Funcom has rolled out a sweeping new update for Dune: Awakening, focusing on bug fixes, visual polish, and gameplay balance. This patch enhances everything from the world of Arrakis to how players interact with vehicles and the UI. Below is a detailed breakdown of what’s changed, with key value tweaks highlighted after each section.

World Fixes

The harsh terrain of the Deep Desert has been smoothed out with multiple bug fixes: stretched textures, steep terrain angles, and misplaced or floating objects have been addressed. Environmental hazards like radiation are now more consistent, no longer resetting on logout.

Travel via Ornithopters now feels more grounded—players should notice reduced jittering, and infinite slide glitches have been removed when exiting vehicles. Plus, character positions are better synced when boarding and exiting transports.

Main Fixes:

• Radiation effects now persist properly on logout.
• Removed camera jitter and physics bugs on Ornithopter exit.
• Fixed blocked paths and hidden loot under terrain.

Vehicle & Combat Improvements

Combat has seen important adjustments, especially in vehicle skirmishes. Rockets fired from Ornithopters now correctly damage enemies while dealing only 25% damage to allies, making friendly fire less punishing. Missing visual effects, such as rocket trails, dust, and explosion lighting, have been fully restored.

Also fixed: issues with vehicle repairs not consuming items correctly, and characters spawning inside vehicles with poor sync. Now, crashes involving infinite loops, rocket launchers, and improperly scaled weapons should be resolved.

Main Fixes:

• Friendly fire damage reduced to 25% from rockets.
• Rocket VFX now appear for both shooter and enemies.
• Vehicles no longer enter endless slide states.

Cinematics & Story

Cinematic scenes such as “Awaken Prescience” and “Water Shipper” now support ultrawide 21:9 displays, and animation playback has been fixed (no more awkward T-poses). Camera shaking bugs that previously led to crashes are gone, and cutscene lighting has been refined for a smoother visual flow.

Story-related bugs in quests like "A Backup Plan" and “Assassin’s Handbook” have also been addressed. Objective tracking and dialog triggers now work properly, allowing uninterrupted progress for new players.

Main Fixes:

• Ultrawide (21:9) support added to major cutscenes.
• Animation playback fixed in multiple cinematics.
• Objective tracking in main quests now fully functional.

Gameplay & Item Fixes

Crucial issues affecting gameplay and inventory have been resolved. Ceremonial Damasteel Swords and their associated permits are now retained after death, and armor values have been corrected so they apply the intended protection. Survey probes now display accurate grid coordinates, crafting recipes no longer bug out with missing components, and respecs no longer break vehicle-based talents or deployables.

Main Fixes:

• Armor stats now display correct defense percentages.
• Permits and contracts no longer vanish on death.
• Survey probes show true grid locations.

UI & Interface

The user interface sees some much-needed polish. Players can now dismiss tutorial popups with the ESC key, and contract/inventory panels no longer overlap. Experience bars, crafting screens, and stat comparisons behave correctly, while respec UI no longer triggers false error states.

Friend invites now send and receive properly, and guild permissions function as intended. A small but helpful change: tooltip descriptions for XP, crafting, and skill specs have been rewritten for clarity.

Main Fixes:

• ESC now closes popups instantly.
• Contract tabs fixed to prevent layout issues.
• XP bars update in real-time; no more visual lag.

Visual & Audio Polish

Visual has taken a step up with improved armor textures, terrain shading, and dust effects for vehicles and explosions. Lighting transitions have been adjusted for better immersion during combat and cutscenes. Audio also saw major upgrades: missing ambient sounds in cities, death screams in fan traps, and placeholder effects in firefights have all been replaced. New sounds were added for explosions, rocket launches, and even scanning pings.

Main Fixes:

• Fan trap death audio fixed in Carthag.
• Replaced placeholder audio for rockets and scanning.
• Armor and sand textures reworked for 4K clarity.

This patch represents a major step forward for Dune: Awakening, signaling that Funcom is listening closely to player feedback. The focus on worldbuilding, UI clarity, and system stability suggests the studio is committed to building a long-lasting MMO. For veterans and new players alike, now is an excellent time to return to Arrakis and experience a more immersive and functional world.