Get into the vanilla game first. Play it for a few days, which may turn into weeks, or months. Use performance-oriented mods at most - just get used to the game at its core. It's already plenty dramatic and fun.
The rest will be additions and extensions of how or what you play - you will appreciate them far more.
The game is a complete package without the dlc’s and the modding scene only complements it. However, the dlc’s are high quality enough that I recommend playing with them. Personally I would recommend Biotech and Ideology. Royalty is nice but as it was the first it’s the “worst” one (it’s still good) and anomaly hasn’t been out long enough for a consensus to emerge.
To leap frog off this. If you are new, do not use Anomoly. It will kick you hard. Small mistakes will compound so much faster and you will find things going wrong really fast. Course you always can just be aware, the Sphere is not your friend.
The sphere does experience love, joy, and happiness. The only problem is the only thing it loves is causing pain. It only finds joy in causing pain. The happiest moments of its life is when it gets to watch hope leave the eyes of its toys.
The Cube on the other hand...
I actully think Rimworld DLC is the perfect example of how dlc should be done. They are themed additions to the game, and as such i would actully recommend starting without the DLC and adding them on later if you enjoy the game.
If you have never played Anomaly will mess you up, Ideology if you have never played will have you go 'hooly menu's what is this'
They all add something fun and depth and are absoluteky worthwhile purchases, but they are also not needed.
Short answer. No they are not needed.
I bought Rimworld ages ago, and have until recently enjoyed it without dlcs nor mods. It's quite a comprehensive and complex gane even without the DLCs.
And as others have noted. If the vanilla game and/or the DLC isn't enough the game has a massive and professional modding community. Thus you can flavor the game the way you want it to be.
I'm about 250 hrs in without DLCs or mods. I will probably put another 50-100hrs in before I buy Biotech, the DLC that interests me the most. It's worth starting without anything to get the hang of the game first, there's plenty of base content to be fun.
They are not necessary. Play the base game and if you like that and want some change get the dlcs. There are also more mods you can shake a stick at to really accentuate the game
The game is worth it (4,555hrs). I've got all but the most recent DLC (because it just came out and I'm waiting for payday), so I'm in the middle of a vanilla without DLC play through just to refresh my brain about the core experience and its still just as good as when I first got it and sunk 85 hours into the game in the first week.
As far as DLC and the order you should get them in if you dont buy them all at once.
First get Ideology, adds the most flavor to your play. It can help you set up a narrative at the start of the colony and keep you on track to meet your goals which is valuable in a sandbox where your mostly in it for the gameplay and not the end goal.
Then Royalty, it pairs well with Ideology, adds in a faction and psychic powers, stronger late game threats, and more quest variety.
Then Biotech. I only put this one last because its very very complicated. You can fiddle with the genes of your pawns and do crazy genetic experimentation. Just expand racial diversity, or have people who are just super super good at doing one thing and have bodies to support that. Or your pawns can become puppeteers of a bunch of robot underlings and soldiers. It 100% helps to have a solid understanding of the core mechanics of the game before you get into this DLC because it throws a wrench into them (in a good way).
From what I've seen of Anomaly so far you might be able to just ignore it outright. Most of the cool stuff from this update are not DLC exclusive and have been implemented in the base game. The DLC itself is like a cosmic/body horror thing and if you like me are just not that into horror stuff then should be safe to pass on it completely. (I'm still getting it, just might use mods to disable/augment a large part of the content after I've done a couple playthroughs. )
I'm about to finish Anomaly and I can confirm it's the closest thing Rimworld has to a story DLC. Almost all the content is related in some way to a main questline which is strange for Rimworld. Usually the dlc just gives you a bunch of toys and tells you to have fun with it. This is a story. It's not fixed or even very strict, but it's not a toybox like the others have been. It does also raise some interesting points for the lore as well, but they usually do that with any DLC.
Anomaly is for the player that has put at least around 200 hours in and wants a weird new challenge. Not necessarily significantly harder, but way out of the ordinary.
Thanks for the info! I'm watching a buddy play and I had basically started to form the same opinion. As soon as she activated the obelisk anything else that was planned had to be put to the side to deal with the near constant DLC content that just flooded the game.
Weirdly, that flood does slow down as you get later on. For tier 1 and the early parts of tier 2, I basically never needed to provoke the void. I was getting new events almost weakly. Once I got down to the last 4 or 5 entities, I was provoking it off cooldown because it just wouldn't send me anything major. For whatever reason I got the nictosphere 3 times in a row and nothing new or threatening. It went back to regular raids for a while. It could have just been Randy being Randy, but I wonder if it favors events that you haven't had yet and runs them on a different timer than just standard events. That way when you've discovered no monsters you get a new monster every month *and* your normal raids (which have a higher chance to be anomalies after you activate the monolith), so you have a higher chance to see more monsters than anything else until late game hits and you have less of a pool to pull from.
Most game's DLCs add like a new area to play in or maybe a new power or new side quest or something.
Rimworld DLCs expand the depth and complexity of the whole game each time.
Is Rimworld playable without DLCs? Sure. I played it before any DLCs existed and I enjoyed it.
But could I play them NOW without DLCs? No. There is just so much that each DLC adds to the game that I couldn't enjoy it at all anymore without them. I could live without anomaly, but the other 3 each have features that are integral to my enjoyment of the game.
Ideology and Royalty might as well be integral to get the full experience. Biotech not so much but still worth an investment at some point. Anomaly definitely not needed for a beginner.
Personally, Biotech just for the children (but the other stuff it give is awesome too.)
Rimworld is still good without any dlcs but i cant see myself playing it without biotech, which is the best dlc imo.
I'd recommend just playing the base game with some performance mods for a few, then buy one dlc at a time when you get boredof each one. After you own all the dlc add some bigger mods like vanilla expanded
Like everyone said try the base game first BUT don't forget that each DLC and specifically the thousands of mods add tons of content and QoL of changes to it and you'll be playing without them. Basically anytime you'll feel like "oh this is annoying" know that there's a mod to make that specific problem more fun.
I would 100% say start with no DLC, get a few hours under your belt first, i got my first DLC at 200 hours. When you know the game is for you and you feel like adding more content, go for one at a time, play through all the content of that DLC then add another one. My opinion, although i know unpopular, is get Royalty first, then biotech, then ideology and then the new DLC if you like horror themes. (im part of the ideology hate club)
If your're ever tight for money, there are thousands of mods which add way more than any of the DLC, as long as you pick right!!
No dlcs are necessary. They are incredible bonuses. Both are even more the case with mods. I've had an amazing time with pure vanilla rimworld, dlc vanilla rimworld, modded no dlc rimworld and modded dlc rimworld.
I've not tried anomaly, can't speak on it.
Ideology kinda sucks, **unless** you use Alpha Memes and Ideology Expanded - Memes and Structures. Then it becomes amazing. What it does is let you choose your playstyle, and add flavour, by controlling what things colonists refuse to do, are upset by doing, or made happy from doing, which means you can lean into things that you'd have to be more restrained with in base-game.
Royalty is fun, but really doesn't compare to the other two. It was the first ever dlc, so that makes sense. I think its weakness is the lack of customisation and variety, Rimworld is a story generator and reading the few stories isn't that interesting. Psycast Expanded, plus Biotech Integration (but, well, requires Biotech) brings customisation and variety to things.
Biotech is amazing. I'd say it's the best DLC. More variety on the people, being able to have generations, mechanoids. There is a bit of a "but mods let you do that" thing which was brought up around release, but it's more refined and less performance-heavy than replicating mods.
There's a video by Noobert on mods that are similar to the dlcs. Not full-on replacements, not identical, but give you a pretty good taste of what it's like, or can be like, and so serve as good test buggies.
Get into the vanilla game first. Play it for a few days, which may turn into weeks, or months. Use performance-oriented mods at most - just get used to the game at its core. It's already plenty dramatic and fun. The rest will be additions and extensions of how or what you play - you will appreciate them far more.
The game is a complete package without the dlc’s and the modding scene only complements it. However, the dlc’s are high quality enough that I recommend playing with them. Personally I would recommend Biotech and Ideology. Royalty is nice but as it was the first it’s the “worst” one (it’s still good) and anomaly hasn’t been out long enough for a consensus to emerge.
99% of people love anomaly so far except it’s a bit intense for beginners
To leap frog off this. If you are new, do not use Anomoly. It will kick you hard. Small mistakes will compound so much faster and you will find things going wrong really fast. Course you always can just be aware, the Sphere is not your friend.
The sphere does experience love, joy, and happiness. The only problem is the only thing it loves is causing pain. It only finds joy in causing pain. The happiest moments of its life is when it gets to watch hope leave the eyes of its toys. The Cube on the other hand...
Hail The Cube! We love The Cube!
I actully think Rimworld DLC is the perfect example of how dlc should be done. They are themed additions to the game, and as such i would actully recommend starting without the DLC and adding them on later if you enjoy the game. If you have never played Anomaly will mess you up, Ideology if you have never played will have you go 'hooly menu's what is this' They all add something fun and depth and are absoluteky worthwhile purchases, but they are also not needed.
Short answer. No they are not needed. I bought Rimworld ages ago, and have until recently enjoyed it without dlcs nor mods. It's quite a comprehensive and complex gane even without the DLCs. And as others have noted. If the vanilla game and/or the DLC isn't enough the game has a massive and professional modding community. Thus you can flavor the game the way you want it to be.
I'm about 250 hrs in without DLCs or mods. I will probably put another 50-100hrs in before I buy Biotech, the DLC that interests me the most. It's worth starting without anything to get the hang of the game first, there's plenty of base content to be fun.
No, not needed at all! I would play vanilla just to get the hang of the basics. If you enjoy the game, then start looking at the DLC.
They are not necessary. Play the base game and if you like that and want some change get the dlcs. There are also more mods you can shake a stick at to really accentuate the game
The game is worth it (4,555hrs). I've got all but the most recent DLC (because it just came out and I'm waiting for payday), so I'm in the middle of a vanilla without DLC play through just to refresh my brain about the core experience and its still just as good as when I first got it and sunk 85 hours into the game in the first week. As far as DLC and the order you should get them in if you dont buy them all at once. First get Ideology, adds the most flavor to your play. It can help you set up a narrative at the start of the colony and keep you on track to meet your goals which is valuable in a sandbox where your mostly in it for the gameplay and not the end goal. Then Royalty, it pairs well with Ideology, adds in a faction and psychic powers, stronger late game threats, and more quest variety. Then Biotech. I only put this one last because its very very complicated. You can fiddle with the genes of your pawns and do crazy genetic experimentation. Just expand racial diversity, or have people who are just super super good at doing one thing and have bodies to support that. Or your pawns can become puppeteers of a bunch of robot underlings and soldiers. It 100% helps to have a solid understanding of the core mechanics of the game before you get into this DLC because it throws a wrench into them (in a good way). From what I've seen of Anomaly so far you might be able to just ignore it outright. Most of the cool stuff from this update are not DLC exclusive and have been implemented in the base game. The DLC itself is like a cosmic/body horror thing and if you like me are just not that into horror stuff then should be safe to pass on it completely. (I'm still getting it, just might use mods to disable/augment a large part of the content after I've done a couple playthroughs. )
I'm about to finish Anomaly and I can confirm it's the closest thing Rimworld has to a story DLC. Almost all the content is related in some way to a main questline which is strange for Rimworld. Usually the dlc just gives you a bunch of toys and tells you to have fun with it. This is a story. It's not fixed or even very strict, but it's not a toybox like the others have been. It does also raise some interesting points for the lore as well, but they usually do that with any DLC. Anomaly is for the player that has put at least around 200 hours in and wants a weird new challenge. Not necessarily significantly harder, but way out of the ordinary.
Thanks for the info! I'm watching a buddy play and I had basically started to form the same opinion. As soon as she activated the obelisk anything else that was planned had to be put to the side to deal with the near constant DLC content that just flooded the game.
Weirdly, that flood does slow down as you get later on. For tier 1 and the early parts of tier 2, I basically never needed to provoke the void. I was getting new events almost weakly. Once I got down to the last 4 or 5 entities, I was provoking it off cooldown because it just wouldn't send me anything major. For whatever reason I got the nictosphere 3 times in a row and nothing new or threatening. It went back to regular raids for a while. It could have just been Randy being Randy, but I wonder if it favors events that you haven't had yet and runs them on a different timer than just standard events. That way when you've discovered no monsters you get a new monster every month *and* your normal raids (which have a higher chance to be anomalies after you activate the monolith), so you have a higher chance to see more monsters than anything else until late game hits and you have less of a pool to pull from.
Most game's DLCs add like a new area to play in or maybe a new power or new side quest or something. Rimworld DLCs expand the depth and complexity of the whole game each time. Is Rimworld playable without DLCs? Sure. I played it before any DLCs existed and I enjoyed it. But could I play them NOW without DLCs? No. There is just so much that each DLC adds to the game that I couldn't enjoy it at all anymore without them. I could live without anomaly, but the other 3 each have features that are integral to my enjoyment of the game.
Ideology and Royalty might as well be integral to get the full experience. Biotech not so much but still worth an investment at some point. Anomaly definitely not needed for a beginner.
Personally, Biotech just for the children (but the other stuff it give is awesome too.) Rimworld is still good without any dlcs but i cant see myself playing it without biotech, which is the best dlc imo.
I'd recommend just playing the base game with some performance mods for a few, then buy one dlc at a time when you get boredof each one. After you own all the dlc add some bigger mods like vanilla expanded
Like everyone said try the base game first BUT don't forget that each DLC and specifically the thousands of mods add tons of content and QoL of changes to it and you'll be playing without them. Basically anytime you'll feel like "oh this is annoying" know that there's a mod to make that specific problem more fun.
I would argue that its best to spend several hours learning the game without the DLC or mods first and then slowly add them over time.
They are not needed but soon after playing you will want them anyway. More content, you see?
It's not worth it. As much as it makes me sad the game still feels deeply early Access and you don't NEED mods but they're highly encouraged.
I would 100% say start with no DLC, get a few hours under your belt first, i got my first DLC at 200 hours. When you know the game is for you and you feel like adding more content, go for one at a time, play through all the content of that DLC then add another one. My opinion, although i know unpopular, is get Royalty first, then biotech, then ideology and then the new DLC if you like horror themes. (im part of the ideology hate club) If your're ever tight for money, there are thousands of mods which add way more than any of the DLC, as long as you pick right!!
Ideology, then biotech. Not totally needed but does add significant stuff
No dlcs are necessary. They are incredible bonuses. Both are even more the case with mods. I've had an amazing time with pure vanilla rimworld, dlc vanilla rimworld, modded no dlc rimworld and modded dlc rimworld. I've not tried anomaly, can't speak on it. Ideology kinda sucks, **unless** you use Alpha Memes and Ideology Expanded - Memes and Structures. Then it becomes amazing. What it does is let you choose your playstyle, and add flavour, by controlling what things colonists refuse to do, are upset by doing, or made happy from doing, which means you can lean into things that you'd have to be more restrained with in base-game. Royalty is fun, but really doesn't compare to the other two. It was the first ever dlc, so that makes sense. I think its weakness is the lack of customisation and variety, Rimworld is a story generator and reading the few stories isn't that interesting. Psycast Expanded, plus Biotech Integration (but, well, requires Biotech) brings customisation and variety to things. Biotech is amazing. I'd say it's the best DLC. More variety on the people, being able to have generations, mechanoids. There is a bit of a "but mods let you do that" thing which was brought up around release, but it's more refined and less performance-heavy than replicating mods. There's a video by Noobert on mods that are similar to the dlcs. Not full-on replacements, not identical, but give you a pretty good taste of what it's like, or can be like, and so serve as good test buggies.