I see that the entire Age of Wonders franchise is currently on sale. My problem is that the "regular" and "deluxe" versions of 3 look pretty much the same. It also looks like if I got both I would be getting the same game twice. Not only that, but on the Deluxe version there's no mention of the two DLC expansions to the right when looking at the base game.

My question now is, does the deluxe edition come with all the DLC stuff plus that one extra thing apparently exclusive to it? It makes scratch my head and try to figure out what's going on with that. Any help would be appreciated.

No. Deluxe Edition only have a Dragon's Throne scenario and the soundtrack. And that's all. All the expansions are sold separatly. And while I would recommend getting it for the soundtrack, if it's cheap... it's your call. The most important thing is the base game and add-ons, cause they add neat things. ^.^

So I take it to get the full experience I would need to buy the Deluxe Edition (C$11.99), Golden Realms (C$7.79), and Eternal Lords (C$13.19)?

Also is this expected to be the last of the DLC?

Well... depends what you consider 'full experience'. While I do praise the soundtrack, for me it would be fully upgraded game. In that case - base game, Golden Realms and Eternal Lords. I think the Deluxe Edition is quite passable.
And if this is the 'last DLC'... hard to say. The devs are working on something, that's for sure, but we don't know what yet. I belive there was some mentiones it's entirely 'new', but I don't have hard evidence on this.

Oh damnit, I meant last expansion pack, not DLC. Never been concerned over 'DLC', but I'd want the expansions.

Though I'm still kind of on the fence with the game, back when it came out and I was interested I bought AoW 2 to get an idea of the series. For me it was good, but not really great, so I'm not sure if I really need to play 3.

There will be no more expansions or DLCs for this game. The devs announced this earlier this year on their website.

They recently released a patch, but it was probably the last one. If bugs are discovered they'll probably be fixed, but the game is pretty much done by this point. Further changes will be made by modders only. (Some big mods are in the works, but it remains to be seen whether those'll see the light of day. Meanwhile, there are plenty of smaller mods, which you'll have to liberate from the Steam Workshop, but that's easily done.)

Bethezer is quite right that you don't need the Deluxe edition. I'd strongly recommend getting the expansions, though, since they elevate the game from "good" to "great."

I can't, of course, predict whether you'll like it enough to buy. I can tell you the game is:

* Turn based strategy
* With excellent tactical combat (up to 42 units, lots and lots of abilities, spells, and variety, easy-to-learn-difficult-to-master. The battles are what keeps me playing this game, and it's the best turn-based battle system on this scale that I know.)
* But less deep empire building (It's a wargame. Think Total War rather than Civilisation. No science victories here)
* With commendably competent AI (much smarter than either Total War or Civilisation. Still not a match for humans, though new players often get kicked in the rear.)
* With a great leader creation tool, with tons of options (9 races, 7 classes, 23 specialisations of which you pick 3)
* And an excellent random map generator
* But mediocre campaigns in the base game
* Though the expansion campaigns are much better.
* And there are also plenty of custom scenario's, both provided with the game and downloadable from Steam Workshop.
* Lots of places to explore, lots of things to do, heroes and units to level, spells to cast, stuff to find, etc. Fear my Dire Penguin! "One more turn" syndrome very much alive and well.
* Options to play live multiplayer, play-by-email and hotseat games, though the first two options require you to log in to the developer's servers.
* Colourful (though not spectacular) graphics and fun fantasy landscapes to explore. (I particularly like the huge variety in battlefields you encounter)
* Good soundtrack, though I often use mods to swap in the soundtracks of the first 2 games.
* And a lot of polish. (Virtually all bugs have been ironed out, the devs provide great support, though they mostly hang out on the Steam forum.)

Guess I should skip the base game campaign which I've struggled to play multiple times since release and just do an expansion campaign in that case. :)

Thanks for the updates on the game for those of us not hitting the Triumph site.

You're quite welcome!

And yes, you certainly can give the base campaigns a pass. I still don't think I've ever finished the Elf campaign, even though I've been playing this game virtually non-stop since Eternal Lords came out. But uh... word of warning. Though the expansion campaigns are a lot more fun, and particularly the Necromancer one has some of the best scenarios I've played, they're *Hard!* Capital H with an exclamation mark hard.

I wouldn't mess with them before at least playing a few random maps on the highest difficulty. (or playing a few random maps and then turning the campaign difficulty down.) Which are lots of fun anyway. 90% of the game's fun is in random maps, with the expansion campaigns and scenario's offering cool challenges for when that's starting to bore you.

Hi Community,

a brief question:

I bought the deluxe edition and played the both campains (the one were your hero is the elfish girl and the other one with the technocrat guy). If i buy the expansions "Golden Realms" and "Eternal Lords" and replay the old campains, will I have any "improvement"? Like a new race, new spells or heros?

In short: no. New races, classes and specializations won't be featured in the campaigns of the base game, nor do new game mechanics (like new victory coniditions, cosmic events, racial governance etc.) and structures (visit sites like the Lost City) come to play. The two expansions do add their own 3 scenario-campaign each however, geared towards experienced players who like a higher difficulty.

Thanks Motasa for the quick response.

Hi
You all forgot the most important thing. The two expansions will add to the Random Map generator all the added features, enhancements and new races for a much better gaming experience.