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A chance to experience this classic RPG in a new way, with a turn-based mode coming to the original Pillars of Eternity on November 5th in Beta. The date and a new trailer was revealed today by Obsidian Entertainment.

The second game already has it, and so they're bringing it over to the first game but with some improvements based on previous feedback that includes:

  • 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.

Check out the trailer with a message from Josh Sawyer, the Game Director:

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Since it's a Beta it may have some bugs, and they'll be working through feedback towards a full release of it.

This sounds excellent, and will probably allow me to enjoy the game a whole lot more.

Pillars of Eternity | Release Date: 26th March 2015

Official links:

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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17 comments Subscribe

Salvatos 17 hours ago
Nice! More people should experience this worthy successor to Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale :)
Kimyrielle 17 hours ago
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Ah, I miss Obsidian making games like this.
Arehandoro 17 hours ago
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Perfect time for a revisit, and maybe this way I can carry over my saves and finally play the second installment!
Eike 16 hours ago
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Perfect time for a revisit, and maybe this way I can carry over my saves and finally play the second installment!

I didn't (yet) succeed in carrying over the game saves to PoE II. :-(
tmtvl 16 hours ago
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It's funny, I bounced back and forth a lot between Pillars of Eternity (PoE) and Pathfinder Kingmaker (PK) until PK got turn-based and it became my go-to. With PoE getting turn-based combat as well, combined with the fact I've been hankering for some RPG goodness lately, I think I may spend some time with it in the near future (although I've been wanting to do a solo run and spirits are kinda painful).
Koopa 16 hours ago
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Seems a great followup once I finish my BG3 campaign... cant wait yayy!
robertosf92 16 hours ago
I've just started the game a few days back! Maybe I'll try this, probably better suited for me that real time with pause!1
psycho_driver 14 hours ago
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A game I bought somewhere near release and have never played yet. Maybe subconsciously I was just waiting for this update.
TheRiddick 14 hours ago
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Turn based mode does make these games much more accessible for people and also easier since you can be tactical vs just zerg rushing with same combos until you RNG win.

One downside however is combat is drawn out for ages sometimes, normally they let you toggle it on/off depending on the situation.
Linux_Rocks 12 hours ago
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Pillars of Eternity or Power over Ethernet. Both are PoE and I always think of both with the acronym. lol

Oh, and Path of Exile too, I suppose. :P


Last edited by Linux_Rocks on 4 Nov 2025 at 1:24 am UTC
Shmerl 12 hours ago
I prefer real time + pause mechanic myself, but it's cool they are adding an option for turn based mode. I wish games with turn mode only did the same the other way.


Last edited by Shmerl on 4 Nov 2025 at 2:03 am UTC
Koopa 9 hours ago
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prefer real time + pause mechanic myself, but it's cool they are adding an option for turn based mode. I wish games with turn mode only did the same the other way.
well afaik there is a real time mod for BG3 https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/12668 [External Link]
mentioning it since its seems like a barrier for people not familiar with TBC
Eike 6 hours ago
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I prefer real time + pause mechanic myself, but it's cool they are adding an option for turn based mode. I wish games with turn mode only did the same the other way.

I remember I thought back then real time plus (configurable!) automatic pause is the optimum between tactics and action.
LungDrago 5 hours ago
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I've found that my enjoyment of real-time with pause is directly tied to the party size. If the party is 4 characters, it's fine. If it's 6, I can't keep up anymore and have no idea what's happening and why.
Arehandoro 3 hours ago
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I didn't (yet) succeed in carrying over the game saves to PoE II. :-(

Does it fail/gives you an error when you try?
Eike 2 hours ago
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Isn't it nice that Microsoft lets them do such work on that old games, including the Linux version as it seems?
Eike 2 hours ago
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Does it fail/gives you an error when you try?

Will need to take a look; thanks for asking!
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