Dune Awakening: Hagga Basin vs Deep Desert, explained

Dune Awakening’s Hagga Basin and Deep Desert are equally important, without being quite the same thing. One is focused on the early game, and the other is intense, full-contact PVP, where only the strongest and most dedicated will survive. It’s important to know the difference, because you certainly don’t want to head into the Deep Desert before you’re ready. If you do so, you could wind up losing everything you’ve worked for, and have nothing to show for it in the end.

Both the Hagga Basin and Deep Desert will be in the full launch of Dune Awakening, but it’s unlikely that players will find themselves in the Deep Desert anytime soon. If you want to know the differences between these two major areas of Arrakis, we’ve got you covered.

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What’s the difference between the Hagga Basin and Deep Desert in Dune Awakening?

Hagga Basin is where Dune Awakening players begin their journey, and Deep Desert is likely where they’ll see the conclusion — or at least, begin their descent into the late game experience. Players will begin their fresh journey on Arrakis from the Hagga Basin. They’ll spend time learning the gameplay basics, such as simply surviving, crafting, and learning combat.

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It’s not a huge area, but there’s plenty to explore in the Hagga Basin, for sure. It’s a 40-player instance, and each World (Server) essentially has all of these various areas. Think of it like a World of Warcraft server, where there are several instanced areas players can journey into.

It’s primarily a PVE area, though there is some PVP content, typically around Crashed Ship Sites. There will be a pop-up, though, so players can make an informed decision on whether or not they want to PVP. For reference, the Hagga Basin is about 40 square miles in Dune Awakening, whereas the Deep Desert is a colossal 355 square miles.

The Deep Desert is the game’s late-game experience. It’s an open PVP area, with some minor areas of combat-free land to protect players. Not only is it a PVP area, but you can even target and shoot your own allies, so it’s important to be careful. Every week, a Coriolis storm will sweep through the Deep Desert and demolish everything. Think of this as a weekly map reset.

As you can see, there will be many instances of Hagga Basin, and they all converge into the Deep Desert (Image via Funcom)

It’s far from a safe area, so you’ll need all your wits and skills to survive. Other than PVP, there’s intense sunlight, sandstorms, and gigantic ringmouth sandworms that can engulf your whole vehicle. The consequences for death in the Deep Desert of Dune Awakening are far less so than the Hagga Basin. While you can be looted in PVP, you will lose everything if a Sandworm gulps you down.

The Deep Desert instances will be a shared endgame space between multiple instances of Hagga Basins, so many players will converge here. While the Hagga Basin is for about 40 players, the Deep Desert is for hundreds, making it a truly intense survival experience. Hence, the Deep Desert is where you go when you want to test your limits and skills like nowhere else on Arrakis.

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Check out our other Dune Awakening guides and features

• All Dune Awakening Editions compared: Standard vs. Deluxe vs. Ultimate
• Dune Awakening devs “looking into options” for private servers, but no promises
• Dune Awakening will have quarterly DLCs, possibly similar to Conan Exiles