Pillars of Eternity II - Update 5.0 Released

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

More information.

Great game. I've already been enjoying the turn based mode so I'm looking forward to this final version.
I'm also really pleased they've looked at improving the ship to ship combat - I really didn't find those text based interludes fun at all. I normally just bash option 1 until I board or get sunk. Boarding combat isn't much better - after you've seen the ship map a couple of times it's pretty repetitive - but at least it gets it over with quicker. I wonder how much the new UI improves it. It's a minor complaint though for a game this big and engaging.

Now they've done the final patch, fingers crossed they start looking at part III…

Well i played it for about 16 hours or so when it was first released. I have almost hit the icon a few times to start a real game play of it. I guess this final update is the push I need to load it up this week.

Impressive update considering how long the game has been out. Not just bugfixes but new content as well. Obsidian deserves credit.

Still haven't played this one yet, but it's sitting there ready to be fired up once I've not seen an update land in three to four months.

I'll be very pleased if they've significantly rethought the sea battles. With that and the polished turn-based mode, this is looking pretty great.

Originally Posted by Ripper
I'll be very pleased if they've significantly rethought the sea battles. With that and the polished turn-based mode, this is looking pretty great.

From what i saw and understood in the video, they did redo the the sea battles.

I had a look, but they didn't seem to show very much. It's not clear to me whether it's a significant improvement, or some fairly minor changes to the UI of the current system.

Originally Posted by Ripper
I had a look, but they didn't seem to show very much. It's not clear to me whether it's a significant improvement, or some fairly minor changes to the UI of the current system.

Ya i don't know either, though I only did a couple of battles and to be honest i just wanted them over. Didn't really understand how to play them.

So lets hoping it is better.

An improvement in the sea battle system will be welcome.

This is one of those games I wish I could 'forget' my first playthrough, so I could enjoy it again with all the additions.

Originally Posted by ChaosTheory
This is one of those games I wish I could 'forget' my first playthrough, so I could enjoy it again with all the additions.

Hey I played the first one on day one and completed it.

Then waited until all the patches and add on's were out and loved it.

(this time i figured i would wait..even though I bought whatever pack that gave me everything.)

I'll give it a shot in a couple years when they're done with the patches. Already been burned once by them.

I'm considering buying this game now. Any thoughts on whether to play turn based combat or rtwp? I like both, so what do you guys think about the implementation in this game?

I'd say RTwP given that is how it was designed from day 1.

Played 66 hours of the game before DLCs were released (so I played RTwP) and found it quite decent. Much better experience then first game (which I finished - including DLCs). But then Kingmaker was released. And while it was not very polished upon release I LOVED it from first minute. So Deadfire went on stand-by. After I was done with Kingmaker (332 hrs) I needed some action (so I finished Dark Souls 3). Now, finally, I might be ready for Deadfire in TB mode. Looking forward.

Deadfire is currently on sale on GoG. Personally, I'm going to wait a bit longer, still waiting for it to drop below $30AUD.

I will probably play in RTwP mode as the game was originally designed.

I would love to hear what people think about the turn based combat now that it's finished. Have not tried Pillars yet but I'm interested now.

I'm playing Kingmaker again soon so I would like a nice turn based game also.

Speaking of Kingmaker, is there still some dlcs or updates to come or is it now in final state? thx

I'll have to try this out again with turn based. I didn't get that far into it the first time, but I never enjoyed the combat that much and would probably like it much more in turn based, assuming it's implemented well. I'm just dreading having to explore that massively oversized city again.