New Dune: Awakening update axes "exploit used to get NPCs to destroy other players' building pieces" following fans' reports of "base raiding" and griefing in the survival MMO

Dune: Awakening is no stranger to exploits, with developer Funcom having previously had to apologize for them and "an unfortunate amount of lost bases and equipment" – but the chaos isn't over just yet, it seems, as reports of player griefing continue to stack.

Although the survival MMO has received a plethora of hotfixes and bigger updates, including a Deep Desert expansion just weeks ago, Funcom isn't done patching things up. Developers have a lot more in store, with 1.1.20 dropping on August 12 – a release that will make riding Sandworms fatal, target Pentashield-only buildings, and perhaps most importantly, address an exploit that allows players to use NPCs to destroy others' bases.

Someone figured out how to break into a locked room that contained my sub fief console, destroyed the console and then stole everything. from r/duneawakening

For those unfamiliar with the exploit, it's well-recorded online. One player takes to Reddit to describe how someone broke into their locked base to destroy their subfief console – basically the core of a structure – and steal everything inside. How did they manage to do so? A commenter explains: "An unpowered base takes damage from anything bar players in Haggan Basin. So if you lure NPCs, they can shoot down walls, doors, and eventually the subfief."

In other words, if a player doesn't provide power to their base for long enough, someone can shoot through the structure using NPCs and loot everything in sight. Another Reddit thread sees a fan experiencing the same unforgiving destruction, reading, "Someone found a way to delete other people's bases." Attached is a screenshot of the poster's event log, showing that their subfief console was "destroyed by an NPC."

A response confirms how this could've occurred: "The only way the NPC could have destroyed the fief is that you had no power – a powered fief cannot get damage." Thankfully, Funcom is indeed fixing the so-called "base-raiding exploit" soon. As the official version 1.1.20 patch notes indicate, come the update's release next Tuesday, "NPCs can no longer damage player-owned buildings or placeables in PvE areas."

Base riding method apparently an exploit. Public Test Patch Note from r/duneawakening

Funcom continues, writing, "This fix addresses an exploit used to get NPCs to destroy other players' building pieces or subfief console." It's good news, and fans have caught wind of it already. One Reddit post discussing the change in 1.1.20 highlights as much, with a replier detailing why it makes sense. "If they wanted us raiding bases in PvE areas, they would have let us," they admit. "It's just not part of the game."

As a bit of a Dune: Awakening stan myself, I suppose it's a valid enough take – after all, we already face the threat of losing everything enough in the survival MMO, between exploits and the relentless sandstorms plaguing Arrakis.

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