Pillars of Eternity | Public Beta for Turn-Based Mode Opens November 5th

Greetings, Watchers,

We’re excited to announce that a new public beta will open on November 5th for players on Steam and Xbox PC. This beta introduces a major new way to play the original Pillars of Eternity: Turn-Based Mode.

Fans who enjoyed experimenting with Turn-Based Mode in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire will find familiar ground here, but with key improvements shaped by your feedback:

• Unbound Turns: All turns are now influenced by a character’s overall speed, improving the value of Real-Time with Pause attributes and mechanics.
• Smarter Free Actions: Actions like swapping weapons, drinking potions, or enabling modals are now free actions. Each free action is limited to one per turn per type for balance.
• Faster Pacing: Combat lethality has been significantly increased for both enemies and players to keep battles tense and impactful.
• Mode Flexibility: You can choose Turn-Based Mode alongside difficulty when starting a new game — or swap freely between Real-Time with Pause and Turn-Based Mode in the game options. We’re also investigating a direct HUD toggle for even more convenience.

As this is a public beta, please expect bugs and ongoing adjustments. The beta will run for some time as we continue to roll out updates and prepare for a full release.

We’re also excited to share a special message from Josh Sawyer, the Game Director, with his thoughts on what Turn-Based Mode means for Pillars of Eternity and how community feedback helped shape this update.

Your feedback will be vital as we refine and polish turn-based mode — we’ll be collecting reports, issues, and suggestions from the community throughout the beta.

Thank you for helping us continue to grow and evolve Pillars of Eternity. We’ll see you in the beta on November 5th!