Update 100: The White March - Part I

[BAdler]

Update by Brandon Adler, Lead Producer

 

 

Hey, everyone. I have some exciting news for you today. The White March, the expansion for Pillars of Eternity, has released its first part and you can find it on Steam, GOG, and Origin. In this update we will explain how to redeem your rewards from the Backer Portal and show you some of the cool companions, areas, and features from the expansion.

 

Let's not waste any time.

 

The White March - Part I

 

Obsidian has released the first half of the Pillars of Eternity expansion, The White March! It is now available on Steam, GOG, and Origin.

 

 

For those of you that may not know a lot about our expansion, let me talk about some of the details and highlights:

 

• The White March - Part I takes place in the harsh, frozen frontiers north of the Dyrwood. Word of Durgan's Battery and its buried treasures (including Durgan's Steel) has made its way back to the Watcher of Caed Nua.
• We have two new companions in the expansion:

   

  • Zahua, a scarred, drug-addicted monk who thinks pain is the true path to enlightenment.
  • The Devil of Caroc, a construct with the soul of a murderer infused inside.

   

• The expansion adds in a special class of items called soulbound weapons. These weapons have powerful (and unique) enchantments that become more powerful as their wielder levels up.
• You can now set your companions to use AI so you don't have to spend as much time managing their actions. Each class has special AI packages that are unique to those classes and we will be added in additional AI packages in the future. The AI for enemies has also been improved.
• Party members can now go into individual stealth. This allows some part members to be stealthed while other members are not. This is particularly useful in positioning party members for upcoming battles or sneaking by small groups of enemies.
• You may now retrain your party members to modify their attributes, skills, and abilities. Now you can try out new builds quickly and easily.

 

 

Redeeming the Expansion

 

Note: The expansion is not part of the Hero, Champion, or Royal bundles. The expansion was part of Kickstarter tiers at $165 and above. If you are a backer, but did not get the expansion bundled in your tier you will have to purchase it from Steam or GOG seperately.

 

We have now released Steam and GOG keys to all qualifying backers on the Backer Portal.

 

If the expansion was a part of your Kickstarter tier or if you purchased it as a separate add-on, you can redeem your game and get your key just like any other reward on our Backer Portal.

 

You can find the specific redemption instructions here under the "Steps to Redeem Your Items" section.

 

DRKN Clothing

 

Over the past few months Obsidian has been working with DRKN, a premiere clothing manufacturer, to come up with some cool pieces of clothing that takes inspiration from Pillars of Eternity. We are happy to announce that they have finished their first few pieces and you'll get the first crack at them.

 

 

In addition to high-quality clothing, you also get a digital copy of the Campaign Almanac with your purchase.

 

What are you waiting for? You can get your Pillars-inspired clothing here.

 

PAX Panel

 

 

If any of you are headed to PAX Prime this weekend, you should stop by the Hydra Theater at 3:00 PM on Saturday to catch our Pillars of Eternity retrospective panel. It's going to be filled with stories about our successes, our failures, and how it is shaping our future development. Also, we will give a sneak peek into our thoughts for future Pillars of Eternity products.

 

If you are unable to make it to PAX, not to worry. We will be streamed live on the official PAX Twitch channel for those that can't be there.

 

That's it for now. Have fun exploring the harsh wilderness of The White March!

[TheisEjsing]

Congrats on the expansion and the 100th update Obsidian! 

[Tomice]

Congratulations! The last days seemed odd when you are used to huge release hypes, but it's the product that's important, not the hype ;-) Nice trailer!

[Bryy]

Radical.

[Nonek]

If I may ask a couple of questions: Will it be allright to wait for the second expansion to download all of this at once? What is the in-game explanation for re-speccing characters, how does one lose and gain years of experience and training, I assume Animancy and awakening old lives or somesuch?

[Messier-31]

Hear, hear.

[SnayerX]

Will there be an update to the strategy guide for White March?

[GuyNice]

Are you guys planning on releasing updated patch notes? Or do the Aug. 6th patch notes include all the changes in patch 2.0 (beyond the actual expansion content)?

 

Thank you.

[Trilip]

Question.

 

Pour les personnes possédant la version physique, quelle version (Steam, GOG) et compatible pour mettre à jour notre version physique sans DRM ?

 

Existera-t-il une version directement téléchargeable depuis le portail de votre site de la même façon qu'existe les patch pour la version physique ?

 

 

 

 

English version Google Trad

 

Question.

 

For those with the physical version, which version (Steam, GOG) compatible to update our physical version without DRM?

 

Will there he a directly downloadable from the portal of your site in the same way the patch exists for the physical version?

 

 

 

[PrimeHydra]

Congrats on 100 updates! Pillars has been an absolute smash, and I've loved playing through it. You guys have earned your beers.

 

I do wish you'd released the expansion in a single go, rather than in two parts. Not because I have to buy two expansions, but because I'd rather play through the entire game again once ALL of the side content has been released. The length of the main game simply dwarfs the expansions, so there'd be too much repetition. That's why I'm holding off (hard as it is)!

 

Looking forward to returning to Eora once it's complete! (At least, until the sequel...please, please...)

Edited August 25, 2015 by PrimeHydra

[CoarseDragon]

Thank you!   This was worth waiting for.

[Skie Nightfall]

I really really really want a high res version of the picture from the kickstarter update:

 

Is it out somewhere? or do I have to beg Obsidian? :3

[BAdler]

I really really really want a high res version of the picture from the kickstarter update:

 

Is it out somewhere? or do I have to beg Obsidian? :3

 

We have that very background coming out as a wallpaper later today (most likely today).

[Skie Nightfall]

We have that very background coming out as a wallpaper later today (most likely today).

 

Yay!!!

[abaris]

Just a quick question because I made an odd observation: Is the game supposed to be 1.0.5.0582 PX1 Steam?

 

I'm a bit confused, since I was on 2.0 beta before.

[Twinsen]

It's a silly question I know but how can I play the expansion? In the game menu it says the expansion is installed but I cannot find a way to play it directly. Is it only accessible from within the normal gameplay? I use the GOG version.

[Skie Nightfall]

It's a silly question I know but how can I play the expansion? In the game menu it says the expansion is installed but I cannot find a way to play it directly. Is it only accessible from within the normal gameplay? I use the GOG version.

I think so. It's more content in the main game you can go to during the main plot after you get the stronghold (more or less).

It's not a continuation past main game plot.

[Twinsen]

I think so. It's more content in the main game you can go to during the main plot after you get the stronghold (more or less).

It's not a continuation past main game plot.

 

Thank you! By the way does this new update/expansion affect the older 1.6 version saved games or not? Should I start a completely new game or not? Earlier some of the patches affected only the new saves.

[CptKangaroo]

Just a quick question because I made an odd observation: Is the game supposed to be 1.0.5.0582 PX1 Steam?

 

I'm a bit confused, since I was on 2.0 beta before.

 

You have to opt out of the beta in order to run the game + addon. Steam will download another patch, once you "quit" the beta:

 

 

/edit: Oh, and @Obsidian to your 100th update!

Edited August 25, 2015 by CptKangaroo

[abaris]

Ah, yes. I forgot that bit although I kind of had the same problem a couple of months ago. Thanks for the reminder.

[Cottonmouth]

 

It's a silly question I know but how can I play the expansion? In the game menu it says the expansion is installed but I cannot find a way to play it directly. Is it only accessible from within the normal gameplay? I use the GOG version.

I think so. It's more content in the main game you can go to during the main plot after you get the stronghold (more or less).

It's not a continuation past main game plot.

 

Are there any requirements other than getting the stronghold? I started a new game and have the stronghold now but there doesn't seem to be a way to access the new content

[AndreaColombo]

Should trigger after getting to Defiance Bay.

[Gunnar.Maluf]

My special compliments to the art team of the game! I decided to be a backer with one screen and after release Pillars became one of my favorite games of all times. And one that I love looking at and explore. Also would like to thank you guys for the constant improvements being made into the game. Pillars 2.0 is a better game in all aspects than 1.0 was.

Thank you so much! 

[tinysalamander]

Retraining wizards is gonna be a pain

[BAdler]

Just a quick question because I made an odd observation: Is the game supposed to be 1.0.5.0582 PX1 Steam?

 

I'm a bit confused, since I was on 2.0 beta before.

 

No. The game should be 2.00.760. If you are seeing that build it is in an incorrect state. Are you back on the default branch? What I mean is, have you removed the beta branch and gone back to "none"?