Dune: Awakening is a new online game based on the famous Dune stories by Frank Herbert.
It’s a mix of big online games and survival games. You start by picking a server, which is like your own world in the game. Each server has many areas called “Hagab Basin,” where you’ll spend most of your time fighting computer-controlled enemies.
The Hagab Basin is really big, about the same size as the map in another game called Conan Exiles. It’s big enough for 40 players to be in one area at the same time.
This gives you lots of space to play without too many other players around. If you like to play alone, this is a good place to learn how to play, find stuff you need, and make your character stronger.
Outside the Hagab Basin is an even bigger area called the Deep Desert. This is where up to 1,000 players can fight each other. The Deep Desert is split into nine connected parts. As you move between these parts, you don’t see any loading screens – it all feels like one big world.
This setup makes it easier for people who want to play alone, but also lets them meet other players if they want to.
Character Creation and Early Game
Players begin their journey aboard a Highliner, where they undergo an extensive character creation process. This includes selecting a home world, choosing a caste, and picking a mentor (Mentat, Bene Gesserit, or Swordmaster).
These choices influence initial skills and social interactions but don’t limit long-term progression, as players can eventually access all classes’ skills and abilities.
After character creation, players crash-land on Arrakis and wake up in a cave, where they learn basic survival skills like water harvesting and weapon crafting.
This tutorial area prepares players for the harsh realities of life on Dune before they venture into the Hagab Basin proper.
Solo Play in the Hagab Basin
For solo players, the Hagab Basin offers a wealth of content that can be completed entirely alone.
This includes main story quests, missions, and various PvE activities. Players can progress from their initial sand bike to more advanced vehicles like the ornithopter, which significantly expands their exploration capabilities.
The PvE focus of the Hagab Basin makes it an ideal environment for solo players to establish themselves, build bases, and gather resources without constant threat from other players.
However, the true endgame content and best gear are found in the Deep Desert, pushing solo players to eventually venture into more dangerous territory.
The Deep Desert and PvP Challenges
The Deep Desert presents the greatest challenge for solo players in Dune: Awakening.
This vast PvP zone, spanning approximately 576 km² (larger than New York City), is where the most valuable resources and endgame content are located.
However, the game does offer some reprieve for solo players in the form of PvE-only areas within the Deep Desert, where players can set up bases without fear of constant attacks.
One unique aspect of the Deep Desert is the weekly Coriolis storm, which acts as a map reset. This massive sandstorm destroys all player-made structures in the Deep Desert, alters the landscape, and repositions dungeons and resource locations.
This regular reset helps prevent large guilds from completely dominating the area and gives solo players a chance to start fresh each week.
The Landsraad System
The Landsraad is Dune: Awakening’s endgame political system, where factions (primarily House Atreides and House Harkonnen) compete for control over server-wide rules. While solo players can participate in the Landsraad, their influence will be limited compared to large guilds.
Solo players can contribute to their chosen faction by completing individual tasks such as crafting specific items, trading resources, gathering intelligence, or completing faction quests. While these contributions may seem small, they can add up and help push a faction towards victory.
The Landsraad operates on a weekly “bingo board” system, where factions must complete five tasks in a row to win control for the following week.
The winning faction gets to choose a server-wide rule that affects all players, such as economic buffs or resource modifications.
Strategies for Solo Players
While Dune: Awakening is designed to accommodate both group and solo play, there are several strategies solo players can employ to thrive in this challenging environment:
- Focus on the Hagab Basin: Spend ample time in the PvE zone to build up resources, skills, and equipment before venturing into the Deep Desert.
- Utilize PvE areas in the Deep Desert: Take advantage of the safe zones to establish a base of operations for Deep Desert exploration.
- Develop specialized skills: Focus on becoming an expert in a particular area, such as crafting, resource gathering, or information brokering, to make yourself valuable to other players and factions.
- Choose low-population servers: When venturing into the Deep Desert, try to select servers with fewer active players to reduce the risk of encounters.
- Employ stealth and cunning: Use the vast landscape to your advantage, avoiding confrontations and choosing your battles carefully.
- Engage in trade: Participate in the game’s economy by selling rare resources, map data, or crafted items to earn currency and access better equipment.
- Offer mercenary services: Temporarily align with guilds or factions for specific missions or battles to gain rewards and experience.
Challenges and Limitations
Despite the game’s efforts to accommodate solo players, there will undoubtedly be challenges and limitations:
- Limited influence in the Landsraad system compared to large guilds.
- Difficulty in accessing some endgame content and the best gear without group support.
- Increased vulnerability in PvP situations, especially against organized groups.
- Potential for isolation and missing out on some social aspects of the game.
Conclusion
From what we’ve learned, you can play Dune: Awakening by yourself, but it might be hard sometimes. The game has areas where you can play alone and areas where you might run into other players.
This gives solo players a chance to do well in the game. But some of the best parts of the game might be harder to enjoy without teaming up with others now and then.
In the end, how well you do playing alone depends on how good you are at figuring things out and finding your place in the game world.
You could be someone who survives on their own, someone who’s good at trading, or someone who sometimes helps other players for money. There are lots of ways to play alone in this game.
Like many online survival games, playing Dune: Awakening alone might change as more people start playing. If you want to play alone, you should be ready to change how you play as you learn more about the game.
It might be tough sometimes, but the big, always-changing world of Dune: Awakening could be really fun for brave players who want to take on the desert by themselves.
