Dune: Spice Wars: Strategy Guide

A practical strategy guide for Shiro Games' real-time 4X Dune: Spice Wars: resources, expansion, spice and the Imperial tax, the Landsraad and CHOAM, espionage, every faction, victory conditions and how to open a game.

Researched September 2026 — current as of v2.2.7.32974 (patch of July 9, 2025, the latest listed on Steam) and Community Update #4 content. Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

• Spice pays the bills, but Solari runs your empire. Spice is harvested and either sold for Solari, stockpiled or used to pay the Imperial spice tax.
• Never miss the spice tax. The Imperium demands a spice payment on a timer; failing to pay hurts your standing and voting power. Keep enough spice aside as the due date approaches.
• Expand fast, but only as fast as Authority allows. Each village costs upkeep; overexpanding drains Authority and Solari.
• Scout with ornithopters. They reveal regions, resources and points of interest before your troops walk into trouble.
• Watch for wormsign. Sandworms devour harvesters and troops in open desert. Keep carryalls ready and do not park armies on sand.
• Supply matters. Units away from your territory lose supply and health; fight near your own villages when possible.
• Use your agents every game. Infiltration builds up in different fields; operations and assassinations are powerful, and you can win by assassination.
• Vote in the Landsraad. Resolutions and charters can swing the whole game.
• Pick councilors to shore up weaknesses. Each faction chooses councilors at the start that enhance strengths or cover gaps.
• Play the tutorials. Completing one is the "Back to School" achievement, and they explain the many resources quickly.

Resources at a Glance

Resource | Where it comes from | What it is for

Solari | Selling spice, buildings, trade | Buildings, units, upkeep, bribes

Spice | Harvesters on spice fields | Imperial tax, selling, some faction abilities

Plascrete | Resource buildings in certain regions | Construction

Fuel Cells | Resource buildings | Ornithopters, harvesters and some buildings

Water | Water production buildings | An upkeep-style resource; running negative causes penalties, and some charters require high production

Manpower | Villages and buildings | Recruiting and reinforcing troops

Authority | Main base, buildings, faction bonuses | Annexing villages and many actions

Influence | Buildings and bonuses | Landsraad votes, treaties, diplomacy

Intel | Buildings and bonuses | Agent operations

CHOAM Shares | Bought with Solari | Income, votes and a victory route

Expansion and Villages

• Taking a region: defeat the village militia with troops, or annex peacefully where your faction allows it (peaceful annexation is interrupted if the village is attacked or devastated).
• Buildings: each village has slots. Build a resource building that exploits the region's natural resource first ("Regional Specialty"), then production or military buildings.
• Districts: building sets in a village activate district bonuses; recent patches buffed completed blue-district bonuses.
• Special regions hold unique points of interest; controlling four gives "Landmarks".
• Sietches: Fremen settlements. Other factions can ally with them for bonuses ("Water Bond"); since late 2024 sietches have a missile battery that targets flying units engaged with their militia.
• Renegade bases: hostile neutral outposts; clearing them gives rewards.

Rule of thumb: a second and third village with good resources in the first few minutes, then expand toward spice fields you can defend.

Spice, Harvesters and Worms

• Place harvesters on spice fields in your territory and assign crews ("Spice Duty").
• Harvesters are vulnerable to sandworms. When wormsign appears, evacuate with a carryall or accept the loss.
• Balance selling spice (Solari now) against stockpiling (tax later). A common beginner collapse is selling everything and missing the tax.
• Storms also sweep the map; they can damage units and interrupt operations.

The Landsraad and CHOAM

• Landsraad: periodically votes on resolutions (some apply to everyone, some are targeted). Influence buys votes. High Landsraad Standing unlocks benefits; reaching 500 is "Greatest House".
• Charters: special long-term positions you get elected to ("Honor of Duty"). The Dune Governorship charter can itself be a win condition in some settings; the Water Seller charter requires high water production (70 as of v2.2.2).
• CHOAM shares: buy shares with Solari for income and votes. Since v2.2.4 you cannot buy shares during voting, and selling during voting applies its price reduction at the end of the council. Owning more than half of all CHOAM shares is a victory condition ("Magnate").

Espionage

• Assign agents to fields of operation to build infiltration levels (level 3 in any field is "Spy Master").
• Spend intel and infiltration on operations: sabotage, stealing, disruption and more.
• Assassination: with enough infiltration you can target an enemy leader; winning by assassinating your last opponent is a victory type. Enemy agents can counter-infiltrate you, and assassins can be killed ("A taste of their own medicine").

Military

• Recruit units at your main base and certain buildings; gear can be bought in the Barracks.
• Heroes: each faction can choose a Hero; a dead Hero can be brought back as a Ghola.
• Atomics are the late-game escalation: you load a nuke at a silo (loading is cancelled without refund if the village is liberated or abandoned, per v2.2.7), and nuking devastates villages and carries political consequences.
• Attacking villages of a faction you are in a Truce with requires legally ending the Truce first (with Influence) or accepting a betrayal penalty.

Factions

Faction | Leader and style | Beginner notes

House Atreides | Duke Leto; honourable, political, peaceful annexation | Easiest start; strong in the Landsraad; Duncan Idaho was reworked in v2.2.3

House Harkonnen | Baron Vladimir Harkonnen; oppression, military, agents | Squeezes villages hard for resources; brutal espionage

The Fremen | Liet Kynes; desert natives, sietches, worm riding, stealth | Different economy; excels in the deep desert

The Smugglers | Esmar Tuek; Underworld Headquarters in others' villages | Profit from rivals' territory; high agent play

House Corrino | Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV; Imperial bases, wealth | Strong main base economy; leans on wealth and Imperial influence

House Ecaz | Artistic House; masterpieces, champions, diplomacy | Hegemony through culture and champions

House Vernius | Ix technocrats; Knowledge, patents, drones, neural nodes | Paid DLC; unique tech economy

Corrino and Ecaz are part of the base game in current versions; House Vernius of Ix is the paid DLC listed on the store.

Victory Conditions

Victory | How | Achievement

Hegemony | Reach the hegemony target first | Hegemon

Domination | Destroy the main base of your last opponent | Conqueror

Assassination | Assassinate your last opponent's leader | Assassin

Governorship | Win with the Dune Governorship charter | Governor

Economic | Own more than half of CHOAM shares | Magnate

Victory conditions can be toggled in skirmish settings; some modes disable the political victory (the "Council Representative" charter replaces the Governorship there).

Opening Build Order (General)

• Send ornithopters out immediately in two directions.
• Queue a resource building that fixes your main shortage (usually Plascrete or Fuel Cells).
• Take the nearest village with a resource you lack; a spice field village early is ideal.
• Place a harvester and assign a crew; plan the first tax payment.
• Set agents on infiltration right away; idle agents are wasted.
• Recruit a small army; clear a nearby renegade base or militia for momentum.
• Before the first Landsraad vote, have Influence available.
• Research developments in the category that matches your plan (Economic, Military, Expansion, Political).

Game Modes

• Conquest: a campaign-style mode where you fight through a series of scenarios as a House. Community Update #4 (November 2024) made the Smugglers and Fremen playable here; the Fremen conquest is about liberating the planet.
• Skirmish: custom games vs AI, including map types Dune Small, Medium and Large plus special layouts such as The Great Flat and Populous Basin, and a Random option.
• Kanly: formal duels can occur during a game; winning a Kanly unlocks "Duelist". Check the in-game encyclopedia for the current rules.
• Multiplayer: up to four players, free-for-all or 2v2.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Missing the spice tax. The most common reason new players collapse.
• Overexpanding past your Authority and Solari upkeep.
• Leaving harvesters exposed during worm activity.
• Idle agents. Infiltration takes time to build; start on turn one.
• Ignoring supply. Deep pushes into enemy land bleed your army.
• Betraying truces casually. Other factions remember; there are penalties and even achievements for punishing traitors.
• Selling CHOAM shares at a bad time. Price effects are now applied after the voting phase.

Advanced Tips

• Stockpile spice before big votes that affect prices or taxes.
• Use Landsraad resolutions offensively, for example raising a rival's unit upkeep.
• Fortify chokepoints: heavy militia and missile batteries in a key village stop raids (8 Heavy Militias and 2 Missile Batteries in one village is "You Shall Not Pass").
• Truce play: truce with neighbours while you build economy, then legally end truces with Influence when ready.
• Fremen: the deep desert is your highway; controlling two Deep Deserts is "Sandlord".
• Smugglers: spread Underworld Headquarters into rivals' villages for passive gains.
• Hard mode challenges: "Insanity" requires beating three Insane AIs with maximum worm, storm, neutral and contract settings and all victory types on.

FAQ

Is Dune: Spice Wars still updated? It left Early Access in September 2023. The last patch listed on Steam is v2.2.7 (July 9, 2025), which fixed nuke silo, assassin and Fremen issues.

Which faction is best for beginners? House Atreides: peaceful annexation and strong politics make it forgiving.

How many players does multiplayer support? Up to four, as 2v2 or free-for-all.

Can I win without fighting? Yes: Hegemony, the Governorship charter, CHOAM majority and assassination are all non-conquest routes.

Is it real-time or turn-based? Real-time with pause, described by the developers as "4X in real time".

What DLC is available? House Vernius of Ix is the paid faction DLC listed on the store.

Sources

• Dune: Spice Wars on Wikipedia
• Dune: Spice Wars Steam store page
• Steam global achievements for Dune: Spice Wars
• Steam news feed (patch notes 2024-2025, Community Update #4)