Gaming News News Pillars of Eternity Gets Turn-Based Mode After 10 Years — Beta Launching Soon

Pillars of Eternity Gets Turn-Based Mode After 10 Years — Beta Launching Soon

November 3, 2025, 10:52 PM

Obsidian Entertainment has announced a new public beta for the original Pillars of Eternity, set to go live on November 5 via Steam and the Xbox Store. More than a decade after its release, the cult-classic RPG is getting an entirely new way to play — Turn-Based Mode.

The update is inspired by the system from Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, but has been reworked and improved based on community feedback.

Key features include:

Unbound Turns: Character speed now directly affects turn order, making stats from the Real-Time with Pause mode more meaningful;
Smarter Free Actions: Switching weapons, using potions, or activating modal abilities no longer consumes your main action, but each type of free action is limited to once per round;
Faster Pacing: Increased combat lethality makes every encounter tense and dynamic;
Mode Flexibility: Players can choose Turn-Based Mode at the start of a new game or switch between it and the classic mode at any time. Obsidian is also considering adding a toggle directly to the interface.

The developers warn that the beta may contain bugs, and updates and balance tweaks will roll out regularly throughout the test. The public beta for Turn-Based Mode kicks off on November 5.

By the way, an Obsidian Entertainment game designer recently shared his vision for what he’d like to see in Pillars of Eternity 3.

PC Pillars of Eternity News Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire News Gaming News News beta versions and tests DLC and Updates Obsidian Entertainment

About the author

Hennadiy Chemеris

News Author

Gaming Journalist. I have been writing news for VGTimes since 2015 on a variety of topics including not only games but also movies, anime, cosplay, cutting-edge technology, artificial intelligence, memes, and social media. I am also the author of several reviews, top lists, compilations, and other articles related to video games. I collect various gamer memorabilia, including figurines, posters, old consoles, and more. I have a keen interest in retro gaming. I have been gaming since the early 2000s on both PC and consoles.

...Expand

Comments0