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Free update for Dune 4X game adds playable heroes from the films

Dune: Spice Wars just got its first piece of post-launch DLC, which adds House Vernius of Ix to the list of factions in the game. However, that expansion is launching alongside a major free update for the core game that adds playable heroes for each faction fighting for control of Arrakis.


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RELATED LINKS:

2023 Dune RTS game reveals its new faction, House Vernius of Ix

Dune meets Civilization as strategy game Spice Wars releases on Steam

You are the Emperor in the next Dune: Spice Wars faction

Patch notes for 13/03/2024

v2.0.1.31677

[h2]Known Issues[/h2]
  • Vernius’s harvester in range of the Experimental Alloy Furnace will get a trait with texts in english, even if it’s not the chosen game language.


[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]
  • Fixed Fremen AoE damage factor issues
  • Fixed AoE issues for Skimisher (center of explosion, aoe radius and aoe fx radius)
  • Fixed loot display not appearing correctly
  • Re added idle harvester alert
  • Fixed robotic voices in conquest
  • Alloy furnace works on Vernius Harvester
  • Fixed popup appearing when using a patent or obfuscate when it should not
  • Fixed Epic Quest Operation
  • Fixed player being able to place a infiltration cell when faction target is already being assassinated by player
  • Fixed free main base building effect when having a pending building
  • Ceremonial caves now works properly on great volcano
  • Fixed sniper trait
  • Some fixes in aura levels (fedaykin, incinerator, siren, overlord stings and hark drones)
  • Also adding filter so armies in truce won't get damage from aura levels
  • Fixed repair cost for vernius ship
  • Fixed radius for Incinerator gear and Feydakin
  • Fixed cost applied not being what is shown in refund dialog
  • Fixed being able to unlock “Patent Troll” achievements when not playing the required faction
  • Fixed uncontrollable unit not auto engaging in combat
  • Fixed LifeReformation gear being active when regenerating at a safe place
  • Fixed uncontrollable units not loosing Rabban's passive when they become controllable
  • Fixed incinerators badly applying burn. Also fixing the gear that accelerates the burn
  • Reduced allocations and perf CPU
  • Fixed Conquest Battle generation
  • Fixed Agony for Vernius and also fixing random bug that spawns uncontrollable raids of my faction around my mainbase
  • Fixed stakkanov prod increase on craft workshops


[h2]Balancing[/h2]
  • close range and most aoe range: 10->7
  • Patent dev 1000 -> 800 solaris
  • Atreides Support Drone 13 -> 14 power
  • Harkonnen Combat Probe 60 -> 100 hp
  • knight gear:
    • vow of fervor +30% -> +20% damage
    • vow of heroism +2 -> +3 CP
    • vow of bravery: -3 -> -2 armor
  • Fremen dev Stalwart Alliance: the amount of unit in the raid have been reduced
  • Harkonnen Overlord stings:
    • 80 -> 150 health
    • Lose 50% -> 40% health per day
  • Duncan Idaho: unit at short range inflict +10% -> +20% damage
  • Vernius Resonance Drone do not attack with aoe anymore
  • Fedaykin nerf 180 degrees -> 120 degrees
  • Sietch raid units have been balanced
  • Incinerator, Fedaykin and Siren aoe have been fixed to start from them instead of the unit they target. Angles have also been adapted to fit the visual not too badly.

Heroes of Dune: Out Now!

[h2]Heroes[/h2]
The characters of Dune now walk the sands of Arrakis.
After reaching 10k Hegemony, each faction can choose between 2 heroes to recruit as an unit that will influence their whole military strategy:
  • House Atreides: Duncan Idaho or Gurney Halleck
  • House Harkonnen: Glossu Rabban or Iakin Nefud
  • The Fremen: Chani Kynes or Otheym
  • House Corrino: Wensicia Corrino or Captain Aramsham
  • The Smugglers: Drisq or Bannerjee
  • House Ecaz: Whitmore Bludd or Ilesa Ecaz

When your hero dies in battle, you’ll be able to bring them back as a Ghola, if you’re willing to pay the cost to both your bank account and your reputation.

[h2]New councillors[/h2]
Heroes that were previously councilors have been replaced by two new councilors per faction:
  • House Atreides: Dr. Wellington Yueh and Young Paul Atreides
  • House Harkonnen: Umman Kudu and Cron Vatia
  • The Smugglers: Lashon Hara and Stakkanov
  • The Fremen: Jamis and Shimoom
  • House Corrino: Mother Helen Gaius Mohiam and Zum Garon
  • House Ecaz: Rivvy Dinari and Ibbo Vipp

[h2]Combat Rework[/h2]
  • Combat systems have been reworked with an emphasis on making army composition deeper and more diverse, with every unit having a role to play, without increasing the need to micromanage too much.
  • Units have a more diverse range of armor values. Armor can no longer be shredded, but every faction has a unit that reduces armor value by a flat amount, as well as a unit made to kill high-armored opponents.
  • To increase diversity, units now have different attack speeds, and Elite units are available earlier in the game, at 5k hegemony. Gear are also more specialized and easier to access: they are free to install and only cost Solari to remove or swap.
  • To increase the strategic possibilities, both on the offense and defense, it is now possible to change the position your units appear on the map by placing a Rally Point anywhere within Airfield range. The Fremen use allied sietches that have not been pillaged to place their Rally Point.
  • To accommodate those changes, almost all units' stats, traits and gear have been changed, as well as many military buildings, development and operation.

[h2]Stealth Rework[/h2]
  • We’ve made Stealth a more powerful, advanced mechanic.
  • Stealthy units are no longer detected by everything. They will often remain hidden until their first strike in combat. To detect a stealthy unit before they strike, you will have to rely on Probe Setup, a new village building called Monitoring Station, or a rare Gear or Hero effect.
  • On the other hand, most units are no longer stealth as a base effect. Most but not all of the units that were previously stealthy have a gear that grants the effect. It can otherwise be granted by some faction’s spying operation, development, or heroes.

[h2]Intel Mini-Rework[/h2]
To make intel, operation and faction infiltration more valuable we removed the production of 1 intel per non-faction information field. We also restricted Data Center to regions neighboring an enemy, like the Listening Post, and reworked the Observatory Mountain special region: it allows you to build both Data Center and Listening Post without constraint and increase their production by 50%.

[h2]House Vernius of Ix[/h2]
House Vernius of Ix can appear as an opposing faction in every game mode.

[h2]Other Changes[/h2]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kgajYkMYh6QC1wzq8RQfmYiiNiTF7-svVo3t1nQmE0I/edit?usp=sharing

As always, let us know what you think of the new content! In the meantime, feel free to join our awesome (and passionate) community on our Discord server, Reddit page as well as Twitter.

House Vernius of Ix: Available Now!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2807090/Dune_Spice_Wars__House_Vernius_of_Ix/

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/38656/Dune_Spice_Wars__The_Ixian_Edition/

House Vernius of the Ixian confederacy is the main provider of spacefolding ships in the galaxy. Their obsession with technological progress clashes with the prohibition on thinking machines imposed by the Butlerian Jihad. They've mostly managed to stay within the letter of the law until now, but a monopoly on spice could free them of these petty restrictions.

House Vernius of Ix is playable in every game mode, in single player and multiplayer.

House Vernius of Ix


[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Leader: Earl Rhombur Vernius[/h2]

[h2]Starting Bonuses[/h2]
  • Spice Fields in neutral and controlled regions can be harvested by Tethered Combine Harvester Drones.
  • Factions in truce get the effects of unresearched development that have been researched by Vernius.
  • Mixed S-Vault districts are split to give district bonuses

[h2]Starting Malus[/h2]
  • Villages not connected to the Nodal Network through Neural Nodes suffer -50% ressource productions

[h2]5k Hegemony Bonus[/h2]
  • Can File Patent on researched developments that no other faction has researched.
  • Can research 1 development without having researched its requirement.
File Patent (Development Ability): Every other faction will have to pay Vernius 500 Solari to research this development. Patents can be filed on developments that only the House of Vernius has researched. Filing a patent cost 1000 Solari.

[h2]10k Hegemony Bonus[/h2]
  • Can Obfuscate a single researched development.
  • Each Knowledge point increases the production of all other resources by 0.2%.
Obfuscate (ability): This development will have no effect for any faction.
Can obfuscate a single researched development. Obfuscating a development cost 20 Standing.




[h2]Councilors[/h2]

Bolig Avati
  • Can build multiple Main Base buildings at the same time in the same district of S-Vault
  • Removed Main Base buildings in S-Vault are reimbursed fully
  • Gain 1 Knowledge per district bonus
Bronso Vernius
  • Villages neighboring a single Vernius region cost -20% Authority to Annex
  • The furthest connected Neural Node generates an Airfield
Cammar Pilru
  • Maximum Influence increases by 5 per Knowledge
  • Immediately gain 200 Influence when entering Conflict with another faction
Tessia Vernius
  • Infiltration levels required for spying missions are lowered by 1
  • While no development is in progress, 50% of Knowledge is turned into Intel




[h2]Heroes[/h2]

Nuwa Cenva
  • Hero trait:
    • +20% drone recruitment speed
    • Spying operation launched in Nuwa’s region last 2 days longer
    • Nearby Tethered units have +1 armor and move 20% faster
  • Skill: Nuwa’s Repair Station
    • Can deploy a repairing station that heals nearby drones. Cannot move while the repairing station is active.
C’tair Pilru
  • Hero trait:
    • A single unit can get +1 gear in the armory
    • C’tair has stealth near ally non-mechanical unit and ally villages
    • C’tair’s first attack executes inside ixian territory.
  • Skill: Evasion
    • Leaves combat and becomes stealth
    • Must be near an ally non-mechanical unit or an ally village


[h2]Ixian Units[/h2]



[h2]Buildings[/h2]

Main Base Building - Spice Laboratory
  • +2 Knowledge per exploited Spice Field
  • -2 Fuel Cell Requirement for Combine Harvester Drone
Main Base Building - Neural Core
  • Connected Neural Nodes produce 1 Fuel Cell
  • +2% knowledge per connected Neural Nodes
Village Building - Neural Node
  • Connect the region to the Nodal Network, Tethering drones in the region and neighboring regions.
  • Can only be build in region where exactly 1 neighbor is connected to the Nodal Network

[h2]Developments[/h2]

Entropic Engineering (replaces Modular Parts)
  • Can spend up to 2 Fuel Cell in Combine Harvester Drone to increase their production
  • Unlock the Spice Silo
  • Unlock the Spice Laboratory
Spice Enlightenment (replaces Crew Training Program)
  • Can spend up to 4 Fuel Cell in Combine Harvester Drone to increase their production
  • +0.5 Spice production per Knowledge
Water Batteries (replaces Army Logistics)
  • When out of fuel cells, Water is used in its stead
  • Unlock the second gear slot in the armory
Guild Collaboration (replaces Recruitment Initiative)
  • +5 Command Point
  • Agents assigned on Spacing Guild Information produce 2 Fuel Cell
  • Unlock the Command Post
Automated Manufacture (replaces Military Propaganda)
  • +10 Command Point
  • +0.5% recruitment and regeneration speed per Knowledge
Technological Exchange (replaces Intelligence Network)
  • Gain +5 Standing on Council Opening per active Truce
  • +2 Knowledge per active Truce
Heretical Computing (replaces Spying Logistics)
  • Unlock Analytical Machine Agent and get one for free
  • Unlock the Harmless Gadget Treaty
  • Unlock the Intelligence Agency
Holistic Thinking (replaces Nefarious Contact)
  • +1 Knowledge per information field with at least 1 Analytical Machine Agent
  • Information level increases by 1 in factions that have accepted a Harmless Gadget treaty
Physical Wiring (replaces Spying Mastery)
  • Infiltration Cells neighboring a region connected to the Nodal Network do not count towards the maximum of Infiltration Cells
  • Unlock Assassins
Sequential Thinking (replaces Local Dialect Studies)
  • The Nodal Network can optionally connect across Deep Deserts
  • Each node in the longest path of the Nodal Network gives +1 Knowledge and +2% authority production
Neural Tropism (replaces Native Customs)
  • Enemy factions pay +30% authority to capture a region neighboring at least 2 region connected to the Nodal Network
  • Unlock the Neural Core
Automated Defenses (replaces Border Defenses)
  • +2 free Automated Militia in Village connected to the Nodal Network
  • In controlled regions, enemy units suffer -4% health per day per node connected to the main base through this region.




As always, let us know what you think of the new content! In the meantime, feel free to join our awesome (and passionate) community on our Discord server, Reddit page as well as Twitter.

2023 Dune RTS game reveals its new faction, House Vernius of Ix

Dune: Spice Wars has been scratching the itch for diehard Dune fans patiently waiting for the many times delayed release of the movie sequel Dune Part Two. The strategy game, which officially launched back in September 2023, allows players to take on many of the popular factions that battle for power on Arrakis, including the famous House Atreides and House Harkonnen. Now, developer Shiro Games has revealed the next playable faction in the 4X game, and they are looking quite powerful.


Read the rest of the story...


RELATED LINKS:

Dune meets Civilization as strategy game Spice Wars releases on Steam

You are the Emperor in the next Dune: Spice Wars faction

Dune survival game artist shares their take on the Harkonnens