In Dune: Awakening, Arrakis might feel like a wild desert where you can claim land and do as you please. But even here, you can’t escape one truth: you have to pay taxes. It might not sound exciting, but keeping up with taxes is critical if you want to keep your base safe and your progress intact.
Here’s everything you need to know about how taxes work in Dune: Awakening, how to pay them, and how to avoid paying more than you have to.
How Taxes Work in Dune: Awakening
Every base you build in Dune: Awakening comes with taxes you owe the Empire. These taxes show up roughly every 12 to 14 days. For players with small bases, the cost is usually around 2,000 Solaris per cycle, which you can earn fairly quickly from missions or gathering.
The tax system isn’t there just to drain your funds—it’s meant to keep players logging in regularly. However, if you ignore it for too long, it can seriously hurt your game.
If you skip a payment, you get a grace period of about 12 days. After that, things get risky.
How to Check What You Owe
To see how much tax you owe, go to your Sub-Fief Console in your base. This console will show:
- How much you owe in total
- Any separate payments for each sub-fief (if you have more than one base)
- The exact date your next tax payment is due
Many players forget to check this console after setting up their base, which often leads to discovering a big overdue bill later on.
See Also: Learn how to find buried treasure in Dune: Awakening if you’re looking to quickly earn extra Solaris to cover your tax costs.
Where and How to Pay Your Taxes
Paying your taxes is pretty simple once you know where to go. You have two main places where you can pay:
- Arrakeen
- Harko Village
If you’re interested in other key locations and resources, take a look at how to get Opafire Gems in Dune: Awakening, which can help fund your travels and expenses.
Here’s how it works:
Traveling to the Cities
You have two ways to get to either city:
- Ornithopter: If you own an Ornithopter, you can fly directly to Arrakeen or Harko Village.
- Taxi Ornithopter: You can pay 2,500 Solaris for a one-way taxi ride from Tradeposts like Griffin’s Reach, Anvil, or Hagga Basin South. The good news is that the ride back to the Tradepost is free, so you won’t get stuck in the city without funds.
While taxis are convenient, using them too often can add up. Buying your own Ornithopter saves you money in the long run.
Finding the Tax Collector
Once you reach the city:
- In Arrakeen: Head to the northwestern room on the first floor of the main building. The Tax Collector’s desk will be marked on your map.
- In Harko Village: Go to the southeasternmost room on the first floor, where the Tax Collector is waiting behind a desk.
Simply talk to the Tax Collector and choose the option to pay your taxes.
See Also: If you run into problems while navigating the game, you may want to check out the controller issues fix for Dune: Awakening.
Paying Your Taxes
When speaking to the Tax Collector, you have two options:
- Pay taxes for each sub-fief separately
- Pay off your entire balance all at once
If you have more than one base, it’s usually easier to pay everything at once so you don’t have to keep returning to the city.
What Happens If You Don’t Pay?
Ignoring your taxes can be a big mistake:
- Grace Period: After your payment is overdue, there’s a short grace period where your base remains safe. You’ll get warning messages during this time.
- Losing Protection: If you still don’t pay after the grace period, the Sardaukar—the Emperor’s elite troops—will disable the shield around your base. Once that shield is gone:
- Your base is exposed to Arrakis’ dangerous environment
- Other players can raid your base, steal your supplies, and damage your structures.
So even if you’re low on Solaris, paying your taxes should always be a priority. Losing your base’s protection can wipe out hours or even weeks of progress.
How to Keep Your Taxes Low
If you want to avoid high tax bills:
- Keep your base small. Expanding your territory with Staking Units increases your tax costs.
- Avoid building extra bases unless you really need them. More bases mean more taxes.
- Team up with friends to share one base and split the tax costs.
While taxes do go up as you expand, they’re generally designed to be manageable. You shouldn’t feel like you’re being punished for playing the game.
If you’re exploring more of Arrakis’ challenges, check out the Test of Cunning in Dune: Awakening to sharpen your survival skills, or learn how to handle PVP situations and griefing issues that could threaten your bases.
Quick Tips to Remember
- Check your Sub-Fief Console often so you’re not surprised by a tax bill.
- Try to pay off all your taxes at once if you have multiple bases.
- Plan for taxi costs if you don’t have your own Ornithopter.
- Pay your taxes on time so your base stays protected.
Paying taxes might not sound exciting, but in Dune: Awakening, it’s an essential part of keeping your base safe and your empire growing. With a bit of planning and regular check-ins at your Sub-Fief Console, you’ll never have to worry about losing your hard-earned progress to the harsh sands of Arrakis—or the Emperor’s wrath.
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