How to Get an Ornithopter in Dune Awakening

To get an ornithopter in Dune Awakening, unlock the Scout Ornithopter in research at the aluminum tier, craft its nine parts at a Vehicles Fabricator (chassis, cockpit, hull, engine, generator and four wings), then assemble them with a Welding Torch. The Mk4 set costs 217 Aluminum Ingots, 67 Cobalt Paste and 46 Advanced Servoks, plus loot components.

Which ornithopters are in Dune Awakening?

There are three ornithopters, each with its own parts:

All three can fly the Overland Map, which is how you reach Arrakeen, Harko Village and the Deep Desert. Browse every part in the vehicle catalog.

How to unlock the ornithopter

There are two routes:

• Craft it. Spend Intel in the research tree to unlock the aluminum-tier vehicle schematics, including the Scout Ornithopter parts. Intel comes from exploring outposts and points of interest. You'll also need the Vehicles Fabricator itself (40 Steel Ingots, 30 Complex Machinery, 40 power).
• Buy it. Faction vendors sell a ready ornithopter once you reach reputation level 4 with the Atreides or Harkonnen, for well over 100,000 Solari. Vehicle vendors in Arrakeen and Harko Village also sell single modules, with stock that rotates.

Crafting is cheaper and teaches you the parts you'll need to repair and upgrade later. You can also trade for parts on the market.

Scout Ornithopter Mk4 recipe

Every part is made at the Vehicles Fabricator in 20 seconds:

Total for one Scout Ornithopter Mk4: 217 Aluminum Ingots, 67 Cobalt Paste, 46 Advanced Servoks, 16 Particle Capacitors, 16 Armor Plating, 12 Diamondine Dust, 8 Industrial Pumps, 6 Carbide Scraps, 6 Complex Machinery and 1,560 ml of water.

Behind that sit the raw materials. At a Medium Ore Refinery, 217 ingots take 1,519 Aluminum Ore (7 per ingot, 150 ml of water each). At a Small Chemical Refinery, 67 Cobalt Paste takes 201 Erythrite Crystals. Altogether the ornithopter costs about 39 litres of water, so set up windtraps first (how to get water).

The richest aluminum area in Hagga Basin is around the Wreck of the Alecto, with 172 aluminum nodes nearby. Bring a Cutteray Mk3 and a vehicle with storage, and refine as you go, since 1,519 ore is many backpack loads:

Where to farm the parts:

• Aluminum Ore: where to find aluminum ore
• Erythrite for Cobalt Paste: where to find erythrite
• Industrial Pumps: where to find Industrial Pump
• Diamondine Dust: where to find Diamondine Dust
• Particle Capacitors and Advanced Servoks: Imperial Testing Stations and where to find Particle Capacitor
• Armor Plating and Complex Machinery: Armor Plating, Complex Machinery

The crafting calculator totals the whole tree for you, ore and water included.

Optional Scout modules

For mining runs, Storage comes first. Holtzman Actuators for the thruster are their own hunt: where to find Holtzman Actuator.

How to assemble the ornithopter

The Scout Ornithopter fits in a Vehicle Backup Tool (6 Copper Ingots + 2 Particle Capacitors), which also works on the Sandbike and Treadwheel. Empty its storage first. The tool can also recover a destroyed vehicle for a cost.

Assault and Carrier Ornithopter costs

Assault Ornithopter Mk5 (chassis, cockpit, cabin, tail, engine, generator and 6 wings): 324 Duraluminum Ingots, 126 Cobalt Paste, 88 Advanced Servoks, 60 Armor Plating, 32 Particle Capacitors, 16 Diamondine Dust, 15 Complex Machinery, 12 Industrial Pumps, 8 Carbide Scraps, 6 Hydraulic Pistons, 6 Military Power Regulators and 3,720 ml of water.

Carrier Ornithopter Mk6 (chassis, main hull, 2 side hulls, 2 tail hulls, engine, generator and 8 wings): 618 Plastanium Ingots, 410 Spice Melange, 304 Cobalt Paste, 194 Advanced Servoks, 144 Plasteel Composite Armor Plating, 60 Diamondine Dust and more, plus 7,480 ml of water. Its Cargo Container (240 Plastanium, 115 Silicone, 105 Spice Melange, 68 Advanced Servoks, 1,500 ml) is placed with the Welding Torch and lifted by the Carrier for big hauls.

For the metals, see the refining guide.

Ornithopter flying tips

• Two flight modes. Powered flight lets you hover and move in any direction; with the engine off you glide, which is faster, especially with a thruster.
• Watch the heat. The thruster heats the engine. Use it in bursts and let it cool before you need it again.
• Carry spare fuel. Keep a few Vehicle Fuel Cells in your backpack. Running dry over open sand means walking home past worms.
• Never land on open sand. Sandworms answer vibration, and a parked ornithopter on a dune is bait. Land on rock. More in the sandworm guide.
• Hangar it. Storms damage vehicles left in the open, and vehicles outside your claim slowly decay. Park inside a hangar with a shield door or a roof, or pack the Scout into the Backup Tool.
• Skills. The Planetologist school has Fuel Efficient Pilot, Vehicle Scanning and Vehicle Repair for ornithopter pilots: plan them in the skill planner.

Everything else on wheels and treads is in the vehicles guide.