Summary
One of the most important skills to nail down early on inDune: Awakeningis traversal. Navigating the harsh and unforgiving landscape of Arrakis can prove challenging, especially early on in the game when you have limited supplies and resources at your disposal. And, if you die trying to traverse the desert, there are serious consequences, namely, losing some of your gear.
That’s why we’ve created this list. If you want to make it from your sub-fief to another part of Arrakis' ever-changing desert, you’ll need these tips and tricks to help you successfully and safely make your way across the planet.
10Stick To The Shade
Keep Your Cool
This first tip is explained to you early on in the game, but it’s easy to miss just how important it is. When traversing Arrakis, if you spend too much time in the sun, it’s easy to suffer heat stroke. Before you have a Stillsuit researched, your water is one of your most precious resources, and still is even after you have the Stillsuit equipped.
Being in the sun drains your water reserves incredibly quickly and is one of the easiest ways to diein Dune: Awakening. So, when traversing Arrakis, make sure you stick to the shade as much as possible, even if you have to stop for a bit to let the sunstroke wear off.
It’s A Long Way Home
After you’ve created your first sub-fief, this construction will very quickly become your home base that you return to time and time again to refuel, refine materials, and more. However, you’re able to’t stay cooped up forever. You’ll often need to go very far from your home base in order to get more resources, trade at outposts, complete missions, and more.
That’s why, when setting out, make sure you prepare and take the materials you need with you. You’ll want to make sure you have a tool to extract blood from corpses, which you’re able to drink in a pinch. Also, make sure you have materials to craft health kits so that you don’t end up at critical health miles and miles away from home. It’s also a good idea to top off your water supply right before you leave your sub-fief.
8Invest In Water Carriers
The Water Of Life
There are many different types of equipment you can research in Dune: Awakening. One less than glamorous one is water carriers. However, having extra water on hand is always important and can save your life out in the harsh, unforgiving desert.
The best part of researching and fabricating water carriers is that they can prevent you from having to drink blood if you’re running low on water. While drinking unpurified blood can save your life in a dire situation, you’ll take a hit to your health in this way, so having a water carrier on your person can be a huge boon. The only trick to water carriers is that they often require materials that are essential for early-game missions, so you’ll have to divert from the main story path early to get these toward the beginning of your game.
7Sprint Skills Are Important
Run From Shai-Hulud
Early on in your journey through Arrakis, you’ll get to pick one specialized form of training. Some of these feature movement and traversal abilities, the most important of which is the sprint step ability granted early on in the skill tree for the Bene Gesserit. This ability allows you to sprint across swaths of the desert.
Of course, doing so means you’re more likely to attract sandworms than you are just running normally. However, early on in the game, this sprint ability, while likely to trigger wormsign, is usually strong enough to get you to clear gaps between rock structures in a single move, meaning by the time the worm emerges, you’ll already be on safe ground. This can be a lifesaver, especially when traversing on foot.
6Research Vehicles Quickly
No Speed Limits On Arrakis
Beyond just walking, running, or sprinting through Arrakis, one of the best ways to get around the desert landscape is by researching various vehicles. Early on in your journey, you’ll get access to a sand bike and even be instructed on how to make this vehicle. Don’t waste time. Once this vehicle is unlocked, research it immediately.
Be warned that you’ll need a lot of refined copper ore to make the bike, as well as some specific resources like Advanced Servoks. These are all available in the starting area, but make sure you collect as many as you may when you’re in the right areas so that you don’t have to backtrack. Once you’ve fabricated vehicle pieces, you can easily construct them using a welder and start zipping across Arrakis with ease.
5Use Respawns
Place Strategically
While not the best strategy for making your way across the planet, you can place Respawn Beacons all over the map (as many as you can craft) and use these to traverse long distances. First, craft the Respawn Beacons, then place them where you wish on the map.
From there, when you go to the main menu of the game, you can force a respawn by hitting the ‘Respawn’ button. In theory, this button is here so that you can reset your character if you get stuck. But, technically speaking, nothing is stopping you from using this to force a respawn somewhere else on the map. Just be warned, you will lose some equipment traversing in this manner.
4Plan Your Route
Optimize Your Runs
Because part of traversing Arrakis is hopping from rock formation to rock formation, there are many times when you’ll have to cross the desert by hitting up various stops beyond just your main destination. For example, if you want to make it to Griffin’s Reach Tradepost, you’ll likely pass by a few Intel stations on your way.
While, technically speaking, you can just bulldoze your way through to your final destination, it’s a good idea to hit up many different places along the way to make the most of your journey. Just keep an eye on your water supply as you do, making sure you have a backup plan in place.
3Travel At Night When Possible
Become Nocturnal
One of the most unique facetsof Dune: Awakeningis how logical it is. For example, as mentioned early on, staying in the shade helps keep your water supply draining slowly and helps you avoid sunstroke. Similarly, when you travel at night, you’ll be able to avoid this phenomenon altogether.
One good rhythm to get into in Dune: Awakening is to travel and explore during the night, returning to your sub-fief during the day to craft, refine materials, and research skills and schematics. Or, you can spend the days inside settlements and trade posts to stay out of the sun.
2Don’t Be Afraid To Climb
Easier Than Going Around
As you make your way across the desert, you’ll spend a lot of time moving from rock formation to rock formation. While it’s easy enough to go around, don’t be afraid to climb these, and also look for secret caves, scavenger camps, and more.
Doing so not only gets you access to plenty of additional resources for your journey but also can cut down on traversal time. Many rock formations have caves that you may enter, allowing you to run through the entire structure and stay in the shade. This is a fantastic boon when you’re about to die of sunstroke.
1Research Suspensors
Yes, There’s Fall Damage
There are dozens of incredibly tall cliffs and rock formations all acrossthe world of Dune. You can climb these very easily, as mentioned before, but it can be hard to get down at times. This is a shame, as climbing these structures gives you access to various resources and can cut down on traversal time.
However, if you research suspensors and construct these pieces of equipment, you can negate or even entirely circumvent fall damage. Plus, some suspensors allow you to double jump, making it even easier to climb as well.
