Dune Awakening: 5 things to do before you leave Hagga Basin South

Dune Awakening is massive, and there's a lot to do before you leave the safety of Hagga Basin South. While you may feel ready to leave after a few hours' worth of exploration, that's not recommended. To save you time and effort, and most importantly, Water, here's a list of things you should do before you migrate north.

Of course, if you've done most of these, you're already well-prepared for the journey ahead; however, if you haven't, this list is worth exploring. Without further ado, here are five things to do before you leave Hagga Basin South in Dune Awakening.

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5 things to do before you leave Hagga Basin South in Dune Awakening

Complete the Scrap Mettle Contract to get Sim's Cutter

Salvage and gather as many resources as you can (Image via Funcom)

Complete the Scrap Mettle Contract chain to get a free Sim's Cutter (Cutteray). Unlike the starter Cutteray, this one can mine Iron from the get-go, and it's also much more efficient than the regular Cutteray Mk1, the regular Cutteray progression the game suggests to you.

Technically, you can farm the Unique Schematic for this from Keyhole Rock, but the Sim's Cutter you get from the Contract chain is already built, and you just need to hand them a Sandbike Engine and 2x Sandbike Treads, and low-durability copies you get from random dungeon drops also work.

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Farm up multiple Hajra Literjon Mk1s

Hajra Literjon Mk1s will stop you from getting dehydrated (Image via Funcom)

Water is an essential part of Dune Awakening. It ties into several mechanics, so having a surplus of it on your character at all times is important. This is where the Hajra Literjon Mk1 comes into play. You can (and should) craft several of them before leaving Hagga Basin South.

They hold more Water than the standard Literjon Mk1s, and will allow you to stay out in the sun longer. You can also buy the schematic from Griffin's Reach Tradepost, but that's an expensive affair. You can farm free Hajra Literjon Mk1 schematics in this area.

This is an important step because the greater Literjons (such as the Decaliterjons) are a while away in the tech progression, and Hajra Literjons are the best choice for the next few hours. Water becomes a major crafting ingredient from this point onwards, and having more sack to collect water makes your Dew-reaping runs that much more fruitful.

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Get Aren's Vengeance

Aren's Vengeance is a fine mid-range combat weapon (Image via Funcom)

Aren's Vengeance is a Unique schematic that can be found in Hagga Basin South, and if you want to get one Unique in this region, it's this one. Once you cross the open sands, you'll eventually want to switch to one of the Vermillius Gap Uniques such as the Shredder, or just an Iron-tier weapon like the Standard GRDA 44.

However, getting to Vermillius Gap and facing the first few camps will be a bit rough, as you'll also need to deal with the minigun-equipped heavies. Aren's Vengeance has a high effective range, and lets you deal with your first few raids there at a relatively decent pace as you decide on the next weapon replacement.

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Farm Alcyon Wreck and Imperial Station No. 2 multiple times

Explore Wrecks when possible (Image via Funcom)

If you're looking to get resources early on, Alcyon Wreck and Imperial Station No. 2 are good places to start. Farming them multiple times will yield blue and green resources respectively: Mechanical Parts and Plasteel Microflora Fiber from Alcyon, and Particle Capacitor and Advanced Servoks from the Imperial Station.

Making Iron-tier weapons and Kirab armor requires the green components, while a few of the essentials, such as the Vehicle Storage Tool, require Particle Capacitator. Vermillius Gap also has multiple Shipwrecks and Imperial Stations you can loot, but getting a head start here will just make things much easier in your first hour there.

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Complete the Planetologist trainer quest

The Planetologist is truly unique (Image via Funcom)

If you plan on making Sinkcharts early on in the game, you'll have to unlock the Planetologist skill tree by talking to Derek Chinara and completing the quest. If you don't care for Sinkcharts, knock it out as early as you can anyway, because the Planetologist Skill tree is all about doing the PvE stuff of Dune Awakening more efficiently.

This NPC can be found in an alcove on top of the Imperial Station No. 2 entrace, which is already on the list of places you need to visit.

You want to clear this quest before you leave Hagga Basin because unlike some trainers, Derek Chinara keeps moving around the map in various points of his quest chain, like a Souls-borne NPC.

After the initial location, he appears in the Imperial Station No 197, and then in other locations afterwards to continue your Planteologist training. You are still asked to come back to his southern porch later on, but not doing this quest now means even more backtracking later.

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Outfit your Sandbike with the Sandbike Inventory Mk2 (bonus tip)

Use your Sandbike to its full potential (Image via Funcom)

Before you leave Hagga Basin South, get yourself the Sandbike Inventory Mk2 from Scrap Metal rewards. Carry all Armor Plating and Holtzman Actuators (if you got any from mining vehicle wrecks), and at least a couple thousand Gold. Get the courier contract (Courier Run), which will also mark the next big tradepost, Anvil. This should make your journey to the next area easy.

On a final note, make sure to fill up at least one of your Hajra Literjons before you leave for good; the next safe pit stop is miles away.

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Read more Dune Awakening articles here:

• Dune Awakening Swordmaster class guide: Skills and playstyle explained
• Dune Awakening: Looking for Leaders Contract Guide
• Dune Awakening: Research and Intel points system, explained
• Dune Awakening: How to recover from sandworm death as a solo player
• Dune Awakening: How to unlock Trooper Skills (Basic and Advanced Trainer locations)