RPG
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire
Give it 15 hours
Gets good by 15h then rated almost like by veterans
Fully opens up by 35h rated like by long-time players
Reach the ending 29% of players who started
Started playing 61% of owners
Steam reviews 88% positive of 20,132
What the data shows
- In the first 2 hours 1 in 3 reviews are negative (39%); after 35h it's 1 in 12 (8%).
- Fully opens up by hour 35.
- 29% of players who start reach the ending.
- The biggest drop-off is between “Heart of the Deadfire” (Reach Neketaka) and “Establishing a Link”: from 90% to 60% of starters.
- Only 61% of owners have even the first achievement — the rest barely played.
When it gets good
Share of positive reviews by how many hours the reviewer had played when writing the review.
before it gets good opening up fully opened up
Based on all 20,172 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 300 reviews: 78.7h for positive, 44.1h for negative. Almost every game is rated lower in the first 2–3 hours: that window includes refunds and quick first impressions. What matters is how deep the dip is and how fast the game recovers.
Where players quit
Share of players who started the game and reached each story milestone. 100% is the most common achievement (60.8% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.
- Started playing 100%
- A Sailor's Life Repair your ship and prepare to sail the seas. 100%
- Heart of the Deadfire Reach Neketaka. 91% −9
- Establishing a Link Establish a link with Eothas to track his movements. Most players quit here 60% −31
- Explosive Confrontation Confront Eothas in Magran's Teeth. 43% −16
- The End of the Beginning Confront Eothas in Ukaizo. 29% −14
story milestone ending biggest drop-off
Story milestones were labeled by AI from achievement names and descriptions; mistakes are possible.
All achievements (55)
story milestone ending side
- A Sailor's Life Repair your ship and prepare to sail the seas. 100%
- Heart of the Deadfire Reach Neketaka. 91%
- Ship's Carpenter Attach your first ship upgrade. 90%
- Conduct Unbecoming Complete the "Blow the Man Down" quest. 78%
- Making your Mark Name your first Uncharted Island. 74%
- Sailor's Tale Acquired First Captain Rank. 72%
- Full Complement Assign a crew member to all slots on a single ship. 66%
- Steadfast Ally Maximize positive relationship with a Companion. 63%
- Establishing a Link Establish a link with Eothas to track his movements. 60%
- Gathering the Party Recruited all Companions. 56%
- Enchanter Enchant five items. 50%
- Any Port in a Storm Sail to all major ports in the Deadfire. 47%
- Explosive Confrontation Confront Eothas in Magran's Teeth. 43%
- Old Salt Acquired Master Captain Rank. 42%
- Molded to Perfection Create an adventurer at an Adventurer's Hall. 39%
- Dragonbane Deal with two Dragon dilemmas. 37%
- Constellation Prize Complete the "Bekarna's Folly" quest. 34%
- Max Level Reach level twenty with the player character. 32%
- Bounty Hunter Finish 15 Bounties. 32%
- Decked Out Attach each type of upgrade on a single ship. 31%
- New Gods of Deadfire Complete "Nemnok the Devourer" quest. 30%
- Scribe Create three or more different spell scrolls. 30%
- The End of the Beginning Confront Eothas in Ukaizo. 29%
- Alchemist Create five or more different potions. 27%
- Well that was Easy... Defeat the Messenger. 26%
- Soulbinder Unlock all powers of a Soulbound item. 26%
- Following Certain Death Enter the Beyond. 24%
- Paradise of the Mind Complete the "A Paradise of the Mind" quest. 24%
- Explosives Expert Create five or more different bombs. 21%
- Recruiter Recruited all Sidekicks. 21%
- This Time with Feeling Defeat Neriscyrlas. 21%
- Null and Void Escape the White Void. 21%
- Trapper Place five traps. 20%
- Traveler of the Void Decide the fate of Inquisitor Naxiva, St. Waidwen, and King Wingauro o Watūri I. 19%
- Explorer Name all of the Uncharted Islands. 18%
- The Watcher's Debut Earn the title of contender in the Crucible. 16%
- A Day at the Zoo Complete the Collections wing of the Halls Obscured. 14%
- No Card Required Complete the Archives wing of the Halls Obscured. 14%
- A Fleet to Call My Own Acquire each type of ship in the game. 14%
- Cruelty to Animals Create a pet using the Critter Cleaver. 14%
- Facing the Faces Become the chosen of the Seeker, Slayer, or Survivor. 13%
- You are the Champion Become crowned the Champion of the Hunt. 13%
- The Greatest Opponent Confront the porokoa. 13%
- Opener of the Way Repair the flow of souls to the Beyond. 13%
- Perfect Vision Confront the Oracle of Wael in the Heart of Mystery. 13%
- Rescuer Down Under Open all of the cages in the Collections. 11%
- Making Waves Complete the Huana faction questline. 11%
- Gold, Greed, and Guts Complete the Príncipi faction questline. 11%
- An Incredible Smell Discover the Secrets of Imp Spray. 8.7%
- A Brighter World Complete the Vailian Trading Company faction questline. 8.4%
- Hostile Takeover Complete the Royal Deadfire Company faction questline. 7.9%
- One of Them Obtain all of Weyc Heldr's items. 7.6%
- Infamous Captain Survive an attack from a mutinous crew. 5.8%
- Archivist of Kazuwari Collect all of the Artifacts of the Crucible. 5.8%
- Burning Bridges Maximize negative relationship with a Companion. 4.1%
Steam page Updated: 2026-10-18.