Dune Awakening: What you need to know about piloting Ornithopters

Dune Awakening's map is huge. To put it into perspective, it's over 500 square kilometres, and that's just the Deep Desert. Unless you have an unlimited supply of water and can safely navigate the desert without attracting Sandworms, you'll eventually need an Ornithopter.

These vehicles look majestic and come in three different varieties: Scout, Carrier, and Assault. As the name implies, each type serves a specific purpose, but all of them can transport you across the map, far above the ground, away from Sandworms. If you've just built your first Ornithopters, here are a few things you need to know about them.

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Everything you need to know about Ornithopters in Dune Awakening

Do a few practice runs before going to the Deep Desert (Image via Funcom)

First and foremost, let's address the Sandworm in the room: Your Ornithopter will lose durability over time, and eventually will be rendered unuselabe. That's the bad news. However, if you've been playing Dune Awakening for a while now, you're already well aware that this is the case with everything in-game.

You can slow down the rate at which it degrades by unlocking the Planetologist skill, Vehicle Repair (Passive): Reduction of max Durability loss. But eventually, the sands of Arrakis will damage your Ornithopter and render it beyond repair. So be prepared for the inevitable.

Coming back to the topic at hand, here are a few nifty tips and tricks that you should know:

• Avoid idling on the ground or hovering in one place: Despite being grounded, if your Engine is left running, the Wings and Generator will degrade, while Fuel will be consumed. The same goes for hovering.
• Glide to conserve durability: Once you reach an altitude of 500 meters or more, you don't need to use your Engine. You can shut off the power and glide through the air. This will reduce the durability loss of your Engine and Generator. Fuel consumption will be minimal. However, since the Ornithopter's Wings are still in use, they will slowly degrade.
• Boost Glide if you need to gain altitude and speed: If you're gliding and losing altitude or speed, you can Boost if needed to regain them. This will degrade your Wings by a small margin, as well as the Generator and Thruster, but it's better than actively flying. However, be warned that some Fuel will be used in the process.
• Take off and landing: You can take off/gain altitude using the key used to jump, and descend, using the key used to crouch. If this method seems too tiresome, you can also use your mouse pointer to either look up to ascend or down to descend.
• Use Thrusters to turn: If you plan on gliding about to get to places, be sure to use your Thruster when taking sharp turns to stabilize the Ornithopter and get back to a straight path. It can be done without Thrusters as well, so the choice is yours.
• Don't worry about landing too hard: When you're ready to land, turn on the Engines and descend. Your landing gear will automatically open as the ornithopter hits the ground. Remember to turn your Engine off before exiting the vehicle.

Once you ace the Ornithopter, you'll be able to explore Arrakis unhindered (Image via Funcom)

Aside from these tips, remember to gain altitude when flying over large rock formations. They might seem far away, but your Ornithopter is fast, and if you're not quick enough, it can crash into them. There's a reason why you see so many crashed Ornithopters atop rock formations.

That said, safe flying, and remember to keep a watchful eye on the sky when entering the Deep Desert, especially if you're trying to map out the region to make Sinkcharts. Risky business, but profitable if you're looking to make some serious Solari, and a reputation for being an ace cartographer in Dune Awakening.

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Read more Dune Awakening articles here:

• Dune Awakening: Best Unique Schematics to get early (Hagga Basin South)
• Dune Awakening: All Unique Schematics in Vermillius Gap (East and West)