Update # 17 - The Last Few Hours! Our 8th Companion, New Stretch Goal, and Key Announcements!
POSTED: 02/23/2017
The Journey Winds Down
It's been an amazing trip
, watching
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire grow from our initial scoping meetings to hitting one stretch goal after another thanks to the help of our amazing fans, backers, and investors. We can't thank you enough for your help. But we still have a few hours to go -- can we unlock the goals above $4 million and add some truly unexpected features to
Pillars II? Let's get there together!
First off, some awesome concept art depicting our iron- and steel-clad constructs! Ironclad and steelclad constructs were created by animancers for various purposes, mainly to act as bodyguards and as instruments of war.
A Quick Recap/ICYMI
For those who might be joining us late in the game, we wanted to give you a quick recap of what you've missed:
- Fulvano the Explorer has been going on a journey throughout the Deadfire Archipelago, unlocking new island destinations in Pillars II with every backer milestone our campaign hits. So far, we've hit seven, with the eighth, at 29,500 backers, not far away! Who know what Fulvano will uncover next if we can get enough backers to help fill his sails.
- We've added Companion Relationships to the game. This is much more than just your standard RPG love-triangle stuff -- this is an Obsidian game after all! Check out this video, where Design Director Josh Sawyer explains it all!
- Xoti, the priest/monk has joined the player's party as a full new companion! Xoti totes akimbo scythes, her own vision quest, and enhances both the narrative and combat in myriad ways.
- We put sidekicks into the game, four to be precise, who allow players to expand their options in combat and add color to the NPC panoply without quite reaching the level of full-on companion in terms of design and resource commitment.
- Languages: we got 'em! In addition to French and German localization, we've added Spanish, Russian, Polish, Italian, Korean, and Portuguese, with Simplified Chinese included as our next stretch goal at $3.75 M!
Add-Ons
And just in case you thought we had a whole bunch of languages, wait until you get a load of all the add-ons we've included in the campaign! Almost all of these were added as a direct response to fan and backer requests, so the list got somewhat large:
Add-On Name Price
Pillars of Eternity II Novella $5
Pillars I Fiction Omnibus $5
PoE Digital Guidebook, Vol. 1 $5
PoE Pen & Paper Starter Guide $7
Join the Black Isle Bastards Crew! $8
The White March Soundtrack $9
High Resolution Digital Map $10
PoE Digital Deluxe Soundtrack $15
Pillars II Mousepad $17
Extra Beta Access for Pillars II $20
Pillars II Audio Soundtrack CD $20 + S&H
Pillars II DLC Season Pass $20
Extra Pillars II DLC Pass $20
Obsidian T-Shirt $25 + S&H
Pillars II Backer T-Shirt $25 +S&H
Companion Miniatures (Unpainted) $25 + S&H
Hardcover Guidebook Vol. II $30 + S&H
Extra Digital Copy of Pillars II $30
Pillars II Additional Physical Box 30 + S&H
T-Shirt Pack $40 + S&H
Companion Miniatures (Painted) $40 + S&H
Obsidian Hoodie $60
Extra Digital Copy Bundle $80
Additional Collector's Edition Box $80 + S&H
Limited Edition Signed Print $100 + S&H
Hoodie Pack $110 + S&H
You can purchase any or all of these add-ons during check out when you click on the backer tier of your choice, where you'll find a description of them when you simply roll over each one in the cart -- or you can add them to an existing order if you already backed us. So, if you're someone who's been requesting one of the above things, but didn't know we'd added it, now's your last chance!
Ydwin and a New Stretch Goal
We wanted to give you more detail on our potential 8th companion and current sidekick Ydwin, the Pale Elf. An image of her appears above, giving you some sense of what she'll look like, but we've got a more detailed description of how should could be fleshed out as a complete companion in
Pillars II, courtesy of Narrative Designer Carrie Patel, as well:
Ydwin, our eighth and final companion (we hope!), is a pale elf rogue/cipher with extensive training as an animancer. She was born in a remote, lawless settlement in the White that Wends, where she witnessed the cruelest extremes of kith and nature. Her observations fueled a fascination with animancy, and she eventually made her way to the Vailian Republics to study. She's since become an accomplished master in the field, and advances with luminous adra in the Deadfire have drawn her to the archipelago.
Let's push hard to unlock Ydwin and get her into the game!
$4.25 Million Stretch Goal - Intelligent Soulbound Weapon
Finally, since we're closing in minute by minute on the incredible goal of $4 million, we thought it would only be fair if we included some information on our stretch goal at $4.25, which will get us one step closer to unlocking Ydwin!
Our love for talking weapons goes back long ago, to our days playing pen and paper games, and we have fond memories of Lilarcor from
Baldur's Gate II. Now it's time for our own talking, intelligent weapon in
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire! This stretch goal at $4.25 million will add a soulbound weapon, which is infused with a personality that can speak to you throughout your adventure.
Final Friday Announcement
To end up, we wanted to let you know what we'll be doing tomorrow, as the campaign winds down:
- Livestream - Starting at 9 AM Pacific Time (5 PM GMT) tomorrow and running through the end of the campaign, we will be livestreaming on our Twitch channel from Obsidian HQ. Enjoy the final hours of the campaign with us as team members come in and out, discuss Pillars stuff, Obsidian stuff, random stuff, and just have a good time celebrating our games and our fans. Don't miss it, we want to hang out with you!
- Reddit AMA - And speaking of hanging out with you, for all you Redditors out there, we're doing an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on /r/IAMA with Josh, Carrie, Feargus, and other members of the Pillars II team tomorrow, February 24th, at noon Pacific Time (8 PM GMT). So if you have a Reddit account, this is your chance to literally ask us anything. We should be live for about an hour on there, and we will do our level best to get to everyone's questions!
- Social Media and Forums - We'll be more active than ever on our Twitter, Facebook, and official forum channels, so if you have questions about the campaign, ping us -- or leave a comment on Fig. We're going to try to be everywhere tomorrow -- we truly believe we can get to that 8th companion with your help!
Thanks again to all of our backers! Whether you're a newcomer just getting updated, or someone who's been with us for the entire campaign, we are going to create a fantastic journey through the Deadfire together!
but if you ask him he's a cRPG addict.
do you mean this one?
