# Pillars of Eternity Pillars of Eternity Turn Based Mode is Live

- Product: Pillars of Eternity (https://whatsnew.fyi/product/pillars-of-eternity)
- Vendor: Obsidian Entertainment
- Date: 2026-04-06
- Original notes: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/291650/view/497222951593051013
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/pillars-of-eternity/releases/2026-04-06-pillars-of-eternity-turn-based-mode-is-live

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Reuse: the summaries, labels and curation here are © What's New. Quote freely with attribution and a link back; wholesale republication of the corpus is not permitted — terms: https://whatsnew.fyi/terms. The vendors' own release notes remain their publishers'.

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- **added** — Turn-Based Mode has been added to Pillars of Eternity
- **added** — Players can select Turn-Based Mode when starting a game or swap between real-time with pause and turn-based combat in the options menu, keybinding, or HUD toggle button
- **added** — Support to change to the original Pillars of Eternity main menu art by clicking base game and DLC icons
- **added** — Keybinding and HUD button to toggle Turn-Based Mode freely while outside of combat
- **added** — Keybindings for Delay turn, End turn, and the Combat Speed slider
- **changed** — Turns are now influenced by character speed, with faster characters taking multiple turns per round and slower characters potentially skipping rounds
- **changed** — Combat pacing has been adjusted for increased lethality in Turn-Based Mode
- **changed** — Free actions such as swapping weapons, drinking potions, or enabling modals are now limited to 1 activation per turn within their action type category
- **changed** — Turn-Based Mode damage has been increased by 35% globally
- **changed** — Intellect effect on duration in Turn-Based Mode has been increased from 5% to 10% per point
- **changed** — Initiative formula in Turn-Based Mode is now Base RTwP Recovery * 2 + 1
- **changed** — Initiative from Reload Time is reduced by 25%
- **changed** — Phrase progression in Turn-Based Mode now progresses based on initiative elapsed since the Chanter's last turn rather than 1 phrase per turn
- **changed** — Successful interrupts in Turn-Based Mode now add their interrupt value to the victim's next turn Initiative, and interrupt values have been increased
- **changed** — Spacebar and Enter keys are now the default bindings to end turn in Turn-Based Mode combat
- **changed** — Smart camera is now present in Turn-Based Mode and may be optionally disabled in game options
- **fixed** — Using quick items or disarming traps while spiritshifted will no longer cause the turn to become unresponsive
- **fixed** — Overlapping Unconscious and Prone effects no longer allow a character to move freely
- **fixed** — Potion of Major Recovery no longer adds duration to hostile effects instead of reducing it
- **fixed** — The Helwax mold is now usable again

Greetings Watchers,

The wait is over and the Turn-Based Mode for the original _Pillars of Eternity_ is now live!

This new feature lets you experience _Pillars 1_ in a whole new way, with combat fully reimagined around turn-based pacing and flexibility. If you enjoyed experimenting with the system in _Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire_, we hope you’ll find this version both familiar and improved so please let us know what you think.

We’d also like to make sure we get a message to all those that played and sent in feedback on the Public Beta to help Turn-Based Mode become the best it can be: THANK YOU! Furthermore, we recognize that this is a large feature and while we have squashed the largest bugs that presented during the beta window, more issues may yet to be discovered. Still, please know that we will continue to release patches for this feature for a short while longer. So if you have an issue or would like to share feedback please contact us via [https://support.obsidian.net/](https://support.obsidian.net/).

Thanks!

And now for what to expect in this update.

##### **Major Features**

- Turn-Based Mode (TBM) has been added to Pillars of Eternity!

- Turns are now influenced by character speed, combat pacing has been adjusted for increased lethality, and certain actions (such as swapping weapons, drinking potions, or enabling modals) are now classified as free actions with per-turn limits.

- Players can select Turn-Based Mode when starting a game or swap between real-time with pause and turn-based combat in the options menu, keybinding, or HUD toggle button.

##### **General**

- Added support to change to the original Pillars of Eternity main menu art by clicking base game and DLC icons.

##### **Combat and Mechanics – Turn-Based Mode Specific**

- TBM Turns have been reworked compared to _Deadfire_:

- Characters no longer take 1 turn per round. Instead characters take turns as frequently as their Initiative (based on RTwP Recovery) allows.

- Faster characters (high dexterity, lighter armor, and/or speed improving effects) may end up taking multiple turns each round, while slower characters may act less or even potentially skip an entire round, if encumbered by enough speed penalties.

- TBM Lethality has been significantly increased over RTwP:

- In addition to legacy lethality changes from Deadfire (increased Graze Range, reduced Miss Range, Basic attacks perform Full Attacks, etc…), TBM now increases damage (dealt by any source) by 35% globally.

- This change helps to keep combat moving forward and highlights careful tactical decision making.

- TBM Intellect has been reworked vs. RTwP:

- The effect of Intellect on duration in TBM has been increased from +/- 5% → 10% per point.

- TBM Initiative has been reworked from _Deadfire’s_:

- The new formula for Initiative is:

- Base RTwP Recovery * 2 + 1

- All modifiers to initiative happen after the above calculation.

- First turn initiative uses a default recovery of 2s.

- The minimum initiative a character may achieve can never be below 1.

- Initiative from Reload Time is reduced by 25%.

- TBM Free Actions have been reworked from _Deadfire’s_:

- Swapping weapon sets, drinking potions, and toggling modals (or within a modal group) are all now considered free actions.

- Each of these Free Actions are now limited to 1 activation per turn within their respective action type category.

- E.g. you may drink a potion and change your active paladin aura, but you may not drink two or more potions in the same turn, or change paladin aura → attack → and then change it back.

- Additionally, no individual Free Action may be activated more than once in a turn.

- TBM Phrase progression has been reworked from _Deadfire’s_:

- As turns are no longer bound to 1 turn per round, phrases no longer progress 1 phrase per turn.

- Phrases now progress based on the amount of initiative (recovery) that has elapsed since the Chanter’s last turn (or the start of combat).

- TBM Int

_[Truncated at 4000 characters — full notes: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/291650/view/497222951593051013]_