Just last week, Funcom revealed exciting news to players through a developer livestream: Dune Awakening Update 1.4 will be released on May 19th!
Update 1.4 adds a significant amount of new content, including new maps, a new story, new weapons, and information about Self-Hosted Servers. I'm sure players are eagerly anticipating its official release.
Perhaps you missed the livestream and are unaware of the new content? No worries, I'll explain it all to you:
New Maps
One of the most anticipated features of Dune Awakening Update 1.4 is the addition of two brand-new land map areas - The Wind Pass and The Old Quarry Testing Station - which will further expand players' exploration in Arrakis.
First, let's talk about The Wind Pass. The map's setting is quite interesting: it was once the technological center of Harkonnen family, but is now firmly controlled by Water Shippers, becoming a crucial area integrating technology, trade, and politics. Players will delve into The Wind Pass to uncover a conspiracy involving Water Shippers.
As seen in Funcom's preview livestream, Wind Pass features a significant amount of vertical gameplay, meaning players can engage in extensive climbing and exploration. If you're a mountaineering enthusiast, you might find plenty of climbing fun in the game.
Second is The Old Quarry Testing Station. This is a scalable endgame dungeon that can be completed solo or in a team, with the overall difficulty and rewards adjusting based on your choice.
In this brutal dungeon located on the edge of Polar Sink, you'll face off against the unscrupulous "mad scientist" - Dr. Jalanta. This cunning boss is extremely challenging: he not only has complex skill mechanics but also constantly summons minions to harass players.
Therefore, if you're challenging him with teammates, seamless teamwork is essential to defeat him.
In addition, Dune Awakening Update 1.4 adds more Landsraad Family Council missions, which should be related to the two new maps. As always, completing these missions will reward players with Dune Awakening Solari and various items.
New Weapons
As a Dune Awakening player, you'll definitely be pleasantly surprised by the large number of new weapons added in Update 1.4. Update 1.4 introduces a host of unique weapons, all designed around the core concept of "build identity."
Players have long complained that the combat environment in Dune Awakening is too monotonous, with everyone simply focusing on increasing damage output, resulting in a lack of combat flexibility. Perhaps these carefully designed new weapons can change this.
Below, I will briefly introduce some of the weapons:
- 1. Eel's Tooth
- 2. Leech's Maw
- 3. The Hateful Barker
- 4. Spitting Cobra
- 5. Hell-Fury Pistol
- 6. Branding Blade
- 7. Brine Fury
Eel's Tooth
This is a purple dagger with spikes, resembling a crocodile's tooth. Its effect is to restore your health each time you deal damage to an enemy.
Leech's Maw
This is a purple dagger with a curved blade. Its effect is similar to Eel's Tooth, but instead of health, it drains the enemy's power.
The Hateful Barker
This is a very cool-looking heavy machine gun. Its accuracy is poor, but in return, it provides a 25% damage bonus. Obviously, it is suitable for dealing with larger, less mobile enemies.
Spitting Cobra
As its name suggests, this gun inflicts a poisoned status on your enemies, and this status effect can stack. Specifically, each hit inflicts a poison debuff that slowly drains the enemy's health until they die.
Hell-Fury Pistol
This gun inflicts burning damage on enemies, just as its name suggests - enemies will feel like they're being burned alive in hell.
Branding Blade
This is a very beautiful long blade that inflicts a burning debuff on enemies each time it hits them, and this debuff can stack. The burning effect is similar to Hell-Fury Pistol, meaning that if you're a melee player, you can choose this one, while if you prefer gunplay, you can choose Hell-Fury Pistol.
Brine Fury
This is a rifle with a faster reload speed and a higher rate of fire, but in return, it lacks a scope, making it more demanding on the user's accuracy.
These are Dune Awakening Weapons to be added in Update 1.4, offering a comprehensive selection to satisfy both gun and knife enthusiasts.
Read More: Dune: Awakening Update 1.4: Best New Weapons, Armor & Mods - Meta Guide and Review
Self-Hosted Servers
If you feel the official Dune Awakening servers lack sufficient customization, don't worry - there's more exciting news: Self-Hosted Servers are finally confirmed! We might see them in Update 1.4 or future updates.
What does this mean? Simply put, you and your friends can set up your own private server and completely customize the game rules: freely adjust resource harvesting rates, change base building limits, and define item durability, etc.
Self-Hosted Servers also have a crucial feature - PvP rules can be completely customized by players. They can turn them on and off at will, truly becoming the masters of the game.
It's worth noting that, according to data released by Funcom, over 80% of players almost never participate in any PvP content. For these players, the game's PvP feature only resulted in them being attacked by other players unexpectedly during gameplay.
From now on, these players no longer need to worry - as long as they are on Self-Hosted Servers, they can directly disable PvP feature.
This feature is already available for testing on the test server, and even if it doesn't appear in Update 1.4, we should expect to see it soon.
That's all the information I have for you regarding Dune Awakening Update 1.4. Which parts did you like best? Update 1.4 will launch on May 19th along with the new DLC, The Water Wars. Let's look forward to the new game content and gameplay!