Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Unlock instant access to exclusive member features. Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards. Pillars of Eternity turned 11 years old last month, but Obsidian just put out a transformative update for the venerable CRPG: A full turn-based mode alongside the game's original real-time with pause (RTWP) mechanics. The mode had previously been available via a Steam beta branch since last November. There's a whole list of patch notes for the update, but we're sort of "gonzo" here at PC Gamer. We do things by the gut. I loaded into an old save right before the fight with Lord Raedric to feel things out⁠—this early optional boss is the proverbial deep end for testing out new mechanics. My verdict? I loved it, and this is definitely how I want to do my next playthrough. Pillars' turn-based mode is generous with your movement, but stingy with actions: You only get to do one thing per turn⁠—no action point manipulation or D&D Extra Attack. It sounds limiting, but it makes every decision important. Pillars 1's new implementation has a big advancement over the one in Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, though: You can take multiple turns in one round. In Deadfire, it works the old fashioned way: Initiative affects the order your characters and the enemies act in a round, with each character going once. Transitioning from RTWP, this punished certain builds while uplifting others. Ciphers, who attack with weapons to build up magic juice and cast spells, were inherently disadvantaged compared to Wizards, who can just whip out their best nukes from round one. Since everybody has the same number of actions, heavy armor is king⁠. In RTWP, you act faster in light armor and with lighter weapons via a "recovery" mechanic⁠—basically a cooldown on every action⁠—but that wasn't translated into turn-based.