Update #53 - Beast of Winter Launch Day

[Mikey Dowling]

Hail, Duskspeakers.
 
Welcome back to another Backer Update, and rejoice! We've launched three major pieces of content today, including our first major DLC - "Beast of Winter". Check out the trailer below:
 

 
Of course, none of this would have been possible without our incredible DLC team, which will continue to push new boundaries for players in "Beast of Winter" and other upcoming DLC's. We interrupted their busy lives for a few moments to catch a glimpse of what it means to work on Deadfire's DLC in our newest Update video below, so take a look!
 

 
See what Rymrgand's Harbingers have in store for you on Steam, Gog, or Origin.
 

 

Patch 2.0

 
Alongside "Beast of Winter", Deadfire itself has an update today. Those of our community who have made Path of the Damned bow to their prowess may want to look for the secret menu in our main menu to access Magran's Fires, or the challenge modes we've implemented into the game. While we've officially brought back Triple Crown and Solo modes, we've also included two new modes named after Magran and Berath, respectively. Starting a game with any of these challenges will automatically put you in Path of the Damned with all cheats and mods disabled and with level scaling only going upwards.
 
Triple Crown mode activates both Trial of Iron and Expert modes simultaneously - which, in turn, means that players will get no helper features and only one save... which is deleted if you die.
 
Solo mode prevents any recruitment of party members. That means no companions, no sidekicks, and no adventurers!
 
Magran's Challenge prevents players from pausing or slowing down the game - though you can, of course, increase the speed at your own risk.
 
Berath's Challenge prevents players from fleeing combat and will kill any party member that is Knocked Out for six seconds.
 
Remember, Watchers can mix and match any of these challenges as they see fit, and we look forward to the ingenuity and resourcefulness that we've come to expect from our community. If you stream these challenges, let us know by tagging us on Twitter so we can have the team hop in and watch, and get you showcased on the Community Page of our website!

If you want to see the full patch notes for the 2.0 release of Deadfire, you can find them on our forums.
 

 

The Deck of Many Things

"The Deck of Many Things" free DLC is here! Many of the countless fantastic stories shared by sailors across the Deadfire include an ancient merchant ship of strange construction, filled to the brim with treasure and relics of ages past. While its crew never stays the same in these stories, the Deck of Many Things is always willing to trade its wonders away and equally willing to crush the pirates that dare try to steal from it. Check out this free DLC for a chance to seek out this legendary ship and gain access to its many treasures through trade - or attempt to take them by force!
 

 

Developer Insights
 
In our most recent stream, "Beast of Winter" Game Director, Brandon Adler, and Lead Producer, Alec Frey, showed off more of the "Beast of Winter" DLC as well as some new features coming with Patch 2.0. We also got to see mods in action as QA Tester, Andy Artz, showed off his "Producer Mod" to great effect. Be sure to check out the video for fun insights on the development of "Beast of Winter".
 
As always, if you subscribe to our channel on Twitch, you get access to emotes that you can then use across all of Twitch. All money we receive from Twitch subscriptions and cheers goes to benefit the Children's Hospital of Orange County. You can also donate to our Extra Life team and help raise money for the children's hospital that way. We'll be doing a marathon stream in November where we'll have an entire weekend of games and special guests while raising money for a great cause, so be sure to join us then as well. Do it "For the chids!"
 

 

Conventions
 
Going to Gamescom this year? Keep an eye out for Game Directors, Josh Sawyer and Brandon Adler, who will be on the show floor showing off Deadfire and talking to press. We'll also be doing a panel at PAX West this year on September 2nd! We'll be discussing how we bring characters from conception, to in-game for "Beast of Winter" and will be taking questions from the audience. The theater is open to anyone at the convention and will be streamed, so come by, hear from members of the "Beast of Winter" team, ask us questions, and hang out with us afterwards for a bit!
 

 

Creating Vox Machina
 
Our friends over at Critical Role recently did a live stream from their new Twitch channel where Matthew Mercer showed off how to create Vox Machina in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. If you missed the live stream, the video is now up on their YouTube channel so you can watch it any time.
 
As an added bonus, they also released a fun commercial for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire and Critical Role that we can't get enough of!
 
If you're so inclined to take a leaf out of Matthew Mercer's book and create a party of Vox Machina for yourself, the "Critical Role" DLC pack is available on Steam, GOG, Origin, and Macplay!
 

Physical Backer Rewards Updates

As we posted on our forum, we sincerely apologize for the lack of updates over the past few weeks - without your interest and faith in us, Deadfire could never have become what it is today and you deserve better from us. We wanted to have firmer dates to communicate with you before our newest update, but we realize now that the lack of communication was worse than the lack of firm dates. With that, we need and must do a better job updating all of you on what's going on.
 
With regards to current status, for those of you in North America, South America, and Oceania, our Ohio distributor has confirmed that they are sending shipments out starting early next week. Unfortunately, our fulfillment center for the rest of the world let us know recently, that they can no longer handle fulfilling for us and we're working on an agreement with a promising vendor in the coming days, with expediency in mind.
 
Going forward, every Monday (and more often as news arrives), we will update this support thread with the latest information we have. If you're ever curious about what is going on, we will update this page with the latest status.
 
Thank you most sincerely again for your patience and we promise to do a better job of keeping all of you updated.

 
Community Corner

The community has voted and your weapon is in the game! There is a new hunting bow available for purchase in Henric's shop in Port Maje. Beware, however - the animancer that created this bow may not have fully understood what they were doing and results may...vary.
 
 

Mod Highlights

 
In case you missed it, our own Andy Artz created a mod to show off the capabilities of modding Deadfire. The Producer's Sword was debuted during our stream last week, and can be found up on the Nexus. The Bloody Blossom, a modded pollaxe that was also used during the stream, was modded by Mortimermcmire and can also be found at Nexus Mods.
 

 

Current Timeline

 
Curious to know what's in store for Deadfire for the rest of the year? Check out our timeline above! In addition to the DLC's that we have planned after "Beast of Winter" and the God Challenges to come with them, keep an eye out for more news about the Mega Bosses that will be placed into the game. These giant monsters and constructs will be sure to add new challenges and rewards to your runs, should you decide to confront them. 
 

 
Thank you again for your continued support! If you have any issues with the game, contact us through our support portal to help you on your journey.
 
Cheers,
 
The Deadfire team
 
Reach out to us on our various social media channels (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, here on our forums) and let us know your comments, your critiques, and what you love about the game.
 
Did you miss our last update? Check it out!

[Wormerine]

Its OUT! GOG, stop checking local files and update already.

 

New challenges! Mega bosses!

and:

 

"More to come"
<3

Edited August 2, 2018 by Wormerine

[AndreaColombo]

Color me hyped for the entire roadmap, and especially so the mega bosses!

[Ethics Gradient]

So much hype in that roadmap.  Awesome work, everyone!

[Guest Psychovampiric Shield]

Yeah, I am hyped too, but...what is this?

 

[juanval]

Nice update. I like the road map, with super bosses, and at the end, "more to come"

[wolfrider100]

 Going to be enjoying this update. Plus I'm pretty hyped for this roadmap too (really looking forward to the mega bosses).

Edited August 2, 2018 by wolfrider100

[Adam Brennecke]

Yeah, I am hyped too, but...what is this?

 

 

Thanks for bringing that up. I'll contact GOG to fix. 

[juanval]

Nice to see young talented and excited people working in a beautiful project like PoE saga. With people like this, success is guaranteed

[M4xw0lf]

Mega Bosses you say

[Kampel]

Thank you for sharing that Timeline <3 cant wait

[Moonknight]

Very nice indeed. But I am baffled, as I am not understanding how to start this DLC, nor do I seem to find any information on how to start it. 

[Guest]

Very nice indeed. But I am baffled, as I am not understanding how to start this DLC, nor do I seem to find any information on how to start it.

Rumor is that you’ll be contacted long about level 14 or 15

[Moonknight]

oh no, another one where its in the old game, and one has to fiddle around to get to play the DLC, I should never have gone for the season pass, too much trouble. Will all DLCs be like this?

[M4xw0lf]

Where or when can we get 'the deck of many things'? Can't see it on the GoG downloads page so far.

[M4xw0lf]

oh no, another one where its in the old game, and one has to fiddle around to get to play the DLC, I should never have gone for the season pass, too much trouble. Will all DLCs be like this?

I do hope so.

[AndreaColombo]

Where or when can we get 'the deck of many things'? Can't see it on the GoG downloads page so far.

 

Using GoG Galaxy, I had the option to "buy" it (for free, like with the other free DLCs) and it then appeared in the list of DLCs. However, it appeared as a string of numbers instead of with its name (likewise for Beast of Winter, far as I can tell.)

[M4xw0lf]

 

Where or when can we get 'the deck of many things'? Can't see it on the GoG downloads page so far.

 

Using GoG Galaxy, I had the option to "buy" it (for free, like with the other free DLCs) and it then appeared in the list of DLCs. However, it appeared as a string of numbers instead of with its name (likewise for Beast of Winter, far as I can tell.)

 

Ah yeah, had to 'buy' it first, thanks

[lpro]

I won’t be playing again until all the DLC is out but I am

stoked to hear about Mega-Bosses and am so pleased that Obsidian is continuing to improve POE2. It was a good game at release and I’m hopeful that it will be a terrific one by December.

[Zap Gun For Hire]

Very nice indeed. But I am baffled, as I am not understanding how to start this DLC, nor do I seem to find any information on how to start it. 

I randomly got the invite to see Vanti (my nickname for ol Handsome  ) after I left The Deck of Many Things.  Was probably just a random timer counter though as I was a supremely high level character near the end of Act 2. I haven't attempted to trigger it early or in other circumstances.  

 

Won't be able to do further testing on this until later today though, as I got some errands to run and a mod update to push out first.

Edited August 2, 2018 by Zap Gun For Hire

[Zap Gun For Hire]

Quick update.

 

Pulled up a Level 6 character that was very early in Act 1.  They had just started exploring Neketaka and hardly done any quests.

 

Got The Honored Guest invite immediately on map change to the World Map.

 

So it is in fact possible to get the invite VERY early.  How early is a matter to be seen.

Edited August 2, 2018 by Zap Gun For Hire

[Moonknight]

Nice, will try this out

[Zap Gun For Hire]

Quick update.

 

Pulled up a Level 6 character that was very early in Act 1.  They had just started exploring Neketaka and hardly done any quests.

 

Got The Honored Guest invite immediately on map change to the World Map.

 

So it is in fact possible to get the invite VERY early.  How early is a matter to be seen.

Thinking about this now, and I don't have time to test it as I am literally running out the door after I hit "Post", I think it might trigger when one enters the World Map for the first time on a save where the trigger (whatever it is) has already been set.

 

My first test was with a save where the party was ALREADY on the World Map.  I got the invite when I left the Deck of Many Things and hit the World Map again.  My second test was when I left Queen's Bearth and entered the World Map.  Got it immediately again.

 

So for folks who are already past Port Maje I would see if going to the World Map gets the invite.

[recluce]

 

Yeah, I am hyped too, but...what is this?

 

 

Thanks for bringing that up. I'll contact GOG to fix. 

 

 

The Linux version of the DLC remains unavailable on GOG at the moment, the patch is available.

[Skie Nightfall]

So I went to my account (where one manages the pledges and all that) in order to redeem my season pass key, and for some reason I have two of those. No idea why.