I’m now further on the private server than I was on the public server in terms of progression, but my private server character is still a good 8-10 levels below the max level I reached on the public server. I’m not sure if this is causing me issues, but I’m finding that the difficulty curve in Dune: Awakening is pretty significant.

The Hagga Basin is divided in about 12 different zones, with the Western Vermillius Gap is the second area that we visit. Whereas Basin South is fairly easy to solo, the WVG ramps things up by adding in NPCs with shields and heavier weapons like repeating firearms. There are also more NPCs-per-encounter, and when you put the ranged attackers and melee attackers with shields together, it can get very difficult for a solo player to stand their ground. Or maybe it’s just me.

Exhibit A. I had a progression mission to craft a “standard sword” but was missing some materials that could only be found inside of the “dungeons” like the Labs or the crashed ships. There was a crashed ship nearby my WVG base so I headed over there knowing that it would be difficult, but figuring that if I was smart I’d be able to make my way through. I didn’t even make it inside the door because there was a heavy gunner by the ship who was constantly maneuvering around to get a good shot at me while his buddy ran up to me and kept stabbing me with his knife. The heavy gunner is a literal pain as they’re able to take down my health pretty quickly, and having to deal with avoiding his fire while also trying to battle a knife-wielding psychopath with a shield at least made me happy that my body ended up outside of their detection range when I had to make a corpse run to retrieve my stuff.

Of course, this is the point where I also had a progression mission to create a shield of my own, and I have schematics to create more powerful weapons, but I am lacking the materials to do so…which is why I ended up at the crashed ship. My stop-gap solution was to visit the nearby vendor and see if I could buy those parts; some I did, but I also mistakenly spent solari on other, incorrect materials. I made my shield and my sword, but not a better rifle. I could also create better armor if I get those materials, but it’s not stillsuit armor so I’d have to carry more water with me. Something tells me that in the end, though, none of this would be enough.

So my next plan is to head back to Basin South and possibly grind the crashed ship there for materials. Because I said it so vehemently, though, I might also have to grind Lab 2. Bouncing between those sites might be enough to stockpile some materials I need to create the more advanced items (the missing materials aren’t WVG-specific, but are only available in specific content areas) that will help me make my way through WVG solo, at least for a while.