Game News Pillars of Eternity Patch 3.0 New Features Video

[Infinitron]

Tags: Adam Brennecke; Obsidian Entertainment; Paradox Interactive; Pillars of Eternity; Pillars of Eternity: The White March

With the second part of the Pillars of Eternity: The White March expansion due for release in less than two weeks, Obsidian have released a video detailing the new features that are going to be added in the accompanying version 3.0 update. These include new stronghold quests, overhauled Athletics and Survival skills, late game trash mob reduction and more. The video is included in a new press release from Paradox:

IRVINE, Calif. and STOCKHOLM — Feb. 4, 2016 — Obsidian Entertainment and Paradox Interactive today revealed several forthcoming updates to Pillars of Eternity, the award-winning title backed by dedicated fans of classic role-playing games (RPGs). Later this month, alongside the release of the game’s second expansion, The White March – Part 2, Obsidian will make new updates to the gameplay and features of Pillars of Eternity available for all players. These updates will include a streamlined combat UI, updates to the in-game Stronghold and portions of the game world, a new “Story Time” game mode, and improvements to a broad variety of in-game features such as knockout injuries that change the difficulty during combat. Version “3.0” of the game will arrive as a free update to all players of Pillars of Eternity on February 16, 2016, the same day as the release of The White March – Part 2.

Full details on all upcoming changes are available in a new developer video, available here:



With the forthcoming release of the update and expansion, Obsidian and Paradox bring the exciting first chapter of Pillars of Eternity to a close. "We're committed to expanding and supporting the Pillars of Eternity experience. We have many stories to tell in this world and this has only been the first one," said Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart. Gamers who have been waiting for the complete Pillars of Eternity story can now experience the incredible narrative from start to finish, up to and including the exciting conclusion to the story of The White March.

Pillars of Eternity, created by veterans also known for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, Fallout: New Vegas, and South Park: The Stick of Truth, is an RPG inspired by classic titles such as Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale,and Planescape: Torment. Created thanks to over 75,000 crowdfunding backers, Pillars of Eternity has sold over 700,000 units, was released to critical acclaim in March 2015, and is among Metacritic’s 15 Best PC Games of 2015.

For more information on Pillars of Eternity and The White March – Part 2, visit http://pillarsofeternity.com/.​

The full changelog for Pillars of Eternity v3.0 is available here. Soon, the game will reach its final form - though it's becoming increasingly clear that the team isn't planning on taking any breaks.

 

[Irenaeus III]

Awesome! Can't to play 3.0

 

[Blackstaff]

I've no fucking idea what's Sawyer is teasing in there ? A new obsidian studio in Louisiana ?

Edit : Wait, they are calling their new projects by state name I think, so that's supposed to be a new game. Pillars of Eternity 2 ? Great.

 

[Prime Junta]

Hurricanes, gators, and gumbo. Sounds good to me.

 

[Dorateen]

A future Bard's Tale IV expansion developed from InXile's new Louisiana studio.

 

[Crispy]

I tried the 3.0 patch beta (yes, I'm attempting to give PoE another chance) and while I found the knockout injuries to be a welcome change, Second Wind seemed downright OP. Every single one of my characters had Second Wind available on their action bars, and the heals seemed just as if not more powerful than priests' healing spells do.

So some good, some bad. As always, balance. Right?

 

[oldmanpaco]

• Story Time mode has been added. This difficulty setting is for people that want to experience the Pillars of Eternity story without having to build a party of adventurers focused on combat.

This difficulty setting is for people that want to experience the Pillars of Eternity story without having to build a party of adventurers focused on combat.

This difficulty setting is for people that want to experience the Pillars of Eternity story

people that want to experience the Pillars of Eternity story

Pillars of Eternity story

 

[Irenaeus III]

It's a great story. Go back to Kung Fu Panda 3

 

[Shevek]

I tried the 3.0 patch beta (yes, I'm attempting to give PoE another chance) and while I found the knockout injuries to be a welcome change, Second Wind seemed downright OP. Every single one of my characters had Second Wind available on their action bars, and the heals seemed just as if not more powerful than priests' healing spells do.

So some good, some bad. As always, balance. Right?

Well, you mentioned balance, if enough folks report that it feels op, I would be surprised if it isn't toned down. It is still in beta afterall.

 

[Infinitron]

Every single one of my characters had Second Wind available on their action bars

That's not surprising, since giving every single character some Athletics was a pretty mandatory thing before this patch.

 

[Azrael the cat]

Sounds good. Been waiting on this patch before moving past the start of Part 2, and it seems like it will be worth it. It's a real pity when this sort of change is left until after you've had your first playthrough though. Things like trash encounters and stronghold options affect the 'feel' of the game, by making it more/less boring without you necessarily twigging to what it is that's making the difference. I don't know that they have the same benefit if you've already had a play-through.

 

[Septaryeth]

It's a great story. Go back to Kung Fu Panda 3

I thought it was good, but nowhere near great, mainly because of Act 3 though.
I still can't take the final plot twist seriously, both in terms of the themes and the tones...it just felt flat, inconsistent even.
But I guess some Codexers already beat it to death.

So, main story aside, did the expansion offer any new quests with good stories or it's just a Icewind Dale?
I don't mind the latter, just want to know before I buy the two parts together when it's released.

 

[Irenaeus III]

It's a great story. Go back to Kung Fu Panda 3

I thought it was good, but nowhere near great, mainly because of Act 3 though.
I still can't take the final plot twist seriously, both in terms of the themes and the tones...it's just felt flat, inconsistent even.
But I guess some Codexers already beat it to death.

I already explained this one hundred times: that girl in the glass was just batshit crazy and had a monstrous chip on her shoulder. Those codexers who beat it to death are stupid as hell.

 

[Dorateen]

So, main story aside, did the expansion offer any new quests with good stories or it's just a Icewind Dale?.

I'm not sure what you mean by "just Icewind Dale", but the first part of the White March expansion is all about reclaiming a dwarven stronghold. It doesn't get any better than that.

 

[J1M]

What are my options if I am semi-interested in the expansion but want nothing to do with the campaign again?

 

[Infinitron]

What are my options if I am semi-interested in the expansion but want nothing to do with the campaign again?

Load up a saved game where you're at level 7, respec all of your characters as desired at an inn and go back to the stronghold to start the expansion content.

 

[J1M]

What are my options if I am semi-interested in the expansion but want nothing to do with the campaign again?

Load up a saved game where you're at level 7, respec all of your characters as desired at an inn and go back to the stronghold to start the expansion content.

So if someone were to go there with characters from the end of the game it would be trivial?

 

[Infinitron]

What are my options if I am semi-interested in the expansion but want nothing to do with the campaign again?

Load up a saved game where you're at level 7, respec all of your characters as desired at an inn and go back to the stronghold to start the expansion content.

So if someone were to go there with characters from the end of the game it would be trivial?

Probably not trivial with the optional level scaling enabled but not nearly as challenging as the "natural" level either

 

[Shin]

I'm gonna give them some time to iron out all the issues in this patch and wait for 4.0

 

[Severian Silk]

I'm gonna give them some time to iron out all the issues in this patch and wait for 4.0

Wise move. I am waiting for at least version 5.0.

 

[MrE]

I wonder if the Story Mode is really necessary, it seems people have been unhappy because the game is too easy, not too hard. Not sure if they can get new players this way either.

 

[agentorange]

"here we're at our keep mjyhnijirjholm and our knights have a mission from ygurlr"

 

[tdphys]

What are my options if I am semi-interested in the expansion but want nothing to do with the campaign again?

You can make it to the new content at about level 4 if you go straight there..

Spoiler

but it will be pretty difficult on path-of-the damned ... Lost half my party clearing out the OGRES... and had to go back and finish a few harbour quests to even begin to make headway toward Galvino's cabin... holy constructs from hell. The immunities make things much more interesting

 

[Immortal]

Check out these great new features...!

• - Fixed The Shit UI.. Again!
  
• - Fixed The Player Progression We Fucked Up In The First Expansion!
• - Planted Some Flowers in The Black Hole of Content known as the Player Garrison.
  • Send your characters on missions just like in Warlord of Draenor.. Cause Tim Cain Played That Game and Fuck it We Can't think of anything else.
  • Let your characters rule as vassals in hidden castles you will never see and collect tithes magically from a pop up window.
• New Fun and Exciting Abilities / Player Utility that Sawyer will endlessly tweak for the next 4 months!!!!

Well Shit let me download this.. ohh.. what's that? PoE 2?

 

[Xzylvador]

I believe Darth Roxor should write a new/updated review with the expansion and patches, informing us whether we should pick it up now that it's fixed*.





(*: Also clarifying whether it's fixed as in 'mistakes were rectified' or fixed as in 'I had my pet fixed')