New to CKIII - Buy DLC first or nah?

[Ado]

Never played Crusader Kings III before (want to try it out because of Old World).

Does one get into it playing with the DLC enabled first or do I go vanilla?

[Tragic]

.... Well... Especially being brand new... I would say just to buy the base game and play it just so you can get the understanding and you can start learning the mechanics... there is A TON to learn. As you get familiar with it, you can then get the DLC's... Or you could just play starting with the DLC's, though I would say you would be experiencing a game that you're suppose to have some knowledge of first. If you start with the DLC's you might find yourself getting frustrated a lot more then you would if you just started with the base game and then progressed. Honestly it kind of just comes down to you and how much you want to spend. Either way you're looking at long hours of building something up only to put someone in a position of power that'll ruin your whole day, split your land, duchy, kingdom... ruin your plans, or even end your game. That's part of the learning process... Can't tell you how many times I've spent hours on a play through only to have it ruined cause I didn't notice a vassal was beefing his army up and then there's a faction against me and poof...

[Bloodartist]

I recommend you buy the base game and try it out first before buying DLC. This is a very different strategy game.

But if you already bought them, there is no harm in enabling the DLC.

[Siamese55]

It depends on you, really. The rule of thumb is generally always to minimize the investment until you know you are actually invested, but if you want to give something the best shot vanilla sometimes doesn't cut it and that depends on the type of player you are.

To be frank, vanilla sold me and there a number of mods you can spice up your game with, all at your fingertips in the workshop, but I purchased the Royal Edition so I chose to do the DLC upfront. I also am quite fond of Northern Lords, T&T, and Royal Court. (I will caveat RC in that I think it is a DLC that grows stronger with more additions, and Iberia is interesting but I play more with Northern Lords.)

Expansions are generally your best buys. They give the most and give to many areas in the game. Evaluate them based on features.

Flavor packs enrich specific areas and cultures on the map. Pick them by the areas you like to play in.

And recently they added event packs, of which there is currently one out and one on the way. If you feel you need new popup events in your pool and small features like family feuds, you can pick up these.

[Tragic]

There is a ton to the game.... a literally ton. And no play through is the same... so understanding the whole aspects of the game first helps moving forward.

[Berry]

I would go with base game first... this game is very complex for a new player with lots of things to do and you might feel overwhelmed... Then after you get comfortable with the game and different mechanics you could buy the dlc's, which adds more mechanics on top of what you already have

[Memnon]

Get the base game. If you're anything like me, it'll take several ragequits attempts before you even understand the 'big picture' of how this game works... and this is just with vanilla mechanics. Once you feel you've learned enough, then you can snag dlc when they're on sale. They mostly add mildly interesting twists to existing mechanics, but aren't necessary to enjoy the game.

[JC]

The game is free to play right now, Play it all weekend first to see if you really enjoy it, If not then you have your answer because if you don't enjoy the game, DLC is not going to help you.

IF you like it, by all means grab the royal edition and grab the chapter 2 season pass as it really ups the games immersion. I really enjoy the royal court aspects, and i love playing tribal so the northern lords pack while a bit light has a lot of stuff that is unique to vikings that really flesh them out. The Poetry is pretty fun too, but it adds a lot of unique aspects that make them different and more fun than the other tribes.

[D34DLY]

play the base game. if you get hooked on the game, buy the DLC. Same with mods, play the base game first so you know what you want modded.