The rebel
Another big difference in Pillars of Eternity II is the new base from which you start your adventures. This is a ship known as The Defiant. You can use it to traverse the waters surrounding the many islands that make up the Deadfire area.
It is a fitting way to travel when this land is so full of pirates. However, your ship turns out to be more than just a vehicle. You have to carefully manage supplies and keep your crew happy to be a successful captain. This adds strategic depth.
Fight
This brings us to the question of naval warfare. Obsidian obviously wanted to take ship-to-ship combat in this game with their choice of setting. It is a brand new addition to the franchise and has noticeable differences from normal combat.
Battles take place in a text-based interface that looks a lot like a text-based adventure game. Choose your option, whether it’s moving your ship, firing your broadside cannons or attempting to board the enemy ship. While it may be engaging to some extent, it’s not as intuitive or strategic as it could have been.
The real combat still takes most of its hints from the classic RPGs that inspired Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. Nothing drastic has changed, but the number of the group has been reduced from six to five, allowing you to better manage everything you are doing during the fights.
This combat system can feel dated at times, especially during encounters where there are large numbers of enemies. Pausing the game and managing everyone’s actions sometimes becomes a chaotic mess. It’s still functional, it just doesn’t offer you a way out of a battle feeling like you’ve totally won thanks to your skills.
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