Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is getting a new turn-based combat mode included free with a patch update. Obsidian Entertainment developers say the new mode is an option included when players start a new game and it won’t take away the real-time combat the game launched with.
In a video posted by the team, Design and Game Director Josh Sawyer talked about what players can expect from the feature. The idea came from one of Obsidian’s system designers, Nick Carver who worked with programmer Brian Mackintosh to enhance the combat and provide a new way for players to explore the Deadfire.
The turn-based mode slows everything down. It’s a very very tactical mode of play which is very cool. It highlights some abilities and debuffs and things like that aren’t necessarily as highlighted in the real-time with pause combat system and it’s really a lot of fun.”
When players begin a fight in the turn-based mode, the combat shifts to show the player who is next in the initiative order to attack. It is similar to anyone familiar with Dungeons and Dragons Each character will act independently of other characters instead of everyone acting at once.
The mode will be included for free in the 4.1 patch this week. However, the developers at Obsidian say the turn-based combat will be in beta when it releases. This way players will be able to provide feedback for the team and let them know of possible issues with the new feature.
To unlock the mode, players will have to start a new game and choose the turn-based mode. Players will not be able to switch between the real-time combat and turn-based. Once chosen at the start of the game, the mode will be active throughout its entirety.
The turn-based mode is very cool, we’ve done a lot of internal testing on it, but our internal testing cannot possibly compare to hundreds and thousands of players all trying to jump on it and see how it goes.”
Players will be able to test out the beta of turn-based combat when it releases January 24th.
