Dune 2 hints & tips by Roy Sims No matter which battle you are on or which House you have decided to play, the following tips are a good starting point. (I would recommend playing as House Harkonnen first though). NB: The first two battle scenarios are so simple to complete that I haven't included them in these tips. Anyone who has a problem finishing them isn't going to get very far even with the help offered here! (a) The start As soon as the battle scenario begins, send your available vehicles out in all directions (but not very far from your construction site) to find the nearest source of spice. Whilst they move away, quickly construct the four by four concrete base needed for your Windtrap (to give you power). Now build the Windtrap. If you start the mission with enough money, build two spice refineries to get as much spice as possible. Once you have located the spice, recall the vehicles (use the retreat option) except for one (which should be the weakest vehicle type available). Obviously the two harvesters should be left to harvest the spice. Now use the weakest vehicle to explore the rest of the area around your construction site. The next building to construct should be the radar then a light vehicle factory. After this you should be able to build a heavy vehicle factory. At this point I usually get it to build a third harvester. It might be a good idea to build a spice silo at this point as the two refineries won't be able to hold more than 2,000 credits worth at once. (b) Air strikes Depending on the scenario, I would normally build a repair facility next, followed by a hi-tech factory (to produce an all purpose carry all). If you are into scenario 7 or 8 you will find air attacks by ornithopters are common place early on. The only way to defend against these is to build many (at least 5 or 6) rocket turrets as early as you can. Also leave around 600 credits for repairing the buildings that are attacked. They tend to concentrate on heavy vehicle factories or repair facilities. (C) Worms In most scenarios you will be given a short breathing space before wormsign occurs. If you are in a scenario that contains early wormsign and two worms at once, you should position vehicles on solid ground near to the harvesters to protect them. You should also move any exposed vehicles (on sand) onto safe ground immediately. (At times like this I was wishing that you could produce distractions in the sand to guide the worms away like the thumpers used in the David Lynch film!). Worms tend to disappear after they've successfully swallowed 3 or 4 vehicles. They take many hits to scare off but the longer the scenario goes on, the less likely they are to reappear. (D) The enemy base Once you have set up a decent base, with heavy vehicle production and good spice harvesting, it is time to start thinking about the enemy base you've got to wipe out. Send out a strong vehicle that is surplus to the defence of your own base. Send it off, preferably with a rocket launcher or two (if they are available). Place the launchers first so that they can give you a slight early warning of any enemies close by. Once you have stumbled onto the enemy base it is time to sacrifice the strong vehicle in the name of exploration. Make it drive around and expose as much of the base as possible. Your most important objective is to find the enemy's construction yard as soon as possible. Once located start attacking it. Don't worry if your vehicle is destroyed. You now know the location of the single most important building. Don't bother attacking anything else until the yard is destroyed, because it will simply build a replacement otherwise and you will have gained nothing. Attack the following in order: (1) Construction yard (usually only one exists. In a few later scenarios the enemy have two and you must locate the second a.s.a.p. and take it out). (2) Heavy vehicle plant. (3) Light vehicle plant. (4) Troop facilities (WOR, Barracks etc). (5) Enemy Harvesters (to cut off their own spice supplies. This won't have an immediate effect. Buildings will still be repaired as the enemy uses its reserves, stored in the silos and refineries. Eventually they won't have any credits left and they will be unable to repair anything that is damaged). Tactically it is best to take out any rocket turrets with rocket launchers before you attack the buildings. You might find that at first they are repaired very quickly but be patient and use two or three launchers at once and they should succeed. If you are unlucky enough to warrant the attention of the turrets, retreat a little and send in a heavy vehicle as a decoy then move back in and launch those rockets quickly. Again the later scenarios can be very very tough. You may find that in order to win you have to try and ignore the last few turrets and just hit the last few bases with all you've got. Rocket launchers are more accurate at hitting their targets if they are in line with it either diagonally, vertically or horizontally. When attacking enemy vehicles, a few good strategies are as follows: (i) Rocket launchers These can be very effective but their defensive capabilities are poor. They are useless at close range, so just wheel your vehicle right alongside them and start firing! (Don't use them defending your own base either, especially if they are placed behind buildings. The fact that they are inaccurate can mean that when firing rockets at an approaching enemy, the rockets can hit and badly damage your own base!). (ii) Heavy tanks etc. I try and set two equally strong vehicles against these, or lure them back to my own base which is equipped with a good half dozen or more rocket turrets. Don't set soldiers onto any heavy vehicles (including harvesters) as they will just turn around and run them straight over! (iii) Soldiers Wipe out the Sardakaur a.s.a.p. As already mentioned, the best tactic is to run them over with a Harvester, rocket launcher or tank! (iv) Sonic Tanks As with rocket launchers, these have very weak defences. It can be handy sometimes to get one of these to attack your vehicle when it is facing its own base. The sonic wave it fires will hit your own vehicle but it will pass through and keep going in a straight line damaging its own base as a result! When on the offensive (as Harkonnen) send out some heavy vehicles paired with some rocket launchers. Once you've knocked out the important buildings (Construction yard etc.) send in a line of 5 or 6 rocket launchers with 2 or 3 heavy tanks or devastators and you'll wipe out the enemy base in no time. These simple hints should get you through most of the battle scenarios in one piece. The final battle (no. 9) is a different kettle of fish altogether, but once you've got that far you should be able to defend yourself from the relentless attacks and formulate a winning strategy. Be warned that this last battle will typically last at least double the time the previous ones did! You will also find yourself forced to attack some enemy buildings before you can build more of your own. This is due to the program limitation for the number of buildings in a scenario. Good luck!