It's finally happening: Dune Awakening is coming to consoles at last, and its latest update brings a big DLC pack along with it, so PC players get their money's worth too. However, getting started in Dune Awakening can be truly brutal. The planet Arrakis is hot, water and other resources are terribly scarce, and sandworms are lurking everywhere, waiting to turn you into worm food.That's why this very simplified Dune Awakening starter guide gives you the most important tips to make your start in Dune Awakening much easier, shows you where to build a good starting base, and how to survive sandstorms and sandworms. You won't find any spoilers here. We don't want to give away what comes when, or what might come.Whether you've just arrived on Arrakis or are returning with the new update and the console release: with these little basics, the start is a whole lot easier.Every beginning is hardRight at the start, you'll encounter two dangers that can cost you your life straight away: sandstorms and sandworms. Both appear very quickly, and if you don't get to safety in time, there's no escape.SandstormImageStatusDescriptionUnshelteredThe normal status when you're moving freely through the world. Here, the sandstorm can reach you at any time.EnclosedIn this state, you're still outside, but the sandstorm can't actively reach you, and you should survive it unharmed. Vehicles are safe here too. This status can sometimes be reached in small rock crevices when seeking shelter.ShelteredIn this state, you are protected, but vehicles are still at the mercy of the sandstorm. This status is often reached in hideouts or small buildings. Small rock ledges can also trigger this status.Water-sealedNot relevant for the start of the game, but only once you've built a base. In a water-sealed shelter, both you and your vehicles are safe.SandwormWhenever you walk across open sand that isn't close to rock formations, a sandworm can appear. They are enormous and attack as soon as the vibration in the sand increases, or as soon as you approach a spice vein. These can be recognised by their purple haze. An imminent worm attack can be spotted via the vibration indicator at the bottom centre of the screen. The closer the worm is, the more sensitively it reacts to vibrations. Running or moving vehicles amplify the vibrations considerably.ImageStatusDescriptionNo vibration indicatorThe worm is not nearby and doesn't react to vibrations.Yellow-golden vibration indicatorThe worm is nearby and reacts to movement. Keep an eye on the indicator and the map so you can seek shelter if necessary.Red vibration indicatorThe worm is close and an attack is likely very soon. It's time to get to safety.Where do I go?Right at the start of Dune Awakening, you'll be dropped in the middle of the desert - more precisely, in the southern Hagga Basin. This is the starting area for all travellers. This is where the tutorial and the game's first introduction begin, and with them the question: where do I actually need to go? If you can't get your bearings at all at the beginning of Dune Awakening and have no fun setting up a little spot here and there before moving on to the next, you can play it safe with this point on the map. We've marked the red dot for you, which is the safest place to farm, explore, and get to know the game early on. It's located at the foot of the first outpost and is relatively easy to reach if you move from rock formation to rock formation.There are no coordinates in Dune Awakening, but you can tell fairly well where you are on the map by the outlines of the rocks.Your first little homeThe new DLCs offer plenty of protection to escape the first sandstorms, but a small 4x4 or 6x6 hut will do just fine for starters - and you'll need one. Whether you want to store the items from your raids or quickly seek reliable shelter from a sandstorm: a shelter is a must. The tutorial for it appears at the start, right after a few exploration missions and the first small crafting quests.So first build a functional roof over your head before you start building pretty.Drink, drink, drinkWater is one of the most important resources on Arrakis. Ignoring the water gauge can lead to death faster than sandstorms and sandworms combined.All over Arrakis, there are small patches of flowers that contain dew. Before you can build the first devices that collect water, these are your most important go-to source for the first few hours in the game. However, your water supply can only be filled up to the first marker if you drink the dew from the plants directly. That's why it's so important to remember where the most quickly accessible plants around your own base are.

After a long wait for the latest offshoot of the Dune universe, Funcom is back with Dune Awakening. After Spice Wars, expectations were high as to whether an MMO could succeed after a real-time strategy game. In the spirit of the developer's predecessor, many of the game's mechanics are reminiscent of Conan Exiles, although much has been revised and improved.The journey is the destinationlAs usual for Funcom, you are introduced to a story right from the start, which is both a tutorial and a game guide and gives the player enough opportunities to develop themselves. While a survival story is told at the beginning and the player is guided through all the instructions necessary to survive in the game, the guide turns into an exciting story that is immersively dependent on the player's decisions and respects the rules of the original book to the greatest extent.Story or SurvivalOne of the biggest criticisms of the game here is the story. Contrary to current opinions, according to which the game only follows the main story and doesn't tell much else, you have to explicitly search for story fragments. Side quests, explorations and looting passages provide a lot of additional information that explains the world, the mechanics and life and history in Dune. So you have to actively search for background information if you are not familiar with the world of the original book. However, these story fragments are well woven into the environment of the individual missions.Packets and PacesGetting into the game is self-explanatory and easy - the farm and lot system is difficult enough not to be boring, but simple enough to keep players happy. I can speak from experience myself, as my base was wiped by a sandstorm and I had already lost everything to the sandworm. Even in these scenarios, the situation is not hopeless and you can work your way back to your last level in just a few hours. To summarize, Dune Awakening is really worth the money - and not just for Dune fans. It's fun, very intuitive and the pace of the game is also very good. A clear recommendation for MMO fans.