DLC?

[yaboimccoy]

I have been eye'ing this game for years and finally bought the base game. Are the DLC required to get the full experience? What kind of things would I be missing out on? I am still learning the game so take this from a complete noob perspective.

[MadArtillery]

I find lacking children and reproduction without biotech feels pretty bad. Other then that it's pretty much fine as is. Lategame melee weapons will be pretty slim without royalty (bought that real quick for the endgame melee weapons).

This will be personal preference though. Overall the game didn't become as successful as it did by being bad without dlc.

[Astasia]

Originally posted by yaboimccoy:

Are the DLC required to get the full experience?

I mean, they aren't cosmetic, so yes. If you want the "full" experience you would need all of the expansions.

They aren't necessary to enjoy the game though, I would generally suggest getting the hang of the base game first and then look at the expansions yourself to determine if they add the sort of things you think you want.

[Steelfleece]

Rimworld isn't a narrative-driven game you're gonna play through once. It'll be a number of random events and quite different each time. You can play through with no DLCs or mods, then even without adding something, have a totally different experience the next playthrough. Don't get hung up on needing to have the perfect experience the first time.

I'd suggest playing with no DLCs or mods at all the first time. After that, you'll have a better idea of what you want to add for the next time around, whether one or more of the DLCs or mods to add features/change UI issues that bother you/so on.

[jodnus]

In addition to the insight already provided, the topic of which DLC to get (if any) comes up almost weekly in this forum.

If you do a thread search you will get enough opinions to fill a book, and with that much feedback, it should give you a rough idea of what DLC will yield the most entertainment value for how you want to play, and which ones you could probably hold off and live without.

[XelNigma]

Most people will advice you start with just the base game.
Rimworld is a different kind of game that not everyone can get into. So best you find out with the base game before spending the money for the DLCs.

But if you stick around and want to try the DLCs the typical order is:

Biotech: It adds children/babies, genetics and the ability to build your own mechanoids.
The most important part is the genetics, this allowed moders to create custom races. They could create custom races before but it took extra mods and compatibility was an issue between mods. I personally like the mechanoids part the most.

Ideology: This mod doesnt add much in way of content. instead it lets you design your own ideology which basically changes how your pawns react to situations. The prime example is; in the base game you cant have a cannibalistic colony, but you can in this DLC and even pawns with out the cannibal trait will like and want to heat human meat. other examples are nature lovers that get upset when cutting trees or harming animals. Or people that dont like being outside and actually get bonuses for being inside and in the dark. Theres all sorts of game rules you can adjust. Its mainly to enhance the theme of your colony.
Typically once you get an understanding of rimworld and survival is old hat. you start colonies focused around themes. and this DLC is perfect for that.

Royalty: This was the first DLC released and its also the smallest. It adds a new empire faction that you can take missions from to gain honor and nobility titles. These titles come with several rewards, such as psycasts powers, and permits that let you call in different kinds of aids from the empire, from drone strikes, strike teams to just food and medical drops.
Having a pawn thats a noble will also mean they have more demands to be happy, like a thrown room and extra fancy bedroom.
But being able to raise rock walls from the ground or teleport people around with just their mind make the extra drama well worth it.

Anomaly: The most recent DLC. You can play a game and completely ignore everything the other DLCs add if you want to. Anomaly must be disabled when starting the game otherwise it will take over and be the main focus of your colony.
But its a really good SCP/Lovecraft horror DLC. But not advised until you are very familiar with the game.

[Ant Ra]

No, the DLCs are not necessary to have a good Rimworld experience. But... but as you progress in the game, become more confident, more stable, you will most likely look for new challenges outside of the mods in the workshop. Then the DLCs come in handy. One after the other as an extension of the gameplay or all at once.

[l0v3rm4n69420]

The DLC are all fantastic, and (outside of Anomaly, which i havent played due to it crashing my game with my current mod list) are 100% worth the money. Past just the content the DLC themselves add, several mods require DLC to work, and they are mods that i super recommend and never play without (many of the Vanilla Expanded, Some Alpha, Many Biotech race mods, ect.) Either way i would suggest playing a good 50ish hours at least of base, just to get used to the game before adding in extra.

[Mr. Steel Your Rabbit]

>Are the DLC required for the full experience
No. 1.0 didn't have any of this stuff. They add more flavor. RimWorld is a Colony Sim with a definitive end, base RimWorld IS the full intended experience. The DLC just add more onto it, and jumping into RimWorld with all DLC but no prior knowledge or experience will be a chaotic experience.
Royalty is the only one I would ever recommend including in a first run, because it doesn't impact gameplay heavily. It adds psionic powers and a faction you will never interact with unless you want to do their ending or use them to get psionic powers.
Ideology is complex and loses all meaning if you don't understand the original fundamentals of the game. Ideology is incredibly fun and great for roleplay, I recommend Ideology after understanding the core game's mechanics.
Biotech is very complex, adding robotics and genetics. It is the sex update. It has bosses and adds stronger enemy factions which will certainly destroy you if you don't know what you are doing. Once you have a strong grasp on combat and defense is a good time to introduce Biotech.
Anomaly is straightforward, but mysterious. Anomaly has a story independent of the main game, adding horror monsters you will need to subdue, capture and study. As you progress the story, the horror monsters get stronger and more complex, and includes major boss battles and an intense final boss. Anomaly, I am unsure when I would say to introduce into gameplay. It is certainly difficult, but it can also be taken at your leisure. Perhaps when you have mastered the previous 3 DLCs should you consider taking on Anomaly.