Obsidian Entertainment released a public beta for their duology "Pillars of Eternity" in November 2024. The beta introduces full gamepad support to both games. This means players can now play the entire game from start to finish with a gamepad.
Beta update brings console-style controls and streamlined turn-based combat
So for PC gamers that would like to play like they would on a console, they can now go through everything from character creation all the way through the credits without a mouse. Also, in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, they have reworked the turn based combat system to be similar to the improvements made to the first game.
The most significant changes are how they have implemented console control schemes to the PC version of both games. With Deadfire, they have now made the interface similar to what it is on the console. This includes special support for ship battles.
The nice thing about the games is that you can switch from playing with mouse and keyboard to gamepad on the fly. It recognizes what method you are using and will update the interface instantly.
For Deadfire, the turn based combat system has been reworked to make the combat flow smoother. Now it is based on your character's speed, so it's not based on initiative rolls anymore. Also, they have changed it so if you switch weapons or take a potion, it will not use an action for that turn.
This makes the flow of tactical decisions in combat smoother. The first game has had the streamlined mechanics implemented already. Now they have brought Deadfire in line with that.
The beta patch has a bunch of fixes for combat, quests, audio, and UI. For those that want to try the changes out, you can access the public beta through the Betas section on your Steam library. This gives you access to provide feedback in case they may do a broader release. The changes are more about quality of life improvements and not any new story content.
Source: IXBT
Finally. The initiative roll system was a bottleneck. Speed based turn order is much better for flow.
Does the gamepad support work for the ship battles in Deadfire yet? I need to know if I can play the naval sections without a mouse.
Yes. The ship battles have special support for gamepads now. You can play the whole game on a controller.
I am glad they fixed the potion action cost. Swapping gear mid fight was annoying before. Now it feels smoother.
This is just quality of life stuff. No new story. I will wait for the full release with all the bug fixes included.
tbh i just want to know if the ui scales well on ultrawide monitors. the controller support is nice but i play on pc mostly. 🤔
Switching control methods on the fly is a nice touch. But I still prefer the old menu navigation for complex builds.