Obsidian Entertainment has announced the 3.0 update coming to Pillars of Eternity, which will be launched alongside major expansion The White March Part 2. Both the patch and the expansion are expected to be released on the 16th February.
The update will include a streamlined combat UI, a revamp of the in-game Stronghold where the player can decide the fate of their vassals and send their companions on adventures, a new “Story Time” game mode, and companion Zahua will have +3 to his CON, bumping it to 17 and allowing him to own 75 attribute points like all other companions.
The major new features include:
- New content for the Stronghold that has you, as lord or lady of Caed Nua, decide the fate of your vassals and send your companions on new and exciting adventures.
- There is also a new quest line that allows you to defend your claim to Caed Nua (will be released in 3.0 final).
- Knockout Injuries have been added as an option for those that want it. Injuries are added to characters that are knocked out in battle and are only removed by resting.
- 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.
- Athletics has been revamped so that it allows characters to cast Second Wind. A powerful healing ability. A higher Athletics skill increases the size of the heal.
- Survival now grants rest bonuses. A higher Survival skill will unlock more rest bonuses or increase the strength of existing bonuses.
- Many new creatures have been added to the Bestiary.
- The Action Bar has been reorganized so that it is easier for players to see their Per Encounter, Per Rest, and Watcher abilities.
- The end of the game (Act 3 and second half of Od Nua) has been revised to remove the number of "trash" encounters and increase their difficulty.
- A high level scaling option has been included for anyone that enters Act 3 at a high level.
The full changelog can be found on the official site here, listing all of the tweaks and fixes that the patch will bring. Obsidian also released a dev diary narrated by executive producer Adam Brennecke that shows off visually what the 3.0 update will bring.
