Despite several reports and updates, sandworms continue to take down reckless players and their ornithopters from the sky in Dune: Awakening. Avoiding this disaster would be so simple…
Why do these accidents occur? This is currently well documented by a video from Hyrul, which the affected player recently posted on the Dune: Awakening subreddit. The player can escape in their ornithopter while spice farming before the approaching sandworm reaches the area, but then makes a very typical mistake.
Instead of gaining sufficient altitude directly or disappearing from the sandworm’s “crawling” direction, they hover just a few meters above the spice field. What can occasionally happen happens: “Shai-Hulud” shoots out of the ground and takes the ornithopter and the player down from the sky. Neither the survivor nor the aircraft survives this collision. Too bad, marmalade.
The release trailer for Dune Awakening:
If someone really wants to meet their end …
How does the community react? With over 820 upvotes and more than 260 comments. A particularly amusing comment thread was triggered by waffling_with-syrup through their explanation on Reddit:
“Every time he [the sandworm] comes from a higher location than the actual field, he will dunk. You need to move out of its path and climb at least 500 meters or more. So many people stay in line and think a little altitude will save them.”
MellKerrigan is reminded of a scene from one of the later Alien films: “The classic Prometheus school of running away”. In that sequence, two of the main characters flee from the ship rolling behind them, which looks like a giant donut.
Instead of fleeing to the left or right of the roll direction, they stay on the path and therefore inevitably get caught. This disappointingly stupid behavior not only deserves the Darwin Award (more about that on Wikipedia), but has also evolved into a popular internet meme. You can relive the scene on YouTube.
However, there are also many good tips in the comments that can easily prevent such an incident:
- Don’t wait until the last moment before running to your ornithopter. The flashing red alarm sign is not just decoration for your interface.
- Use mobility skills like the grappling hook or sprint to quickly get out of the danger zone.
- Climb 450 to 550 meters high to be safe from “flying” sandworms. Additionally, leave the airspace directly above the spice field.
Anyone who follows these rules should never lose their belongings to a sandworm.
How about it, have you ever been taken down from the sky by a sandworm? Share it in the comments! Some players even intentionally lure sandworms to have their fun with them. A particularly curious example of this is discussed in this article: The sandworms of Dune: Awakening have set their sights on certain bases – players exploit this to build a tourist attraction
