Update #101: Update 2.02 is Live

[BAdler]

Update by Brandon Adler, Lead Producer

 

Hey, everyone. The Eternity team is currently hard at work on the second part of The White March, but that doesn't mean we don't have time for updates and fixes for Pillars of Eternity and the first part of The White March! In this backer update we will share some of the fixes that have gone into 2.02, show off some cool swag, and let you know about some novels by a couple Obsidianites. In future updates we will discuss some of the things we are doing for the second part of The White March.

 

Update 2.02

Not only does Update 2.02 introduce some important fixes for the game, but we have even added in GOG Galaxy achievement support for you achievement hunters.

 

The update is currently live on Steam and will be live on Origin and GOG within a day or two.

 

Check out some of the changes below:

 

Major Fixes

• GOG Galaxy achievements now work.
• A party member using a movement speed modifying item now should walk at the same speed as the rest of the party outside of combat.
• Added more optimizations for save and load.
• Fixed an issue where some players were not able to talk to the Steward of Caed Nua to start The White March quest lines.
• Fixed issues with Respec not working correctly with some edge case abilities and talents.
• Fixed some problems that were being reported with self-targeting abilities (Like Frenzy).
• Fixed problems with chanters not being able to set their chants properly after they have retrained.

 

Abilities

• All Summoned weapons are now considered universal weapon type.
• Fixed a number of issues with Nature's Bounty.

 

Items

• Soulbound weapons are properly unbound when the bound soul dies.
• Fixed issue where weapon switching recovery could go negative.
• Ambush Item Mod should only drain 15% attack speed now.
• Shadowflame from Ninguath's Grimiore is now 4th level.
• Removed enchantment cost of the Cumbersome item mod.
• Lowered the enchantment cost for Spellstriking Confuse and Spellstriking Thrust of Tattered Veil.

 

Quests

• Small Balance changes to the Alpine and Sky Dragon attacks.
• Fixed a number of issues with the Devil of Caroc's reactivity in the soul awakening quest.
• The Hunter's Favor should properly resolve if Thyrsc and Suldrun are killed before completion.
• Stronghold attacks can now happen if the player level is over 13.
• Caroc and Zahua now have a place in the stronghold.
• Alpine Dragon is now set to never gib.
• Vamrel's conversation will only fire once now.

 

Miscellaneous Notes

• Quick items on the ability bar are now sorted by slot.
• Afflictions display like other status effects on the party bar.
• Fix a number of hotkey binding issues and bugs.
• Accuracy for Bestiary entries now account for stances and shields.
• Fixed a problem with Accuracy being reported incorrectly until the party enters combat.

 

Hey, where'd you get that shirt?

 

As some of you saw in our last update, DRKN has produced some cool Pillars-inspired shirts and sweatshirts.

 

Recently, Obsidian's order came in from DRKN and we had some fun posing for the camera.

 

 

If you didn't get a chance to grab one last time there is still hope! Just head over there and grab yourself some of that Pillars swag.

 

Novels by Obsidianites

 

A while back we introduced you guys to some novels by Carrie Patel (Narrative Designer, Pillars of Eternity) and Andrew Rowe (Systems Designer, Armored Warfare).

 

If you enjoyed those books we have some really good news, Carrie's second book in her Recoletta series is now available.

 

Cities and Thrones: Recoletta Book 2

From Carrie:

 

Revolution transforms the city of Recoletta. The new leaders dethrone the old oligarchs, open up the secret archives, and establish a new government based on change and transparency.

 

Months later, Recoletta is in shambles, the farming communes have revolted, and neighboring cities scheme against the crippled behemoth.

 

Inspector Liesl Malone, now chief of police, must protect her city from black market barons, violent insurgents, and the excesses of her new government. Meanwhile, Jane Lin has fled to the city of Madina, where she learns of a plot to crush Recoletta. Jane must decide whether—and how—to save her old city from her new home.

 

Cities and Thrones is the sequel to the critically acclaimed novel The Buried Life, and it's available in bookstores now.

 

If you are interested in the series you can also find the first book here.

 

Forging Divinity

If you didn't get a chance to pick up Andrew's book, Forging Divinity, the first time, now's your chance.

 

From Andrew:

 

Some say that in the city of Orlyn, godhood is on sale to the highest bidder. Thousands flock to the city each year, hoping for a chance at immortality.

 

Lydia Hastings is a knowledge sorcerer, capable of extracting information from anything she touches. When she travels to Orlyn to validate the claims of the local faith, she discovers a conspiracy that could lead to a war between the world's three greatest powers. At the focal point is a prisoner who bears a striking resemblance to the long-missing leader of the pantheon she worships.

 

Rescuing the prisoner would require risking her carefully cultivated cover - but his execution could mean the end of everything Lydia holds dear.

 

If you are interested, head over to Amazon and pick up a copy.

 

That's it for now. Look for our next update that will talk a bit more about The White March: Part II.

[Torm51]

Hey I switched over to non beta and nothing downloaded yet 2.02 is live...suppose to happen that way?

[BAdler]

If your beta build is up-to-date with the latest beta, then nothing will download. This is the correct procedure. It will only download something new if your beta didn't get updated to build 749 OR if you never downloaded any betas in the first place.

[Thessaly]

Hey I switched over to non beta and nothing downloaded yet 2.02 is live...suppose to happen that way?

 

I had the same thing happen to me. I had to uninstall Pillars of Eternity compeltely to opt out of the beta tier this time around; it was frozen in that state.

[Thessaly]

If your beta build is up-to-date with the latest beta, then nothing will download. This is the correct procedure. It will only download something new if your beta didn't get updated to build 749 OR if you never downloaded any betas in the first place.

 

I think you're under a misunderstanding. That's to say, you could not opt out of the beta. It was still listed as "Pillars of Eternity [beta]" even when not in the beta. Any other time I've opted out, it will remove files and download new ones. (At least on Steam.) This time no files were downloaded and it froze me in beta (despite being listed as "none (opt out)" under the game's Properties.

 

Edit: I'll grant you this isn't the beta bug report forum, but it's always good 'fax to keep people (who are trying to update that it won't happen the way they expect) well-informed so as not to look for their pitchforks.

Edited September 28, 2015 by Thessaly

[Torm51]

If your beta build is up-to-date with the latest beta, then nothing will download. This is the correct procedure. It will only download something new if your beta didn't get updated to build 749 OR if you never downloaded any betas in the first place.

Sweet.  Thanks for the work guys!

[Torm51]

 

If your beta build is up-to-date with the latest beta, then nothing will download. This is the correct procedure. It will only download something new if your beta didn't get updated to build 749 OR if you never downloaded any betas in the first place.

 

I think you're under a misunderstanding. That's to say, you could not opt out of the beta. It was still listed as "Pillars of Eternity [beta]" even when not in the beta. Any other time I've opted out, it will remove files and download new ones. (At least on Steam.) This time no files were downloaded and it froze me in beta (despite being listed as "none (opt out)" under the game's Properties.

 

Edit: I'll grant you this isn't the beta bug report forum, but it's always good 'fax to keep people (who are trying to update that it won't happen the way they expect) well-informed so as not to look for their pitchforks.

 

If you quit Steam and go back it will go back to normal after you opt out.

[Thessaly]

 

 

If your beta build is up-to-date with the latest beta, then nothing will download. This is the correct procedure. It will only download something new if your beta didn't get updated to build 749 OR if you never downloaded any betas in the first place.

 

I think you're under a misunderstanding. That's to say, you could not opt out of the beta. It was still listed as "Pillars of Eternity [beta]" even when not in the beta. Any other time I've opted out, it will remove files and download new ones. (At least on Steam.) This time no files were downloaded and it froze me in beta (despite being listed as "none (opt out)" under the game's Properties.

 

Edit: I'll grant you this isn't the beta bug report forum, but it's always good 'fax to keep people (who are trying to update that it won't happen the way they expect) well-informed so as not to look for their pitchforks.

 

If you quit Steam and go back it will go back to normal after you opt out.

 

 

I tried that before completely uninstalling, it didn't work. I even hard-booted my computer on the second attempt to verify and no luck.

[BAdler]

 

If your beta build is up-to-date with the latest beta, then nothing will download. This is the correct procedure. It will only download something new if your beta didn't get updated to build 749 OR if you never downloaded any betas in the first place.

 

I think you're under a misunderstanding. That's to say, you could not opt out of the beta. It was still listed as "Pillars of Eternity [beta]" even when not in the beta. Any other time I've opted out, it will remove files and download new ones. (At least on Steam.) This time no files were downloaded and it froze me in beta (despite being listed as "none (opt out)" under the game's Properties.

 

Edit: I'll grant you this isn't the beta bug report forum, but it's always good 'fax to keep people (who are trying to update that it won't happen the way they expect) well-informed so as not to look for their pitchforks.

 

 

EDIT: Nevermind... looks like you tried this.

 

Thanks for the info. I have seen this bug in Steam before, but I have never had to uninstall the game.

 

Next time try switching your branch to the default branch and completely closing out of Steam. When you come back into Steam it usually fixes the branch problem. Steam can be a fickle beast when it comes to updating builds.

[Benedictous]

Actually fixed a lot of the problems I had, not noticing anything broken. Nice work! But seriously... Chanters are trailer Trash skanks...fix them.

Edited September 29, 2015 by Benedictous

[Ineth]

• All Summoned weapons are now considered universal weapon type.

 

Does this mean they will no longer benefit from Weapon Focus talents?

[Hugo Rune]

 

• All Summoned weapons are now considered universal weapon type.

 

Does this mean they will no longer benefit from Weapon Focus talents?

 

I suspect this means the exact opposite. I believe they are now treated like soulbound weapons and can benifit from any of the weapon focus talents. Like, a summoned quarterstaff would also get the accuracy bonus if you have only the ruffian talent.

[Isaea]

Hey Guys! Great work on patch 2.02 can't wait to try it out - unfortunately i have GOG version so i can't play it yet and it makes me wonder - if i started game two days ago - currently trying to beat Path of the Damned + Trial of Iron and in Expert Mode does GOG achievements work retrospectively? Can i still play it and implement the patch later on when it's live on GOG or in order to get the achievements i will actually have to start a new game?

[BAdler]

Hey Guys! Great work on patch 2.02 can't wait to try it out - unfortunately i have GOG version so i can't play it yet and it makes me wonder - if i started game two days ago - currently trying to beat Path of the Damned + Trial of Iron and in Expert Mode does GOG achievements work retrospectively? Can i still play it and implement the patch later on when it's live on GOG or in order to get the achievements i will actually have to start a new game?

 

To be honest, I am not sure if they will work retroactively. I think some of them might (because he have added in some retroactive checks for some of our achievements), but others may not.

[abaris]

 

 

I tried that before completely uninstalling, it didn't work. I even hard-booted my computer on the second attempt to verify and no luck.

 

 

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. You have to repeat the process until the darn client finally understands that you don't want beta. Seems to be a problem on their side.

[Messier-31]

GOG player here.

 

If there are two separate patches for WM and no-WM games will it be necessary to install both in order to patch the game properly?

 

That was the case with 2.01

[AndreaColombo]

GOG player here.

 

If there are two separate patches for WM and no-WM games will it be necessary to install both in order to patch the game properly?

 

That was the case with 2.01

 

It's safe to assume there will always be two patches from now on.

 

You only need the WM patch if you have the expansion.

[Messier-31]

It's safe to assume there will always be two patches from now on.

 

You only need the WM patch if you have the expansion.

 

A bunch of people had to install both patches to update the game correctly.

[Sannom]

Most of the stories I've read is that installing both break the game.

[Skie Nightfall]

Installing only WM 2.01 gog patch broke it for me. From what I understood you do need both patches.

 

What I did though is update it using Galaxy after I broke it.

 

This time I'll probably just let Galaxy sort out the patches for me.

[srlapo]

Installing only WM 2.01 gog patch broke it for me. From what I understood you do need both patches.

 

What I did though is update it using Galaxy after I broke it.

 

This time I'll probably just let Galaxy sort out the patches for me.

 

You should, for some reason Galaxy will ignore any manual patching done to the game. It just patches over it again, so once you go Galaxy with a game you need to stay with Galaxy or reinstall.

[rheingold]

Any idea how long it takes for gog to upload the patches? Still waiting for them

[srlapo]

GOG 2.02 became available 5 minutes ago.

Also, now POE gets the option of turning on "Beta Channels" in Galaxy. It is currently off and grayed out but maybe? for the next beta patches?

Edited September 30, 2015 by srlapo

[rheingold]

Awesome thanks - hopefully it's not that complicated and we can download only that file as opposed the previous patch where there where 2 versions.

[Skie Nightfall]

 

Installing only WM 2.01 gog patch broke it for me. From what I understood you do need both patches.

 

What I did though is update it using Galaxy after I broke it.

 

This time I'll probably just let Galaxy sort out the patches for me.

 

You should, for some reason Galaxy will ignore any manual patching done to the game. It just patches over it again, so once you go Galaxy with a game you need to stay with Galaxy or reinstall.

 

 

Yea, nothing like downloading 5GB again via Galaxy.

Manual installations register, so that's a difference.