If you’ve been playing Dune: Awakening, you might remember when Funcom promised a fix for players tired of being squished by helicopters in PvP. Well, the update is here—but it's more of a workaround than a full solution.

Instead of adjusting the Ornithopters directly, the developers rolled out a patch that makes players immune to damage from vehicle collisions. That means no more getting flattened by griefers who think it’s funny to drop an Orni on your head. It also protects you from accidentally wiping out while riding your sandbike—like if you miscalculate a jump off a cliff and become a ragdoll mid-air.

While this change has been welcomed by many (with hundreds upvoting a confirming post on the game’s subreddit), some players say that griefing hasn’t stopped—it’s just evolved. Instead of squishing people, players are finding other ways to annoy others.

One player suggested that rocket mechanics need balancing:
"They need to decrease top speed when using rockets and increase it when using thrusters. PvP should be about control, not ganking. Rockets should be for taking or holding a landmark—not for hunting people."

Another user chimed in with a class-based suggestion:
"Scouts shouldn’t have rockets. I’ve killed way too many people with them and it feels wrong. Assaults should get the rockets because they’re slower and require more skill to maneuver. Scouts should focus on storage and scanning."

A third player questioned whether the new mechanic was truly fair:
"Is this really better? I think it would have been better if both sides could take damage. The Thopter not taking any still lets people be annoying with it."

And honestly, they’re not wrong. Right now, the only real counters to an Ornithopter are rocket launchers or Lasguns—which are exclusive to Tier 6 and take time to unlock. This creates a gap where lower-tier players can't defend themselves effectively.

The patch also affects NPC combat, meaning you can’t ram enemies with your vehicle to end fights faster. Still, as imperfect as it is, this change definitely improves the experience compared to how things were before.

On a brighter note, Dune: Awakening launched incredibly well. Our review gave it a solid 8/10, praising its immersive survival loop and faithful worldbuilding:

"Dune: Awakening is an excellent survival MMO that captures Frank Herbert’s sci-fi universe incredibly well—mostly to its advantage and occasionally to its detriment. The journey from a dehydrated desert wanderer to a powerful warlord of Arrakis is a joy almost every step of the way, and the deep story and lore-filled environments brought me immense satisfaction."

Despite some lingering issues—like inconsistent combat and chaotic endgame content—the game has seen massive success. Within hours of launching on June 10, Awakening hit over 142,000 concurrent players on Steam, and later reached a peak of 189,333 players over the weekend.

If you're jumping in or looking to improve your gameplay, make sure to explore all available [ttpp] classes, and follow our in-depth [ttpp] walkthrough for a guided journey through the story. For resource hunters, we’ve got detailed [ttpp] guides covering how to find essential materials like [ttpp], [ttpp], and more.