Dune Awakening Sandworm Guide

Sandworms in Dune Awakening hunt anything that makes vibration on open sand: running, vehicles, Holtzman tech, tools and combat. When the worm sign meter fills up, get onto rock fast, because worms do not surface through rock. In the Deep Desert, big spice harvests can summon a grandfather worm.

Worms are the reason you build on rock, park in garages and cross dunes at full speed instead of stopping to look around. Here is how they behave and how to stay off the menu.

How sandworms work

Every worm reacts to vibration. In the game, that means:

• sprinting and running on sand;
• driving a sandbike or buggy, and flying an ornithopter low over the dunes;
• using Holtzman tech such as suspensors and shields;
• using tools such as a cutteray or a static compactor;
• fighting;
• placing a Thumper, which exists to call a worm.

A worm goes after the player making the most noise, but it investigates anyone who enters its territory. Standing still does not reset its interest. The Deep Desert has far more worms than Hagga Basin, so out there the meter fills faster and a second worm can turn up while you escape the first.

Worm sign: how to read the warning

The worm sign meter sits at the bottom of the screen and fills as you make vibration:

• white or yellow: low threat, keep working but stay alert;
• orange: a worm is interested, finish up and head for rock;
• red: an attack is about to start.

When the meter fills, the worm makes a warning breach, and a red breach marker appears on your compass and the map. You get a short grace period while it repositions. Then it strikes from below, and if you are still on open sand you are eaten.

How not to get eaten by a sandworm

1. Live on rock. Build your base on a rock shelf, park on rock and mine from rock wherever you can. Our best base locations are all on stone.
2. Cross sand, don't loiter on it. Plan routes from one rock outcrop to the next. A vehicle at speed is safer than a player on foot.
3. Watch the meter, not the horizon. By the time you see sand rippling, the meter has been orange for a while.
4. When it turns red, move. Run or drive for the nearest rock. In an ornithopter, climb as high as you can, because worms can still hit an ornithopter that flies close to the sand.
5. Wait it out. After an escape, stay on rock until the worm sign clears completely before you go back onto open sand.

Griffin's Reach Tradepost is a good example of worm-safe ground: the post sits on top of a rock formation, so worms are not a concern while you park and trade.

What happens when a sandworm eats you

• You lose everything you carry, including equipped gear. Only the Vehicle Backup Tool and quest items stay with you. Keep valuables in your base, not in your backpack.
• You respawn with a Worm Tooth. Combine it with one Plant Fiber to make an Unfixed Crysknife, no station needed.
• Your first worm death takes you to a spice vision, where you meet the Guide. If a worm took your first sandbike, you get one back. After that, there are no second chances.

The Base Reconstruction Tool is not lost on death either, so a packed base survives even if you do not. See how to move your base.

Spice and sandworms

Spice fields lie on open sand, and harvesting them is loud. That is the core risk of spice farming:

• harvest from a vehicle and keep your exit route to rock clear;
• in a group, one player watches the worm sign while the others harvest;
• Hagga Basin has only small spice fields, a manageable risk even solo;
• in the Deep Desert, medium and large fields pay far more and can trigger the grandfather worm.

The grandfather worm

Grandfather worms appear only in the Deep Desert. They are huge, with a ring-shaped mouth. It usually takes all of the following, though the exact trigger can vary:

• a large crater spice field;
• two to four players on the field;
• at least 1,000 metres from a server border;
• at least 1,000 Spice Sand harvested;
• a cooldown of roughly one to two hours per server.

The warning is different from a normal worm. The camera shakes, you hear a thunder-like rumble, and then the worm rises and engulfs the whole area. You have very little time. The escape options are an ornithopter, a pickup by a Carrier Ornithopter (which can also lift your vehicles out), or a suspensor belt to jump clear. Small worms can still attack inside a grandfather worm's territory during its cooldown.

Sandworms and vehicles

A sandbike or buggy lost to a worm is gone with its cargo. The Vehicle Backup Tool (6 Copper Ingots and 2 Particle Capacitors) turns a vehicle into an inventory item, and it is kept when you are eaten. See the vehicles guide for builds and the ornithopter guide for getting into the air.

Sandworm items and Landsraad samples

Sandworms are part of the Landsraad too. The Sample Recovery mission asks for sandworm tissue: Sandworm Scale, Neural Filament, Mouth Ligament and Resonance Organ. See Landsraad and houses. Sandworm riding is not in the game.