Triumph Studios and Paradox Interactive are back with more content for Age of Wonders 4. Almost three years since launch, the title has continued to expand with DLC, and the latest is “Rise From Ruin.” Age of Wonders 4: Rise from Ruin is the second expansion in the Expansion Pass 3 and will allow players to explore and experience the life of being a nomad.
Age of Wonders 4: Rise from Ruin, like many DLC before it, will add plenty of new content for players to enjoy. Rise from Ruin will add a new culture, a new hero form, some new world map content, and, of course, new tomes. There have been so many new content additions and general updates to Age of Wonders 4 since its release in 2023 that it is impressive that Triumph Studios has continued to expand on the game.
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Age of Wonders 4: Rise from Ruin gives players more creative freedom when creating their heroes and factions by adding another way to customize and use them. This new form is called the Harefolk, and basically, they are hares and jackrabbits.
However, the Harefolk are not your average hare, as they may look cute in their own way, but they do not look like the average classroom bunny. Players will be able to customize their new Harefolk however they like, including even being able to select how their giant ears look.
Don’t let the new form fool you. The Harefolk are not to be trifled with.
The Harefolk fit this survival theme by having traits involving speed, elusiveness, desert adaptations, and, in general, more utility-based traits to stay alive. This also goes with the new available culture of Nomads. Nomads’ culture has two options for players to choose from: Scavengers and Conquerors.
Conquerors allow for faster and more rewarding pillaging of provinces and villages. This one really felt like something we have had before in other DLC, such as the Warbirds from Empires and Ashes with the Conquistadors.
Scavenger Nomad culture, on the other hand, was quite interesting as this allowed for the looting of resources from either the world map, in overharvesting of nodes, or from battle. Units also gained “Loot Power,” which allows units to heal and gain benefits from “looting” defeated enemies during battle.
There are three new tomes introduced in the new DLC that players can choose from: Tome of the Warband, Tome of the Sand Stalkers, and Tome of the Warlord. My favorite of these three is easily the Tome of the Sand Stalkers. We have seen over the last few years that Age of Wonders 4 has added tomes that allow players to manipulate terrain, allowing them to really focus on controlling their environment to their advantage, whether through forests or ice.
New tomes allow players to explore the terrain, giving them a new way to strategize in their environments.
Tome of the Sand Stalkers allows players to change the terrain to sand and then enable building of farms and unit bonuses when traveling through sanded areas. This really fits with the survival theme, as sand and desert provinces tend not to provide many province bonuses for buildings, such as meadows or forests. Desert Adaptation is found on the new Harefolk heroes, so these can really allow players to survive and be successful in a desolate environment.
Tome of the Warband is a starting tome that can really allow players to get their units ranked up and buffed rather quickly. The tier III tome of the Tome of the Warlord can add some nice flavor for players looking for different types of units. These tomes overall fit nicely with the overall theme of the expansion and play well with anyone looking to try out the full Nomad culture and new Harefolk form.
There is no new story content within this expansion, but there are some new realms and Realm traits for players to play on. This includes the new Astral Barren terrain type, where magic has been corrupted and can really mess with magic players, as the terrain can drain mana, halt regeneration, and even cause spells to “backfire”.
The Backfire mechanic gives a spell failure or debuff percentage for every spell cast. In one of my games, the cataclysm got so high that my “backfire” chance was up to 50% for each spell I cast.
Age of Wonders 4: Rise from Ruin expands further on the game, with new challenges and customizations to play with.
The two new default realms are quite challenging and provide plenty of obstacles for players. This really once again fits with the whole survival theme, as now the world is trying to kill you even harder. These include five new Realm traits for players to mix and match in their own custom realms.
Like all of these Age of Wonders 4 DLCs, there are plenty of smaller items for players to enjoy, such as new mounts, units, wildlife, and even more soundtracks for players to listen to while playing. The Age of Wonders 4: Rise from Ruin will also launch with the free “Scorpion Update” that will add more quality of life features and balances to the expansive game.
Overall, Age of Wonders 4: Rise from Ruin expands even further on the base game, adding some new challenges and flavor for players to try out. Players who really like sand or the desert can rejoice as this expansion is for them. This includes worm.
Age of Wonders 4: Rise From Ruin
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Rating - 8/108/10
TL;DR
Age of Wonders 4: Rise from Ruin expands even further on the base game, adding some new challenges and flavor for players to try out. Players who really like sand or the desert can rejoice as this expansion is for them. This includes worm.
