House Atreides is a powerful faction in Dune: Spice Wars, known for being firm but honorable. They are the standard “good” faction, and their abilities highlight solving matters diplomatically and politically. This isn’t to say that they are weak when it comes to combat, but it is not their focus when compared to a faction like House Harkonnen. Players will likely choose House Atreides if they wish to avoid combat in many cases.
The Atreides have a few interesting abilities highlighting their political acumen. First, they have more influence when it comes to the Landsraad. This means that if they want a specific resolution passed, they will likely be able to make it happen. While all factions in Dune: Spice Wars can make treaties with each other, House Atreides doesn’t cause other factions to lose influence.
Another of the special abilities of House Atreides is that they can peacefully annex neutral villages. It still takes time and resources, like nearly everything in Dune: Spice Wars, but they can begin annexing while their military units are elsewhere. It allows for quick expansion, which allows for players to get an advantage over the other factions early on.
Though combat isn’t the main draw of House Atreides, they can still be quite formidable when it comes to combat. They excel when units work together. When creating military units at the start of Dune: Spice Wars, try making one Trooper and one Ranger unit. The Ranger gets a bonus of +5% power when attacking the same target as the trooper. Be sure to keep Rangers out of melee combat though. Other units also buff each other, and players can create a power
One way to gain resources and expand quickly is through trading and initiating treaties in Dune: Spice Wars. Normally, making non-aggression pacts with other factions requires researching the proper development first. However, if players choose Lady Jessica as one of their councilors, they begin with non-aggression pacts unlocked. This isn’t recommended for newer players though because the other councilors offer other abilities which may be more advantageous.
House Atreides’ biggest strength is the Landsraad, which is a collection of ruling houses within the empire. House Atreides will have the easiest time getting resolutions passed, and gain a higher Landsraad Standing, which gives them all sorts of bonuses, including a better CHOAM spice exchange rate, and more Hegemony, which is one of the ways to win the game. The biggest competitor to House Atreides is House Harkonnen, but they do not have nearly the influence that House Atreides does. The other factions in Dune: Spice Wars, the Smugglers, and the Fremen don't have much influence in the Landsraad at all. Pay special attention to the Charters. They are essentially goals to work towards, with Atreides having an advantage.
Players are free to approach Dune: Spice Wars in whatever way works best for them. To get the greatest results with House Atreides, know that combat will be mostly defensive in nature. Players will spend a lot of time on the Landsraad screen when issues come up for a vote, and they should try to work towards the charters within the Landsraad. Additionally, when players reach 10k Hegemony, they can ignore the charters prerequisites except for necessary Landsraad standing, which Atreides has a high amount of anyway.
Dune: Spice Wars is available on PC.
