survivor has combat that challenges fighting skills against waves of enemies, and finally the Slayer puts players in combat that will see their party go up against some truly fearsome creatures in a battle to the death.

“Delving into a rich story, exploring fascinating new environments, and unearthing powerful items are still crucial, but players will experience combat trials like they have never seen before as combatants in the Crucible” said Brandon Adler, DLC Game Director for Obsidian.

Add to that a host of additional bug fixes and balance improvements, Seeker, Slayer, Survivor adds an action packed DLC full of challenges, puzzles and deadly adversaries to take down.

The RPG Codex has ruled on Pillars of Eternity II and decided 'It's Pretty Alright'.

Things start to get a bit less nice when you drift away from exploration and start questing. The size of the world and its settlements, particularly Neketaka, which is an Athkatla-sized main city that takes a ton of time to check out in full, means there are many side quests to tick off. The vast majority of them are unfortunately of the FedEx variety where you go from place A to place B and win, but a few are more expansive and involved. The premises of these quest chains can be interesting, and some are even interconnected, but their execution leaves a lot to be desired, for multiple reasons.​

For starters, they look like they give you a bunch of important choices, but from my observations these choices never amount to anything. Fair enough, having done only one playthrough I can’t speak of it with certainty, but over the years I’ve become good at identifying fake choices, and Deadfire checks out on all the criteria. Typically, having done a quest chain you never have to interact with the quest giver or other people related to it again in any way, there’s nobody coming after your ass seeking revenge, nobody gives you any major problems related to your decisions, etc. The only tangible negative consequences I can think of are companions leaving you based on certain decisions.

Much worse though, all the quests more complex than FedEx are terribly, terribly broken. I don’t think I’ve seen a single one that wouldn’t get bugged by going off the rails pre-planned by a designer and doing things in a different order. This includes broken triggers, missing dialogue options, buggy outcomes, anything that you can probably think of except total inability to finish them – at least that didn’t happen to me at any time.

[...]

Thanks Couchpotato!

@PCGamesN Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire has new DLC called 'Seeker, Slayer, Survivor'.

The Seeker Survivor Slayer DLC was shown off at Gamescom 2018, and we were able to discuss the ideas behind it with the expansion’s director, Brandon Adler.

“It’s heavily focused on combat, we’re trying to play around with that,” Adler says. But he makes clear that this isn’t just a standard arena mode: “The fights are not just ‘grab a bunch of creatures, throw them in an arena and have a fight’. One of the fights is two wizard brothers that are fighting each other, and they both cast different types of magic. They put giant wards on the ground to protect themselves from their brother’s magic, and so you jump between those wards whenever you’re trying to avoid spells.”

[...]

Thanks Silver Coin!

Techquila reviewed Pillars of Eternity 2 and gave it a 4.4 out of 5 and the label 'One of the best cRPGs of our time'.

Being set in the Deadfire archipelago has major implications on every facet of the gameplay, most of them positive. The focus of the game shifts to exploration of the dense network of  islands, some hidden while others known. Most uncharted islands contain dungeons or crytic puzzles, and along with those come lots of treasures.

However unlike the first game, the dungeons here are precise and don’t drag on for more than a handful of levels. An overview map similar to open world JRPGs is mostly used for exploration which switches to 3rd person-isometric within towns, villages and ruins.

Maritime combat and ship-maintenance are core components of the gameplay in Pillars of Eternity II, although the combat is fairly simple and limited to a bunch of dialog options. These involve barking orders to your crew and unless you decide to board the enemy ship, there’s no actual combat involved.

A new Fig update for Pillars of Eternity II.

Update #54 - New Challenges Approach

Posted: 08/17/2018

---

 

Greetings, Watchers,

We hope that those of you who have journeyed to Harbingers' Watch have enjoyed your stay (and according to the Steam reviews, you have!), but there is still plenty more to come in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. In the timeline that we shared with you in Update 53, you may have noticed that this month will see the release of Abydon and Skaen's God Challenges. Take a look below for descriptions of those challenges, what's new in Hotfix Patch 2.0.1, and a sneak peek of what's to come!

Challenge Yourself

• Abydon - The god of the forge is ready to challenge you with forged items you carry. The more you use weapons and armor, the more they will wear down and become "Damaged". This modifier will make them progressively worse and eventually destroy them unless the mods are removed through Enchantments. Choose the items you will wear into battle wisely!
• Skaen - With Skaen's challenge, when indoors or at night, fog of war encroaches more. Torches and lanterns can partially offset the additional fog of war, but only a little.

We look forward to seeing what you talented Watchers are able to do with these challenges enabled. Remember, if you're streaming these challenges, let us know by tagging us on Twitter so we can go and hang out with you!

That's One Mega Boss

Next month we'll be bringing our first Mega Boss to Deadfire. As we've said in some interviews recently, the Mega Bosses are end game challenges that you can take on in the Deadfire and are meant to test your party's mettle. These fights are meant to be for high level parties, so don't expect to be able to tackle them right when you get the Defiant out on the seas of the archipelago. We'll have more information on who the first Mega Boss will be in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

Patch 2.0.1

Today we've released a patch that fixes some of the bigger issues some players have had since the launch of "Beast of Winter." Our forums have the full patch notes, but some of the highlights are:

• Retrained party members will no longer gain Knock Down, Constant Recovery, Battle Axe Proficiency, or Mace Proficiency when they should not.
• The autosave feature works as intended after jumping into the pit in the Beast of Winter DLC and allows for progression.
• Party members will no longer disappear near the portal in Sunken Crown.
• Party members stay together when using the portal in Sunken Crown when it's flooded.

[...]

Pillars of Eternity II DLC reviews for 'Beast of Winter'.

From fextralife

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In this video, we took at look at the first paid DLC for Pillars of Eternity 2 Deadfire, Beast of Winter.

[...]

The Sixth Axis reviewed the DLC also:

Harbingers’ Watch is effectively an iceberg in the centre of a tropical archipelago. Think of it like the dark horse of the family, like a goth in The Brady Bunch. You are summoned to this place by a letter from the followers of Rymrgand, who is the titular Beast of Winter, and also a God of famine, plague, and entropy. A lovely fellow no doubt and one who tends to take the form of a minotaur. You’ve been chosen by them because chaos tends to follow you around, and with chaos comes destruction, which is what they really, really want to befall them.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

RPG Site checked out the Beast of Winter addon for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire.

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire - Beast of Winter Review

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire's first major DLC content, Beast of Winter, released this week alongside Patch 2.0. Like the White March DLC updates for the original game, Beast of Winter is not an epilogue or extension of the game's story in a linear sense, but rather it takes place during the narrative of the main game. Logistically speaking, it's tuned to a party around level 15, so it acts as a late game area whose mostly isolated plot takes place before the Watcher's journey to stop Eothas's march concludes.

The DLC starts with the Watcher receiving a mysterious missive at the behest of the citizens of Harbinger's watch, a tucked away iceberg-island situated at the edge of the Deadfire Archipelago. Upon arrival at the island, the Watcher finds themselves in the middle of a deadly confrontation between Rymrgand - the God of Death, and an icy dragon that risks enveloping the Deadfire in a frozen prison.

[...]

Score: 7/10

@PCGamesN Pillars of Eternity II DLC Beast of Winter has been released.

Update, August 2: Beast of Winter for Pillars of Eternity 2 releases today, so Obsidian has broken down what to expect.

Today marks the launch of the first big expansion for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, with Beast of Winter offering a substantial new adventure for you and your party. To commemorate the launch, Obsidian has provided a new backer update video, with the developers breaking down their favourite parts of the expansion and detailing their development philosophy.

[...]

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Maylander checked out Pillars of Eternity II to determine how good the game is, but also if it is better than its predecessor.

In 2012, Obsidian Entertainment announced that they were working on a game similar to the Baldur's Gate games. Fans were hyped, and the following Kickstarter campaign became the most successful campaign in video game history by obtaining roughly $4 million in funding. Three years later, Pillars of Eternity was released to critical acclaim, including in our own review by Corwin.

What's strange about Pillars of Eternity is that, while the reception, reviews and ratings were good at the time, it's still considered "good, but not great" by a lot of people, especially if played without the two DLCs, The White March part 1 and 2. This led to a mediocre reception when Pillars of Eternity 2 was announced, and the expectations weren't all that great ahead of this year's release.

They probably should have been though, as Pillars of Eternity 2 is flat out better than its predecessor in pretty much every way. After two decent attempts, Pillars of Eternity and Tyranny, it's fair to say that Obsidian Entertainment has gained considerable experience in how to make isometric, party based RPG's with the Unity engine. It shows.

Obsidian have been interviewed by mmorpg about the expansion called Beast of Winter for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire.

A modder called Kaldaien has uncovered a way to dramatically improve the performance of Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire.

[Special K] Fix for Inverse CPU Performance Scaling

Intro

I have determined one cause of extreme performance problems for systems with higher-end CPUs.

The game spawns one worker thread per-CPU core (logical, not physical), and does not assign thread priority. This causes starvation and the result can be a very substantial decrease in framerate.

•  
  My system goes from 24 FPS to over 100 at 4K after artificially decreasing my CPU's core count from 16 down to 3.

Download and Install

Grab a specially prepared version of Special K from here[github.com]

•  
  Extract the DLL and PDB (optional debug info) to your Pillars of Eternity 2 install directory

Configuration

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Backspace in-game, then expand the "Advanced" section of the Framerate Limiter settings.
2. Enable "CPU Core Spoofing" and cut the number of CPU cores in half.
3. Restart the game and test framerate

•  
  • You may try reducing the number of cores even farther if framerate is stable.
  • Hitching may occur while panning the camera if core count is reduced too far.

Misc. Performance Advice

If you are having GPU performance issues, Ambient Occlusion is the most poorly optimized graphical effect in the game. Dynamic Lights also have a modest impact on performance.

These are the first things you should try turning off if using a lower-end GPU.

[...]

Pillars of Eternity II is getting a new DLC called Beast of Winter, which has been previewed by PCGamesN. The DLC will release August 2nd.

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Beast of Winter, the first of three planned paid DLC packs for Deadfire, flips the formula once again. The idyllic, Polynesian white sand and blue seas have been covered by snow and ice. A new vein of dark comedy has opened up in the writing. And you, the heroic Watcher, are being celebrated once again - but this time by some pretty unpalatable types.

“One of the real rewarding things about working on DLC is that the groundwork is done,” Beast of Winter narrative designer Alex Scokel tells us. “We don’t have to worry about making sure that every weapon has an animation associated with it - we can just make new stuff.

[...]

Patch 1.2 for Pillars of Eternity: Deadfire is here, with the following highlights.

• Inventory and Store Features
  • Your stash is now searchable!
  • Holding shift while selling things from your stash will now add items without prompting the player about stack sizes.
• Companions and Relationships
  • Reputation screen now displays the dialogue nodes that affected change with companion relationships.
  • Added UI to recommend which companions to bring on quests relevant to those companions.
• Mod Manager UI
  
  • User interface added that lets you track which mods you've added or turned on or off.
• Crew Injuries
  • An Injured Crew HUD is now available.
• Balance Changes
  • All 2H melee weapons now receive +1 Penetration to put them in line with the other melee weapons.
  • Several under-performing Cipher spells have been buffed while Charm has been re-tuned to break if the character takes damage from the charming party.
  • Tricksters have gotten new spells, lower penalties, and cheaper high level abilities, while Wizards have lower out of school penalties, higher power levels with specialized schools, and spell buffs. Additionally, low-level Priest spells have been buffed.
  • We wanted consumables to be valuable tools to solve problems, not be a singular factor in combat or be a crutch that players could reach for too easily and without any need for decision-making. As they were, they were too-often the only deciding factor in combat. We've re-tuned consumables to scale exclusively from skill ranks and power level bonuses and figurines will no longer have unlimited uses.
• Major Fixes
  
  • Fixed an issue where party members who were knocked out during a save state would be dead but still be in the party upon loading a save
  • Players no longer spiritshift (and lose equipment) when drinking from the pool at Outcast's Respite. 
  • Player health in character sheet now displays properly.
  • Active animal companion abilities now properly display on the Ranger and animal companion ability bars.
  • Fixed problems with the ability bar detecting the active/queued state of modal abilities in no modal group.

What's Next?

The developers are still hard at work to bring continuous improvements, features, and content to the Deadfire - stay tuned in July for new challenge modes, a new free merchant-ship DLC, and our first expansive DLC, the "Beast of Winter". More news on them in the coming weeks!

A major patch for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is currently available on the beta branch which adds mod support.

Hello Beta Folk!
 
The Team has been working hard on getting Version 1.2 ready. This is a bigger patch stuffed with a bunch of fixes, some new features, and some balance changes (see notes below). Windows and OSX version are now available on the beta branches on both Steam and GOG. Linux needs to have an issue resolved before we can add that to the beta for Steam.
 
We'd really like your help in making sure that these changes & fixes are not having any unintended effects on your game. Specifically, please keep an eye out for:

• Cases where click-ables cannot be clicked (related to our Fog of War changes)
• Class/abilities not working correctly (related to our changes for Mod support)

Thank you so much for your help in testing out these beta patches! 
 

UPDATE: 6/28

Hello all! 

 

We are placing an updated build onto the beta branches of Steam and GOG.

 

Build 1.2.0.0009 Updates

• Linux Build is now available!
         If you have any issues with this Linux update, please try restarting your steam client.
• Deleting mods, using the up/down arrows for load priority, and clicking the refresh button now work properly.
• Fixed a rare issue where sometimes save games couldn't be loaded.
• Fugue Spore poison Charm effect has been changed to Confused and its duration has been slightly increased.
• Resolved an issue where some entries in the Companion Relationship history UI were blank.
• Sungrazer Flail Extinction Event can no longer trigger off of its own attack.
• All consumables now have a scaling keyword on their base ability to ensure that each one properly benefits from scaling.
• Scroll of Circle of Protection will now play VFX properly and end its duration.
• Scroll of the Helpless Beast is now PL 0 and scales only with Arcana and Power Level bonuses.
• Potion of Form of the Fearsome Brute no longer scales its Ogre form passive effects based on attributes.
• Frost Bomb is now properly set to PL 0, so it will no longer receive scaling penalties.
• Wahai Poraga now has the correct Penetration value from pollaxe data.

 
Build 1.2.0.0008 Updates

New Features

• Added mod support for character backgrounds, voice sets, and Classes.
• Mod Manager added!
  • We have just put in a Mod Manager to work with Nexus Mods. We're still working out the kinks though. Here are some of the known issues we are working on.
  • Known Issues:
    • Unable to delete mods, refresh list or move mods on priority list.
    • View Documentation button leads you to eternity.obsidian.net.
    • Part of UI does not scale properly at low resolutions.
    • Localized text is not yet in.
    • Long titles are displayed in very tiny font.
• The Player Stash now has a search feature.
• Holding shift while selling things from your stash will now add items without prompting the player about stack sizes.
• Reputation screen now displays the player choices that led to changes with the companions's relationship.
• New UI for Crew Injuries has been Added.
• Added UI to recommend which companions to bring on quests relevant to those companions.

Major Fixes

• Fixed an issue where party members who were knocked out during a save state would be dead but still be in the party upon loading the save.
• Players no longer spiritshift when drinking from the pool at Outcast's Respite.  This was causing issues with equipment missing upon loading a save where the user was spiritshifted.
• Various CPU performance improvements have been made across the game.

Companions/Crew

• Players can no longer pickpocket their party members that aren't in the current party.
• Fixed an issue where Vela would disappear from the player ship when wanting to bark at a party member.

[...]

Patch 1.1 has been released for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire.

NerdSpan reviewed Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire:

What is… Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire?

“Baldur’s Gate with a Modern Twist”

Like the first entry in this series, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire takes elements of tabletop RPGs and adapts them for the PC, streamlining away some of the less fun things for players to worry about (I’m looking at you, third edition D&D attack rolls) while keeping some of the best parts of tabletop RPGs— the wild combat, the expansive world, and the ability to immerse yourself in the role of a fantasy character.

[...]

This game is perfect for:

Players who crave a lengthy RPG that harkens back to the late ’90s, early ’00s era without becoming trapped by the excruciating shortcomings of the past.

Would I recommend it?

Yes.

@PC Gamer If you feel frustrated by the difficulty level of Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, you may want to try this new level scaling mod.

I've found Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire to be a tricky RPG. I bounced between Classic, Relaxed, and the breezy Story difficulty modes for most of it, depending on how much tactical combat I was in the mood for. But for some people, it's a little too easy. If you're one of them, then modder maxolina has you covered: they released a difficulty mod at the weekend that adjusts enemy level scaling to give you a harder time. 

In the base game, enemies only scale up a maximum of four levels, so if you're at level 20 and you come across a level 10 enemy, they'll only scale up to 14. The Deadly Deadfire mod increases that maximum to nine levels, so you'd face a level 19 enemy instead. Important named enemies automatically gain an extra two levels on top of that to make boss fights even harder.

[...]

Thanks henriquejr!

New Game Network has reviewed Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire:

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Review

A worthwhile sequel that runs into some rough waters

The honeymoon period of the cRPG revival is over. Much like the pixel platformer or the point-and-click adventure game, the genre spent a few years celebrating its own resurrection with a handful of solid titles that were warmly received, in part, because it was so great to have the genre back. I’m not saying that games like Divinity: Original Sin, Torment: Tides of Numenera, or even the first Pillars of Eternity weren’t good or even great games, just that part of what made them great was how refreshing it felt to see the old concepts of the cRPG not only reintroduced but being iterated on. Pillars of Eternity might have been the culmination of this honeymoon phase. The game was the most faithful recreation of the Infinity Engine games like Baldur’s Gate or Icewind Dale - the interface, audio cues, and overworld structure lifted directly from the RPGs of old. There was no hiding the game’s roots and that’s what appealed to so many players.

[...]

Overall
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is a fine game that makes it easy to get swept away in the pirate life and the thrills of ship combat. It’s a solid evolution on the first outing, though the technical flaws are significant and ultimately detract from the overall impression.

Score: 76%

Patch 1.1  for Pillars of Eternity II is going to be available early June, containing fixes and refinements.

Included in Patch 1.1 is a complete overhaul of Veteran and Path of the Damned difficulties. You'll find more enemies per encounter and with new level scaling adjustments the game should be much more challenging. Let us know what you think on the forums - this will be an ongoing process based on community feedback. Secondly, for players who want to play the game for a  second (or third!) time, we are adding an option to skip the introduction and jump straight into the second scene. This option will be available on the new game screen and will not require any Berath's Blessings points to activate. Lastly, the team is also adding new cosmetic options for player customization with the ability to change character appearance at any time.

More features for the game are planned though:

Just like the first Pillars of Eternity, the team is committed to support Deadfire with new features, content, bug fixes, and polish to make the game the best it can be. We are listening to your feedback on our forums, Reddit, social media, and user reviews - and the development team has many ideas for improvement, too. Through 2018, we have plans to add more quality of life changes to make the game better and better. For the mod community, we will be releasing documentation on the game data formats, and will be working on tools to help facilitate mods.  Another feature that the team is really excited about is what we are calling "Magran's Fires". Similar to Berath's Blessings, these modes can be enabled from the main menu and will add gameplay modifiers for challenges above and beyond Path of the Damned. In addition to the returning Triple Crown and Triple Crown Solo challenges, we will be rolling out challenges themed to Eora's gods, beginning with Berath, Galawain, and, of course, Magran.  As always, we are listening to feedback on what you would like to see in future updates.

And there is news about the DLC that is coming our way, some of it free:

While our programmers get Patch 1.1 ready, some of our artists and designers have had some time on their hands. They've put together the first of several free DLCs for Deadfire, "Rum Runner's Pack" which is coming out today. This pack features Mirke, a new Sidekick, along with a drunken personality idle animation and new alcoholic drinks. We will be releasing even more free DLC over the next few months that will add more items, ship upgrades, crew members, and appearance options. Look for the next free DLC to be available two weeks from now.

And some not free:

Don't forget we have three expansive DLCs on the horizon. The first DLC, "Beast of Winter", is due to land this July. We will be showing off the new areas and content in the DLC soon!

Patch 1.02 for Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire is available:

Hello fellow Watchers!

It's been a little over a week since we released Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire and we have received tons of amazing feedback and bug reports.  Thanks to all of your support we have been able to find many bugs hidden around the Deadfire and get to fixing them.  Below is the list of fixes coming in for the now released 1.0.2 patch.

Major Fixes

• [Mac/OSX] Resolved issue with loading into a black screen on Macs with Intel Integrated Graphics Cards.
• Mouse clicks now properly resister for users using the Korean IME in windows.
• Player Dispositions should change less drastically for small decisions.
• Level Scaling now enables correctly when toggled on.
• Players can now set or save cloned AI behaviors for all classes, and quick saves will not be lost when doing so.
• Fixed multiple Pillars I imports that were importing the incorrect state.
• Fixed a permissions issue that was blocking some players from loading saves.
• Fixed a combat related memory leak (should improve some FPS on long play sessions).
• Potential Spoilers:
• Spoiler

Companions/Crew

•  Eder's end game state from Pillars I has been fixed.

Audio

• Various VO fixes to the Vox Machina voice sets.

Miscellaneous

• Custom AI settings should now save changes when adding new conditionals or abilities.
• Gold, Greed, and Guts achievement now unlocks when loading a save that has completed the quest.
• Pillars I history creator now removes options from the list once a choice has been made to prevent confusion.
• Various Credit fixes.

Gaming on Linux offered their thoughts on Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire.

...

With that said, there are some caveats that could put people off. For example, it’s not a game that would draw in newcomers that easily. As well as the choices from the previous game are explained and integrated, I can see new players feel a little overwhelmed by the weight of the in-game history. Combined with the open nature of the game, it could also be hard for them to decide what they should be doing and, most importantly, why. Some part of this is due to the limited nature of the quest journal; it could use more options for filtering and sorting quests and people.

For those who persist or are coming back to the series with positive expectations, however, I think that they’ll find an engaging and delightful adventure waiting for them. I can only hope that Obsidian will take stock of what worked and what didn’t and apply it to their future games. Warts and all, I enjoyed my time in the Deadfire and there’s very little else that’s available to play that matches the scope and loving attention to detail found in the game.

Thanks rjshae!

IndianNoob has reviewed Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire:

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Review (PC) :: Noobreview :: From Swords to Shanties

Obsidian Entertainment‘s 2015 RPG Pillars of Eternity was a divisive title for many. While a portion of the rpg community welcomed the crowdfunded title with open arms, a more hardcore crowd found the game to be an underwhelming experience. You can check out our review of the game here. Three years later, Obsidian Entertainment is back with the sequel; Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. Does it elevate the franchise to CRPG greatness or fall flat on its wings? Let’s find out.

[...]

VERDICT

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire improves on the original in almost all aspects. While it may lack the experimentation factor of Divinity- Original Sin 2, Deadfire manages to bring that much needed balance between Inifinity engine RPGs and their modern counterparts. Is it the Baldur’s Gate II everyone wanted? No. After much struggle, the Pillars of Eternity series is standing on its own legs now.

RPG Site made a video review for Pillars of Eternity: Deadfire:

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Review

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One Angry Gamer checked out Pillars of Eternity: Deadfire:

Pillars Of Eternity 2 Review: Improving On The Original In Every Way

For me, the Baldur’s Gate style of RPG has always been the most faithful digital recreation of the pen and paper tabletop games. That used to be partly because Bioware built its games based on the same number crunching that your DM would be doing every time you played a quest in his cellar or attic bedroom. Bioware may well have taken a more action orientated path with the last Dragon Age, but Obsidian Entertainment’s original Pillars of Eternity was one of several games that retain the feel of the original Baldur’s Gate series.

And, much as Baldur’s Gate II improved on its predecessor in almost every way, whilst remaining true to the original formula, so too is Pillars of Eternity II more evolution than revolution. Picking up immediately where the first game ends, this incredible sequel makes iterative improvements in almost every area and never misses a beat with its story, it’s pacing or it’s combat. If you loved the first game and wanted more, then simply put, you can stop reading right now to go and and buy this incredible sequel.
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Ultimately, whether you jump into Pillars II for the incredibly rich story, the fantastic presentation or the deep and tactical combat, it is one of the best RPG’s money can buy. Literally my only reservation with it comes on behalf of those who didn’t play the first game and might as well do so before investing in this sequel. Whilst Pillars II does, as I said before, improve on every aspect of the original, it is certainly a direct sequel that really benefits from a good understanding of the original game. For returning players who enjoyed the first game, Pillars II is simply a:
Buy It

Niche Gamer reviewed Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire:

Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Review – A Swashbuckling Late 90s RPG

In keeping with this era’s current gaming climate, 2015’s Pillars of Eternity ended up being quite the polarizing CRPG. Sure, daring to be the next Baldur’s Gate or Icewind Dale is already enough to earn a fair amount of derision amongst the genre’s diehards, but after the poor handling of the tombstone controversy and refusal to address some of the title’s obvious balancing issues concerning enemy movement and engagement (How many times did your Aloth die?), it fell far short of the mark Obsidian had set for it and was overshadowed by other more polished entries such as The Witcher 3 and Divinity: Original Sin.

Regardless of how the game is viewed by a large portion of the community, I still found it to be an enjoyable CRPG that allowed for an impressive level of replayability thanks to its deep mechanics and remarkable receptiveness towards theory-crafting as well as it giving me the option to create my own handmade party. It was a D&D munchkin’s dream game, complete with overflowing chests of laughably powerful loot and ridiculously over-leveled nonobligatory boss battles. After four trips and 300 hours, I still found myself entertained with what that simple kickstarter RPG had to offer.

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Regardless, Pillars of Eternity 2 is an excellent CRPG that improves upon the original in every single aspect, as well as creating the best naval combat minigame in the history of gaming. Combine that with the huge world, 100 hour quest, supreme non-linearity, and immense replay value afforded by the deep character creation and you have the one game you shouldn’t be allowed to miss this year.

Unless you’re hoping to have your female main hero get drilled by a handsome, straight man.

The Verdict: 9.5

Here are the first reviews for Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire:

• CGMagazine 9.5/10
• Game Informer 8.75/10
• GamesBeat 92/100
• GameSpace 9.8/10
• GameSpot 8/10​
• Guardian 4/5
• Hardcore Gamer 4.5/5
• IGN 8.5/10
• MMORPG 10/10
• PC Gamer 88/100
• PCGamesN 9/10
• Ragequit.gr 92/100
• RPG Site 9/10
• Shacknews 9/10
• Sirius Gaming 8/10
• Slantmagazine 4.5/5
• TheSixthAxis 9/10
• USgamer 4.5/5
• Wccftech 9/10
• Windows Central 5/5
• Worth Playing 9.5/10

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire has been released today:

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Launch Trailer

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Obsidian Entertainment and Versus Evil are proud to present Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, sequel to the multi-award-winning RPG Pillars of Eternity. This official launch trailer offers a thrilling snapshot of the multifaceted world of Deadfire, foreshadowing the seafaring encounters and desperate battles players will have to overcome, as well as the inscrutable figure of the god Eothas himself.

PCGamesN shares details about the world of Deadfire in Pillars of Eternity 2 courtesy of Obsidian Entertainment.

This is a sponsored post courtesy of Obsidian Entertainment. 

Pillars of Eternity II transports you to the Deadfire Archipelago which you will quickly find out provides a very different experience to your last trip into Obsidian’s fantasy universe. The first game stuck closely to established Tolkienesque archetypes, with rolling meadows, crumbling fortresses, and murky forests, but Pillars II replaces that entirely with a Polynesian-like island landscape. The result is a game that leans into fantasies of the golden age of pirating more than your classic D&D adventure, and that’s something to be excited about.  

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Thanks Farflame!

A new update has been made available for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, including a new video.

We know we promised you an update that would focus on the audio of Pillars II, and you will absolutely get it... soon! Long story short, between a new baby coming into our Audio Director Justin Bell's life, as well as finalizing the expansive game that Deadfire is, we've had to shift some things around. Before we continue, we want to congratulate Justin on the new addition to his family, and give a huge shout out to the team behind Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire who have been doing awesome work to bring the game to all of you in just a couple of short weeks.

Since we rescoped this update, we talked to some of the Pillars II team members and asked them about the exciting things they've done in their playthroughs of Deadfire. We don't want to show them all, but here's a sampling of what you can do when Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire launches on May 8th.

PC Gamer talked to Narrative co-lead Carrie Patel about lessons learned and world building in Pillars of Eternity 2.

“Story-wise, we wanted to get some of those conflicts and concerns in. We're always big on giving the player interesting choices that are not purely black and white. Letting the player choose how to resolve the tribe's concerns about the Adra and the possibility of Vailian colonization and showing two different viewpoints about what that might look like for them and letting the player decide.”

Whenever we're worldbuilding it can be useful to pull from real world influences but you never want to be like, ‘Oh, I'm just making a fantasy version of this existing culture.’
Carrie Patel

When it comes to the day-to-day work of building a place like Tikawara, Patel explains that Obsidian’s team of area designers and narrative designers are matched up to build the space both physically and culturally. “It's our job as narrative designers to come up with good stories and make sure those are expressed in the game, but it's also something the area designers are intimately involved with. They're designing the levels, the quests, and the gameplay so we sit down early on in the concept stage and hash out what the area's going to be, where it fits in with the game, what kind of gameplay they're trying to implement, what kind of story we want to bring in and how to marry those two interests.”

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@Comicbook According to a press release Pillars of Eternity II will be getting three expansions.

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According to a recent press release we received:

• The first downloadable-content pack (DLC), ‘Beast Of Winter‘ will be available in July 2018, and will take your party to an island populated by a mysterious doomsday cult, that hides an ancient secret. Players will get to experience adventuring in ‘The Beyond,’ a mysterious dimension populated by ancient souls and filled with devilish challenges.
• The second DLC ‘Seeker, Slayer, Survivor’ available in September 2018, is a combat-focused expansion taking place on a previously undiscovered island that will challenge the martial prowess of your party, and your tactical skills as a commander, as you embark on a mission to rediscover ancient relics, and pit your party against Eora’s most skilled and savage.
• The third DLC, ‘The Forgotten Sanctum’ available in November 2018, will test your party’s allegiance and morality in a quest to help (or obstruct) the great wizards of Eora. Will you befriend, betray or befuddle these venerable mystics as you uncover secrets lost to the generations? The consequences of your actions will be felt across the Deadfire Archipelago whatever you decide.

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Fansided checked out Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire at the PAX East 2018:

Get your pirate on with Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire | PAX East 2018 preview

We hit the high seas at PAX East 2018 during our demo of Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, the upcoming sequel to Obsidian’s high-fantasy CRPG.

Admittedly, Pillars of Eternity is one of those games that have been sitting in my backlog for quite some time now. The party-based “real-time-with-pause” tactical gameplay takes me right back to the old days of playing Baldur’s Gate for hours on end. This is a game I keep telling myself I really need to play. After playing a demo build of Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, the upcoming sequel to Obsidian’s hit RPG, I now realize how badly I need to get into this series ASAP.

At PAX East 2018, I met up with Pillars of Eternity 2's narrative designer Carrie Patel to discuss the game’s upcoming new sequel, what’s changed between the two games, and of course, get a hands-on preview with a demo build. Deadfire is a direct sequel to the first title: players control the Watcher, who travels to the Deadfire islands to pursue the reawakened and destructive god Eothas.

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Thanks Farflame!

PCGamesN reports that Obsidian have been hiding DLC codes in Pillars of Eternity 2 screenshots.

We’re creeping in on the release date for Obsidian’s throwback RPG sequel, Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire. That means there have been lots of screenshots, artwork, videos, and other teases for the game, and eagle-eyed fans have noted some hidden details in all the assets. Now the developers have launched a digital scavenger hunt, and suddenly it all makes sense.

 

Deadfire Archipelago Explorer’s Society Scavenger Hunt is a wordy way of naming a website that lets you input codes for free Pillars 2 DLC. Those codes are hidden in “trailers, screenshots, livestreams, at events, and more,” and will unlock up to 10 items for your enjoyment in the game via the official website.

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Here is the official announcement (following our news post 2 days ago) of the cooperation with the Critical Role team, who are lending their voices to Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire.

Obsidian and Critical Role Announce Collaboration for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire

Irvine, CA, April 10th – Obsidian Entertainment, developers of genre-defining RPGs such as Fallout: New Vegas and Pillars of Eternity, in partnership with publisher Versus Evil, and Critical Role, the biggest group in live-stream tabletop role-playing, are proud to announce their collaboration on the forthcoming Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. As a special treat for fans of the show, the Critical Role cast is returning to the characters they popularized in their first Dungeons & Dragons campaign, Vox Machina, allowing Deadfire players to choose Critical Role’s character voices for their created party members in the game. Special Vox Machina player portraits will also be available as a free DLC when Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire launches on May 8th.

“I was such a fan of the original Pillars game, and thoroughly enjoying being a part of the vibrant world the team created,” says voice actor and Critical Role DM, Matthew Mercer. “With the wonderful folks of Obsidian now bringing the entire cast of Critical Role to bring even more of the world of Eora to life, it’s sparked this incredible opportunity to bring our Critical Role characters of Vox Machina into their world via custom art and voice sets. A truly surreal milestone for this D&D nerd.”

“Working closely with the cast of Critical Role to bring Deadfire’s companions and story to life has been an amazing experience,” states Obsidian Entertainment Audio Director, Justin E. Bell, “Their incredible acting talent, ensemble chemistry, and tabletop roleplaying expertise coupled with Obsidian’s expertise in making deep, immersive, CRPG’s is the perfect combination. Together we’ve made something really special that we’re very proud of, and we can’t wait to share it with fans of RPGs when Deadfire releases.”

Critters and fans of Obsidian RPGs alike can pre-order Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire now from Critical Role (via versusevil.com), GOG, or Steam.

GOG has a pre-order deal for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire where you will receive Wasteland 2 free.

Gather your bonus games before venturing forth!

As the Chinese proverb goes: good things come in pairs. We're here to talk about free video games bundled with upcoming releases on GOG.com.

Pillars of Eternity II and BATTLETECH are heading to GOG.com, DRM-free on day one – and for a limited time all pre-orders come with a free game you can play right away:

Pre-order Pillars of Eternity II and get Wasteland 2 for free – two modern, party-based RPGs in one package of a combined bajillion gameplay hours, several novels worth of witty storytelling, and a bucketload of nostalgia for lovers of classic-style RPGs. Don't forget that pre-ordering also gets you The Captain's Footlocker bonus items. Pillars of Eternity II is slated for release on May 8, 2018.

Also, as you may have already noticed, when you pre-order BATTLETECH you get Shadowrun Returns for FREE. BATTLETECH comes out on April 24, so you'll be quite ready for more badassery. Supersized mech badassery.

The BATTLETECH offer will be available with all pre-orders and purchases until May 8, two weeks following the game's premiere. The Pillars of Eternity II offer will be available with all pre-orders and purchases until May 15, one week following the game's premiere. Both offers apply retroactively to existing pre-orders, customers who already own Shadowrun Returns or Wasteland 2 on GOG.com can reach out to support.gog.com team to receive a giftable copy.

@Gamewatcher Pillars of Eternity: Deadfire has announced its voice acting cast.

Obsidian had recently revealed a new detail about the voice cast of Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire. The previous title was partially voice-acted, with major plot-important conversations having full audio, but most of the dialogues being text-only. During the crowdfunding phase of Deadfire, one of the stretch goals was to double the budget dedicated to recording voice lines for dialogues, and now we know where that budget is going - the entire cast of Critical Role will be lending their voices to characters in the game.

Oh hello @CriticalRole cast. And welcome to #Deadfire!#CriticalRole + #Deadfire pic.twitter.com/uOSdvdXt9c

— Obsidian (@Obsidian) April 7, 2018

A new video for Pillars of Eternity II is showing the features of the game.

Farflame spotted some previews for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire:

Expansive DLC:

Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire PC - Preview

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PC Gamer:

Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire lets you become a fearsome pirate, if you want

 

Breaking bad in Deadfire's expansive archipelago.

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Obsidian could have just made Pillars again, with a new story and setting, and a lot of people would’ve been happy. But it’s exciting to know that Deadfire is so much more, bringing a thrilling seafaring element to the familiar fantasy role-playing. Naval combat, crew management, ship upgrades and piracy are just a few of the tantalising new additions to the Pillars formula, and it’ll be fascinating to delve into the strange culture, rituals and history of this vivid new setting. While the Dyrwood felt like a small chunk of a larger world, the Deadfire Archipelago is a great swathe of land and sea. I can’t wait to discover what intrigue, drama, and mysteries are waiting for me out there among the crashing waves.

Powerup Gaming:

Obsidian is trying to modernise tabletop video game RPGs with Pillars of Eternity 2

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“You have to think about how the faction you’re siding with is going to react? How are your companions gonna react? There are a lot of options and every single thing you do will have a different outcome.

Video game RPGs aren’t likely to fully replace tabletop games. However, with Pillars of Eternity 2, Obsidian is taking strides to modernise tabletop RPGs and improve their video game counterparts.

I think if you play the game ten different times, you're probably going to get a different outcome every single time - Katrina Garsten, Producer at Obsidian Entertainment

If the passion and excitement Garsten has for Pillars of Eternity 2 are indicative of the entire team, Pillars of Eternity 2 is going to be the definitive tabletop video game RPG.

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire has been delayed until May 8th.

Greetings fans!

We know you're as excited as we are about the upcoming launch of Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. As you have probably guessed, Deadfire is a huge game -- significantly larger than the original Pillars of Eternity. Obsidian has been working harder than Abydon himself to make sure every inch of it is awesome, as well as incorporating all the great feedback we have been getting from everyone playing the Backer Beta.

With this in mind, we are taking just a few extra weeks to polish and put those finishing touches on the game.

Our new launch date will be Tuesday, May 8, 2018. To tide you over until then, you can look forward to plenty of Deadfire-related news and content coming in the weeks and months.

See you all soon in the Deadfire!

Obsidian

TGG checked out Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire:

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire PC preview – A good taste of what’s to come

It’s been three long years since the first PoE game came out, and we’re now finally expecting the new “Pillars of Eternity” to be released very soon (on the 3rd of April, to be exact). However, before we jump into PoEII, let’s have a little history lesson first shall we?

As I was saying, when Obsidian announced the kickstarter campaign for the first game, it was great news for all old-school RPG fans, and luckily enough for you and me. Obsidian was able to reach their crowdfunding goal on time. So it’s nice to see how far we’ve come in 2018 =) And with that said, it’s now time for me to cover the preview build of PoEII!

Not only has Obsidian has managed to polish “Pillars of Eternity II” without dumbing it down. Obsidian has also sorted out a new overworld map for you to explore as well.

As soon as I started playing the preview build I noticed a much better graphical quality. The 3D models during character creation look a lot better than they did in the previous game, great news for those that love to spend a lot of time customizing their character.

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Thanks Farflame!

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire has a new update.

Update #45 - Sailing the Deadfire Archipelago

Posted: 02/24/2018

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Greetings, Backers! 

We wanted to start this update with an important message: if you have yet to complete your pledges and surveys, please do so! Completing your pledge helps us get you your copy of Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfireon launch day. If you have not completed your survey by this time, we cannot guarantee that it will make it into the game when Deadfire launches. We will get late surveys in through patches, but will be unable to do so on release. To fill out your survey, head over to your Eternity Account Profile and to the Surveys Page.

The High Seas

With that out of the way, on to the update! Producer, Katrina Garsten, and Design Director, Josh Sawyer, are both here to teach us about the ship crew system, ship combat, and how you backers can help us improve these features even more with your feedback. Take it away, team!

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Extended Coverage

Along with the informational video above, there has been a lot of coverage this month for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire! For starters, we got on the cover of PCGamer and Gamestar!

PC Gamer Cover

Online article - Watch Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire's ship combat in action

Gamestar Cover

Online articles:

• Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire - Romanze mit Haifisch: Neuer Begleiter Tekehu exklusiv enthüllt
• Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire - Die Fraktionen und was sie von Fallout: New Vegas gelernt haben

The covers came along with a great amount of coverage from many sites. We've put a lot of them in one place for you to go through, so you don't have to hunt around.

IGN - "When setting sail, Deadfire is a totally new animal that has me excited to captain my own ship, seek out quality crew, and look to the health and welfare of a large company of waywards. Going ashore, it’s basically more Pillars of Eternity, exactly as I remembered it but with a shiny new coat of paint. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I look forward to charting a course for further horizons when the full game launches this April."

MMORPG.com - "Obsidian has expanded the IP with an amazing story, detailed and nuanced customization that will appeal to both the hardcore cRPG fanatic and new players to the series and genre. It is literally the best of all worlds."

PCGamesN (focus on ships) - "Pillars of Eternity II needs to offer something much more than high-definition nostalgia in order to succeed in 2018, and it looks like that could well be found in its dedication to seafaring and tactical battles. By expanding into new and strange directions, Obsidian are not only honouring the expectations of players, but the lineage of Baldur’s Gate and its inspired, bold sequel too."

PCGamesN (focus on AI customization) - "From just a few hours of hands-on time with Deadfire it is evident that the new AI rules and combat changes have produced a far more enjoyable experience than seen in its predecessor."

The Sixth Axis - "What’s great is to see that they’re not merely resting on their laurels, but actively going back and looking at what worked and what didn’t, taking feedback from the community that’s helped to crowdfund this game as they reshape those ideas into something even more compelling."

Be sure to check out the rest of the coverage as well and dive into the Deadfire full on!

Cubed3.com

Expansive DLC

Finder.com

Game Informer

Gameindustry.biz

N3rdabl3.com

Player2.net

RPGFan.com

Shacknews

Softpedia.com

Gamesource.it

Multiplayer.it

MMO.one

Playground.ru

Vandal.net

Coming This Holiday Season!

In case you missed it during the coverage earlier this month, we are excited to announce that thanks to our publishing partner, Versus Evil, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire will be coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and the Nintendo Switch this holiday season. Red Cerberus is going to be handling the port of the game so the Deadfire team can remain focused on wrapping up the Windows PC, Mac, and Linux version of the game. 

But, jumping back to the PC version: in a few weeks we'll take a look behind the scenes with the audio team and dive into what it means to bring sound to the Deadfire. In the meantime, don't forget to get those surveys filled out if you have them!

 

 

Be sure to join the conversation for this update on our forums. If you missed Update 44, check it out here!

PCGamesN likes the quirky lore of Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire:

Pillars of Eternity II's quirky lore makes its world irresistible

From a distance, the first Pillars of Eternity could seem a little dry - drenched in pretend history then baked to resemble the best RPGs of the ‘90s, it is akin to a tea-stained map in an elaborate school project. To an extent, it had to be that way as the game promised to Kickstarter backers in 2012 was a return to what they loved about Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale, and Planescape: Torment.

There was no room for the wild, creatively unrestrained colour of Divinity: Original Sin II, nor the weird communist world order of Obsidian’s own Tyranny. Pillars of Eternity’s nation of Dyrwood was born when designer Josh Sawyer flipped a map of the Dalelands in the Forgotten Realms - of Dungeons & Dragons - and stuck a bunch of new labels on it.

Obsidian tasked themselves with recreating the feeling of decades of D&D lore. On top of that, perhaps they considered that, in Baldur’s Gate, the shelves of Candlekeep library were filled with books referencing the stories of RA Salvatore and Ed Greenwood.

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Thanks Farflame!

Farflame spotted two previews for Pillars of Eternity: Deadfire:

Expansive:

Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire is an evolution of the original in almost every conceivable way and we’ve only just been able to scratch the surface. Obsidian have me completely hooked already and I cannot wait to see what comes next.

Player2:

From our time with Pillars 2, it is easy to see this game becoming another hit for Obsidian. It is more welcoming than most of its CRPG brethern but it does that without losing any complexity for those that have spent years with this sort of game. With Obsidian’s track record it is safe to say that the story will more than likely be great and the visual aspects of the title are shaping up nicely. Pillars of Eternity II is one to watch and we can’t wait to dive into the full release in April.

GameInformer interviewed Josh Sawyer about Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. The interview is over 3 pages so prepare accordingly.

...I also had a chance to chat with the game’s director, Josh Sawyer, who went in depth to explain the inspirations fueling the new game, what has changed since the original, and details about new features that fans may not yet know about, including an as-yet undetailed character and other clues. 

Read on for all of Sawyer’s insight into the upcoming role-playing game from Obsidian Entertainment. 

Matt Miller: I want to start out talking about this intriguing corner of your campaign setting in which Pillars II unfolds. Can you tell me about the world of Pillars 2 and what makes it unique, both tonally and geographically?

Josh Sawyer: Sure. When we started on the original Pillars of Eternity, we intentionally skewed conservative because we were doing a Kickstarter that was playing heavily on nostalgia. We were very open about that, and because a lot of the Infinity Engine games focused on the sort of very traditional western European feel of something like D&D’s Forgotten Realms. We leaned pretty heavily towards that, but we always knew at the time that for future games, we wanted to spread our wings and take a look at places, visual styles, and cultures that aren’t necessarily dealt with as much in fantasy. Early on in Pillars, because both to stir the imagination of the designers and to stir the imagination of our players, I came up with a bunch of far-off locations for the worlds there that were not anywhere near where the first game took place. Places like Rauatai, the Living Lands, and the Vailian Republic, and then the Deadfire. 

The Deadfire, when we first conceived of it, I just thought it would be cool to have at the eastern edge of the known world, at least in this part of the world, the eastern edge of the known world is this huge chain of islands mostly made up of dormant volcanoes, which is where the name Deadfire comes from. And there’s a native population there, but it’s also full of pirates and sea monsters and all sorts of crazy things. When it came time to make the sequel to Pillars, we said “Where do we want to go?” The most common reply that I got was to the Deadfire. So, when we decided to set it here, we knew right away that we were going to have a lot of opportunities to have a much different visual style to our areas, we would introduce a culture that felt very not-European while still bringing over the colonial elements of cultures like the Vailian Republics.

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PCGamesN explores Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire and enjoys the customizable AI.

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Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire rethinks companions. As an RPG born from the Infinity Engine mould - which birthed Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale -  a heavy emphasis is placed on party-based combat. Its predecessor replicated Baldur’s Gate’s combat perhaps a little too faithfully, creating a system that was not only deep, but often confusing. With Deadfire, the team at Obsidian aim to rectify those problems, leaving behind not only the problems of its predecessor, but making your companions smarter and more engaging to be around. 

Take a closer look at Pillars of Eternity II's ship combat. 

 

A few key changes have been made to Pillars of Eternity II’s party system. You can expect to see:

• Cleaner combat mechanics that don’t sacrifice the original game’s depth.
• A new AI system that provides more challenging enemies and smarter companions.
• The ability to write AI behaviour routines for your companions.
• A new multiclass system that allows you to craft highly diverse characters.
• Companions that can argue or even fall in love with both you and each other.

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PCGamesN explored ship combat and customization in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire.

Pillars of Eternity II's ship combat is a deep and satisfying game within a game

“Hi, I’m Ser Guybrush Threepwood, +6 mighty pirate!” is not quite the way your character introduces themselves in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, but if that was an option it would certainly be in character. 

The sequel to Obsidian’s homage to Baldur’s Gate is leaping as far away from traditional fantasy as it can, washing players ashore in the colonial Deadfire Archipelago region. These volcanic islands are populated by diverse indigenous groups and invading corporations, while the seas are dominated by ruthless pirates and explorers. If you are to survive Deadfire, you will need to become the captain of your very own ship. 

 

Ships and seafaring are, on both a mechanical and lore level, what sets Deadfire and the original Pillars of Eternity apart. The ocean and islands provide a true shift in atmosphere for the series, and provide a whole host of new problems to be solved. Problems like:

• Customising your fully modular ship to ensure it is fit for combat.
• Recruiting a crew that possess the right naval skills and personality traits. 
• Keeping the crew happy by resolving their arguments and preventing mutinies. 
• Avoiding or engaging the villains of the ocean, be that one of many unique enemy ships or deadly sea monsters. 
• Achieving victory in the new turn-based ship combat system.

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MMORPG checked out Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire:

The RPG Files: Pillars of Eternity 2 Hands On Preview - It May Be Obsidian's Best RPG Yet

Over the course of the last several days, I've had a chance to sit down to play Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, the latest in a stellar line up of cRPGs that have taken gaming by storm over the last couple of years. Taking note of the original game and expanding on nearly every aspect from the technical to the aesthetics to the story itself, the game moves the Pillars IP forward in fantastic new ways.

Character Creation - It's an A+ Feature

As with all great cRPGs, you'll start Pillars 2 with a robust character creation feature. But before that, you'll select game options. There are five available (Story, Relaxed, Classic, Veteran and Path of the Damned, each increasingly difficult over the last. There are also two additional, yet separate, game features: Trial of Iron which is essentially hardcore mode with a single game file and permadeath; and Expert Mode that scales enemies to meet your party level no matter where you are adventuring.

[...]

Thanks Hak'n'Slash!

A new update for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire titled 'Making Pillars II Gorgeous'.

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Update Video

But that's months from now; let's get to the meat of this update. We wanted to show you just how far our artists have pushed Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire forward from the way our visuals looked in Pillars I. Let's join Katrina as she walks us through those changes:

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Birds! Sorry, we got a little caught up in the video. To follow up on the video, an update for the closed Backer Beta is now live. If you are in the Backer Beta, check out the changes in the Backer Beta section of our forums. As we have said many times, your feedback is critical to our development process, so please, please, please let us know what you think of the new changes.

Backer Keys

In addition to pre-orders going live, backers can now redeem your Backer Keys from the Products Page of your Eternity Account Profile on Obsidian.net. This will give you your copy of Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire on either Steam or GOG (your choice), all ready for our April 3rd launch date.

[...]

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire will be launching April 3rd.

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Launch Date Announced, Pre-Orders Open!

“Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is our first sequel here at Obsidian and we’ve created something incredible. At Obsidian, we are all about stories, worlds, and characters, and in Deadfire we’ve done it again with a vast open world explorable by the player’s own customizable ship, character customization with enough options to make any RPG player want to make a hundred characters, and an exciting narrative that truly delivers on the reactivity that makes our games special. We’re confident that new and returning players will find Deadfire to be the RPG experience of the year,” said Obsidian Entertainment CEO Feargus Urquhart.

Irvine, California – January 25th, 2018 -  Independent developer Obsidian Entertainment, in partnership with indie powerhouse publisher Versus Evil announced the launch of pre-orders today for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. Consumers can now digitally pre-order the Standard , Deluxe, and Obsidian Editions through Obsidian.net, GOG.com, and Steam, as well as other digital retailers. The physical Obsidian Edition of the game, which includes additional in-game content and physical items for gamers to enjoy, is available for pre-order at all major gaming retail stores.

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire will launch April 3, 2018 on Windows PC, Mac, and Linux platforms.

By pre-ordering the Standard, Deluxe, or Obsidian Edition, fans will receive three unique in-game digital items: 

• St. Drogga's Skull – Crafted from a sabre and the skull of a martyr, it will slash and burn enemies in combat, while also guiding players through the darkest reaches of the Deadfire.
• Beakhead, the Hawk (In-Game Pet): Beakhead, the white hawk, took a liking to your ship soon after you arrived in the Deadfire. Captains in the Deadfire are only as effective as their crew, and with this jaunty first-mate by your side, you're bound to find success at sea.
• The Black Flag: This flag is said to have been flown by a mysterious and rowdy band of seadogs from a far-off land, who dyed their sails black with a stain made from ground-up dragon glass. Dark and intimidating, but somehow attractive, nonetheless.

The standard edition of Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire will cost $49.99, digital and physical retail, while the Deluxe Edition will be priced at $59.99. The Deluxe Edition will include the game’s official soundtrack composed by Justin Bell, composer of the soundtrack to the first Pillars of Eternity. Additionally, the Deluxe Edition includes: an in-game pet, a Deadfire themed special in-game item, a digital pen and paper RPG starter guide, a high-resolution game map, and Volume II of the digital guide book, published by Dark Horse.

The Obsidian Edition is priced at $74.99 for the digital version, and includes everything that comes in the Deluxe Edition as well as the first three DLC expansions for Pillars of Eternity II, which each cost $9.99 to purchase separately, although these will not be available for separate purchase until the game’s official launch.

The physical version of the Obsidian Edition will cost $79.99, and will include the same content as its digital cousin, but also additional, physical rewards: a cloth map of the Deadfire region, an Explorer’s notepad, and a set of postcards that render the Deadfire Archipelago in beautiful detail.

The Inner Gamer interviewed Katrina Garsten, Producer at Obsidian Entertainment about Deadfire:

Pillars Of Eternity II: Deadfire Interview // PAX South 2018

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Thanks Farflame!

THQ Nordic and Versus Evil Deal have a distribution agreement for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire.

THQ Nordic and Versus Evil sign exclusive distribution deal for Obsidian Entertainment’s Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire

January 23, 2018

THQ Nordic to globally distribute (excluding Korean version) the physical edition of the upcoming RPG in partnership with Versus Evil and Obsidian Entertainment

Vienna/AUSTRIA, Phoenix, ML/USA, January 23, 2018: THQ Nordic today announced signing a global distribution deal (excluding the Korean language version) for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire with Versus Evil. Currently in development for PC, MAC and Linux by Obsidian Entertainment, the physical edition of the game will be brought to you by THQ Nordic. Further information on the content of the editions, as well as RRP and the release date to be announced soon.

“When we first started working with Obsidian on Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, we knew that we wanted to make sure that we created a great physical product that matched the quality of this RPG”, said Steve Escalante General Manager of Versus Evil. “In partnering with THQ Nordic, not only did we find a team that is passionate about the product, but has the distribution and reach we hope to achieve with a physical edition of Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire.”

“We are all really excited for the game and its different editions. It is always a pleasure working together with such talented, motivated, and dedicated teams like Versus Evil and Obsidian. It also helps that we are huge fans of the genre“, comments Jan Binsmaier Publishing Director of THQ Nordic. “On top of all that, we found a strong and reliable partner with Versus Evil, and it feels great to know that we share our mindset and work ethics. It is a perfect match.”

PC Gamer checked out Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire:

Tackling an ancient curse and an angry titan in Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire

Hands-on with Obsidian’s next fantasy epic.

Firebeard is a dwarven swashbuckler with a sideline in assassination and thievery. He’s charming, cunning, and streetwise, but intelligent and well-traveled too, with an intellect as sharp as his rapier. This is the character I’ve created for my first foray into Deadfire, the sequel to Pillars of Eternity. I take advantage of the new multiclass system and make my red-bearded hero a fighter/rogue, with a shadowy criminal past that gives him buffs to stealth and perception, as well as a knack for using pistols and swords in combat. An ideal character, I think, for a game that sees you captaining your own ship and sailing the high fantasy seas of the Deadfire Archipelago.

I arrive on the remote island of Tikawara, home to the Huana. They’ve lived here for thousands of years, but their way of life is being threatened by the arrival of seafaring explorers—including the Vailian Trading Company, who seek to make a profit in the region. Disembarking from my ship, I meet a concerned-looking man called Vektor on a wooden dock. Noticing that I’m a fellow mountain dwarf, he seems relieved. “How long I waited for a familiar face in this friendless hovel!” he exclaims, eager to share his predicament with me.
[...]

Thanks henriquejr!

Pillars of Eternity II has a new update which looks back at the year that has been.

Happy holidays, Watchers! It's been a fantastic year making Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, and we couldn't have done it without you and your support! With all that's happened, we asked Producer Katrina Garsten to help us look back on all the major (and some not-so-major) milestones we've hit with the game since we launched our crowdfunding campaign at the beginning of the year. And, like any good developer, we put a nice little bonus at the end of the video for all our fans. Enjoy!

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We can't thank you enough for your support this past year. As we go into the new year, get ready for even more updates to the Backer Beta, and prepare for a lot of awesome Deadfire news to come your way! In the meantime, if you're taking part in the closed Backer Beta for Pillars II, be sure to check out the latest update and send us your feedback. We've already made countless improvements to various aspects of Deadfire based on feedback we've already received – thank you so much to our dedicated backers!

Limited Quantities of Physical Orders Are Back For a Short Time!

It's kinda cliché to say "back by popular demand," but Physical Backer Tiers are... back by popular demand! We are re-opening a limited number of our physical rewards for a short window for those of you who missed out on them and still want to order. From now until January 5th, 2018, if you want to upgrade your Deadfire order to a physical order, or add more physical rewards to an existing order, you may do so. But seriously, after January 5th, those physical orders will be gone for good, no matter how much demand there is – so be sure to upgrade now!

Join Us At PAX South!

As Katrina mentioned in the video, some of us will be are also going to be at PAX South in San Antonio, Texas with our publishers Versus Evil, at their booth (#10476). If you're going to be in the San Antonio area, be sure to join us the weekend of January 12-14th, 2018 where you'll be able to get some hands on time with Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire!

 

Until next time, citizens of Eora, happy holidays to you and yours!

 

If you missed Update 42, check it out here!

Greetings, everyone. In this latest update, we are very happy to announce that the Backer Beta is now live! If you pledged at a tier that included the Backer Beta, or purchased it as an add-on during the Fig campaign, you can get your key for either Steam or GOG in the Products Page of your Account Profile. Then head on over to our forums for instructions on how to get the beta set up. We know you're excited to play, so go ahead and get to it! It's okay. We'll continue on when you're installing the Backer Beta.

 

Installing? Great!

 

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Producer Katrina Garsten, sat down with Design Director Josh Sawyer, to ask him about the Backer Beta and what players can expect, so let's check out what they have for us!

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Excited about the Backer Beta? So are we! We're looking forward to getting all of your feedback to help make Deadfire the premier RPG. If you didn't get the Backer Beta during the campaign, you are still able to add it to your existing pledge now!

 

But Wait, There's More!

 

Today also marks the release of Pillars of Eternity: Definitive Edition. This complete collection of Pillars of Eternity comes with everything from the Royal Edition as well as both of the White March expansions. Not only that, but we're also releasing a new free DLC for Pillars of Eternity called the "Deadfire Pack" that will get you some new Deadfire inspired items! You can get the Pillars of Eternity: Definitive Edition now on Steam or GOG.

[...]

DSOGaming reports that Pillars of Eternity II has a new gameplay trailer

Obsidian has released a new trailer for Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, showcasing some new gameplay footage from its early build. Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire promises to improve upon the rich narrative, beautiful environments, and intricate, tactical combat that made the original a fan and critical sensation.

[...]

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Pillars of Eternity II is listed as releasing 2018 and now has a Steam and GOG page.

Reigniting that old flame.

Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire is coming soon, DRM-free on GOG.com.The sequel to Obsidian's seminal RPG, which brought back all the immersion and attention to detail we remember from the genre's classics, is finally around the corner. Introducing naval battle mechanics, a new vast open world, a relationship system that now also affects interactions between your companions, and an epic story involving the re-emergence of an old god, it's shaping up to be the one RPG you'll be replaying for all eternity.

Pillars of Eternity II has a new update on portraits, animations and new tech.

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Join us once more Pillars of Eternity II Producer, Katrina Garsten, leads on a journey to see what Deadfire Game Director, Josh Sawyer, has been putting up on social media.

To learn more about Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire go to: https://eternity.obsidian.net

Miss the last update? Check it out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk0wI...
To join the conversation on our forums: https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/941...

Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire is being published by Versus Evil according to this press release.

The latest update on Pillars of Eternity 2 goes into multiclassing.

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Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Game Director, Josh Sawyer, is here to go over the changes that have been made to the multi-classing system in Deadfire as well as showing it off in the game! To learn more about Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire go to: https://eternity.obsidian.net To join the conversation on this update, head over to our forums: Miss the last update? Check it out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQHKc...

@USGamer An interview with Josh Sawyer about Pillars of Eternity 2 which has some new revelations about gameplay.

Axe of the Blood God is our weekly RPG podcast hosted by Kat Bailey and Nadia Oxford. You can find the previous episodes here.

In this week's episode of Axe of the Blood God (download link here), we welcome back Obsidian's Josh Sawyer to talk Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire! 

Our interview with Josh is the latest bit in a series of coverage that we have planned over the next couple weeks. This is part of a greater initiative with the Gamer Network, and there is a ton of great stuff over on Eurogamer as well (as always). If you haven't read it already, check out my look back on the Last Days of Black Isle Studios, which I also discuss in this episode.

Here is a new update for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, which contains a summary of things that have already been reported before, via blogs and social media.

We're back with another episode of 'From the Feed of the Director.' This time we have a few surprises for you, as we look into our internal Obsidian blogs and pull out only the juiciest insights. You'll also get some information on some of the things that Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Game Director, Josh Sawyer, has shared on social media as well, for the gadfly-types among you.

In this video (all footage is work in progress) :

• "This ship's wheel is too damn big!"
• Bombs of the Deadfire - to throw or not to throw?
• Guns Work Best When You Line Up and Everyone Shoots at Once, by Ulysses S. Magran
• Dancin' and barfin'
• Yes, Josh's cat is in the game again

Pillars of Eternity II will not be at Gamescom this year, so let's do a community effort in rounding up some questions, which we can ask Josh.

PCGamesN spoke to Josh Sawyer about the influences behind Neketaka, a major city in Pillars of Eternity II.

European colonialism inspired the turf war in Pillars of Eternity 2's capital city

Pillars of Eternity 2 draws from the history of the East India Company as inspiration for its capital city, Neketaka. The city is torn between the competing interests of the trading companies looking to exploit the resources of the Deadfire Archipelago and the natives trying to turn this foreign interest into personal gain.

Talking to us last week, Pillar of Eternity 2 director Josh Sawyer says that Europe's imperial history was very much in mind when designing the game, and Neketaka in particular.

"We're definitely trying to draw connections to things like the East India Trading Company, and various Belgian and Dutch trading firms as well," Sawyer says. "Each of the colonial cultures has a different interest in the area. They overlap a little bit, and they are in direct competition."

[...]

Pillars of Eternity II's latest update explores the city of Neketaka.

Update #38 - Exploring Neketaka

Hello everyone! We hope you're ready to do a bit of exploring. Bobby Null, Lead Designer on Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, will be our guide for a tour of Neketaka, the biggest city in the Deadfire. Bobby will not only show off Neketaka's different neighborhoods, but also some new features of the city. Come see what awaits you when you make your own journey to the Deadfire.

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[...]

Pillars of Eternity 2 has a new update that brings to light some new features.

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Join Producer, Katrina Garsten, once more as we dive into some videos that Pillars II Game Director, Josh Sawyer, posted on social media in the past month.

To learn more about Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire go to: https://www.fig.co/campaigns/deadfire

To learn more about Pillars of Eternity: https://eternity.obsidian.net

To join the conversation about this update: http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/9317...

Pillars of Eternity 2 has a new update that explores the E3 video in more depth.

Greetings, everyone! First up, some great news: Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire has won the Best PC Game at E3 2017 from HardcoreGamer.com. This adds to the RPGFan.com Best of Show award we received at E3 a couple of weeks back.

Contratulations to the entire Deadfire team! Now on to the update. Last week, we said that we'd be back one more time with the E3 video to provide a deeper dive, and that's what we're doing. To help us with that, we're joined by Pillars II Executive Producer, Adam Brennecke! Adam is going narrate the video and point out some of the updated systems in play, as well as flag some key information you may have missed when he and Josh were talking to IGN. Without further ado, let's pass it over to Deadfire Producer, Katrina Garsten, to tell us more.

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That was a lot of great information! As Katrina said, we'll return in just a few more weeks to take a deeper look into the mysterious and always enrapturing videos that Game Director, Josh Sawyer, has been putting up on his social media feeds.

Let us know below what you thought of the features we discussed in the E3 video and what you'd like to see us discuss in future videos. We also want you to keep July 12th marked on your callendars as we'll be doing a Q&A stream over on our Twitch channel at 4:00PM PST/1:00AM CEST with Josh Sawyer and Lead Character Artist, Dimitri Berman. Until next time, everyone!

Be sure to join in on the conversation over at on our forums.

IGN shows some pre-alpha gameplay of Pillars of Eternity II:

Pillars of Eternity 2 Gameplay Walkthrough -
IGN Live: E3 2017

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The new Pillars of Eternity 2 is here! Join us as the team shows off new gameplay.

Thanks rjshae!

Pillars of Eternity 2 is set to show off some new things at E3. In the meantime we can see some of the new systems they are working on.

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Join Katrina Garsten, Producer on Deadfire, as she walks us through video footage that Josh Sawyer has been putting up on his social media feeds along with some news on Backer Surveys going out!

The only interesting part in this short update for Pillars of Eternity II, is a small tidbit on Maia Rua, one of your possible companions.

Finally, a quick update on one of our companions! You didn't think we'd let you get out of here without some cool info about Deadfire, did you? Below are a couple of images of Maia Rua, our Aumaua Ranger, elder sister of Kana Rua, from Pillars I. Maia is wearing (in two of the pictures) a set of padded armor that is wearable by any companion in Deadfire, or the player.

Stay tuned for more info on the campaign and our characters, plus a lot more video content, as the team ramps up our pipeline on the way to E3!

At the close of the slacker backer campaign for Pillars of Eternity II, the stretch goal of $4.75M was not achieved (it came $45K short). So, there will be no seamonsters and no fishing in the game. You will still be able to back the project or change your pledge, but it will no longer add towards the stretch goal.

The latest update for Pillars of Eternity II shows that the slacker backer option has been extended to this friday in order to try an achived the 4.75M$ stretch goal, for which still $6K is missing. Furthermore the soundtracks belonging to the Deluxe editions of POE and The White March are available for download now and there is more information about character and environment art, VFX, programming and new cloth physics.

In Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire we've upgraded to a new cloth solution for capes, robes and other garments using the cloth physics in Unity 5. The improved pipeline lets us add more cloth items to the game, as well as have good cloth simulation across all platforms - including Mac and Linux. Great! Well... it wasn't all great... Game development is never easy, and there's always a problem or an unforeseen issue. And with our new cloth, we soon ran into a problem with it, as we couldn't get it to work on our full-screen paper-doll characters that are shown in our Inventory, Character Creation, and Level-up UI. As we implemented capes, we found that Unity only has one physics "world", and our paper-doll characters exist in a separate scene from the rest of the game - but they share the same world as the rest of the game. When the game world is paused, the cloth sim in paper-doll would be paused as well, completely still and non-animate. We couldn't find a way around it. This was unacceptable of course, and we needed to find a solution. Our solution sounds crazy, but the only choice we had was to write our own cloth simulation for paper-doll. Thankfully, it didn't have to be as efficient or fancy as Unity cloth, as we only show a single character in paper-doll. Our solution uses a simple verlet-physics sim to get a stable physics simulation that was is fast and was easy to implement. The results are shown on a Vithrack character - hopefully you can agree that the simulation looks close-enough. In addition, we are exploring leveraging this system for flails and other dynamic simulations too!

The most recent update for Pillars of Eternity II talks about how environments are handled in game development.

In the Pillars of Eternity series, we make sure our environments look beautiful. Our area designers and environment artists work hard to ensure every last detail is placed correctly, from rugs and thrones all the way down to tiny bowls of fruit. However, the environments aren't just something nice to look at; each area plays an important role in revealing the storyline and teaching you more about cultures of the people who live in these places.

A lot of work goes into making a scene in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, and we'll walk you through from start to completion. The scene we'll be showing is part of the Vailian Trading Company's headquarters. In case you missed it, you can read about the VTC in Update #29!

Pillars of Eternity 2 reveals all you need to know about the Royal Deadfire Company and the Vailian Trading Company.

Factions of the Deadfire, Part II

If you missed our previous update, we introduced two of the four main factions: The Príncipi and Huana. This week, we'll be going into detail about the Royal Deadfire Company and Vailian Trading Company.

Royal Deadfire Company

(Abbreviated as RDC in some text locations)

The Royal Deadfire Company is based in the aumaua nation of Rauatai but have expanded their empire's reach to their ancestral homeland in the Deadfire Archipelago. While they are interested in the harvest of precious resources from the region, the RDC have a long-term goal of conquering the archipelago and making it an extension of their empire. The Rauataians believe that the native Huana culture is inferior to their own and treat the Huana people accordingly. In contrast to the Vailian Trading Company, the RDC is organized like a naval force. Their titles and behavior reflect that view of the world.

Philosophy and Goals - Rauataians as a cultural group have a long history of trade and conquest. The more hawkish personalities in their government have made steady progress towards a more aggressive "best defense is a good offense" stance in the world, and the leadership of the RDC comes from that mindset. They have flourished through a mixture of intrepid exploration, aggressive conquest, and relentless engineering of their hardscrabble homeland. They believe that through organization and engineering, they can bring civilization to Deadfire.

Relationship with Other Factions -

• Vailians/VTC - They are deceitful, flamboyant, and frivolous, emphasizing form over function. Their pretty words cannot be trusted. Their preference for polymaths over specialists suggests impatience, which can never lead to true mastery.
• Huana - They are super disorganized and (seemingly) passive - it's why they haven't flourished like the Rauataians. They were fractured by the disaster that drove the Rauataians away, and rather than establish a strong nation, most of them drift from island to island chasing seasonal resources. They don't solve problems, so they're beholden to them. What they need is some good ol' Rauataian civilization to set them straight.
• What looks like adaptability to the Príncipi looks like haphazardness to the Rauataians. Like the Rauataians, the Príncipi had to leave their homeland. But rather than establishing a stable country (like their cousins in the Republics), they remained shiftless and aimless, living on ships and in driftwood towns that are one squall away from destruction. They are like children who refuse to grow up.Resources - Rauatai is known worldwide for its cannons. Gunpowder likely originated there, and they still trade in it as well as raw saltpeter. Those latter two items are the primary staples of their trade economy.

[...]

Pillars of Eternity 2 has some factions which are detailed in the latest update. Part 1 explores the Principi and Huana factions.

...
You've heard about a couple of the following factions before, whether it be from the first Pillars of Eternity, a Pillars II developer interview, or a previous crowdfunding update. This time, we'll go into detail about the culture, lore, and personalities of each of the four main factions: The Príncipi, Huana, Royal Deadfire Company, and Vailian Trading Company. This week, we'll be covering two of those four factions: The Príncipi and Huana.

Please note that some of the below lore is subject to change as we progress further in development.

Príncipi

The Príncipi are largely descended from a group of refugees who fled the decline of Old Vailia (shortly before the Republics declared independence). They sailed around the Eastern Reach until they reached Deadfire, where instead of settling the islands, they continued their shipboard life. Seizing opportunities where they could, they gradually became pirates, smugglers, mercenaries, and merchants of ill repute. Over time, their ranks have swelled to include Deadfire's indigenous peoples (Huana) as well as enterprising or desperate individuals from other countries and cultures not aligned with the Republics or Rauatai (Dyrwood, Aedyr, Readceras, Ixamtl, etc.)

Religion - Religion among the Príncipi is as varied as membership. As sailors, many of them worship Ondra (as goddess of the oceans) and Hylea (for her influence over wind and weather) but others worship gods and goddesses that were more prominent in their homelands. Worship of Ondra, Woedica, and Hylea is especially common among descendants of Vailians.

Relationship with Other Factions

• The Príncipi have fluid relationships with most other factions, as they are in a position to plunder (or sell to) just about anybody.
• The Príncipi frequently target Vailian Trading Company ships. Remembering that the first families could not find shelter in the Republics during their voyage, the Príncipi subject even surrendering crews to (painless) humiliations, such as leaving them all stranded in their smallclothes.
• Additionally, the Príncipi have been raiding Huana villages almost as long as they've been in the Deadfire. Pirates may have a better relationship with larger towns, however, particularly when they're frequented by merchants who will buy stolen goods.

Geography and Location - The first families initially landed toward the warm, northern portion of the archipelago, but the Príncipi have expanded their reach since then, and their ships can be found anywhere in Deadfire. They tend to lurk near trade routes and settled areas, though their havens are necessarily more remote. While the Príncipi do not found formal cities, they have semi-permanent colonies all around the archipelago where members may safely land for repairs, R&R, or to purchase new supplies. The locations of these havens are typically known only members (or extremely close associates) of the Príncipi.

[..]

Farflame spotted a Pillars of Eternity II FAQ:

Update #26 - Commonly Asked Questions for the Backer Portal

Hi everyone! We are currently receiving a large amount of questions regarding our Backer Portal, coupons, and rewards, and are working our hardest to respond to every message received. This week's update will cover a bunch of the commonly asked questions sent to us, and some additional information for high tier backers.

[...]

Commonly Asked Questions

Q: I pledged for the game, but the only available items are the Tyranny Coupon and "Cooking with Tim, Vol. 1". Why is that?

A: Cooking with Tim, Vol. 1 and the Tyranny coupons are the only available items at this time. These are the only things that will show up in the Products Tab of your Account Profile. When everything else releases with Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire next year, your other items will show up in your Products Tab. To see what you will be getting with your Order, you can check the order details in the Orders Tab of your Account Profile.

Q: Why do I have extra credit on my account after selecting the tiers and add-ons that I chose on Fig?

A: That's your credit to be used for shipping costs. Once you go through and put your shipping information in, shipping will be calculated and that extra money will be added to your account.

Q: Why can't I get the Deluxe Pillars of Eternity Soundtrack now?

A: We are preparing the soundtrack for download from the Backer Portal. It will become available before the end of April, and we will be sure to send out an announcement.

Q: Why can't I get the Pillars of Eternity Short Story Omnibus now?

A: We're preparing the omnibus with a new, exclusive cover. This will become available for download in May, possibly sooner. We will be sure to send out an announcement.

Q: Can I trade my Tyranny coupon for another game?

A: No.

Q: Can I use the Tyranny coupon and get the game on GOG?

A: The Tyranny coupon is valid in the Paradox Store, where you can get a Steam key. Unfortunately, GOG is not offered as an option.

Q: Can I upgrade to a higher tier after I confirm my pledge?

A: Yes, but you will need to contact support to do so. As a second option, you can wait to confirm your pledge if you haven't already, and then confirm it when you decide what tier you want.

Q: Is the "Extra Beta Access" add-on the same as adding a Beta Access key for me if I don't already get it in my tier?

A: Yep, it's the same!

Q: Can I see a sizing chart for t-shirts and hoodies?

A: We are still in the process of picking out the best types of shirts and hoodies for you, so we do not have a sizing chart yet. Please select the size you would normally wear with a cotton t-shirt and a zip-up hoodie, and once we determine the brand we'll release a sizing chart. At that time, you will be able to log in to the Backer Portal and update your t-shirt size if needed.

[...]

More info can be found in this PCGAmesN interview with Josh and Feargus.

Pillars of Eternity 2's latest update provides a state of the project report, meaning that the pre-Alpha stage has been reached.

State of the Project - Pre-Alpha

We recently began a new production milestone. With new milestones comes new areas, narrative, creatures, and much more! Without giving away critical story points or areas of our game, here is a high level overview of what some of our departments are working on:

Area Design

We began several new areas that are critical to the storyline of Pillars II, and they are coming along nicely so far. Quests, blockouts, and dialogues for areas are being developed and reviewed before being passed to the environment artists to make the area. As an example, here is a section of an area that was approved for environment art to start work on:

Environment Art

Our environment artists are hard at work completing first and second art passes of areas in Pillars II. A lot of these are areas that are critical to the storyline, so they put a lot of hard work into getting these sections to look perfect. From that blockout you saw above, the artist does a first pass, transforming the area into a playable level with no lighting or VFX. After receiving feedback from our lead artists, the environment artist does a final pass, lighting, and passes it to VFX. Here are first and final passes of that blockout from above:

We will be posting an area update in the near future. In that update, we'll go into detail about how the area designers and environment artists work together to make the levels of Pillars II.

Systems Design

The systems designers are working on finishing the design and implementing the abilities of a few creatures in Pillars II. These designs include a creature's weaknesses and strengths, what abilities they possess, and how the creature should behave. In addition to creatures, design is continuing to make improvements to the subclass and multiclassing systems.

Animation

Our animators are hard at work creating new and unique animations for creatures. Some of our animals now have attack animations and fidgets, including wolves and boars. In addition to animal animations, weapon animations are well underway. We'll post an update in the near future with more about the animation process; there are so many cool animations we want to share that we think it deserves its own post.

Character Art

The character artists have been working on base armor sets for both male and female characters, which are looking great. As an example, here are three variants of the Brigandine armor, modeled by our handsome friend Edér:

Narrative

The narrative designers are working on faction questlines for this milestone, and are ensuring that we provide a level of detail in quests that gives more insight into the culture and personality of each faction. Our writers are also working on dialogues for quests and further developing the history of factions.

Programming

Programming is focused on a variety of functionality for this milestone. Firstly, they are identifying key areas that can cause longer load times and fixing these so they no longer interfere. Load times have already been decreased by a great deal, and optimization will continue as we progress with development. Second, the programmers are continuing to add support for status effects and abilities. Lastly, a few systems have been refactored to allow improved functionality for animal companions and primary attacks.

VFX

VFX is continuing to work on effects passes for areas and making our levels even more beautiful than before. Glowing lights, particles, and objects swaying in the wind make a huge difference for an area. We can't wait to show you the comparison between Pillars II and the first Pillars. In addition to areas, ability VFX are looking pretty great. We'll share some of these with you in a later update.

Audio

Audio is working on adding sounds to maps. A typical audio pass for an area includes placing ambiances and emitters for the general atmosphere of the area, painting footstep maps, and ensuring that audio is implemented for doors, containers, and traps. Whether a map is supposed to feel ominous, peaceful, or anything in-between, these audio passes really bring life to an area and convey emotions that an otherwise silent area could not do.

Overall

We are making good progress on a lot of features, and still have a lot to go! The game is looking beautiful, and we're all very excited about the main story. We can't wait to share more of our progress with you. As we progress into Alpha and eventually Beta, we will release more 'State of the Project' posts like these to keep you informed of what we're working on. Is there a department you want to see more of? Let us know in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

The latest Fig update for Pillars of Eternity 2 focuses on Naga. There are some pictures of the creatures at the link provided.

...
Lore

Naga are a species of intelligent, reptilian wilder. They are native to many islands in the Deadfire Archipelago, and their various subspecies have adapted to a variety of conditions present there, including jungles, coral atolls, and volcanic slopes.

Social by nature, they tend to live in large groups, often under the guidance of spiritual leaders. Most are highly religious and consider themselves more sensitive to the will of the gods than kith societies, which has led to violent confrontations between the native naga and the many newcomers to Deadfire. On the other hand, they maintain neutral relationships with most Huana tribes.

Their long-established oral tradition tells of the cataclysmic devastation of the archipelago millennia ago, and of the kith misdeeds that preceded it. Many attribute naga hostilities to these tales and to the mistrust they engender.

As development continues, we will update you with more in-game footage, animations, and information about the naga and other creatures living within Deadfire.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for our Backer Portal update!

If you are thrilled about sailing a ship in Pillars of Eternity II, you will probably appreciate that the ship crew stretch goal has been unlocked.

If you recall, Ship Crews offer a whole new layer of interactivity for player ships: Find, hire, and manage a crew. Once hired, crew members can be assigned roles on the ship, and will play a role in the events and battles that you encounter at sea. We are also introducing crew dilemmas that will allow you to take charge and be the captain when they look to you for guidance!

This also puts in reach our next two goals: Sea Monsters and Fishing at $4.75 million and, of course, our 8th Companion, Ydwin, at $5 million. As a reminder, the Pillars II developers gave some details on how Sea Monsters and Fishing would work in a previous update.

In Deadfire, fish will provide you with different rest bonuses and give you more recipes to cook up to help you on your adventures. Fishing will trigger scripted interactions on your boat where you can choose various baits you have collected and see what fish you can catch. Different areas on the world map will have different fish below the surface. You can be an occasional line-dropper or an expert fisherman. And who knows, maybe you'll hook some rare gear or run into sea monsters who have only been spoken of in tales...

We're excited to see if we can achieve the next two goals before the 60-day slacker-backer period is up!

Now that the Fig campaign has been closed For Pillars of Eternity II, the raising of funds continues by means of Paypal pledges. Next to that also a new stretch goal at $4.75M is announced.

We have a few special things to share with you as our campaign comes to an end. First we have a special message in video format made by Adam Brennecke, the executive producer of Deadfire  - with some fun behind the scenes footage of the game. We also have a new stretch goal for $4.75 million - Sea Monsters and Fishing! We blew by the last stretch goal of $4.25 million and we will now add a Talking Intelligent Weapon to the game, and are on our way to the $4.5 million stretch goal which will add the Ship Crew feature! Amazing!

And here is a thank you video.

Gamebanshee's Buck interviewed Obsidian Entertainment CEO Feargus Urquhart about crowdfunding, design goals and about Pillars of Eternity II:

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Interview

While Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is now successfully funded and moving on toward more stretch goals following the Fig campaign, I was able to sit down with Obsidian Entertainment CEO Feargus Urquhart earlier this month - before the past week's events had transpired as this interview had to go through a transcription and review process - and talk to him about the business side of crowdfunding, the RPG sequel's design goals, their forthcoming Pillars of Eternity tabletop RPG, and much more.

Beyond that, Feargus also answers a handful of questions about sales figures on their past games, the "super secret" project being worked on by Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky, their latest game pitches, and a variety of other topics. Oh, and he essentially announces that Pillars of Eternity III will be a reality:

[...]

Buck: I was curious about the investment aspect of Fig, as that is where this new platform really differs from Kickstarter. Can you talk a bit about how the selling of $1000 shares works? How do these people get a return on their investment? Are these everyday people, friends, family, companies… maybe even publishers?

Feargus: I don't know. So first off what we've been trying to do is, on that subject of knowing who is investing in things like that, we've actually been sort of very separate from Fig. We've been trying to run the reward funding part of it and not talking to Fig a lot about what's been going on since the campaign started as it related to the investment because I wanted it to be their decision as to sort of how they the investment money, what's the due diligence they're doing and things like that. So I am sort of leaving it to them to decide how we do.

Now, how does it actually work? So what we did is we sort of picked a $14 million number which was to say at $14 million of revenue for Eternity, that's where people will – whatever money they get – get their money back plus 13%. Then at that point in time in essence, the return drops by 50% and then they continue to get a return that's sort of 50% lower at that point. How the numbers will work in essence, is it will be something like, it kind of says it on the page, let me just see if I'm saying it the right way. If we get the full two and a quarter million, in essence, what happens is 16% of the money that we're getting in, up to $14 million goes to the investors and then after that 8% goes to them.

So that's kind of how it works, they'll get a return, they'll get their money back plus the return at $14 million and then the speed of the return will go down by half.

Buck: Wow. Does that entitle them to any of the pledging rewards? Do they even get a copy of the game?

Feargus: No. It's interesting; we originally wanted to do that but it kind of creates this weird – it's sort of like, is that then part of their return? Now, there has to be tax documents that say this is the return they're getting including the game. And it was just like, while it seems silly that we can't give them a game for investing, there was tax reasons on why it was complicated.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

The final hours of the FIG campiagn of Pillars of Eternity II are here. With a bit more than 10 hours to go (at the moment of this writing) and more than $4M raised, update #17 talks about companion number eight, a new stretch goal at $4.25M (a talking weapon) and an overview of the add-ons.

Ydwin, our eighth and final companion (we hope!), is a pale elf rogue/cipher with extensive training as an animancer. She was born in a remote, lawless settlement in the White that Wends, where she witnessed the cruelest extremes of kith and nature. Her observations fueled a fascination with animancy, and she eventually made her way to the Vailian Republics to study. She's since become an accomplished master in the field, and advances with luminous adra in the Deadfire have drawn her to the archipelago.

Pillars of Eternity 2s latest update focuses on ships. There are more stretch goals posted as well.

Your Own Ship!

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Yes, we can finally confirm what we've been keeping secret this whole time: a new and exciting feature that takes the Pillars of Eternity experience to a completely new stage, which adds open-world exploration and discovery to the gameplay on both land and at sea! As many of you guessed correctly, in Deadfire you can be the captain of your own ship. With ships, you have the power to play the game differently; now, you can freely explore the islands of the Deadfire using the new world map.

You want details about the ships? No problem. Your ship is a Dyrwoodan sloop called the Defiant, purchased for you by the Steward of Caed Nua, who has made the journey to help you (part of her, anyway) on your quest to hunt down Eothas, and is one of the first allies to join you on your adventure. The ship acts as your mobile base of operations, carrying you and your comrades wherever you command. Companions will stay on-board while not in your party, and you can even go below decks to your captain's quarters for rest and relaxation.

You can customize, upgrade, and add personal touches to the Defiant. This includes changing your sails, painting your hull, and flying flags to show your personal colors/faction allegiance. You can also improve the performance of your cannons, sails, and hull, beyond just their cosmetic appearance. For example, Dwarven cannons add extra firepower in naval battles, or while upgraded sails give you an extra bit of speed to outmaneuver your opponent. If we hit our $3.5 million stretch goal,we'll add even more new and amazing, unlockable upgrades for your ships. And if we hit our $4 million stretch goal, we will add other ships that you can find, purchase, or even steal during your adventure - to make them your own.

The World Map - Navigate the High Seas

As you probably saw in the video, above, the world map has gotten complete overhaul in terms of form and function. No longer do you have to travel from point to point in a locked fashion (though you can travel directly to locations you've already discovered, if you want). Instead, you can freely explore the map in any direction you want with your ship. You can even disembark and travel by foot on the larger islands. Our design inspiration here comes directly from classic RPGs like Fallout1 & 2; this new approach to the world map makes Pillars II feel bigger, freer, and lets you play how you want. You may discover islands and dungeons not on your map, adventure on your own path for extra treasure, or chart a course towards a distant island.

During your sea travels, you can access the ship at any time to talk to your companions or manage your ship. And through the world map UI, you can travel directly to previously discovered locations. We have a similar feature in the Neketaka City Map UI that allows you to go directly to major interior areas without having to the walk through the exterior district maps manually, which will save you a lot of time.

Encounters

During your adventures around the islands of Deadfire, you may encounter things at sea. These special encounters will be presented as scripted interactions - not only will your ship play a role, but any ship upgrades will impact how these interactions play out, too. We will have both combat and non-combat encounters, many of which will play out in-game depending on the resolution you've chosen. For example, you may come upon a hostile pirate ship on the horizon. If you choose to engage, you can fire your cannons in attempt to destroy their ship, or you can try closing the distance to board and fight the crew directly. How effective a cannon shot is will depend on how improved your cannons are, and how likely you are to be able to escape, on your sails. Other examples include finding a derelict vessel, saving a group of stranded sailors on a wreck, meeting a traveling merchant, or fighting a monstrous sea creature. How you deal with these events is up to you.

Farflame spotted an article about the setting of Plillars of Eternity 2 at PCGamesN:

Pillars of Eternity 2: story, setting, companions and more - everything we know

A few years ago, Obsidian designer Josh Sawyer flipped a map of the Forgotten Realms’ Dalelands, stuck some different labels on it and named it the Dyrwood. One record-smashing Kickstarter later, he and his team had revived the spirit of the Baldur’s Gate games, with the wilderness exploration and spacebar-thwacking tactical combat intact.

[...]

We’re going god-hunting. Eothas, the Eoran deity of light and rebirth, has inhabited the stone titan buried beneath the player stronghold Caed Nua for millennia. But now he’s awoken, tearing up through the earth, destroying the keep and half-killing you in the process. 

The story of Deadfire, then, is a personal quest: to chase down Eothas, save your soul and find answers - answers which could “throw mortals and the gods themselves into chaos,” according to Obsidian.

[...]

The latest update for Pillars of Eternity 2 explains the thinking behind the city of Neketaka and introduces the next stretch goal of sidekicks.

Neketaka

Bobby Null, the lead designer of Deadfire, is excited to introduce our big city, Neketaka:

Allo, pals! It's time for a new update and what better topic to discuss than cities? Now, if you're anything like me, a good city is a wondrous thing in an RPG. What better way to meet new and interesting people... and kill them? Well, maybe not always that last part, right... right? As inPoE1, if that's the way you roll, we're not judging, but there will be many other ways to deal with the population of the Deadfire Archipelago's big city, Neketaka.

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The one and only metropolis in the Deadfire is Neketaka. You may ask yourself, why only one big city this time around? While having two big cities in the first game was an awesome experience, looking back, the team felt splitting them into two made neither one as amazing as it could have been. This time around we wanted to make a bigger city than Defiance Bay or Twin Elms, but smaller than the two combined. Coupled with some awesome new features and overall direction, Neketaka should feel like the fantasy city you've always wanted to explore. Below I'll list some goals we had and how we plan on achieving them.

Goal: Build a city that feels different from anything in Pillars I and/or other Infinity Engine games, while not being so different as to feel alien.

Solution(s):

Build a city vertically. The district structure you expect in this type of game still exists, but some of these districts are organized vertically as shown in the video.
Add parallax features. To really sell the idea of a mountainous island, we've added multiple parallax layers to the art scenes for some spectacular views.
Architecture varies based on the cultures that dominate the districts. Vailian buildings and locations are distinct from Huana and Rautai locations.

Goal: Create a city that feels more alive than our previous work. Retain and reinforce the "fantasy scale" of a massive city.

Solution(s):

The new city map and encounters- This map shows the size of a truly impressive city without the need to model every home, alley and citizen. We're creating interstitial content when traversing districts on the map. These take the form of special combat and narrative encounters, as well as randomized events. Meet a strange fortune teller that may reveal cryptic prophecies about your future. Cross paths with a drunken noble with a large coin purse lost in the dangerous back-alleys of Neketaka. These encounters take place in scripted interactions as well as on all-new, city street scenes. It is important to note that many of these encounters still include choice & consequence and none are of the "fight x generic enemies" variety.

The time of day matters. Ambient NPCs use schedules to live their lives in Neketaka, but so do many of the quest NPCs. This allows us to add creative, and sometimes hidden, ways for players to solve problems/quests. Wait for an NPC to go outside and take a smoke break before picking his pocket for that key you need. Follow an NPC to the bathhouse and eavesdrop on a conversation to gain some juicy information. Infiltrate a location in the dead of night to avoid any unwanted civilian casualties.

That's all we've got for you this time. Stay tuned for more updates. We're heading into the final week and the fan support has been amazing. We love you all and can't wait to see how far we can push this budget.The more funds we raise, the better of a game we can make for you! Blog, tweet,tell a friend, sell a kidney... well, maybe don't do that.

-B

We missed a couple of updates for Pillars of Eternity II, but here is the latest about Berath's Blessing, the continuation of Fulvano's Voyage, a recap of the last week (and updates) and that the campaign has reached $2.6M.

Amazing! We've hit the $2.6 million and unlocked Berath's Blessing. As a reminder, Berath's Blessing is our version of New Game+ that features optional bonuses and challenges that unlock as you gain achievements. The next goal at $2.8 million adds a full orchestra soundtrack, an increased level cap, and one more sub-class per class. Thank you so much for the continued support. We still have a lot of announcements and amazing things to show off in the next two weeks, and in addition to the companion introductions, we will be unveiling the $3.0 million stretch goal in tomorrow's (Valentine's Day!) update too.

ICYMI - Last Week's Recap

• We introduced a new backer reward at the $45 tier and as an add-on, The Pen and Paper Pillars of Eternity RPG. Now, you can have your own adventures with your friends, in the comfort of your favorite tabletop setting. Read more about it in Update #10.

• Two large updates, one about the lore of the Deadfire and another covering new art and graphics technology with a snazzy video.

• With your amazing pledges we blew by the $2.2million and $2.4 million stretch goals, adding Korean and Italian, doubling the V.O. budget, and adding UI Customization features!

• On Wednesday, we had live Twitch Developer Q&A with Josh Sawyer and Adam Brennecke. Watch it here to find out more in depth information about the game systems and lore of Deadfire.

• The introduction of Fulvano's Voyage in Update #9. This is an in-game island chain that will grow larger with more Fig Backers!Read more about the next leg that was added over the weekend in the next section below.

• If you haven't read it, check out a great interview with Josh Sawyer on Shacknews where he discusses Deadfire development, crowdfunding, and more.

• Lastly, Pillars of Eternity II was featured in PC Gamer Magazine and website. Grab an issue or check it out here!

@Shacknews they interview Josh Sawyer about isometric RPGs, crowdfunding and storytelling.

...
In designing the first Pillars, you carried over much of the style and game systems from genre staples like Icewind Dale. What about for Pillars 2? What did you observe from the reception of the first game, in terms of not only reviews but feedback from fans as well, that you wanted to sharpen in the sequel?

Sawyer: We learned that people are really interested in this style of game again, and that they want deep and tactical combat, character development, mechanics, and things like that. We're trying to improve all those aspects in the sequel, but we've also realized that there were certain things that were very unclear about our mechanics, so we've either tried to communicate those mechanics more clearly, or revise them so they're inherently easier to understand.

For example, in the first game we had a damage reduction system that was used for armor. It was fairly easy to understand, but when the player was making decisions in the heat of combat, it wasn't always clear what they should be doing based on the mechanics of the armor system. We've adjusted those mechanics to use a new armor penetration system that is more straightforward. The relationship between weapons, penetration, and the value of armor is clearer to people. It's a more interesting mechanic, and it's just easier to sort of process and understand in the heat of the moment.

There are other things, too. Combat clarity and feedback, making sure our visual effects don't overpower [on-screen action], slowing the pace of combat down just a little bit so it's easier to understand, spacing characters out-things like that.

That's something I wondered about. The first Pillars explicitly targeted fans who missed Icewind Dale-style games, but players new to the genre said they had trouble learning the ropes, and were fine once they got some momentum. It sounds like you're working on adjusting that learning curve.

Sawyer: Our goal is definitely to be more welcoming. I think it is more welcoming, but it's also just clearer. Even experienced players will find that the combat is easier to follow. We're going to do a better job tutorial-izing things; that's something that was a little last minute [in the first game]. We're trying to plan out our tutorials in advance of the end of the game [in production], so players should find that things are explained much more clearly, and that the pace of how things are introduced is much clearer as well.

There are some disconnects in the early game, where you get a companion like Edér. He's a fighter and very good at locking characters down, but then we take you into a dungeon where things break engagement constantly. We're trying to make sure things like that line up better so players aren't just wondering, "What the hell am I supposed to do?" You can think your way out of it, but it's a little more challenging than it needs to be, especially in the early game.
[...]

Rjshae spotted some more info about Pillars of Eternity II on Fig:

Update #9 - Fulvano's Voyage, Deadfire Lore, and Berath's Blessings!

Lots of new, exciting reveals in today's update: a new stretch goal, and an in-depth look at the Deadfire from our wonderful narrative designer, Paul Kirsch, and we're especially excited to tell you about our unlockable Island Chain, powered by backers, that follows the voyages of Fulvano.

Thanks to your help, we’ve blown by the $2.2 million stretch goal and we're now working towards the $2.4 million stretch goal that doubles the amount of voice over in the game, and adds Korean localization. Later this week, our next update will feature new art and graphics technology created for Deadfire, so stay tuned to the Fig page for that!

As with all of our updates, feature releases, and game systems - always feel free to send us comments and suggestions here on Fig, or on our forums. The development team is reading and very excited for everyone to finally get to participate in the discussion. Now for the good stuff!

Fulvano's Voyage Starts at Balefire Beacon

Explore the sights, sounds, and smells of the Deadfire with Fulvano's guide to the archipelago. Fulvano's Voyage is our new, backer-unlockable Island Chain that players can visit and explore, and which grows along with the number of backers we get! For every 1,500 additional backers from today, we are adding or expanding another leg in Fulvano's voyage. Spread the word about Pillars of Eternity II and let's see how many islands we can add! When we hit 22,000 backers -- we will learn more of the story of this part of the Deadfire, and Fulvano will head out on the next leg of his journey.

Centuries ago, a band of renegade dwarves fleeing the law erected the lighthouse fortress nicknamed Balefire Beacon. The torches burned with a fierce, blue light - a rallying point for their like-minded countrymen comrades. What became of the dwarves is anyone's guess, but the lighthouse is now the keep of Captain Furrante, the calculating leader of the Príncipi sen Patrena and his crew of misfit pirates.

Next Stretch Goal -Berath's Blessings

Berath's Blessings is a new feature for Deadfire that gives players special bonuses when they start a new game, based on achievements that have been completed in previous gameplay. Berath plays a large role in the story of Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire that we don't want to reveal quite yet, but she will aid you at the start of your adventure with her blessings. These can be used as a helping hand to defeat that next difficulty level, to provide additional challenges, and to increase the reward for chasing down and completing achievements. Each completed achievement gives the player points to spend on blessings when they start up a new game.

Players will be able to spend these points on a wide variety of unlocks. Some players may simply want a more powerful starting character - better starting gear or more attribute points. Other players may choose to more quickly advance through a part of the game that they don’t really want to repeat - bonus faction reputation, or starting the game with extra copper coins. Players will even have the option to start the game with some of their favorite things acquired during a previous journey – starting with a favorite companion or Soulbound weapon from an earlier playthrough. There will even be unlocks that make the game harder, boosting the challenge of the next campaign.

Lore of the Deadfire

Greetings, backers!

My name is Paul Kirsch, and I'm one of the Narrative Designers on Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. You may have come across the work I've done for Obsidian in the past - initially with the Pillars of Eternity Guidebook Vol. One, and later on the narrative team for Tyranny.

Allow me to first offer my sincerest gratitude for the part that each of you played in the success of this campaign. Your confidence in our ability to make an enjoyable game is one thing, but the passion and enthusiasm I've seen in this campaign's reception are heartening to everyone on the team. Thank you.

We're so excited to bring the Deadfire setting to our fans, and it's my pleasure to offer some details to whet your appetite for lore.

The Deadfire Archipelago consists of hundreds of islands spanning thousands of miles, which means there is plenty of territory to cover - land and sea. There will be numerous opportunities to explore undiscovered islands, ancient ruins, shipwrecks, treacherous storms, and more still to come.

The local kith (humanoid-types) are the Huana, a culture of semi-nomadic tribal aumaua who spread themselves thin across the islands. The tribes are distinct from one another, but they cleave to a shared sense of identity and tradition. Each Huana is part of a caste system that defines their role within the tribe. The warrior and priest class are at the front, with skilled artisans following close behind, and at last the modest laborers bringing up the rear. Equal treatment is not one of their core values, but those born in the disadvantaged underclass content themselves with knowing they'll earn a better place in society in their next life.

[...]

The $2M stretch goal with AI scripting and Spanish localization for Pillars of Eternity II has been achieved. Next stretch goal is UI customization and Italian localization, followed by doubling the amount of voice overs and Korean localization.

Next to that there is also an update by Josh Sawyer on multiclassing.

Salve, amici. I'm here to rap at you about a very cool topic: multiclassing. In Pillars of Eternity, it took a huge amount of work to get in our 11 classes. During the early phases of Deadfire, a demon whispered in my ear, "What about multiclassing?" and here we are today.

Before I begin explaining how our multiclassing works, I'd like to explain our goals for multiclassing, because I think that can help put the system's mechanics into perspective. We want multiclassing to allow players to realize character concepts that aren't possible with the single class options. We want to keep the relative power of the multiclass character at about 75%-85% what a single class character would have at any given level. In our experience, that's the sweet spot where multiclass characters feel powerful and effective, but don't clearly outshine the single class characters. We want the multiclassing system to keep characters viable no matter when the player chooses to multiclass. We want to limit the number of permutations to something manageable. Finally, we want to give multiclass characters a unique title for their class combo.

The latest update for Pillars of Eternity II discusses returning characters saying how you left them in the first game will have an effect on them in the second. There are some story spoilers for Pillars of Eternity in this update.

As one of the writers on the original Pillars of Eternity and the White March expansions, I'm delighted to return to the world of Eora and bring along a few old friends. Aloth, Pallegina, and Edér will join you, the Watcher, in Deadfire, provided they survived their adventures in the Dyrwood. You'll find, however, that they've changed in the intervening years, and the people they've become depends in large part on how you left them at the end of Pillars of Eternity.

[...]

Companions are set to be more tightly integrated with the narrative of Deadfire, so we wanted to bring back those whose personal stories will best tie in with the Watcher's and with the conflict unfolding in the archipelago. And wherever their new journey takes them, it's sure to test, challenge, and change them - and the Watcher - together.

-- Carrie Patel, Narrative Designer

The $1.8M stretch goal for Pillars of Eternity II has been achieved, which means that Xoti, the Priest/Monk is now in the game and that the olish people can play the game in their own language. The next stretch goal will allow for players to customize the AI scritping of companish and support for the Spanish language. Besides that there is also some info on the new $2.2M stretch goal.

Now, it wouldn't be a proper update if we didn't give you info about our newest stretch goal. In addition to Italian language localization, this one has two features. First, we would like to create unique portraits for every quest-giving NPC across the entire game. Portraits are a wordless way to tell a story about a character and this is something we wished we could have done more with in the first game. Our talented 2D artist, Matt Hansen, has developed a watercolor-style portrait for conversations that could allow us to add many, many more portraits to the game.

Farflame spotted this info page about Pillars of Eternity 2 and a Josh Sawyer at PCGamesN:

Pillars of Eternity II: what you need to know

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A few years ago, Obsidian designer Josh Sawyer flipped a map of the Forgotten Realms’ Dalelands, stuck some different labels on it and named it the Dyrwood. One record-smashing Kickstarter later, he and his team had revived the spirit of the Baldur’s Gate games, with the wilderness exploration and spacebar-thwacking tactical combat intact.

Fresh from another isometric RPG, Obsidian now intend to fold some of Tyranny’s reactivity and unfamiliarity into Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire - a sequel as ambitious as Baldur’s Gate II was.

[...]

Josh Sawyer interview:

[...]

“I've worked on shipped games that were really incredibly bizarre, and that can be very off-putting to a lot of people, so I am trying to be cognisant of people’s comfort zones,” says Sawyer. “Especially with the audience that came to this expecting a very traditional D&D-style RPG.”

In that sense Sawyer and his team are still beholden to the commitment they made way back in the Project Eternity Kickstarter: to build a spiritual successor to Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale.

“I will say that Forgotten Realms high fantasy is not my first choice for my style of setting,” Sawyer admits. “But I grew up playing in Greyhawk, the Forgotten Realms and even Dragonlance. When I first got started in the industry, I was making games in the Forgotten Realms. It’s a setting that I had a lot of fun in, and also we know that our fans have a ton of fun in.

“I think we’ve tried to grow it a little bit, but fundamentally, it’s your traditional high fantasy. There are restrictions on that, but they're restrictions we knew going in.”

[...]

Pillars of Eternity II has its first stretch goal. Each class will get 2 sub-classes per class.

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We. Are. Funded! Thanks to the support of all of our backers, investors, and our wonderful community, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire has achieved and then exceeded its funding goal in less than 24 hours, exceeding all of our expectations. Our fans are the best in the world, and it's thanks to you that we're able to make games we love. Thank you so much, sincerely.

To learn more about Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire go to: https://www.fig.co/campaigns/deadfire

To learn more about Pillars of Eternity: https://eternity.obsidian.net

[...]

Hail and well met, elves. It's your buddy, Josh, with some info on subclasses and importing your character from PoE1.

Subclasses are similar to kits in 2nd Edition AD&D (featured in Baldur's Gate 2). Our focus has been to give a different flavor to a class through specialization. We want each subclass to do something cool and distinctive that also has a built-in trade-off compared to the base class and other subclasses. For example, if you remember Zahua from The White March, you may recall that he was a drug-addled/enlightened monk of the Nalpazca. If subclasses are funded,you may select the Nalpazca as one of two Philosophies (monk subclasses). The Nalpazca gain greater benefits from using drugs, but their Wound threshold is increased while under the influence.

[...]

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire has funded with stretch goals to be announced soon.

We're funded in less than 24 hours! Thank you for your support and stay tuned as now we awaken the stretch goals!https://t.co/tGAaAEwVJD pic.twitter.com/2xZ6XirlyK

— TheWorldofEternity (@WorldofEternity) January 27, 2017

@NicheGamer they report on Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire which is to be crowdfunded via Fig. You can view images of the game at the link provided.

While we've known a sequel was in the making for quite awhile now, Obsidian Entertainment has announced Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire.

The new game will be crowdfunded via Fig and is looking to raise $1.1 million in funds, with $2.25 million open for equity.

Set as a direct sequel to the original Pillars of Eternity, a focus has been put on the statue of Caed Nua, which originally saw its conception as a meaty sidequest in the original game.

"Eothas ... the god of light and rebirth was thought dead, but he now inhabits the stone titan that sat buried under your keep, Caed Nua, for millennia," reads the press release.
[...]

Obsidian have linked via twitter to a single image with a caption and a logo that indicates news about Pillars of Eternity II is coming soon.

https://t.co/yYtvhfc4jV pic.twitter.com/8dCj0tX2bG

— Obsidian (@Obsidian) January 18, 2017

Feaurgus Urquhart confirmed in an interview with GamePressure.com that Pillars of Eternity II is in production. The full interview will be available later but GamePressure shared some choice excerpts.

During the Digital Dragons 2016 conference that is happening now in Kraków, we got a chance to meet amazing developers from all around the world. We also sat down with Feargus Urquhart, the CEO of Obsidian Entertainment, known for his work on Fallout series, Planescape Torment, Icewind Dale or the critically acclaimed Pillars of Eternity. Obsidian also has another project in development - Tyranny - but Feargus said that they're not ready to talk about it in more detail. However, during our interview with Obsidian's CEO, we found out that the studio is already working on Pillars of Eternity II.

We were talking about the general idea of crowdfunding Obsidian's games, Feargus said that they thought about crowdfunding Tyranny, but decided to do it on their own. However, they're most probably going to turn to Kickstarter to crowdfund Pillars of Eternity II, and that's when Feargus shared what they're currently involved on:

Obviously, as you've probably guessed, we're starting to move forward on [Pillars of] Eternity II. That is probably something that we want to look at [in terms of crowdfunding]. I think people felt like we delivered on our promise, and then that felt like we could go with Eternity II and people would support us again, because they trust us.

When we asked him about an official announcement of Pillars of Eternity II, that's what he had to say:

Eternity II is not announced, [but] it seems silly for me not to acknowledge it, though. If someone asks "Are you working on it?", I respond "Well, wouldn't you work on it?". So then they say "So you must be working on it", and then I'm like "Well, yeah".

That second quote came up when we were talking to Feargus about everything that Obsidian is currently involved in. There's Armored Warfare, Tyranny, the card game Pathfinder, and Pillars of Eternity II. However, Obsidian's CEO also mentioned that there's a small group of people within the studio that's working on something completely new, but he didn't want to share any details regarding that yet. What's worth noting, though, is that the names of Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky came up while talking about this. Feargus didn't say that directly, but he pointed that it might have something to do with a prototype using Unreal Engine, that he mentioned during his podcast with Game Informer.