A change in strain path may have a significant effect on the mechanical response of metals. In order to understand or even predict the macroscopic behaviour under such conditions a detailed knowledge on the microstructural evolution is crucial. Yet relatively little work has been done to quantify and understand how the inter- and intragranular strains are affected during a change in strain path. In this work we present a new multiaxial deformation rig that allows performing in situ proportional and non proportional loading under neutron diffraction. We demonstrate the capabilities of this new setup for the case of a 316 L stainless steel. We show that the nature and magnitude of intergranular strain strongly depends on the applied stress state and demonstrate that micro yielding and internal strain recovery are responsible for the observed transient softening during a 90 strain path change. We anticipate that this new characterization method will provide previously inaccessible microstructural data that can serve as input for benchmarking current state-of-the-art crystal plasticity models. (C) 2015 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd.