Set in Frank Herbert's iconic Dune universe, Dune: Spice Wars transports players to the desolate desert planet of Arrakis, where the most valuable commodities are water and a psychedelic powder known as Spice. Players can take control of a number of factions as they expand their territory in a bid to control the planet's resources, all while engaging in a complex diplomatic and economic system. Whether playing as the noble Atreides, the dreaded Harkonnens, or the legendary Fremen, players can enjoy a variety of play-styles in this sci-fi strategy game, with plenty of references to the source material to keep sci-fi fans entertained.
In order to expand their territories and establish dominance on the planes of Arrakis, players will need Authority. This resource accumulates over time and will enable factions to annex new territories. With insufficient Water and Authority, attacking new territories will be pointless since occupation will not be possible until these quotas are met. The further away a Village is from the faction's main base, the more Authority it will cost in order to annex it. Here's how players can gain this valuable resource.
Reducing Authority Costs
One of the primary ways in which players can increase their Authority is to construct buildings and research technologies which grant an Authority bonus. Most of these will reduce the overall cost of annexing new territories, rather than generating authority at a faster rate.
The Developments Local Dialect Studies and Outpost Logistics will reduce the cost of annexing new villages by 15% and 30% respectively. Meanwhile, the Sand Diplomacy Statecraft Development will increase the production of authority from Agents by +20%. Investing in these developments as early as possible will enable much faster expansion of neighboring territories during the early game. This will in turn produce higher amounts of resources and give the player a good advantage over their rivals.
Increasing Authority Generation
Authority will generate automatically over time, and is done so via the player's Agents and overall territory control. Having a negative relation with another faction will also increase the player's authority, so being at war can be good for business in the long run. Agents can produce increased Authority by being assigned to Arrakis Information tasks. This can be done via the Espionage panel by dragging the agent into an available slot within the Arrakis section. Additional tasks and missions may also appear for Agents to carry out which can potentially lead to small increases in Authority.
One of the faster ways players can generate Authority is via the construction of an Administrative Hall in the main base. This will increase Authority production by 30% as well as increase Solari production in Villages by +3. To construct the Administrative Hall, players will need to spend 1000 Solari and 500 Plascrete, which can be a difficult investment early on. It will also take 8 days to construct and cost the player around 10 Solari per day in Upkeep costs.
Players can also generate authority quickly by interacting with Water Seller Caravans. This will enable players to purchase authority at the expense of Solari. The base cost 500 Solari, though the amount of Authority the player will receive may vary depending on the state of the in-game economy.
Dune: Spice Wars is currently available on PC.