Dune Awakening base building guide: Best locations and design tips

Arrakis is a harsh and unforgiving place, but that doesn't mean you can't carve out a small corner of the sands and create a nice little home for yourself. Building a base in Dune: Awakening is the key to surviving the sands, but there are a few additional restrictions to keep in mind compared to other survival games.

A base not only shelters you from the harsh desert heat and deadly sandstorms, but also gives you a place to refine raw materials and create clean drinking water. Bases are somewhat disposable in Dune: Awakening, though, so sometimes it's best to abandon your humble abode to create a foothold in a different region of the desert. Don't think of your first few bases as forever homes: as you progress you'll be able to build bigger, cooler, and better-located bases to return to at night.

Best Dune: Awakening base locations

You're free to build a base anywhere in the desert in Dune: Awakening, but some locations are much more advantageous than others. The game guides you through the creation of your first base, but after that, you should take some time to really think about the best places to settle down.

Best early game base location

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The best early-game Dune: Awakening base location is near the Tradepost in Hagga Basin South. Building on the rocky areas below the Tradepost will keep you safe from sandworms, and you'll only be a few hundred meters away from a few moisture-sealed caves, a shipwreck, and an Imperial Testing Station. Just get used to the idea of having neighbors: most likely you're going to see a lot of other boxy beginner bases nearby.

This is hands down the best place for new players to stock up on key resources and get some easy XP to kickstart the research process. You'll only need to venture out to get materials that can only be found in other regions. This base will take care of all your basic needs so you can focus on finishing the first set of main story quests. Most of the advanced blueprints are locked behind quest progression, anyway, so simple is better at this stage of the game.

Best overall base location

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The best overall base location in Dune: Awakening is located in Jabal Eifrit Al-Janub. You'll unlock this region after completing the first few main story quests and zooming north on your sandbike to Vermillius Gap. Once you reach Vermillius Gap, you'll hear from Zantara one last time before he leaves you to your own devices. You're then free to explore Arrakis as you see fit, and Jabal Eifrit Al-Janub should be your first stop.

This spot is prime real estate for your base. It's near an Imperial Testing Station, a shipwreck, and some moisture-sealed caves so you'll never have a shortage of rare materials or Fremen resources. There are also several Carbon Ore deposits nearby, plus other metals for good measure. To top things off, the nearest Tradepost is just a short sandbike ride south.

You can set up other outposts across the desert, but Jabal Eifrit Al-Janub is the perfect spot for your main base since it's a central location where you can easily access everything you need. It's safe enough for a permanent setup, and there are enough basic resources in the surrounding area to ensure you can always craft the essentials. Again, you'll probably have neighbors, so practice your spice casserole recipe.

Dune: Awakening base building tips

No matter where you choose to build your base in Dune: Awakening, there are a few key things to remember.

Keep it simple

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Most important: Keep things compact. Unless you're planning on permanently settling down in an area with your group, don't waste time building extravagant hideouts with multiple floors and rooms. You only need room for the basic crafting stations like a Blood Purifier and an Ore Refinery. Keep things as simple as possible so you can pack up and move later down the line.

Establish outposts

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Don't be afraid to use all of your available Sub-Fiefs! You get multiple base slots as you research more stuff in Dune: Awakening. Use those extra slots to establish small outposts in regions that are too far from your main base to conveniently commute. That way, you'll have a safe haven with water and a place to refine any resources you collect while you're out.

You can always abandon these bases when you're finished with them, too.

Save blueprints

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You should really save a blueprint of a simple outpost design so you can easily rebuild it in different areas. Researching the Solido Replicator will allow you to save a build as a blueprint that can be replicated in a single click as long as you have the materials in your inventory. Since a basic outpost won't require much more than some Granite Stone and Salvaged Metal, you should be able to establish a pop-up camp basically anywhere on Arrakis.

Keep supplies close

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Location is king. Try to place your bases close to shipwrecks and Imperial Testing Stations so you can have easy access to rare materials exclusively found in these areas. It's also a good idea to build your base right next to a few ore deposits so you can mine them every time you come back home. It'll save you a trip if you're short a few ingots for your next equipment upgrade!

Stay hydrated

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You should also try to place your base near a field of Dew Flowers. Blood is the main way to get water in the early stages of the game, but you'll be able to research a Fremen tool called a Dew Reaper within the first few hours of your playthrough.

A Dew Reaper lets you harvest water from Dew Flowers instead of drinking from them directly. Not only will this let you bypass the dew limit that prevents you from fully hydrating yourself with these flowers, but it'll also let you store a ton of water in Literjons so you'll never get thirsty again. Dew Flowers can only be harvested in this way at dawn, but if you build your base near a field of them, you won't have to worry about timing your water-gathering trips.

Protect your sandbike

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Since vehicles will take damage if they're left exposed to the elements for too long, don't forget to build a little garage for your sandbike until you research the Vehicle Backup Tool that lets you store your bike.

As long as the game says "sheltered," your bike should be safe in that spot. You don't have to be fully enclosed and Watersealed for your bike to be protected. A few walls and a solid floor will do the trick.