As we settle into 2026, I have developed a reflexive flinch whenever I hear ornithopter rotors overhead, because for the last couple of weeks the skies of Arrakis have felt less like a transportation network and more like a planetary game of whack-a-mole where I was the mole. That changed today with patch 1.1.0.15, and honestly, it feels like somebody finally installed a pedestrian crossing on the most murderous stretch of the deep desert.
For those who have not been on the receiving end, the problem was simple and infuriating. Ornithopters are nimble, heavily armored, and apparently piloted by people who treat the desert floor like a bowling lane and any exposed player like the ten pin. I have heard it called goomba stomping, which is almost cute until you are out harvesting spice and a vehicle-shaped shadow is the last thing you see. Last week, the creative director actually jumped into a Reddit thread to acknowledge the tactic and promise a fix, and I will give Funcom credit for moving fast.
What changed in patch 1.1.0.15
The most important line in the patch notes is wonderfully blunt: players no longer receive damage when hit by vehicles. Funcom did not make ornithopters slower, softer, or harder to fly, because those aircraft still need to matter in Dune Awakening. Instead, the developers simply removed the ability for a low-flying joyride to turn me into a stain on the sand. I have been flattened enough times that reading that line felt like being handed a shield after weeks of dodging meteorites.
Here is the short version of what arrived in the update:
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๐ Vehicles no longer damage players on impact.
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โฑ๏ธ PvP respawn timers have been adjusted. The first respawn takes 70 seconds, and the second and following respawns take 115 seconds.
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๐ง The schematic for the Dvyetz Ornithopter Engine Mk5 has been removed from the loot table.
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๐ฅ๏ธ The UI has been adjusted to display important server information and alerts more clearly.
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๐ More than a dozen important bug fixes are included.
The PvP respawn change is interesting too. I have been in fights where the death loop felt like a revolving door, so moving the first respawn to 70 seconds and subsequent respawns to 115 seconds should make a successful kill actually stick for a little while. It is a small number change, but in a contested zone, an extra forty-five seconds can feel like an eternity when you are trying to hold a position.
The bigger picture for Dune Awakening
What is genuinely surprising to me is that Dune Awakening is not following the usual post-launch curve. Many new PC games spike hard and then slide downward like a sled on a dune, but the Steam player count trend here has actually been climbing. The fight to dominate Arrakis is clearly gripping people, and little friction points like the ornithopter squish were exactly the kind of thing that could sour an otherwise great session. If Funcom keeps polishing these rough edges and adding regular content, this could quietly become one of the best MMOs around.
The Dvyetz Ornithopter Engine Mk5 schematic removal is another one of those behind-the-scenes changes that matters more than it looks. When a rare schematic is in the wrong loot table, it either creates an unintentional shortcut or just clogs up the drop pool with disappointment. Removing it is the kind of housekeeping I appreciate as a player, because it means the rewards I chase are more likely to be the rewards I actually want.
What I am doing differently now
I still plan to keep one eye on the sky, mostly out of habit. But after this patch, I am far more comfortable taking a ground vehicle out for a long spice run or stopping to scan the horizon without expecting a kamikaze pilot to use me as a landing pad. If you are just starting out, do yourself a favor and read a class tier list or a guide to the trial locations before you wander too deep into the open desert. The game is much more fun when you know where you are going and do not have to learn every lesson the hard way.
Dune Awakening still has plenty of sand in its gears, but it is headed in the right direction. For now, I am just happy that the next shadow overhead might be a passing ship rather than a death sentence.