Walkthrough

Dune: Spice Wars gameplay is adaptable based on the style of play a player wishes to pursue. There are, however, certain things that players should take into account when beginning a game, and these tips can be applied for both campaign and multiplayer game modes.

Starting Out

Victory Condition

Before starting out, it is useful for a player to chose which victory condition they wish to pursue. This will aid them in choosing their faction and the specific things, such as developments that a player should pursue. Nonetheless, players may chose their faction first, and then chose their victory condition, or vice-versa. Victory condition pursual can also be switched up during gameplay, but it is worthwhile choosing this first and pursuing one specific condition rather than changing throughout gameplay.

• Domination: The domination condition consists of building a large military presence and eliminating all of the other factions from the map. This method will be most successful if players chose House Harkonnen as their faction, given they are largely military-orientated. Players are also able to succeed in this condition with other houses, but this will take more effort.
• Hegemony: Hegemony is a measure of a factions control over Arrakis, and thus, having more control, will mean a higher Hegemony stat for that particular faction. Players wishing to win via this measure must ensure they grow at a rapid rate and control as much of Arrakis as possible. The current win figure for Hegemony is 30k.
• Governorship: This route consists of investment in the political system and rising through the ranks of the Landsraad. At the end, players must be elected into the Governorship Charter and hold this for a period of 60 days. This will crown a player the victor.

Collecting Resources

Spice Melange

Spice Melange is a players most vital resoure to ensure their success on Arrakis. It can be harvested from Spice Fields, refined in Villages, and then traded for Solari; Spice also acts as the main income for much of the game and without it, players will be unable to pay the Spice Tax and progress through the game.

For players chosing House Harkonnen, House Atreides, or The Smugglers as their faction of choice, they must ensure that they actively collect enough Spice monthly to pay the Imperial Spice Tax. Not doing so will result in a loss of Landsraad Standing. For those playing as the Fremen, players must accrue enough Spice to bribe the Spacing Guild. All Spice patches are intermittently set upon by Sandworms who will attempt to destroy your Harvester.

Players aiming to boost their Spice income can achieve this by expanding their utilization of Ornithopters, Spice Silos, and increasing the number of crew members operating their Spice Harvesters . Notably, Spice is gathered by default, even without purchasing additional Ornithopters. If you set your harvester to auto-recall, however, you will collect 5% less Spice. At the outset, players may consider adjusting the slider located at the top left of the screen. This slider determines the balance between Solari and Spice. Moving the slider downward results in a higher yield of Solari, while shifting it upward increases the amount of retained Spice.

Players should tailor the slider to align with their preferred style of play. For instance, those in need of more Solari may opt to move the scale to the bottom. As the Spice Tax deadline approaches, adjusting the slider to focus solely on collecting Spice becomes advantageous. A pie-chart-like figure also appears in the top left of the screen, indicating proximity to meeting the Spice Tax requirement. A green indicator signifies safety, while a red one warns of inadequate Spice reserves to cover the Imperial Spice Tax when it comes due.

It is important to note, however, that Spice can only be converted into Solari at the time of harvest; once it has been harvested, players will need to trade with other factions if they wish to turn their Spice into something else. Pretty much any faction will trade with you whenever. Keep your relations positive and you'll get good deals.

Solari

Solari is the main form of currency on Arrakis and through the wider Imperium. Thus, it is also vital for a players success. Solari is used to pay for most things on Arrakis, such as training military units, building and expanding Villages, and certain Points of Interest.

Players gain solari by converting incoming spice to cash, building processing plants near rare element deposits, or controlling villages containing merchants. Players may also seek to streamline their Solari process, which will reduce the amount of upkeep they must pay for specific buildings and units. For this, looking at the CHOAM Branch or Maintenance Center is useful.

Plascrete

Plascrete is the primary building material on Arrakis. Every building costs Plascrete and requires Plascrete for upkeep. You gain Plascrete by building Plascrete Factories. Players may reduce their Plascrete upkeep through the construction of the Maintenance Center.

Manpower

Manpower is the primary way in which players on Arrakis field and build their army. Manpower is generated via Recruitment Offices, and also by assigning agents to the Spacing Guild infiltration. If a player chooses House Harkonnen as their faction, the Oppression ability uses Manpower to significantly increase a given Village's production for a short time, at a cost.

Water

Water stands as undeniably the most crucial resource on Arrakis. The absence of sufficient water supplies leads to halted expansion, uprisings in villages, and the demise of entire armies due to dehydration. Acquiring water is possible through Windtraps or the Water Extractor at the Polar Sink. Players have the opportunity to capitalize on their water stores through specific Expansion Developments or by engaging in trade with uncovered Sietches.

Influence

Influence is the primary measure of how much control a particular faction exerts over the people, of Arrakis. Influence directly correlates with a faction's ability to influence decision making within the Landsraad, and having a higher influence will allow players to exert more force over decisions made on Arrakis. Influence is produced by Listening Posts, Agents assigned to Landsraad Infiltration, and, for the Smugglers, paying the Imperial Tax on time and in full. Influence may also be spent to recruit Landsraad Guards if the player is the Judge of the Change.

Authority

Authority serves as the main gateway to expansion. Villages located at a greater distance from your Main Base require a higher amount of Authority to annex compared to those closer by. You can acquire Authority by assigning Agents to Arrakis Infiltration or by forming an alliance with a specific Sietch. House Atreides have the ability to utilize Authority in order to capture a Village, provided that they can meet the annexation cost associated with the tile.

Knowledge

The rate at which your Developments are researched is directly influenced by your level of Knowledge. Knowledge can be enhanced through the Research Agreement Treaty, the Research Hub, or the Research Center. If you are facing any shortages of resources, the production of Knowledge will be notably diminished.

A Few Hours In

Players must ensure that they continue to meet the Spice Tax if you're wishing to avoid problems. If you do not keep up with the Spice Tax, your Spice-to-Solari rate will suffer, and you will get less "bang-for-your-buck" and you will also lose some Authority. If you continue to miss the tax, however, it is very likely that the Sardaukar will pay you a little visit to check up on things—they may even burn down your Villages.

Agents are the key to infiltrating other Factions and learning about what they are doing on Arrakis. You can only have 10 agents maximum, however, and completing the Eye of the Council will award you 2 agents, so it is wise to complete this before you reach the 10 agents, or it will not be worthwhile completing as you will not get anything in return; perhaps after you have reached 5 agents may be a good time to start.

Take not of the Special Regions around Arrakis, they are very rewarding. They have a four-pointed star which you can hover over to see what they will return if you discover and explore them. Some let you build Processing Plants, which generate +30 Solari. The Polar Sink lets you build a Water Extractor for +1000 Hegemony and +30 Water.

Trying to win

Eventually, after hours of playing, you will be in the late stages of the game; this is the point in which most of the good Villages have been taken—either by yourself, or other factions. This is the time in which you should consider how you are going to approach wrapping up the game and achieving victory, but it is not as easy as it sounds.

The AI can and will team up on you if you are aggressive and it thinks that you are bout to run away with the game. You need to be strategic about how you approach things, for example, it is not a good idea to beeline for the Polar Sink if you do not have the resources and the manpower to take it, because the AI will decimate you every time to prevent you from winning the game.

If you are playing as the Smugglers and have chosen the Hegemony win condition as your style of play, you should pick a Village or two that you can pillage whenever you need the resources; it is far easy to pillage a Village on the end of your own empire than it is to pillage one in the buffer zone between yourself and an opposing faction.

Destroying Sietches is impossible without at least two Demolition units; the 20 armour doesn't go away with Architectural Surveys. If you can roll up with a dozen army units and those Demo units, though, then you will have a much better chance at taking down the Sietch; Architectural Surveys along will not be enough. If you want to wreck a Sietch with Architectural Surveys, a smart thing to do is to trade to get all the Influence you can from the person you intend to assault. Since they gave you the influence, they'll have none left to resist that vote.

If you do manage to destroy a Sietch, that player and all their stuff will be removed from Arrakis. This also means they are no longer there to compete against your votes in the Landsraad. You can lose to Atreides because you forgot they get Hegemony from winning Council votes, and they're racking up points while you're out in the desert destroying other factions, so be smart and aware of the strengths of the other factions (Atreides is very good at winning the game through the Landsraad, and will likely chose this option every time the AI is in control).