Stronghold management (Pillars of Eternity)

When the player comes into possession of the Caed Nua stronghold, it is old and dilapidated, and they will want to work with their steward to upgrade it as soon as they can. These upgrades will, in turn, increase security or prestige of the place, open up new activities and events that can happen, which will make the stronghold a dynamic and fun place to own. You can further influence it by employing hirelings to stay at your stronghold.

You can begin collecting taxes from your populace as soon as you gain the stronghold. The amount of taxes you collect increases with your prestige (because people know of you and like you), but the amount also increases with higher security, since some taxes are lost to banditry. Additionally, security helps reduce the number of "bad" random events, while prestige increases the number of "good" random events. You will want to keep both of those values high.

Rating summary

• Prestige – increases the taxes you collect and the frequency of “good” random events.
• Security – reduces the taxes you lose to banditry and the frequency of “bad” random events.

Upgrades

The stronghold and house can be restored and upgraded to increase its aesthetic and practical value. Upgrades are useful in that they can unlock a number of fringe benefits. Most upgrades in some way impact the Prestige or Security of the place. These traits are all-important in determining the success of unexpected events. Other upgrades offer additional buffs to your characters' traits, which are useful in the field. There are five bonuses you will receive for getting and upgrading your stronghold.

• Resting bonuses: Several of the upgrades to your stronghold will grant temporary bonuses to your attributes or skills when you rest in Brighthollow.
• Adventures for idle companions: Companions that are recruited but aren't in the party will remain at your stronghold and gain a fractional amount of experience (typically about 75%). While they are idling away at the stronghold, they can take part in their own adventures, earning additional experience for themselves and extra money, items and reputation bonuses for you. If a player uses the stronghold system to manage characters when they aren't in the party, they can have full XP parity if the player wants them to.
• Merchants: Some of the upgrades provide merchants.
• Ingredients: Some of the upgrades will generate ingredients used for crafting and enchantment.
• Special offers: Sometimes visitors to your stronghold will have rare items for sale, or perhaps they will offer you items in return for something else.
• Security: Most of the upgrades improve the security of the stronghold, protecting your wealth and residents.
• Wealth: You own all of the surrounding lands near the stronghold and impose a tax on all of the inhabitants, but the tax isn't an endless source of income.

All such upgrades cost both money and in-game time to build but you don't have to wait at the stronghold while they are built. You can continue adventuring, and you will be notified when they are built. Upgrades can also serve as prerequisites for other upgrades. Individual sections of the stronghold get upgraded individually and each section has two states, ruined and restored. Only one upgrade can be conducted at a time.

Upgrade tree

Caed Nua

Warden's Lodge

Eastern Barbican

Woodland Trails

Brighthollow

Main Keep

Courtyard Pool

Lab

Hearth

Barracks

Library

Merchant Stalls

Dungeons

Towers

Bailey

Western Barbican

Forum

Training Grounds

Botanical Gardens

Hedge Maze

West Curtain Wall

South Curtain Wall

Craft Hall

Curio Shop

Artificer's Hall

Chapel

List of upgrades

Name	Prerequisite	Bonus	Prestige	Security	Cost	Build Time
Eastern Barbican	None	Bars passage to Woodend Plains	+ 1	+ 2	Free	Instantly
Warden's Lodge	Eastern Barbican	Survival resting bonus and bounties	+ 2	+ 2	1000	2 days
Woodland Trails		Athletics and Constitution resting bonus	+ 1	+ 2	1500	3 days
Brighthollow Restoration	Eastern Barbican	Needed for resting	+ 2	+ 0	500	2 days
Brighthollow Courtyard Pool	Brighthollow	Repair pool	+ 1	+ 0	600	1 day
Brighthollow Hearth		Restore order to the keep	+ 1	+ 0	600	1 day
Brighthollow Lab		Restore lab	+ 1	+ 0	600	1 day
Main Keep	Eastern Barbican	Unlocks visitors and adventures for companions	+ 3	+ 4	1400	3 days
Barracks	Main Keep	Enables hirelings	+ 0	+ 3	2000	3 days
Library		Lore resting bonus	+ 2	+ 0	900	2 days
Merchant Stalls		Adds a permanent merchant to the Great Hall	+ 0	+ 0	1400	2 days
Dungeons		Enables imprisoning characters	+ 0	+ 0	1200	3 days
Towers		Perception resting bonus	+ 2	+ 1	800	3 days
Bailey	Main Keep	Unlocks other upgrades	+ 2	+ 0	800	2 days
Forum	Bailey	Intellect resting bonus	+ 4	+ 0	1200	2 days
Training Grounds		Might resting bonus	+ 0	+ 2	1500	2 days
Botanical Gardens		Produces plants every turn	+ 1	+ 0	1800	2 days
Hedge Maze		Stealth resting bonus	+ 0	+ 3	1400	2 days
Western Barbican	Main Keep	Unlocks other upgrades	+ 0	+ 2	900	3 days
West Curtain Wall	Western Barbican	Protection from the west	+ 0	+ 4	2500	4 days
South Curtain Wall		Protection from the south	+ 0	+ 4	2500	4 days
Craft Hall		Dexterity resting bonus, crafting resources	+ 1	+ 1	1600	2 days
Curio shop		Produces creature parts every turn	+ 1	+ 0	1800	2 days
Artificer's Hall		Mechanics resting bonus, crafting bonus	+ 1	+ 0	1600	2 days
Chapel		Resolve resting bonus	+ 4	+ 0	2000	2 days

Hirelings

Once the player has restored the Barracks in the keep, they can hire up to eight hirelings that can add to the stronghold's Security and Prestige. They can also be used to provide aid to supplicants and to help defend the stronghold during an attack. The player always pre-pays for the services of hirelings for a fixed period of time. Some hirelings will automatically leave after their pay-period is up. If the player cannot pay for the services of a hireling, the most expensive hirelings no longer apply their bonuses to the stronghold. The player has to either find the funds or dismiss the hireling to make use of that slot.

Some hirelings of varying classes are constantly available as a standard. Guest hirelings are available as a result of special events and the player's faction reputations. Their availability at the house may only be for a limited time, or their loyalty might be contingent on the player’s continued good graces with a particular faction.

Given the extreme personalities of some guest hirelings, their bonuses tend to be higher than that of the standard. In some cases, however, their positive bonus in one attribute can come with an added penalty to another. Select hirelings with budget and a healthy balance of Prestige and Security in mind.

Hireling	Source	Class	Cost per day	Prestige	Security
Berathite Cleric	Common	Priest	10	+1	+1
Blooded Thug	Common		10	+1	+1
Goldpact Knight	Common	Paladin	10		+2
Mercenary Mindstriker	Common		10	+2
Orderless Disciple	Common	Monk	10		+2
Rauatai Linebreaker	Common		10		+2
Skirmish Archer	Common		10	+1	+1
Vagabond Skald	Common	Chanter	10	+2
Vailian Shock Mage	Common	Wizard	10		+2
Vanguard Soldier	Common		10	+1	+1
Warden of the Wilds	Common		10		+2
Aedyran Noblewoman	Guest		200	+6
Brutish Warrior	Guest	Barbarian	50	+3	+2
Dunryd Psion	Guest	Cipher	100	-2	+2
Fellow of St. Waidwen	Guest	Paladin	90	+1	+3
Glanfathan Soul Hunter	Guest	Cipher	100	+2	+3
Vicious War Criminal	Guest	Fighter	350	-4	+3
Aldwyn	The Salty Mast Brothel		10	+2
Big Durmsey	The Salty Mast Brothel		10	+2
Gjefa	The Salty Mast Brothel		10	+2
Iqali	The Salty Mast Brothel		10	+2
Lyrinia	The Salty Mast Brothel		10	+2
Orico	The Salty Mast Brothel		10	+2
Fampyr	The Champion of Berath		20	-3	+5
Crucible Chevalier	Winds of Steel	Paladin	20	+4	+2
Doemenel Thief	The Changing of the Guard	Rogue	20	+2	+4
Dozens Mercenary Captain	The Bronze Beneath the Lake	Fighter	20	+3	+3
Avenger of Skaen	Blood Legacy	Priest	65	-2	+3
Korgrak	A Farmer's Plight	Ogre	50	-6	+6
Bleak Walker Paladin	Bleak Oath	Paladin	65	-2	+6