New to Dune: Awakening? Our beginner’s guide covers the best starting classes, how to build your first base, PvP tips, and everything you need to survive on Arrakis.
If you’ve just picked up Dune: Awakening or are thinking about trying it out, you’re probably wondering how to get started without feeling lost on the sands of Arrakis. You’re not alone! This is a massive online survival game that throws you onto a desert planet full of danger, other players, and some of the wildest survival mechanics you’ll see in an MMO.
Whether you’re figuring out which class to pick, how to set up your first base, or just trying to avoid being eaten by a sandworm, this guide is here to make your first hours a lot smoother. Let’s break it all down!
What Is Dune: Awakening?
Dune: Awakening is an online survival game set on the harsh desert planet of Arrakis, inspired by the classic Dune universe. If you’re new to this kind of game, think of it as a mix between an open-world adventure and a survival MMO, where you play alongside (and sometimes against) other real people.
The goal? Stay alive, build up your own base, and carve out your own spot in a dangerous world full of sandworms, rival players, and unpredictable weather. You’ll need to watch your water, manage resources, craft gear, and make smart choices about where to set up your home.
The game throws you right into the action, letting you explore, team up with friends, and take on huge challenges as you level up.
Getting Started: Character Creation and the Best Starting Classes
When you first start Dune: Awakening, you’ll be asked to create your character. This is where you can customize how you look, choose a background, and pick your starting class. It might seem overwhelming at first, but don’t worry, most choices are about how you want to play, not about giving you an advantage.
Character Looks:
Feel free to make your character look however you like. Whether you want wild hair, a big beard, or something simple, it’s all about personal style. Your appearance doesn’t affect your gameplay at all.
Background and Heritage:
You’ll also pick a background and heritage. These options just change some dialogue with certain characters and unlock a few special emotes. There’s no “best” option here, so just choose whatever fits the story you want to tell.
Choosing Your Class:
Now, this part does matter a bit more. There are four classes to choose from when you start:
- Trooper
- Swordmaster
- Mentat
- Bene Gesserit
Here’s a quick tip: Don’t pick Trooper as your starting class. This isn’t because Trooper is bad; in fact, you can unlock Trooper skills very early in the game by talking to an NPC at Griffin’s Trade Post. It’s smarter to start with Swordmaster, Mentat, or Bene Gesserit, because their abilities can’t be unlocked right away.
- Swordmaster gives you great movement skills, perfect for getting around fast.
- Mentat lets you use a turret that helps out in fights.
- Bene Gesserit has a special voice that controls enemies.
No matter what you choose, you’ll eventually be able to unlock all class abilities by finding trainers and completing quests. But starting with Swordmaster, Mentat, or Bene Gesserit gives you more options right from the beginning.
Servers, and Playing With Friends
Before you jump into Dune: Awakening, it’s important to understand how servers work, especially if you plan on playing with friends. In this game, servers are called Sietches, and they’re grouped together into larger collections called Worlds. Think of a World as a group that contains 20 different Sietches (servers).
What’s a World? What’s a Sietch?
- World: Think of a World as a giant group that holds 20 Sietches.
- Sietch: This is basically your server, the spot where your character actually plays day-to-day.
Each World has a shared Social Hub and Deep Desert area, so players from different Sietches can still bump into each other in these zones. However, the main starting area, called Hagga Basin, is unique to your Sietch, so your early progress and your first base will be tied to that specific server.
Playing With Friends:
If you want to play with friends, it’s a good idea to coordinate before creating your character. The game makes it easy by showing where your Steam and in-game friends are already playing, so you can join the same Sietch.
You can also add friends, group up, and even create a guild together once you’re in. If you and your friends happen to pick different Sietches within the same World, you’ll still be able to meet up in the Social Hub and Deep Desert, but for most things, like building bases and doing missions, it’s best to all be on the same Sietch.
Taking a minute to plan with your friends before starting can save a lot of hassle later on and make your time on Arrakis much more fun.
Survival Tips: Water, Sun, and How to Stay Alive
In Dune: Awakening, water isn’t just important, it’s everything. There’s no hunger bar to worry about, but you have to manage your water at all times. The first thing to learn is to avoid being out in the sun too long. If your sun exposure meter fills up, you’ll quickly become exhausted, and your water will drop fast. Stick to the shadows or wear the right gear whenever possible to help slow this down.
When you’re low on water early on, your best bet is to find plants and drink the dew from their leaves. This only fills your meter a little, so think of it as a quick fix. To really make progress, your next goal should be setting up a base. This is where you can start making water in bigger amounts.
Once you’ve crafted a Blood Extractor and some Blood Sacks, you can get blood from enemies you defeat, bring it back to your base, and use a purifier to turn that blood into safe drinking water. It might sound a little strange, but this is one of the main ways to keep yourself hydrated as you play.
As you go further, it helps to have better storage. Blood purifiers can only hold so much water at once, but tanks called “Cisterns” let you keep much more. Carrying water with you is also smart, use canteens (called Literjons in the game) that you can fill up at your base or from containers you find while exploring.
Check out our in-depth guide on how to get water in Dune Awakening here.
Another big tip: get yourself a Dew Reaper as soon as you can. This tool lets you gather a lot of water from plants.
Leveling Up and Early Progression
Leveling up in Dune: Awakening is a big part of getting stronger and unlocking new things to do. As you explore the planet and complete quests, you’ll earn experience points (XP) that help your character go up in level. Each time you level up, you get skill points that you can use to unlock better abilities and new technology, making your character more effective in combat and survival.
Early on, one of the best ways to earn XP and progress is by exploring the map and checking out new locations, called points of interest. These spots not only give you experience, but often hide useful items and research points that help you unlock more crafting recipes. Don’t be afraid to go off the main path; discovering these areas is a great way to get ahead.
Combat and gathering resources also help you level up, so whether you’re fighting enemies or collecting materials for your base, you’re always making progress. If you’re playing with friends, try to build your base close to busy areas, since fighting groups of enemies together can help everyone level up faster.
It’s also smart to keep an eye out for special events, like enemy ships dropping down at night, because these moments can give you extra loot and experience.
Building Your First Base (And What Not to Do)
Building your first base in Dune: Awakening is pretty exciting, but there are a few things you need to know so you don’t end up wasting your time or resources.
Keep It Simple at First: When you start, the game will ask you to set up a base pretty early on. Here’s the thing: your first base is not permanent. You’ll be moving on to new zones as you play, and at some point, the game will actually ask you to leave your first base behind. So, don’t worry about making it look perfect or loading it up with too many items.
Just set up what you need for your journey, things like storage, basic crafting stations, and maybe a Blood Purifier for water. Save the fancy decorations and extra storage for later when you’re in a more permanent spot.
When the time comes to move, don’t forget to pick up your machines and loot everything from your chests. If you build something you really like and want to use again, there’s a tool called the Solido Replicator that lets you “copy” your building and place it somewhere else later. Super handy if you want to keep your favorite setup!
Pay Attention to Power: If your machines suddenly shut off or your base loses power, check your generator. Every generator has a power limit. If you add too many machines, you might go over that limit. You can either build another generator or just turn off the machines you aren’t using.
Pick a Smart Spot: Try not to build your base out in the open sand. It’s better to find a place near rocks or close to resources you’ll need often, like plants for water, metal, or granite. If you like PvP, you might want to build close to action-packed areas, but if you’re just starting, picking a quiet spot can make things easier.
After you build your base, make sure to set it as your respawn location. This way, if you die, you’ll come back at your base instead of running all the way across the desert.
Vehicles in Dune Awakening: How to Get and Protect Your Sandbike
Once you’re settled, your next goal should be building your first Sandbike. You’ll unlock this naturally by following the early quests and research. Once you’ve got your bike, there are three things you always want to have on you: a Fuel Cell to keep it running, some Repair Wire, and the Vehicle Backup Tool. That last one is a lifesaver. It lets you pick up your bike and store it safely, no more worrying about sandstorms or thieves.
Always keep your bike inside your base or use the backup tool when you’re not using it. If you park outside, sandstorms can destroy it fast. If you do a lot of gathering, you can even unload loot straight from your bike to your base storage, as long as you’re parked close.
PvP and How to Handle Sandworms
Dune: Awakening mixes PvE and PvP, so you’re always a bit on edge. If you want to get into fights, build your base near high-traffic areas or PvP wrecks. But be smart: keep your valuables inside, keep your base powered, and always expect trouble.
Now, about those sandworms. If you’re speeding across the sand on your bike and one starts chasing you, you actually can escape; just jump off your bike. The worm will go after the bike instead of you (most of the time), but it’s safest to do this near rocks so you can get to safety before the worm comes back for you.
As you get deeper into the game, you’ll start finding unique Schematics and Permits. These let you craft rare items, but keep in mind, most of them are single-use, so if you want more, you’ll need to find more permits. Don’t hoard early schematics, they get outclassed pretty fast, so use them when you can.
And there you have it! Our ultimate guide on getting started in Dune: Awakening. It can feel overwhelming, but with the right starting class, a simple base, and a few smart survival habits, you’ll be ahead of the curve.
Check out our Dune Awakening hub for more guides, news, and tier lists.
Related Guides:
- Dune Awakening Trooper Class Skill Tree
- All Dune Awakening Classes and Skill Trees Explained
- Dune Awakening Swordmaster Class Skill Tree
- Dune Awakening Planetologist Class Skill Tree
- Dune Awakening Bene Gesserit Class Skill Tree
- Dune Awakening Mentat Class Skill Tree
- Best Dune Awakening Starting Build Guide
- Dune Awakening Best Endgame Build
