New Dune Awakening update removes the most annoying and embarrassing way to die

We're now a couple of weeks into Dune Awakening's life, and the MMO is still hard at work refining its experience and (metaphorically speaking) shaking sand out of all the places it shouldn't be. However, one frustrating occurrence that has been almost impossible to prevent is getting squished by kamikaze ornithopter pilots, but the new Dune Awakening update that just dropped finally takes a swipe at it. It also makes adjustments to PvP respawn timers and fixes loads more bugs that have been plaguing the game.

While most new PC games see a huge spike and a gradual decline, Dune Awakening isn't going anywhere. In fact, the general trend line is going up, at least when when it comes to the Steam player count. The fight to dominate the sands of Arrakis is clearly an engrossing one, and with a few more improvements and a regular flow of new content and experiences, it could well establish itself as one of the best MMOs.

In today's new update, patch 1.1.0.15, the highlight for me is the change to vehicles doing damage to players. There have been plenty of stories emerging of players being smashed by ornithopters while out exploring, and given their manoeuvrability and bountiful health, it's almost impossible to take one down or get out of the way before you're squashed like a bug. Last week, the Dune Awakening's creative director replied to a frustrated player on Reddit acknowledging this "goomba stomping" tactic and promising a solution was on the way.

Now, it's here. To still maintain ornithopters' value, Funcom can't simply make them more easy to destroy or more sluggish to control. So, it's decided to protect players instead. "Players no longer receive damage when hit by vehicles," Funcom says in the new set of patch notes.

Elsewhere, respawn timeouts in PvP zones have been tinkered with. "The first respawn will take 70 seconds, second and following respawns will take 115 seconds," Funcom states. The schematic for the Dvyetz Ornithopter Engine Mk5 has also been removed from the loot table, the UI has been adjusted to better display important server information and alerts, and there are over a dozen important bug fixes. To check out every individual change, head to the patch notes here.

If you're just starting out your adventure across Arrakis, or know someone who's about to jump in for the first time, check out our Dune Awakening class tier list. Alternatively, you can give our guide on all the Dune Awakening trial locations a read.

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