Is it worth it to buy Arma 3 without DLC? A Beginner‘s Guide

As an avid military simulation enthusiast with hundreds of hours enjoyed in Arma 3, one of the most common questions I get from new players is: is it worth buying Arma 3 without the downloadable content (DLC)?

My answer is a resounding yes! The base Arma 3 game itself provides an immense amount of high-quality content and gameplay for an incredible value. In this beginner‘s guide, let‘s take an in-depth look at why Arma 3 is absolutely worth it even without DLC expansions.

Arma 3 Continues to Thrive 9 Years Later

Let‘s first establish that Arma 3 continues to have an incredibly active and passionate community more than 9 years after its original launch in September 2013.

Steamcharts player data shows that Arma 3 averages 20,000 to 30,000 concurrent players daily, peaking between 40,000 to 60,000 players on weekends. That puts it comfortably among the top 25 most played games on Steam.

Impressively, a huge portion of this engagement comes from the thriving modding community, which has produced over 20,000 mods that dramatically expand Arma 3‘s content. Popular mods like ALiVE, Ace3, and Project OPFOR evolved into must-haves.

This means Arma 3 remains a vibrant platform for tactical military simulation, even without factoring in the DLC expansions. The base game by itself still provides endless gameplay possibilities.

What You Get with Base Arma 3

Now let‘s do a direct comparison between the contents included with the base Arma 3 game vs. the popular Apex DLC:

As we can see, the base Arma 3 game delivers 2 massive maps full of diverse biomes, an extensive storyline campaign, plenty of official multiplayer content, and a staggering arsenal of over 300 weapons plus 140 vehicles to utilize.

The Apex DLC does add value with a new tropical map and a second bonus campaign, but much of the core Arma 3 experience remains intact even without it. You won‘t be starved for content any time soon.

Enjoy Hundreds of Hours of Sandbox Gameplay

Perhaps most importantly, Arma 3 gives you near limitless opportunities for unstructured sandbox gameplay even without extra DLC content.

The powerful editor lets you create your own missions, scenarios, and modded variants of the base game. You can loot to your heart‘s content in survival mods, wage guerrilla warfare against occupiers, form a mechanized assault force, and anything in between.

The DLCs simply add more ‘toys‘ to the sandbox rather than fundamentally enabling new playstyles. This means you can enjoy hundreds of hours of dynamic emergent gameplay with what comes packed in base Arma 3.

Mods Add Tons of Content for Free

That sandbox experience is expanded even further by Arma 3‘s incredible modding community. The base game natively supports adding both cosmetic mods and complex overhaul mods on Steam Workshop.

Total conversion mods like Liberation and Antistasi push Arma 3 into a persistent guerrilla war where frontlines and objectives shift dynamically based on tactical decisions. Graphical mods like JSRS and Blastcore reinvent Arma‘s audio and visuals to modern standards. AI mods like VCOM introduce smart reactive NPC behaviors.

The list goes on and on – and these are all free community passion projects. You really don‘t need DLC to expand the Arma experience.

Multiplayer Also Shines with Base Game

Beyond solo play, Arma 3 offers a thriving multiplayer environment across coop scenarios, PvP domination and combat modes, milsim operations, and more. This is all enabled by the base game alone.

In particular, user-made multiplayer missions and modes don‘t rely much on DLC content at all. The combined arms experience arises from coordination between players, not the variety of assets available. Teamplay, tactics, and community are the real force multipliers in Arma 3 multiplayer.

Take it Slow with Base Game First

If you‘re new to Arma 3, I strongly recommend starting with the base game, especially when it‘s discounted to just $15-20. Get through the campaign, sample some multiplayer matches, and browse the Steam Workshop mods.

This will give you a taste of Arma 3‘s tactical combat and see if the measured, simulation-focused gameplay is for you.

The Apex and other DLCs can come later on sale if you decide you want more content. But enjoy Arma 3‘s core strengths before expanding into the optional DLC niches later.

Think of it as slowly working your way up from a basic riflemen to commanding much bigger combined operations once you know the ropes. No need to start with everything all at once!

Yes, Base Arma 3 is Worth it in 2022

While Arma 3 itself is nearing 10 years old, it remains one of the most actively played military simulations with a thriving community. The base game still provides tremendous value with hundreds of hours of singleplayer and multiplayer gameplay even before considering paid DLC expansions.

Take advantage of frequent sales to grab Arma 3 at a heavily discounted price, then tap into the massive amount of content already included. Story campaigns, multiplayer matches, sandbox scenarios, and community mods will keep you occupied for a long time before you need to spend extra on DLC.

So is Arma 3 worth it without DLC? As someone with 1300+ hours played, I can firmly say yes – begin your tactical combat journey with the base game, and the rest will follow. See you in-game once you enlist, soldier!