Dune: Awakening- Can You Play Solo?
Dune: Awakening has only been out for 8 days, 13 if you include the Early Access period given by purchasing the deluxe edition. That hasn't stopped players from reaching endgame and pointing how the flaws in the late game systems present in the game.
READ: Dune Awakening Beginner Tips
People are complaining about balancing issues, Deep Desert decisions, and how PVP is implemented, leaving a lot of players with one key question regarding Dune: Awakening. Can you play solo?
Short Answer
Image Via Funcom. Screenshot Captured By Blast.The short answer is yes. You can absolutely play Dune: Awakening solo. Even if you just play the main story while ignoring most optional content, keeping base building and exploring to a minimum, you'll still get around 30h of content.
As the only Dune adaptation of its kind, I would highly recommend it for anyone who is a fan of the franchise, with or without company. Keep reading for a deeper explanation if you are on the fence because you don't have friends to play with.
Can You Play Dune: Awakening Solo?
Image Via Funcom. Screenshot Captured By Blast.Dune: Awakening is essentially split into four parts: Early Game, Mid Game, Late Game, and End Game. These is how I split them:
- Early Game- Hagga Basin South is where the entirety of the Early Game takes place. This is the tutorial region, it only has resources needed in the beginning of Dune: Awakening, temperatures are forgivable, the worm is very slow, and Wrecks aren't PVP.
- Mid Game- Dune: Awakening opens up considerably during the Mid Game. This stage starts once you make your way into Vermillius Gap. You'll get access to the main hubs in Arrakkeen and Harko Village. Contracts become more and more difficult, Iron and Carbon are harder to farm. The worm is quicker here, and the temperatures are rising. Open sands are riddled with Drumsand, patches that attract the worm quicker. Enemies are deadlier and often boast shields. This is the part of the game in which you'll create your definitive base, learning the ropes of what's to come next.
READ: How To Repair Items in Dune Awakening
- Late Game- Heading into the depths of Hagga Rift and beyond will bring you into Late Game. You'll build your Buggy, Ornithopter, MK4 vehicles and weapons. Aluminum will become your main resource, alongside Erythrite Crystals and water. Your base will need to be much bigger, and you'll need to farm a lot more resources for each new building, vehicle, or upgrade. You'll start working towards your first capstone skills, reaching a full build in at least one class.
- End Game- This is the part of the game that has been raising concerns. The endgame kicks off when you reach the Deep Desert and start participating in the Lansraad. The true grind begins here, as you get access the most precious metals in the game. Things get much slower and you'll have a set rotation of tasks based on the weekly reset brought by the Coriolis Storm.
For most solo players, it will be logical to stop after reaching the End Game, but you can technically play that stage of Dune: Awakening solo, too. To join the Lansraad you need to be part of a Guild, but you can also just form your own Guild with a single member: you.
The Deep Desert is unforgiving for all, but that goes extra to solo players. You'll frequently be outnumbered in fights, you'll have to do a lot more trips for the same amount of resources, and coming back from a massive loss (like getting eaten by the Shai-Hulud) will take a lot longer.
There Is An Entire Game Before The Deep Desert
Image Via Funcom. Screenshot Captured By Blast.Even if End Game sounds terrible to you, don't make that prevent you from purchasing Dune: Awakening. I spent nearly 50h on the game before even building an Ornithopter. I played it solo with toout following any guides. Neither was I rushing or exploring things, I consider my playthrough within the norm, but it seems most people are taking a bit longer than I did to reach a similar point.
The truth is, Dune: Awakening might be an MMO, but it a sandbox survival game first. You will see player bases growing with time, players walking, driving, or flying around. Sometimes you'll head into a Testing Station or Outpost and all enemies will be dead already. Other than that, you'll feel like you're playing a single player game. Main story progression is instanced, loot is per-player with the exception of harvesting blood from corpses.
READ: Dune Awakening- How To Farm Flour Sand
PVP is entirely avoidable with the exception of Wrecks, but you can easily run away if you want to avoid conflict with other players. If you just want to play the game for the story, you can. If base building is your thing, there are dozens of hours of fun awaiting you in that alone. If you're a natural-born explorer who just wants to brave the desert on your flimsy sandbike, you can! The magic of Dune: Awakening is that it works for everyone prior to reaching End Game. There's a lot to like for different tastes.
If you're a player that enjoys everything I mentioned previously and don't mind grinding for quite a few hours while having the risk of losing a ton of progress in a matter of seconds, Dune: Awakening will also be perfect for you. It is difficult, but you can outplay fights while outnumbered, even if you just run away. You can also lay low and avoid conflict, even in the Deep Desert.
So, Dune: Awakening. Can You Play Solo?
Image Via Funcom. Screenshot Captured By Blast.You can play Dune: Awakening solo, and you should. Funcom did an excellent job with this and, if their previous titles are any indication, the job has just begun. Patches and hotfixes have been coming out every few days, a QA session is confirmed for June 19th, and they're already showing that they're listening to player feedback.
Join us in the desert, lone sleeper, and may Arrakis treat you well.
