What are the best DLC's to purchase?

[Achilleslastand]

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[Welsh Dragon]

Rome II DLCs: A “Quick” Guide

I have all the DLCs (except Blood & Gore, as it doesn't interest me.) Really they depend on what you're after. I personally feel that they are all value for money based on the enjoyment I've got out of them, and when they're on sale even better.

As for the DLCs I'll split them into categories:

Culture Packs:

These generally* each add 3 new factions that you can play. Different people will rate them differently. They each have different starting positions in campaign, unique traits and units, some have their own culture. Some also offer different playstyles (Nomadic Tribes are basically all Cavalry, Black Seas have hybrid rosters so a mix of units, Pirates & Raiders can hire mercenaries a lot cheaper, but their upkeep is also increased, and Greek States use Hoplites a lot.)

*Desert Kingdoms is the latest Culture Pack and adds 4 new factions, who offer a mix of playstyles.

Campaign Packs:

These cost a little more, but you get a stand alone campaign (and in some cases some extra playable factions for Grand Campaign.) The Campaigns are each fought on new maps, which provide a much more detailed environment and allows for all sorts of options you can't do in the main campaign. They can be played in single-player or two player multiplayer (either coop or head to head.)

CAESAR IN GAUL and HANNIBAL AT THE GATES both have focused campaigns in a shorter time span (so each turn is only a few weeks, rather than a year as is the case with Rome II.)

Each offer 3 new factions for the main game, some of which also feature in the DLC campaign, including two of my personal favourites Nervii (in Caesar, Belgian warriors who like to ambush) and Lusitani (in Hannibal, a faction that's low on armour, but high on javelins and guerilla warfare.)

WRATH OF SPARTA is set much earlier than even Rome II's start, and is played out across a more detailed map of Greece. If you really like Hoplite warfare and Greek history then it's meant to be a lot of fun. But some people really don't like it, so it's really up to you. NOTE: This DLC doesn't add any factions to the Grand Campaign (the main Rome II campaign.)

EMPIRE DIVIDED is set over 500 years after the start date of the Grand Campaign. It covers the Crisis of the Third Century, a less well known but important event in Roman history. It's a little different to the other three, as it's played out on a full Grand Campaign size map, covering the same area as the Grand Campaign and Imperator Augustus. It also has 10 playable factions, many of which only appear in this campaign, as well as new rosters fitting the 3rd Century setting, a new themed UI, and new gameplay mechanics such as squalor, plagues and banditry, which haven't featured in Rome 2 before. So whilst it doesn't add anything to the Grand Campaign, in my view it does offer a lot of new content and replayability. Even the three Roman factions are quite different, with Rome, Gallic Rome and Palmyra each using different units and tactics to achieve victory in battle.

RISE OF THE REPUBLIC is the most recent campaign DLC, set during the early days of Rome when it was little more than a city state and has quite a few campaign specific features. Changing government types is replaced in this campaign with Government actions, which are faction specific special abilities such as Taras's ability to instantly research a random tech, the Samnites ability to periodically send their youth out to colonise new land (instantly creating an army at their capital,) and Rome's ability to appoint a Consul or Dictator in times of strife for specific bonuses (plus to take Rome requires winning two battles instead of the usual one.)

Despite the campaign being focused on Italy (and a small part of Africa,) the map is surprisingly large, with a lot of regions and the playable factions nicely spread out across the map. There's also a good variety of factions to play, with a mixture of new takes on old favourites like Rome, Syracuse and the Gauls/Celts, and new cultures like the Etruscan Tarchuna and the Italic Samnites. There's also the addition of an auxiliary like system for all factions with Native units. As with auxiliaries they vary depending on the province, but can be be very handy as some factions rosters are quite specialised without them. This variety sets Rise of the Republic apart from the previous pre-Grand Campaign era campaign Wrath of Sparta. (Another interesting feature of this campaign is that your top tier units here are often your starting units in Grand Campaign, so for example Rome can eventually reach the heights of fielding Hastati, Principes and even Triarii!)

Unit Packs:

Add units funnily enough. Beasts of War adds animal based units, which can be fun and I believe Suebi players specifically like the Wolf Warriors I think it adds. Daughters of Mars adds female units to the battlefield for some factions, which can fill some niches in those factions (Lusitani Swordswomen are one of my favourite units.)

Conclusion:

The Steam store pages for the different DLCs give you a good overview of what's in each DLC, and if you want an idea of the history/feel of the factions (and a useful guide to which factions are in which DLC) try here: http://wiki.totalwar.com/w/Factions

(Or for more recent content, try the Total War Blog: https://www.totalwar.com/blog?catname=total-war-rome-ii&topic=All+topics&orderby=post_date

But really it depends how much you want to invest in your game. I personally don't feel any of them are essential for single-player (I don't play multi) but at the same time I don't regret buying any of them because of the added variety and hours of enjoyment I've got out of them.

Hope that helps. Any questions please feel free to ask and I will try to answer them.

All the Best,

Welsh Dragon.

P.S. An Important Note On DLC:

All of the content from Rome 2's DLC is added to the game in accompanying patches (e.g. The Desert Kingdoms in Patch 19,) whether they buy the DLC or not. This has three effects:

1. Multiplayer Compatibility: Any player on a particular Patch and OS-type (Windows or Mac, but there's no cross-platform multiplayer) can play with any other player on the same patch and OS-type, even if they have different DLC. Each player has access to their “toy box” of factions, units and campaigns which they own. e.g. If Player A owns “Greek States,” and player B owns “Black Seas Colonies,” Player A can play Sparta (even though B can't,) and B can play Cimmeria (even though A can't.) Both can play Rome (as they have the base game) and Pontus, (as they both own the FLC.)
2. The AI controlled factions in campaigns have access to their full rosters, even if you don't own the DLC.
3. You can't use a DLC with a patch from earlier than the DLC's release. e.g. If you choose to opt back into Patch 17 as some have, you won't be able to play Empire Divided (added Patch 18,) Desert Kingdoms (added Patch 19) or Rise of the Republic (added Patch 20/Ancestral Update.) Also note that while Windows Users are on Patch 20, MAC users are still on Patch 17. Meaning at present MAC gamers don't have access to Empire Divided DLC, Desert Kingdoms DLC, Rise of the Republic DLC, Power & Politics FLC, Female Leaders FLC, Ancestral Update DLC or Patches 18, 19 or 20.

Hope that helps.

***

P.P.S. Also bear in mind that you'll need the right DLC to make use of some of the mod content. e.g. To play a modded version of a Culture Pack faction, you'll still need the DLC that makes that faction playable, such as Sparta (Greek States,) or Lusitani (Hannibal at the Gates.) Also some mods overhaul the Campaign DLCs, for example DEI turns Wrath of Sparta into the Macedonian Wars.

[Terendelev]

Intresting

[rayfeb09]

thanks this is outstanding detail info to help me to decide if I like to add something.

[Subzero]

so many words in short wat dlc add to the grand campgin

[IGX]

Originally posted by Subzero:

so many words in short wat dlc add to the grand campgin

In ranking order:

1. Rise of the Republic
2. Empire Divided
3. Wrath of Sparta
4. Hannibal at the gates
5. Caesar in Gaul

Imperator Augustus is free DLC.

[TheOrangeBox]

Originally posted by Subzero:

so many words in short wat dlc add to the grand campgin

Take your time and read throughout, no rush - you'll find the sentence that answer the question.
In short, just get informed.

[Χριστόφορος]

I personally really enjoyed Hannibal at the gates campaign. It also adds arevaci, lusitani and syracuse to the grand campaign.

[BRAN MAC BORN]

Always good to hear from CA employees.