Arrakis, the most important planet in Dune’s universe, acts as the central conflict zone for the four major factions in Dune: Spice Wars to take control of its resources. While the Imperial Houses of Atreides and Harkonnen, as well as The Smugglers busy themselves with politics and internal squabbles, the native Fremen see this as an opportunity to finally throw off the yoke of the Imperium and become masters of their own destiny. As such the Fremen know the planet well and can take advantage of its terrain, its denizens, and its secrets in their pursuit of freedom.
Here’s everything you should know about the Fremen in Dune: Spice Wars.
Fremen Faction Guide
Features and Abilities
The Fremen are the masters of Arrakis’ deserts and maximally take advantage of its terrain and resources without disturbing and upsetting the natural order of the planet. As such, the Fremen have a number of unique systems and notable omissions that best reflect their harmonious relationship with the sands of Arrakis.
Most notably, the Fremen completely do away with the Fuel Cells resource altogether and the clunky and loud Spice Harvesters are replaced by Spice Gatherer tents, which have a slightly lower rate of income, but don’t attract sandworms to disrupt operations. The lack of Fuel Cells means there’s one less resource to worry about and Ornithopters now cost more money, but don’t require fuel to operate. Finally, the Fremen have even less effect on the Landsraad than the Smugglers and can do little to affect resolutions signed by the council.
Being natives of Arrakis has its benefits though, with additional baseline manpower income, similar to that of the Harkonnens, and the Fremen benefit from additional unique technologies for a more distinct faction identity. Since they know the deserts so well, all Fremen units have a reduced supply drain when outside of friendly territory, allowing for longer lasting expeditions and raids. In addition, the Fremen can ally with neutral Sietches outside of their own territory, giving them incredible economic and diplomatic reach across the planet.
Perhaps the Fremen’s most exciting feature is their ability to use Thumper devices to attract sandworms and use them as methods of transportation. Where the other factions must rely on Fuel Cells and limited range Airfields to transport units from allied village to allied village, Fremen sandworm travel can virtually take them anywhere there’s desert, which gives their military incredible strategic reach and opens surprising avenues for maneuvers.
At the 5000 Hegemony threshold the Fremen will begin to generate Thumpers passively to refill their stocks of used Thumpers and they can also call on larger sandworms that can transport them to even greater distances. At the 10000 point threshold, all Fremen units gain additional strength based on the faction’s total Hegemony pool up to 30000.
Councilors
The first of the Fremen’s councilors is Chani Kynes. Choosing them grants the player a passive income of the intel resource and also gives the option to incite rebellions in villages in factions that are affected by certain Landsraad resolutions.
Stilgar Ben Fifrawi specializes in economic development and alliances with their ability granting regions with an allied neutral Sietch an additional building slot. Stilgar also increases the chance of discovering the Sietches of Arrakis every time the Fremen claim a new village.
Mother Ramallo gives the Fremen unprecedented strategic knowledge of the resources of Arrakis in that from the very start of a game the Fremen will automatically know where all Spice fields are located on the map. In addition to Mother Ramallo’s incredible vision, choosing this councilor also unlocks construction of the Shai-hulud temple for increased economic gain.
The Fremen’s fourth councilor, Otheym, focuses on their military granting all units the Sand Killers trait. This trait grants units a modest boost to their movement speed, while also granting a 20% strength boost and 2 points of armor to units that operate away from other friendly units.
Army Roster and Tactics
The Fremen way of war is most similar to the Smugglers’ battleplan in that both them and the Fremen rely heavily on timing and effective micro control to achieve a decisive victory. However, where the Smuggler army roster emphasizes harassment and an overall avoidance of pitched battle, the Fremen don’t shy away from a heavy fight and have tools at their disposal, including the all-important sandworms, to choose when and where they fight.
The basic Fremen Warrior is the faction’s bread-and-butter and has some unique elements that make it stand out from the rest of the basic frontline melee units of the other three factions. Warriors have 50% more health than all other basic frontline melee units, giving them inherent durability that most factions lack, even including the armored forces of the Atreides. To add to their resilience, Fremen Warriors inflict disorientation on their target, which reduces the target’s strength by 10% and increases the damage they receive by 10%, which perfectly sets them up for a strike from deadly Fremen Infiltrators (more on them later).
The only Fremen ranged unit is the Skirmisher, which is the only situational unit in the Fremen roster. Its main features are that it has camouflage, remaining invisible unless active in combat or close to an enemy, and that it does extra damage to units with armor, which is most effective against the Imperial Houses, as the Smugglers, just like the Fremen, don’t wear much armor, to begin with. Skirmishers are also an explosive unit, which deals area-of-effect damage on nearby units and has a chance to weaken armor on the target, which works a bit counterintuitively with their bonus damage against armored targets.
Undoubtedly the Fremen’s killer unit is the close quarters Infiltrator. This unit has camouflage and low health but is granted a whopping 80% damage boost on its first attack in combat. Infiltrators are great at striking from an unexpected direction against a weakened or engaged enemy unit and then fading back into the sands before their target has time to respond.
The Kulon Caravan is perhaps the most unique unit in the entirety of Dune: Spice Wars in that it isn’t a combat unit, but instead a mobile operating base. It comes with a hefty water cost, but it can act as a deployable base that can hide nearby Fremen units and grant them supplies. This fits perfectly into Fremen strategy (see below) even though it may seem like an awkward non-combat unit.
The Fremen’s elite unit, the Fedaykin, is a direct upgrade to the standard Fremen Warrior in their role as a heavy frontline fighter. On top of a decent health pool and modest armor, the Fedaykin have a special ability that grants them an additional 10% strength and 1 armor for every unit engaged with them to a maximum of 5. The more the Fedaykin face in battle, the stronger they get, so they’re the perfect lead element.
Strategy
In terms of victory conditions, the Fremen are definitely best suited for a military victory or domination through Hegemony, as their highly limited Landsraad options make it exceedingly difficult to win through a Charter. However, the Fremen are perfectly geared for the former victory conditions.
Regarding a Hegemony victory, the Fremen unique way of earning this resource is by increasing their total production of water. Essentially, if the Fremen play to establish a strong economy, based on water-rich resources, they can quickly gain plenty of Hegemony and take de facto control of Arrakis.
The Fremen’s emphasis on water also feeds into their militaristic tendencies, as you’ll need plenty of water to annex new villages, which will further increase water production, and the Fremen military will require water to maintain it, especially if you rely on Kulon Caravans to establish forward operating bases away from your territory.
The main feature of Fremen strategy is their ability to be unexpected and this largely comes from their stealth and their greatest asset – the sandworms. Sandworms give the Fremen unprecedented strategic range, allowing them to go almost anywhere with few limitations and strike from surprising angles. Fremen technology and units also give them plenty of resilience and capability of operating in harsh environments, somewhere no other faction will send their forces.
A clever trick for Fremen and their allied Sietches, is that when Sietches spawn raiding parties against specific faction-controlled villages is to sandworm in your own units behind this raider wave. Once the raiders make contact with a village, follow them up with your own forces for a powerful second wave.
You’ll definitely have to get creative in your strategic choices and playstyle as the Fremen. How will you liberate Arrakis from the greedy hands of the oppressors?
Dune: Spice Wars is available on PC.
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