Discover the treacherous pitfalls awaiting players in Dune: Awakening, with fresh details unveiled at this year’s GDC and PAX East. From deadly encounters with sandworms to the relentless fury of sandstorms, this article explores the harrowing ways players can meet their end in the unforgiving deserts of Arrakis.
Fatal Encounters: Perils of Combat on Dune
Combat is crucial in Dune: Awakening, with encounters occurring in PvE and optional PvP zones. While negotiation sometimes remains an option, there are situations where conflicts escalate to battles.
The game features a combined arms system that lets you choose how to approach combat. You can use melee, ranged attacks, skills, vehicles, or a combination. All of these play styles are equally deadly.
Players enter a downed state when defeated in battle, allowing friends to revive them or for self-revival if they possess enough water reserves. However, upon final death, players drop resources, including valuable spice, harvesting tools, and the game’s currency, Solari.
Respawning after death offers players multiple options for re-entry into the game world. Firstly, they can strategically deploy respawn beacons, placing one at any desired location. Additionally, respawning at one’s base or the last used vehicle provides convenient access points. Moreover, the checkpoint system offers a unique respawn opportunity, with players saving a respawn point, e.g., upon entering the ecology lab. This feature enables players to retrieve dropped resources by returning to their corpses. However, in PvP areas, the risk of looting by other players adds complexity and strategy to gameplay.
Deadly Thirst: Succumbing to Heat and Dehydration in the Unforgiving Deserts
During the day, temperatures on Arrakis can soar to extreme highs, often surpassing 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) or more in the desert regions.
Hydration is paramount in Dune: Awakening, shaping the characters’ attire and serving as a crucial gameplay element. The desert sun poses a constant threat, necessitating players to monitor their temperature closely. Prolonged exposure to the scorching sun can lead to sunstroke for your character, triggering a rapid surge in thirst and swiftly draining your water reserves.
Initially, players must innovate to quench their thirst. Early on, moisture from scarce plants offers a meager water supply, albeit excessive consumption risks illness. Alternatively, a more unorthodox approach involves utilizing a device to extract blood from fallen foes. With the appropriate tools, blood can be filtered into purified water, although drinking it directly compromises health.
Seeking shelter in shade or exploring at night offers respite. However, a prominent blue bar indicates vigilance for hydration is imperative. It is important to remember that underestimating the power of the sun can be life-threatening.
Sandstorm Fury: Facing Death’s Wrath in Dune’s Blinding Tempests
On Arrakis’s harsh and unforgiving desert planet, deadly sandstorms rage with ferocity, sweeping across the arid landscape like vengeful titans. For unwary travelers caught in their path, survival in Dune: Awakening becomes a matter of seconds, not minutes.
According to an interview by WCCFTech.com with Creative Director Joel Bylos, you can withstand the onslaught for a mere 30 seconds before dying in the relentless fury of the storm. Those fortunate enough to anticipate the danger may seek refuge beneath the protective shelter of a stilltent, nestled against the sturdy shelter of a rock formation, where the howling winds are muffled and the choking sands are held at bay.
In the vast and dangerous world of Dune: Awakening, the Coriolis storms loom as a relentless force of destruction. Beyond the protective confines of the Shield Wall lies the PVP area known as the deep desert, a realm with secrets and riches waiting to be unearthed by the storm. Here, stranded ships, hidden underground structures, and valuable spice deposits entice daring adventurers and ambitious guilds alike to vie for dominance. Yet, the ever-looming threat of the Coriolis storms adds a palpable sense of urgency and danger to the competition.
Each week, as the skies gradually shift, signaling the impending storm, players must prepare for the cataclysmic upheaval that will reshape the landscape and obliterate anything in its path. Those who fail to heed the warnings of that day and remain in the deep desert when the Coriolis storm strikes risk death and expulsion from the server before the sands begin to shift.
It’s currently unknown if anything will be left to loot after the sandstorms killed you.
Swallowed by Titans: Cruel Fate in the Jaws of Sandworms
In the vast desolation of Arrakis, the presence of immortal sandworms strikes fear into even the most seasoned players. They are divided into two distinct types: Early in the game, players contend with the smaller tri-mouth sandworms, agile predators that pose a formidable threat to the unprepared. While swift evasive maneuvers on a vehicle or strategic use of terrain can offer reprieve, the true test lies in confronting the behemoth ring-mouth sandworms that reign supreme in the deep desert.
These massive beasts can wipe out entire armies or spice harvesters in a single gulp, leaving nothing but destruction. Unlike their smaller counterparts, these behemoths are virtually impossible to outrun once they’ve set their sights on their prey. Surviving an encounter with these titans requires careful planning and resourcefulness, since the developers so far decided against Fremen sandwalking in the game.
To avoid being swallowed whole, players must check their threat meter and maintain a safe distance from the big sandworms, anticipating their movements and ensuring they are nowhere near when the creatures surface. Alternatively, players can employ a thumper to divert the attention of the sandworms, luring them away from their intended path and creating an opportunity to navigate the treacherous terrain safely.
Failure to escape their grasp results in a devastating loss, with everything carried (clothing, armor, weapons, spice, Solari) being forfeited to the merciless sands. For those wary of risking their fortunes in the desert, safeguarding Solari in banks provides a semblance of security amidst the dangerous sands of Dune.
Link: Wccftech.com – Dune Awakening Q&A – Creative Director Clarifies MMO Size, Hints at Beyond Arrakis
