"Avowed 1.4 Patch Adds Arachnophobia Mode, Unveils 2025 Roadmap"

Obsidian Entertainment has unveiled an exciting 2025 post-launch roadmap for Avowed, alongside detailed patch notes for its 1.4 update. These updates and future plans were shared today on the Obsidian website, giving fans a comprehensive look at what's in store for the fantasy RPG.

The Avowed 1.4 update introduces several significant enhancements, including an Arachnophobia mode that transforms giant spiders into less intimidating blobs, and improvements to map exploration. However, it's the roadmap for 2025 that truly excites fans, outlining three major updates planned for the year.

The first update, which is already live with version 1.4, brings not only the aforementioned features but also mouse and keyboard support on Xbox, increased gold and crafting materials, gear adjustments, and a new party camp feature. For those yet to explore Eora, the summer update promises cooking and crafting improvements, new NPC interactions, additional weapons and armor, and custom map markers.

The fall update is set to conclude 2025 with highly requested features like new game plus and photo mode, which is expected to be Obsidian's biggest update yet. It will also introduce a new weapon type, the ability to change appearance in-world, more character presets, and support for additional languages. Obsidian acknowledges the importance of localization, stating, "We also want to acknowledge our players in Korea, Japan, and French-speaking regions... We’re committed to delivering these updates as soon as they are ready, and we deeply appreciate your patience and support as we make sure they meet the quality you deserve."

Avowed 2025 Roadmap. Image courtesy of Obsidian Entertainment.

Avowed was launched on February 18, 2025, and is now available for PC and Xbox Series X | S, as well as on Game Pass. Obsidian teases that they "can’t wait to show you what’s next." For a full rundown of everything included in the 1.4 update, including additional features and bug fixes, check out the patch notes below. You can also click here to learn about one of its secret (and crucial) side quests.

Note: Potential spoilers have been highlighted in bold.

Avowed Update 1.4 Patch Notes

Greetings Envoys,

We want to take a moment to thank you for your continued reports, feedback, suggestions, and your patience. Your insights are valuable to us, and we appreciate the time and effort you put into sharing your experiences with us.

Without further ado, the 1.4 patch notes are now ready for all to enjoy!

Thank you for being part of our community—we appreciate your support and look forward to sharing more with you in the future!

— The Avowed Team

Features and Improvements!

• Arachnophobia Safe Mode: The highly requested Arachnophobia Mode is now available in Avowed! You can enable this option in the Accessibility menu to replace all spiders in the game with little spheres wielding swords. Please note that while their appearance is “friendlier”, they remain just as deadly!
• Community Highlights:
  • Once a player has explored nearly all of the accessible areas on a map, the fog of war for the entire map will automatically clear.
  • When entering a city on an overland map (for example, entering Northern Paradis in Dawnshore), the corresponding section of the overland map will now be revealed.
  • The radius for clearing fog while exploring has been significantly increased, allowing players to uncover more of the map as they move.
  • Critters can now be killed and have a chance to drop loot.
  • Players can now wait to pass time (day/night cycle) while in the Party Camp.
  • Soul Pod throwables now dispel illusions, with the exception of Ryngrim’s entrance, which still requires Yatzli’s interaction.
  • Added a settings option to display chests on the minimap.
  • Added a setting option to allow canceling power attacks with the Bow and Arquebus.
• World Reactivity Improvements:
  • Arrows will now fall naturally and hit the ground.
  • Water now reacts with splashes and ripples when players enter it or fire weapons into it.
• Economy & Loot Adjustments:
  • Critters now drop loot when killed.
  • Added more weapons to loot throughout the game, including many that come pre-upgraded (+1, +2, +3 versions).
  • Increased monetary rewards for main path quests and exploration.
  • Small loot containers, such as backpacks and lockboxes, can now contain larger items like body armor and larger weapons, leading to more fairly distributed drops.
  • Significantly increased the drop rate of Creature Parts (which can now also be used for upgrading grimoires).
  • Increased the drop rate of higher-tier weapons in later regions.
  • Updated loot lists to include slightly more upgrade materials.
• UI/UX Improvements:
  • Added a visual effect and UI indicator to help players locate Downed Companions during combat.
  • Enabled the "Talk" interaction prompt for Companions.
  • Added support for Mouse and Keyboard input on Xbox.
  • Updated the loading screen art for the Dawnshore and Fort Northreach maps.
  • Added an ‘Auto Detect’ option to the Graphics menu to find and set the recommended settings for your hardware.
  • Added support for Nvidia DLSS Frame Generation (for RTX 40 and 50 series GPUs).
  • Added a "Read All" button to the Journal; each tab (Quests, Documents, and Tutorials) now has its own dedicated button.
• Combat Updates:
  • Enemies now become shocked faster when standing in water.
  • Creature Parts can now be used to upgrade Grimoires.
• Companion Improvements:
  • Companions now gain Ability Points every 3 levels instead of every 4 levels, increasing their maximum from 8 to 11. Players will automatically receive the additional points upon updating.
• Enemy Behavior:
  • Enemy awareness speed now dynamically adjusts based on their distance from the player — closer enemies detect players faster, while distant enemies react more slowly.
• Unique Item Updates:
  • Updated the stats on many Unique Items throughout the game:
    • Thirdborn Brigandine Jacket: Increased regeneration rate.
    • Civilizing Influence: Increased damage reduction against beasts, primordials, and wilders to 10%.
    • Berath's Blessed Ward: Increased damage reduction against vessels to 20%.
    • Chitin Band: Increased damage reduction against beasts to 20%.
    • Nimanna's Ward: Increased damage reduction against spirits to 20%.
    • Wildwalker Ring and Threads of the Faithful: Increased health regeneration from 0.05 to 0.5.
    • Thirdborn Brigandine Jack: Increased health regeneration from 0.05 to 0.8.
    • Faith and Conviction: Increased essence regeneration from 0.05 to 0.1.
• Enchantments Rework:
  • Replaced obsolete Carry Capacity enchantments on certain Unique Items with new stat buffs:
    • Boots of the Bricklayer / Porter: +2 Might
    • Animancer's Swallowtail / Stelgaer-Hide Pouches: +2 Dexterity
    • The Packmule's Burden / Honorbound Mule: +1 Might, +2 Constitution
    • Tranton Family Brigandine / Tranton Tenacity: +2 Might
    • Thirdborn Brigandine Jack / Grim Hope: +3 Resolve
    • Thirdborn Boots / Explorer's Boon: +3 Constitution, +10% Move Speed

Key Bug Fixes

• Limited CPU utilization during the "Compiling Shaders" screen to improve stability across all CPUs.
• Fixed an issue where *Shadows of the Past* waypoints could become stuck at the beginning of the entrance path to Naku Kubel.
• Totem pieces now correctly go into the player’s inventory instead of the party stash when picked up.
• Resolved cases where certain totem effects would stop working after a conversation or cutscene.
• *Minoletta’s Conduit* now correctly interacts with the Wand Mastery ability.
• Fixed an issue where companions could be removed from the party, resulting in broken conversations and quests.
• Enemy vitals UI has been updated to always stay properly positioned above enemies, preventing occasional clipping.
• The statue in Ryngrim’s Domain now remains interactable even if the player previously interacted with it without fully advancing the quest.
• An *Untimely End* quest now correctly triggers the final objective and no longer gets stuck under rare conditions.
• Completing certain quests on older saves now properly counts toward the *Pentiment* achievement.
• Fixed an issue where the *Armor Fit for the Wilds* quest could get stuck at the "Gather Materials" stage.
• Re-added the FidelityFX 3 option to Graphics Settings for AMD graphics card users.
• Binding the scroll wheel to hotbar slots 1–6 now works properly after restarting the game.
• Binding Ability Slots to keys 7, 8, 9, or 0 no longer casts an unintended additional ability from the radial menu.
• Players will no longer encounter unkillable Dreamthralls outside of Thirdborn.

Additional Bug Fixes

• Crashes and stability:
  • Limited CPU utilization during the Compiling Shaders screen, to increase stability on all CPUs.
  • Fixed a rare hang that would cause the whole PC to freeze on some machines.
  • Fix rare crash when traveling between maps.
  • Fixed a crash that could occur after idling in Dawnshore for a long period of time.
  • Fixed a rare crash related to audio systems.
  • Resolved a rare crash related to the radial UI and food items.
• Performance and Optimizations:
  • Optimized wand power attacks.
  • Improved performance of the 'Meteor Shower' ability.
  • Optimized the volcano eruption cutscene.
• Animation:
  • Corrected animations of a dwarf at the Emergency Camp in Galawain's Tusks.
  • Improved gestures, emotions and lip-sync of few conversations.
  • Mestru Varka's hands no longer clip with their outfit.
  • Improved unarmed idle animation.