Manual

The manual for Pillars of Eternity is a short introduction and reference guide for the player.

It is no strategy guide: it does not deliver solutions for quests or tell locations of items. Instead it explains the game's installation, leads through the Character Creation, deals with the Controls, and heads then over to more detailed game mechanics, backgrounds and listings.

Release
The manual can be downloaded for free by everybody as a PDF file from Steam. This file was created on October 30, 2014 – roughly half a year before the game was released.

A local copy is stored on this wiki.

Manual Errata
Obsidian Entertainment published a website, listing errors in the manual. They were last updated on March 24, 2015 – two days before the game's release. The book itself hasn't been updated since.

Current errata

 * Attributes
 * Perception now affects Interrupt, Deflection, and Reflex.
 * Intellect now affects the Will defense and Durations and Areas of Effect for all abilities and talents.
 * Resolve now affects Concentration, Deflection, and Will.
 * Combat
 * Damage Threshold is now called Damage Reduction.
 * Miss/Graze/Hit/Crit ranges have changed.
 * A Miss is any attack roll that is 15 or less. Does no damage and inflicts no status effects or afflictions.
 * A Graze is any attack roll that is between 16 and 50. Reduces damage and duration by 50%.
 * A Hit is any attack roll that is between 50 and 100. Standard damage with standard duration.
 * A Crit is any attack roll over 100. Damage is increased by 50%.
 * Races
 * Aumaua
 * Island Aumaua
 * The Island Aumaua racial bonus has changed. They now have Armed to the Teeth - All Island Aumaua gain an additional Weapon Set.
 * Godlike
 * Death Godlike
 * Death's Usher now affects enemies with 25% or less endurance.
 * Nature Godlike
 * Wellspring of Life now grants a bonus to Might, Constitution, and Dexterity when Endurance is below 50%.
 * Classes
 * Chanter
 * Chants
 * Aefyllath Ues Mith Fyr is now a 3rd level chant.
 * Druid
 * Spells
 * Touch of Rot has been deprecated from the 1st level druid spell list and replaced with Nature's Vigor, which does regeneration (like Nature's Balm) and adds to Max Endurance.
 * The 1st level druid spell Talon's Reach is now Foe-Only.
 * Nature's Mark should read as "Enemies are outlined in pale green light, decreasing their Deflection and Reflex defenses."
 * Fighter
 * Abilities
 * Crippling Guard has been removed from the game. Instead, Fighters now have Disciplined Barrage.
 * Confident Aim should read as a 20% increase in minimum damage, instead of 25%.
 * Paladin
 * Abilities
 * Flames of Devotion is now 2/per encounter.
 * Ranger
 * Abilities
 * Driving Flight now hits creatures in a 90 degree arc.
 * Master's Call now summons the pet to the ranger and can knock enemies Prone along the way.
 * Rangers no longer share Health and Endurance with their animal companion. Instead, if a ranger or animal companion are knocked unconscious, the partner suffers from Bonded Grief, affecting Accuracy and other stats, until the downed ally is revived. If a ranger is ever killed, the animal companion immediately dies from grief.
 * Skills
 * Lore
 * The Lore skill affects the ability to use scrolls.
 * Equipment
 * Flails
 * Flails no longer negate deflection bonuses, but instead convert Grazes to Hits.
 * Arbalests
 * Arbalests no longer have fast reload. Their bonus is that they can knock Prone on Crit.
 * Stronghold
 * "The house will earn the player money on a scale determined by its Prestige and Security. This sum will be automatically collected for the player" should reference the Stronghold, not the house.