Dune: Spice Wars is the franchise's first game in two decades, which is guaranteed to excite enthusiasts. Instead of the base-building RTS that the series was renowned for, the game takes a fresh 4x approach. Despite the early access, users have already begun to invest hours in the game, finding its gameplay to be unique and refreshing.
For newcomers to either the franchisee or 4x genres, the game can be challenging. Finding the correct balance between military might and political expansion for the sake of spice riches can be difficult at first appearance. However, there must always be a first step, and Rome was not created in a day.
1. Learn About Each Faction
Players who have played Dune will be familiar with the faction-based gameplay. The game has four distinct sides, each with their own tactical and economic advantages.
House Atreides is the greatest option for those that want a less aggressive strategy and want to expand diplomatically and politically. When compared to the other factions, it is economically successful and has a greater rate of raw material production efficiency. Influence can be used to take villages.
Home Harkonnen is the house for players that prefer a more brutal style of gameplay. The house has the most powerful military troops in the game, and it frequently resorts to corruption to accomplish its goals. This, however, comes at the expense of a sluggish economy and production rates. They can take villages by using power and tyranny.
Smugglers are a group of clandestine agents who profit from sabotaging rival organisations through undercover operations. Their capacity to establish covert headquarters beneath the opposition's villages can aid them in gaining access to the latter's resources.
The Fremen are Arrakis residents who have their own set-up. They are a basic band of revolutionaries trying to achieve a free society, with the goal of terraforming the arid planet into a green Eden. The faction is for individuals who prefer a more simplistic game with basic military units.
2. Know Your Resources
The war for spice is at the heart of Dune: Spice Wars. Arrakis is under the dominion of whoever owns the spice. Spice is the foundation from which fans can pay their monthly tax to the empire or barter their way into a higher position with the other factions. Players can collect these spices by building a refinery in the communities near these spice gardens. They are marked on the map with a purple marking.
Solari is the money that allows the economy to function. Fans rely on them to retain their fan base at peak performance. Solari would be required for military troops, base growth, and production line maintenance. Adding to one's Solari deposit is the construction of processing plants in villages near rich elements or the control of communities with merchants.
Water is the game's third most important resource, and players can collect it from windy areas. Building windtraps in villages increases one's water supply by three points. It's worth noting that the amount of water produced by windtraps is multiplied by the wind strength of the area (village) on which they're constructed.
Plascrete is the Dune material that, like wood and stone in Age of Empires, allows fans to erect buildings to their captured villages. Every structure takes money to construct and maintain. Plascrete inventory is increased by constructing processing facilities in the territories under the player's control.
Other Key Statistics
The HUD's manpower symbol allows players to keep track of their employment status. Anything that requires a workforce, such as the military, is dependent on the availability of labour. Building recruitment offices in villages aids in the growth of the organisation.
Fuel cells are required for units such as spice harvesters and ornithopters. Fuel cell factories in volcano-prone areas can manufacture them.
With or without a military takeover, authority is required to seize control of villages. Assigning agents to Arrakis would increase the authority Tab's numbers.
Influence is that extra push that gives your votes in the high council more weight. Adding value to the tab might be as simple as setting up listening posts or assigning agents to Landstad.
Knowledge is essentially a set of skills that may be applied to new developments. Players can gain more by establishing research hubs.
Intel is essential for espionage that could benefit fans or hurt the opposition's finances. More intel numbers can be obtained by using data centres and assigning agents to opponents.
Hegemony is a system of levelling up that unlocks new tiers of base expansions and buildings. Every significant action increases hegemony points.
The overall number of military units that can be trained is limited by command points. They can be redeemed. The command points are restored when units are destroyed or disbanded, and researching ground and high commands adds an extra slab to the total.
3. Familiarise Yourself With The Arrakis Map
Arrakis' map is divided into several shapeless zones, each with its own name and sense of uniqueness. The wind strength and sandworm activity in the lower left corner are the first things to look for. The higher wind intensity, the more water the wind traps create.
Apart from that, Arrakis' territories contain certain unique resources. Companion plants or refineries increase the current production value of particular resources by adding more bonuses.
Rare elements offer value to the solari numbers, energy sources provide fuel cells, and minerals add value to the plascrete manufacture. Desert space should be avoided. The sandworm makes its spectacular entrance here. Keep troops away from the harvester as much as possible.
4. Understanding Espionage
The most important components in this phase of the game mechanics are Intel, Influence, and Landsraad rankings. Every 25 game days, players vote in the Landsraad council, which is a political part of the game. The important prerequisites for the vote are three resolutions that can change the game for either yourself or your opponent factions. Spending votes on supporting or opposing certain motions would give you an advantage over the competition. The higher one's influence and Landsraad standings, the more votes for each resolution that can pass.
Agents can be deployed to the opposing side or string-pullers such as the Spacing Guild, the Landsraad council, or Arrakis. Placing agents in each accessible choice allows you to construct and explore Arrakis, assist your game's goal, or bring down the opposing sides. With each successful operation, the agents acquire experience and level up, unlocking new techniques to thwart hostile factions and get the upper hand.
5. Final Notes
Before attacking and acquiring possession of other towns, it is prudent to develop and reinforce your existing cluster. Expansion takes a lot of money and time. Before moving on to expansion, make sure you have enough for easy control of existing bases.
It is also necessary to monitor the spice to solari metre. It aids players in determining the spice ratio that has been converted to solari. Either extreme would be detrimental to one's development.
Dune: Spice Wars is a strategy game first and foremost. Spice Wars, unlike other games of the genre, contains a three-way win condition. Players can win through "Domination," which requires fans to destroy all opposing bases on the map, or by "Governorship," which requires players to sneak past the Landsraad council via the dune governorship and hold it for 60 game days. "Hegemony" is the long technique of accumulating 50,000 points for the player's faction.
Dune: Spice Wars is available on Windows PC via Steam as early access.
