Massive Avowed Anniversary Update Finally Arrives

Avowed finally dropped its big Anniversary Update, and let me tell you, it’s a pretty big deal for anyone who’s been itching to jump back into the Living Lands. Obsidian rolled this out alongside the PS5 launch, so a whole new group of players gets to see what the fuss is all about. The headline features are definitely New Game Plus and a proper photo mode, which fans have been asking for since day one. I mean, who doesn’t want to document their adventures with a dwarf character smashing things with a quarterstaff?

Carry Everything Over In Avowed’s New Game Plus

But here’s the real question that’s on everyone’s mind: Does New Game Plus actually make the game worth playing all over again? If you’re like me and you already sunk a ton of hours into Avowed when it first landed on Xbox and PC back in February 2025, you’re probably wondering what’s new. The update lets you carry over your abilities, attributes, unique weapons and armor, and all those fancy enchantments you worked so hard to unlock.

You do start with your gear reset to level one, and you lose all your common items and resources, which makes sense for balance. They also cranked up the difficulty with tougher enemies that now have random modifiers like elemental immunities or buffs like Haste and Life Steal. That should keep things interesting, right?

New Species Shake Up Avowed’s Character Creator

Honestly, the timing of this Avowed update feels kind of strategic. With more Xbox games heading to PS5 this year, it’s smart to remind everyone why this RPG was so talked about in the first place. The character creator got a huge boost, too, adding Dwarves, Orlans, and Aumaua as playable species. Now you can finally roll a character that isn’t just Human or Elf, and each species comes with its own stat bonuses. Aumaua get plus two Might, which is perfect if you want to be an absolute tank.

Dwarves get a mix of Might and Constitution. It adds a whole new layer to planning your build before you even set foot outside the starting area. Isn’t it wild how a few stat points can change your whole playstyle? Beyond the big stuff, Avowed packed in a ton of smaller features that show they were really listening.

Capture Living Lands With Avowed’s Photo Mode

They added a Magic Mirror in your party camp, so you can tweak your Envoy’s appearance whenever you want. No more restarting the game because you don’t like your haircut twenty hours in. They also scattered workbenches around the world, meaning you don’t have to fast travel back to camp just to upgrade your gear every five minutes. Little quality of life things like that make such a difference when you’re deep in a quest. Has anyone else spent way too much time just running back and forth for upgrades?

The photo mode is exactly what you’d expect, but in a world as pretty as Avowed, it’s a welcome addition. You can mess with filters, rotate the camera, toggle characters on and off, and capture those epic moments or just scenic views of the Living Lands. Combine that with the new lighting improvements across all regions, and your screenshots are going to look way better than before. They even updated the graphics tech with XeSS 2.1 for supported GPUs. So if you’re on PC, performance should be smoother and look sharper.

Bludgeon And Blast With Avowed’s Latest Weapon

What about the new weapon they teased? Avowed now includes the quarterstaff as a bludgeoning option, and it’s designed with magic users in mind. You can pull off these brutal physical combos that end with wand-style stun finishers, which sounds absolutely ridiculous in the best way. Imagine wading into battle, smacking folks around with a stick, then blasting them with a spell point-blank. It fits the whole archmage fantasy perfectly. They also added new stun finishers for one-handed and two-handed weapons, so combat should feel fresher even for returning players.

For those who prefer to tinker, Avowed introduced custom difficulty modifiers. You can tweak everything from player damage dealt and enemy health pools to companion aggression and merchant prices. Want to feel like an unstoppable god? Crank your damage and lower theirs. Want a brutal, realistic challenge? Adjust the sliders the other way. Just remember, messing with these settings will lock you out of the Path of the Damned achievement. You have to earn that one the old-fashioned way. But for everyone else, it’s nice to have that control, isn’t it?

Workbenches Scattered Across Avowed’s World

Respawning encounters have also been added to Dawnshore, Emerald Stair, Shatterscarp, and Galawain’s Tusks. That means once you clear an area, it won’t stay empty forever. Enemies will come back, giving you more chances to test out your maxed-out build and grab extra loot. This alone adds a ton of replayability, especially if you just want to wander around fighting stuff without starting a whole new file. The world finally feels alive again after the credits roll.

They also fixed a mountain of bugs, which is always appreciated. Crashes related to Fog of War clearing should be gone. Companion animations no longer stutter during conversations. Audio plays correctly when you’re cooking, which is oddly specific but good to know. Tanglefoot icons show up properly on enemy HUDs now. The list goes on and on. It’s the kind of patch that just makes the whole experience feel polished and cared for. It’s clear Obsidian didn’t just throw this together.

Obsidian Shows They Were Listening All Along

So, after all these changes, is Avowed in a better place now than it was at launch? The addition of New Game Plus gives veterans a real reason to dive back in, while the PS5 launch opens the door for newcomers. The expanded character creator, photo mode, and endless difficulty tweaks mean you can finally play exactly how you want.

Respawning enemies keep the endgame engaging, and the new quarterstaff adds a fun twist for battle mages. All the bug fixes and quality of life improvements just smooth out the rough edges. If you haven’t played it yet, or if you’ve been waiting for a reason to return, this is absolutely the moment.