DevBlog: Of unsatiable deities and warmongering rivals

Last time we talked about the different population tiers, about irrigation and floodings. If you missed our previous blog, you can check it out here.

We ended with the topic of research, and related to that is the topic of Religion: while one Aegyptian deity (Sobek) is available right away, the cults of the other two first have to be discovered via the research tree.

Let’s do that now and talk about all three new deities in more detail.

Religion

The population of Aegyptus worships deities rooted in their land and traditions.

The first of which is Sobek.

Grinning Sobek, king of the riverbank, lurks unseen. All that comes he consumes and yet has a stomach that can never be filled. As demand scales, so does his unremitting appetite for more.

Accordingly, worshipping Sobek motivates your food-producing workers, boosting the production of cheese sausages, stuffed geese, sanga cattle and more. His second local effect boosts your water supply for irrigation and provides bonus population.

His global devotion bonus unlocks dovecotes, which can be attached to plantations and boost their productivity.

Isis-Bastet

Isis-Bastet embodies the velutinous consolations we find in our cat companions. Pawing at things feline and feminine, she catalyzes the good times, induces fecundity, and is the mother of all rat terminators.

Before you can worship her, you will first need to discover her cult in the research tree.

Devotion to her boosts the production of e.g. lavender, perfume and dates but also reduces the goods consumption of your residents. Global devotion extrends the duration of all festivals and unlocks large cat shrines which not only have a wider area of effect but also boost population, income and prestige.

Or as Ben-Baalion would say: Miw, ere.

Thoth-Trismegistos

Also a form of Hellenic Hermes, Thrice-great Thoth is infinitely wise. Seldom does he expose mortals to cosmic revelation, except those expressing a moony commitment to the Khaemically arcane.

Assuming Thoth does indeed some of his wisdom with you, you can expect production boosts to for refined productions like glass, wine, writing tablets and scribing sets. Additionally, an island’s income and prestige are based on your knowledge.

If his worships spreads globally, your highly educated librarians will boost the production of all buildings in range of a library.

When worshipping an Aegyptian deity, your sanctuary or temple will adapt an Aegyptian look, for example turning it into a cat (or crocodile) sanctuary. Pet at your own risk.

Story & characters

A new region means new people to meet! This goes beyond your population, however, as we’re also introducing three new characters with the DLC: a trader, a raider and a new rival. Let’s go meet them!

Characters

The likely first character you’ll meet in Aegyptus is Epistrategos Heron. Heron is the official representative of the Emperor here, overseeing the province from the large port of Naukratis in a bay in the west of the delta. He certainly makes sure he’s enjoying the good life while going about his duties – but has no military to speak of to actually enforce the Emperor’s will. He’s more of a middleman, relaying information and serving as a trader.

Furthermore, you’ll also meet a familiar face, Valeria, who found a small harbour near the river to use for her expanding trade empire.

On the other end, geographically as well as culturally, is the Kandis of Kashta. Her base is far to the south of the river delta, using the Valley of the Pharaohs as hideout for her forces. Strongly rooted in Aegyptian traditions, anyone wishing to shatter her ambitions will not only have to destroy her harbour but also send troops up into the winding maze of the valleys.

She acts as the local raider, attacking your ships and settlements if you don’t pay her ransom.

Finally, a new rival governor steps on the stage: Decimus Naukratius Nerva. The “tyrant of Aegyptus” and father to our campaign characters: Marcus and Marcia. While greatly focused on Aegyptus, he favours the Roman way of life, judging those who decide to follow the Aegyptian path. His military power and ambition are unmatched – if you like a challenge, add Decimus as a rival governor to your game!

Story

Naturally, we don’t want to spoil the story of this expansion to you right here. Instead, we want to give you a bit of a taste for what you can expect.

While the new characters bring some quests with them and there are also some smaller local quest chains, the main story of “Dawn of the Delta” is a murder mystery!

The body of a very well-loved local celebrity who advocated for Kumatic and Hellenistic cohabitation in the city of Naukratis is fished out of the Nile river. What happened to Nymphaeus? Who might be interested in covering it all up?

Step up your detective game, governor, or decide to skip the story and focus on your islands first and foremost.

Pyramid

The pyramids have already been featured before, specifically in a dedicated trailer released earlier this month. Let’s have a closer look at this ancient wonder.

As many of you will know, the pyramids were already VERY old when the (real life) Romans added Egypt to their empire. The situation is very similar in the world of Anno 117: Pax Romana, and the once-mighty monuments have fallen into disrepair over the centuries.

With Aegyptus now firmly under Roman control, a show of might is needed: you’re tasked with not only restoring Aegyptus’ power and assure it can serve the empire as breadbasket, but also with restoring the pyramids! Show the locals the power of Rome while also appealing to the local traditionalists.

Such a restoration project is of course neither cheap nor quick: the pyramids are a “province project”, meaning they don’t exist on a specific player island but are part of the province itself, and close to the port of Naukratis. Restoring them therefore provides a bonus for the entire province.

Rebuilding this wonder takes several phases: in each, a large quantity of resources have to be provided to the pyramid dock near Naukratis. Hundreds of tons of tiles, granite and marble, but also tunics and food for the workers, as well as dromedary to speed up the transport of all these goods. After finishing a phase, a buff is applied on all your islands, decreasing the imperial land tax and increasing your prestige.

There’s a bit more to it, however: if you’re playing with rivals, the restoration project becomes a bit of a race. All governors are contributing to the required resources and whoever provides their share first, will receive a stronger buff than their rivals.

When the last delivery has been made and the pyramidion been placed on top of the pyramid… well, first you have to lean back and admire your work. Then you can enjoy a province-wide bonus of Prestige as well as a temporary buff to your chance of receiving heroic specialists – three new ones are added with this expansion.

The newly restored pyramids will become quite the attraction: you’ll be able to regularly hold ceremonies there to further extend the duration of the buff.

In addition to these buffs, the restored pyramids also serve as a need for the third population tiers (Chanters and Gymnasiarchs), providing happiness and prestige.

Prepare for your travel

There’s more to discover in Aegyptus and the expansion, for example, that various goods from Aegyptus are now alternative needs for your population in Albion and Latium, or which technologies from the expansion’s research tree also impact the other provinces (e.g. ways to lower maintenance for monuments and speed up their construction).

So, here we are, one week from the release of Dawn of the Delta! We hope you feel well-equipped for your coming journey to Aegyptus. For some full gameplay impressions, why not check out our livestream from last week. Alternatively, you can also watch some content creators on their channels next week before deciding on your approach to these new challenges.

Alongside this expansion, game update 3.0 includes several new features, improvements and changes. Have a look at our dedicated blog post from earlier this week to learn more.

Next week we’ll release the full patch notes including all changes and bug fixes for this version.

Dawn of the Delta releases next week, November 5^th, at 10 AM UTC on all platforms.