Anno 117: Pax Romana – How to Plan for the Year 1 DLC Pass

Anno 117 Year 1 Pass: the short version

You want to know one thing before Ubisoft takes your money: is the Anno 117: Pax Romana Year 1 Pass worth it up front, or should you cherry-pick the DLCs as they land? Here is the decision, stripped down.

• Year 1 Pass: 35€ (listed at 34.99€ on the Ubisoft Store and Steam). It bundles three gameplay DLCs.
• The three DLCs: Prophecies of Ash (volcano island + the god Vulcan), The Hippodrome (a giant monument with chariot races), and Dawn of the Delta (an Egypt-inspired province).
• Release window: Prophecies of Ash shipped April 30, 2026 (delayed one week from April 23); The Hippodrome is slated for August 2026; Dawn of the Delta for November 2026.
• Gold Edition is exactly 30€/$30 more than the Standard Edition (59.99€ vs 89.99€) and folds the Pass in.
• Cosmetic packs are separate, 7€ each, and change nothing about how your economy or gods work.
• Buy the Pass now if you already know you will put 40+ hours into this save and you want both the volcano island and the Egyptian province. Wait if you are unsure the base loop clicks for you.

The rest of this guide walks through what each DLC actually changes in your empire, and how to prep your save so you are not bulldozing half your capital every time a new region drops.

Year 1 Pass vs cosmetic packs: what you are actually buying

Anno 117 follows the same structure as Anno 1800 with one naming change: there are no more “Season Passes”, just “Year Passes”. The Year 1 Pass is built around three gameplay DLCs. Cosmetic packs stay completely separate and are purely visual.

• Three gameplay DLCs in the Pass, all 2026:
  • April 30, 2026 – Prophecies of Ash
  • August 2026 – The Hippodrome
  • November 2026 – Dawn of the Delta
• Year 1 Pass: 35€ (34.99€), three expansions bundled
• Gold Edition: base game + Year 1 Pass, 30€ over the Standard Edition (89.99€ vs 59.99€)
• Cosmetic packs: 7€ each, sold separately, no new mechanics
• Example cosmetic pack: the Marvellous Mosaic Pack – ground designs, mosaics, and building skins

The takeaway: if you care about new systems, regions, and mechanics, the Year 1 Pass is the line item that matters. Cosmetics are visual flair only.

DLC 1 – Prophecies of Ash: the largest island in Anno history + the god Vulcan

This is the one that hits three of Anno’s sweet spots at once: a huge new landmass, a risky environmental mechanic, and a new god to build around.

Prophecies of Ash expands the Latium province and integrates straight into any existing save – no new game required. It adds a belt of islands along Latium’s north-western and north-eastern borders: five new islands plus Cinis, the volcano island that Ubisoft calls the biggest island in the history of Anno.

Here is what matters for long-term planning:

• Cinis, a super-large continental island – Space has always been the real endgame currency in Anno. One enormous island opens up:
  • Room for a specialized industrial hub
  • Or a mega-capital with high population density
  • Or a mix, depending on how you like to min-max
• The volcano – Cinis is dominated by a volcano. Eruptions are a hazard to the city you build there, and the trade-off is the fertile ground that volcanic terrain leaves behind. Treat it as a risk–reward loop: build close for the bonuses, accept the danger.
• New god: Vulcan – the God of the Forge joins the pantheon, tying the volcano into your religious and economic gameplay rather than leaving it as a pure disaster event.

How I am preparing my save: in my current Latium run I have stopped overcommitting heavy industry on my core island. I keep logistics flexible – extra trade routes, spare warehouse capacity – so I can pivot key chains onto Cinis fast once it unlocks. If you build permanent, rigid layouts, plan to migrate or expand some production there for the fertile ground alone.

Move robust, easily rebuilt chains (basic agriculture) onto the volcano island first, before you shift critical high-tier production there.

DLC 2 – The Hippodrome: the largest monument in Anno history

If you loved the big monuments in Anno 1800, The Hippodrome scratches that itch at Roman scale. Ubisoft bills it as the largest monument in the history of Anno – the Roman answer to 1800’s World’s Fair or Palace, but more sprawling.

• A huge, multi-stage monument – expect:
  • High construction costs and long build times
  • Multiple construction phases, each needing different materials
  • A massive footprint that will reshape whatever district you place it in
• Chariot races as repeatable events – once it is complete, the Hippodrome hosts races that reward you with specialists and prestige. Mechanically it fills the “event content” role of a theater or amphitheater, but built around competition.

How I am planning around it: the mistake I made in Anno 1800 was not leaving enough room for late-game monuments – I ended up bulldozing half my downtown every time a new one hit. This time I am reserving a large, roughly rectangular district near the heart of my main city. Rule of thumb: if you think you have left enough room, leave more. I am also keeping high-end residential neighborhoods modular so I can reorient roads once I know the exact footprint.

Economically, plan for a late-game resource sink. Have a surplus of building materials going into August 2026 so you can start construction smoothly instead of stalling mid-phase.

DLC 3 – Dawn of the Delta: an Egypt-inspired province

Dawn of the Delta adds an entire Egypt-inspired province – vast deserts and a fertile river frontier – rather than a single island or building. It is the DLC most likely to change your overall play pattern.

• A new province with contrasting biomes:
  • Arid desert regions
  • A fertile river delta

  You will manage both scarcity and abundance in the same region.

• New population tiers and production chains – Egyptian-inspired inhabitants with their own hierarchy, needs, and new chains to support them.
• New faith and military layers – the religious and military systems expand again with region-specific content for the Egyptian frontier.

How I am timing this in my campaign: I am treating Dawn of the Delta as a late-game expansion, not a day-one rush. The plan:

• Use the base game plus earlier DLCs to build a stable core economy in Albion and Latium
• Enter the Delta only once I have:
  • A reliable surplus of construction materials
  • Spare fleet capacity for new trade routes
  • An income buffer to absorb the cost of a brand-new province and its chains

If you enjoyed the “new region” DLCs in Anno 1800 (the Arctic, Enbesa), this is the piece of the Year 1 Pass that adds a whole strategic layer instead of bolting onto your existing islands. That scope is a big part of why the 35€ Pass costs more than Anno 1800’s 25€ Season Passes (the Season 1 Pass there ran 24.99€).

Building toward a sprawling Roman-then-Egyptian empire from scratch? Our Anno 117 vs Anno 1800 comparison covers how the core loop has shifted, and the Anno 117: Pax Romana preview sets up the base systems these DLCs build on.

Pricing, editions, and value: when the 35€ Pass makes sense

The Year 1 Pass costs 35€ (34.99€), more than Anno 1800’s typical 25€ Season Passes. Cosmetic packs cost 7€ each and are not included in the Pass.

Buy the Gold Edition and you pay 30€ over the Standard Edition (89.99€ vs 59.99€) to get the Pass included – the same as buying base game plus Pass separately, bundled up front.

Here is how I frame the decision:

• Get the Year 1 Pass now if:
  • You already know you will put 40+ hours into Anno 117 over the year
  • You enjoyed the big gameplay DLCs in Anno 1800 (new regions, monuments, mechanics)
  • You want both the volcano island and the Egyptian province, not just one
• Wait if:
  • You are not yet sure the base gameplay loop clicks for you
  • You mainly care about cosmetics and city beautification
  • You play one long campaign and move on, rather than returning for each DLC drop

Personally, I am skipping most cosmetics early and putting that budget toward the Pass. The Marvellous Mosaic Pack is nice – 30+ tiled ground designs and mosaics, bathhouse and forum skins, and two wall systems (Latium and Albion) with walls and arches – but none of it changes how my economy or gods work.

On a tight budget: prioritize gameplay DLC first, cosmetics later in a sale or once you know Anno 117 will be a long-term staple.

How to prepare your save for the 2026 roadmap

The roadmap is locked in – Prophecies of Ash (April), The Hippodrome (August), Dawn of the Delta (November) – so you can plan your empire around those dates instead of being blindsided mid-campaign. Here is the prep plan I follow on PC:

• Before Prophecies of Ash (April):
  • Stabilize your Latium core economy: food, basic luxuries, building materials
  • Do not saturate every island with permanent industry; keep some production mobile
  • Stockpile a small surplus of workers and materials so you can exploit Cinis’s fertile ground quickly
• Before The Hippodrome (August):
  • Reserve a large, central area in your main city for the monument
  • Keep your road layout flexible; avoid dead-end blocks near the planned site
  • Ramp up mid-tier construction materials so normal expansion continues while you build
• Before Dawn of the Delta (November):
  • Make sure your income can absorb experimentation in a new province
  • Build up your fleet so you have spare ships for new trade and military duties
  • Treat the Egyptian region as a fresh, semi-independent project on top of your main empire

If you want a few more builders to fill the gaps between drops, our roundup of building games worth your time in 2026 runs from Anno 117 to beaver-dam city-builders.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Locking your core island into rigid layouts. Prophecies of Ash rewards flexibility – if every plot is committed to permanent industry, you cannot pivot onto Cinis when it unlocks.
• Under-reserving space for the Hippodrome. Anno monuments are wider than they look. Leave more room than you think you need.
• Rushing the Delta on day one. A whole new province with new chains is a money sink. Enter it with a surplus, not a deficit.
• Paying for cosmetics expecting mechanics. The Marvellous Mosaic Pack and other 7€ packs are visual only – they are not in the Year 1 Pass and they do not touch your economy.
• Assuming launch dates are fixed. Prophecies of Ash slipped a week (April 23 to April 30) over a savegame-breaking patch issue. Keep a backup save before any major update.

Practical takeaway: is the Year 1 Pass worth it?

Anno 117’s Year 1 Pass is built around big mechanical expansions, not cosmetic nickel-and-diming. For 35€ you get the largest island the series has shipped (Cinis, with its volcano-and-Vulcan loop), the largest monument in Anno history with repeatable chariot races, and a full Egypt-inspired province with new biomes, people, faith, and production chains.

The price is higher than the old 25€ Season Passes, but the scope lines up. If Anno 117 already has its hooks in you and you love long-term saves that grow with new systems, the Pass is easy to justify – or grab the Gold Edition and bundle it for 30€ over the base game. If you are on the fence, play the base game first; the roadmap is public and you can buy in later once you know which of the three DLCs fits your playstyle.