The definitive 1.1.20+ building playbook: how to anchor, power, and segment pentashields for weather‑proof roofs and raid‑smart doors under the new attachment rules.
Why shields—plural—still matter
In Dune: Awakening, you harden a base with two layers of protection:
- The base shield (from your Sub‑Fief console) is the invisible bubble that keeps your structure from decaying and mitigates environmental punishment—as long as it’s powered. The console itself consumes power and must sit near generators.
- Pentashield surfaces (the glowing energy panels you place as Horizontal roofs or Vertical walls) are solid, permission‑gated forcefields: they block movement unless you belong to the base, and (post‑fixes) they must be attached to proper supports. Used correctly, they let you seal weather out while shaping controllable entries for players and vehicles.
Understanding how these two systems interact—especially after the recent placement fixes—determines whether your base shrugs off a Coriolis squall or gets gutted by wind and opportunists.
What changed: the 1.1.10 → 1.1.20 “pentashield clean‑up”
If you built on day one and haven’t touched your base since, internal building rules changed. Here are the big ones that affect placement:
- Horizontal pentashields now require proper support. A long‑standing bug allowed “floating” horizontal fields; it’s gone. Unsupported pentashields (or those daisy‑chained only to other shields) collapse and must be rebuilt with wall/structure anchors. Large shield placements are also less likely to fail, and sandworms no longer attack projections.
- Better feedback and cleanup. You can highlight/demolish unpowered pentashields more reliably, the UI for large shields appears if you aim at their center, and overlap errors are clearer (you’ll be told an area is overlapping instead of just “can’t snap to sockets”).
Takeaway: After these patches, every corner of a pentashield needs a valid socket, and roof shields must touch walls. Build with that assumption; your layout will be future‑proof.
Pre‑placement check: location, storms, and “unsheltered” gear
- Choose a survivable footprint. Player‑maintained community docs summarize the key constraint: bases outside the Shield Wall are procedurally wiped each week when the Coriolis storm rolls through. If you want persistence, build inside the safe region or be prepared for weekly rebuilds.
- Respect “unsheltered” requirements. Higher‑tier wind turbines (omni and directional) explicitly require being unsheltered—you can’t park them under a roof shield. Plan stands and cabling outside your pentashield envelope.
- Sand and worms. A widely shared best practice is to anchor on rock or elevated foundations instead of open sand. Community commentary and dev fixes clarified that while sandworms shouldn’t attack projections now, foundations built on sand are still risky; don’t count on a shield to save a house sitting in dunes.
Power math you can trust (post‑fix)
You can’t storm‑proof if you brown out. Build your power plan with real numbers:
- Sub‑Fief Console draws 15 power.
- Fuel‑Powered Generator outputs 75 power and is available early.
- Wind Turbine (Omnidirectional) outputs 150 power (uses low‑grade lubricant).
- Wind Turbine (Directional) outputs 350 power (industrial lubricant).
For pentashields, the listed cost is 3 power per segment for both Horizontal and Vertical surfaces, but the grids differ:
- Horizontal uses wall‑sized tiles. Total power = width × length × 3.
- Vertical uses half‑wall units (twice as many segments per “wall” of height), so: Total power ≈ width × (height in walls × 2) × 3. Community testing also notes the game rounds vertical height up to the next half unit for power.
Example (worked out step by step): You plan a 4 × 6 horizontal roof.
4 × 6 = 24 segments; 24 × 3 = 72 power.
For a 4‑wide, 3‑walls‑tall vertical gate: height in half‑walls = 3 × 2 = 6; 4 × 6 = 24 segments; 24 × 3 = 72 power.
Tip: The Sub‑Fief “Power down in X days” timer reflects the earliest generator that will run dry. If you fuel sources unevenly, the console may warn of a near shutdown even when some units show days of runtime left. Refill generators from the Sub‑Fief console to equalize runtimes and remove false alarms.
Placement fundamentals after the fix
1) Always provide corner sockets
Post‑1.1.20, horizontal shields that don’t touch walls won’t place (and unsupported ones will fall when you log in). Make a perimeter of walls or pillars and snap all four corners to them. If you’re working on an airy design, you can place unbuilt wall holograms to create valid sockets, snap the pentashield, and then leave the walls unconstructed for a clean look.
2) Diagonal drag for large spans
When placing a large pentashield, click one corner, then the opposite diagonal corner to “stretch‑fit” the shield across the opening—a reliable technique for sprawling roofs.
3) Use triangle walls for angles and slopes
You can form diagonals or sloped lintels by snapping to triangle pieces. Where true diagonal shields are needed, attach to triangles or create stepped triangles as the support chain.
4) Read the placement UI
If a shield refuses to place, watch for the newer “overlapping” error (not just “can’t snap”). Large shields also expose their diegetic UI when you aim at the center; use that to find missed corners.
5) Segment very large roofs
The engine handles large surfaces better now, but you still get more consistent results by dividing huge spans into 2–3 panels with mid‑supports. It costs the same power per segment (no discount for “one big piece”), and segmentation makes later edits safer.
Storm‑proofing patterns that actually hold up
A) The “cap and curtain”
- Cap: A continuous Horizontal pentashield roof, snapped to all four walls, over your production wing.
- Curtain: Vertical panels across open balconies or machine bays, sized to half‑wall increments to avoid rounding waste. Power‑budget them explicitly (see formulas above).
B) Turbine standoff
Build a “power yard” outside the shielded envelope with turbine pads, then run your base under roof. Don’t try to pentashield turbines—both omni and directional require unsheltered placement.
C) Deep Desert reality check
If you insist on a Deep Desert outpost, assume it’s temporary. Weekly wipe rules still apply outside the Shield Wall, so save a blueprint and plan for rebuilds.
Entry control: doors, gates, and “airlocks” that respect the new rules
Pentashields are permission‑gated. By default, non‑members cannot pass through any pentashield surface, which makes them perfect for expanding doorways beyond frame sizes (e.g., a vehicle bay you seal with a Vertical pentashield).
Know your doors (and their durability)
- Atreides / Harkonnen Prudence Doors: 6,500 health—ideal as outer gates.
- CHOAM Prudence Door: 4,500 health—fine for interiors or secondary perimeters.
Vehicle note: A community‑verified gotcha—an Atreides Prudence Door is tall/wide enough for a ‘thopter to fit. If you don’t want fly‑ins, choose narrower doors, add an overhead beam, or seal the opening with a Vertical pentashield and a small personnel door adjacent.
The practical patterns
- Two‑stage airlock: Exterior Prudence Door → short vestibule → Vertical pentashield (permission‑gated) or a second Prudence Door. This throttles intruders if the outer door is breached and lets you hold the inner line while the outer gets repaired. (Pentashield power per the vertical formula.)
- Vehicle bay with a soft seal: Frame a wide bay with triangle walls at the corners; snap a Vertical pentashield as a roll‑down “screen.” Pair with a side personnel door so teammates don’t burn the big seal every time they walk through. (Use half‑wall heights to avoid rounding waste.)
- Overhang choke: A one‑tile Horizontal pentashield overhang above an exterior door deprives flyers of vertical clearance, and (since it must anchor to walls now) it doubles as a clean lintel that satisfies the attachment rule.
When to use pentashields instead of doors
- Bigger than a doorframe: Buggies and bulky fabricators don’t fit most doors; you’ll end up using a pentashield “screen” for the opening and relying on permissions for security.
Powering the envelope—generator mix and uptime planning
Early bases can run a full shielded production wing with one fuel generator (75) plus a smattering of light machines, but as you add pentashields you’ll graduate to omni (150) and directional (350) turbines. Both require lubricant (low‑grade for omni; industrial for directional) and must be outside. A common, efficient mix is:
- One directional (350) + one omni (150) = 500 power, enough to cover the Sub‑Fief (15), a dozen modest machines, and several shield panels (budget the panels explicitly). Keep fuel generators inside as backup for refills or short outages.
Maintenance rhythm: Paying your Imperial tax on time keeps your base shield legal; guides peg the cadence at roughly 12–14 days with a grace period (miss long enough and your base powers down). Make tax and “Refill all” a single ritual at the Sub‑Fief terminal to prevent both administrative and power lapses.
Troubleshooting: when shields won’t place, won’t power, or won’t light
- “Can’t snap / overlapping” during placement → You’re clipping a structure or missing a corner socket. Add temporary hologram walls as anchors; try snapping diagonally (corner‑to‑corner) for large spans; use triangle pieces for angles.
- Large shield “ghosts” or fails to register → Aim at the center to get the placement UI; try splitting the span into two panels. The 1.1.10 fix improved this, but big projections still prefer segmentation.
- Base shield says “inactive” despite fuel/tax paid → Players have reported transient bugs. Remedies include refueling from the Sub‑Fief (equalize timers), cycling power on idle stations, and (worst‑case) replacing the Sub‑Fief—be aware that this can affect staking units and boundaries. Also verify you’re not intersecting a newly defined no‑build zone, which can disable shields.
- Unsupported pentashields collapsed after patch → This is intended; horizontal shields must be attached to walls. Rebuild with valid supports or with unbuilt wall holograms as sockets.
A blueprint‑first workflow (save yourself from patch days)
Before any big renovation, save a blueprint with the Solido Replicator so you can re‑project your base quickly if something goes sideways (or if you’re rebuilding after a Deep Desert wipe). Third‑party editors and players note the replicator copies the layout (not your workstations), and PC sites recommend keeping a “backup base” blueprint for safety.
Quick loadouts: three proven layouts
- Compact shop (starter):
- Sub‑Fief (15), 1× Fuel Generator (75), 1× Omni Turbine (150).
- 4×6 Horizontal roof (72 power) + two 4×3 Vertical curtains (2 × 72 = 144 power).
- Total shield budget ≈ 216; machines ≈ 150; headroom ≈ 54. (Add a second omni if you expand.)
- Vehicle bay (mid‑game):
- Atreides/Harkonnen Prudence Door at personnel entrance; Vertical pentashield “screen” on the bay.
- Overhang with Horizontal lintel to block fly‑ins; if you still use Atreides wide doors, add a beam beneath to deny ‘thopter clearance.
- Production campus (clan):
- 1× Directional (350) + 2× Omni (2×150 = 300) → 650 power baseline.
- Divide the roof into three pentashield plates with interior wall columns for easy expansion; turbines outside, sheltered work under the cap.
Dos and don’ts (post‑fix)
- Do anchor every shield corner; don’t rely on shield‑to‑shield chains anymore.
- Do segment large roofs; don’t waste power by rounding a vertical shield taller than needed.
- Do keep turbines unsheltered; don’t try to nest them under a pentashield.
- Do equalize generator fuel from the Sub‑Fief; don’t trust a single unit’s “days left” figure.
- Do pay taxes on schedule; don’t treat the shield bubble as unconditional.
Final word
After 1.1.20, Dune: Awakening building is stricter—but better. Anchored corners, honest overlap checks, and clearer UI mean your pentashield roofs and screens will actually stay where you put them. Combine supported panels with permission‑gated gates, plan your power budget with real numbers, and back it all up with a Solido blueprint. That’s how you keep the storm outside—and everyone else at your door.
