Sub‑fiefs explained for Dune: Awakening: limits, refunds, best places to build, and moving a house without waste

A complete, patch‑current handbook to sub‑fiefs—how many you can own, how expansion and taxes work, where to plant your base, and how to relocate with minimal loss.

Arrakis rewards players who treat their base like a living system, not a statue. In Dune: Awakening, that system begins—and ultimately scales—with sub‑fiefs, the devices that claim land, define your build volume, and determine whether you’re paying taxes or living tax‑free. This guide walks you through the practical details: the hard limits on sub‑fiefs and staking, how refunds work when you dismantle, where to build at each stage, and how to move your base without wasting time or materials. Everything here reflects the systems as of the v1.1.20 cycle and the official “Building in Dune” overview.

Sub‑fief basics: two types, three total, shields, power, and tax

There are two sub‑fief consoles:

• Starter/Basic Sub‑Fief Console: small, cannot be expanded, and is not taxed.
• Advanced Sub‑Fief Console: larger, expandable with staking units, and subject to Imperial taxes once placed.

You can place up to three sub‑fief consoles total on a character, with a maximum of two starter/basic consoles (e.g., 3 advanced, or 2 basic + 1 advanced). That cap comes straight from Funcom’s building overview.

Your base survives thanks to a shield that depends on power and, for advanced sub‑fiefs, on keeping taxes paid; if taxes lapse or power fails, your shield drops and structures will start to decay.

Quick power tip: early on, Fuel Generators are the simplest way to keep an advanced sub‑fief powered while you scale up.

Claim size and expansion: how big is “big,” and what staking really adds

An Advanced Sub‑Fief claims a substantial 3D box by default. Community testing puts that box at roughly 10×10 foundations with ~14 walls of height, which is why placement height matters (more on that below).

You can expand an advanced sub‑fief in two orthogonal ways:

1. Horizontal Staking Units extend your footprint outward.
2. Vertical Staking Units extend both upwards and downwards from your console’s elevation.

The hard ceiling: you can add up to five horizontal and up to five vertical staking units per advanced claim. This 5×5 cap is documented in the community wiki and echoed in player reports.

Placement nuance that saves headaches:

• Vertical Staking Units must be placed inside your existing claim volume.
• Horizontal Staking Units are placed at the edge/outside to catch the next ring of tiles.

Height matters—place the console smartly

Because your vertical staking grows from the console’s height, experienced builders first raise a temporary platform (about 5–6 wall units up), place the console on it, and confirm the top clearance before committing. You’ll maximize the “usable headroom” above the console (and still gain some room below once you add vertical stakes).

Do not put the console on a floor you intend to delete later; if you remove the supporting piece, you can accidentally delete the console and unclaim the land. Place the console on actual ground or a permanent plinth.

Limits inside the box: build budgets you’ll actually hit

Beyond physical size, each sub‑fief tracks category budgets—think total building pieces, storage, production, and decor. As of early summer 2025, advanced sub‑fiefs commonly showed budgets around 2,500 building pieces, 75 storage, 40 production, 350 decoration, 35 doors, 30 lights, and 10 projections (your mileage may vary across patches—always check the console UI).

Taxes: what they cost, where to pay, and how to avoid them

• Who pays? Advanced sub‑fiefs pay recurring Solari taxes; basic sub‑fiefs do not. Taxes keep your shield authorized in Hagga and other non‑Deep Desert areas. You pay taxes in cities at designated Imperial representatives.
• How much? Players report a base rate roughly 2,500–4,000 Solari per cycle, with ~2,000 Solari added per staking expansion. Exact rates vary by zone and build size (and can change with patches), but these ballparks help you plan.
• How often? Community conversations describe a ~14‑day cycle with a grace period (e.g., six extra days) and sometimes proration when you place late in a period. Treat this as directional, not gospel; watch your console’s timer.
• Deep Desert exception: Deep Desert sub‑fiefs aren’t taxed, but the Coriolis Storm wipes the map and every base weekly—they’re meant to be temporary staging points.

Refund rules: how much you get back when you dismantle

Here’s the good news when you’re moving or iterating builds:

• 100% of materials are refunded when you dismantle building pieces and placeables you crafted—except the sub‑fief console itself. A Funcom community manager confirmed that the sub‑fief console refunds 50%.
• Staking units require care. If you remove the console, vertical/horizontal expansions tied to it are lost (no auto‑refund). Some players have reclaimed stakes by targeting the exact invisible placement spot with the construction tool before removing the console—treat this as a recovery tactic, not a guarantee.

Also note that buildings only start to decay if your active sub‑fief is removed or your power runs out. Keep the old claim powered while you transition and you won’t come back to dust.

Best places to build: early, mid, endgame—and what to avoid

Early game (Hagga Basin South)

For your first permanent base, build on rock near Griffin’s Reach/Tradepost in Hagga Basin South. You get safe terrain, vendors, contracts, and convenient early‑tier nodes without worm risk. Stay on rock, not far‑out dunes, to avoid sandworm drama near your foundation.

Why rock? Funcom’s overview explicitly warns that bases must be on solid land; in open desert, roaming sandworms will eventually destroy them. The same post adds you cannot claim too close to Trading Posts or Imperial Testing Stations and claims can’t overlap—so scout for spacing.

Midgame (Vermillius Gap and adjacent ridges)

Once you’re crafting in earnest, a second base on the western/north‑western edge of Vermillius Gap trades a long taxi ride for proximity to iron, carbon/steel inputs, aluminum, and Erythrite—and keeps a Tradepost in reach. Method’s two‑ and three‑base strategies lay out sensible placements here, depending on your pace and group size.

Endgame (edges toward Shield Wall; Deep Desert staging)

A third “forever” base on the Eastern Shield Wall puts you closer to later‑tier ores and beats flying back from the Deep Desert every single run. For pure Deep Desert operations, use temporary advanced sub‑fiefs as forward operating bases—fast to place, fast to break down, and always evacuated before the weekly wipe.

What to avoid everywhere: wide open sand, high‑traffic corridors (trial entrances, big POIs), and claim‑limit margins; all raise risk—of worms, performance hits, griefers, or simply failing to snap that last expansion stake due to proximity rules.

Moving house without waste (post‑1.1.20 method)

Relocating used to mean painstaking rebuilds. As of patch 1.1.20, the Solido Replicator can encode placeables and decorations along with structure, letting you copy a fully functional base and reconstruct it elsewhere (you still supply materials, but you’re no longer re‑placing every machine by hand).

Here’s a no‑loss moving checklist that works whether you’re shifting a few meters or crossing the map:

1. Stabilize the old base.
   • Refuel power so nothing decays mid‑move.
   • Pay taxes if your cycle is about to tick—don’t let the shield drop while you’re busy.
2. Scan the blueprint.
   • Use your Solido Replicator to encode the current base (now including placeables). Keep this item safe.
3. Reclaim stakes (optional but valuable).
   • Dismantle vertical/horizontal staking units before touching the console. If you lose track, try the “invisible stake” trick with your construction tool to pick them up—then confirm they’re in inventory.
4. Place a new sub‑fief first, then project.
   • Fly or drive to your new site, place the new console, and project your blueprint. You can hold two (even three) sub‑fiefs at once, so keeping the old one alive while you bring the new one online is totally fine.
5. Mind console elevation.
   • If you’re moving for more headroom, build a 5–6‑wall platform and place your console higher to maximize height before deploying stakes.
6. Reconnect power immediately.
   • Drop temporary Fuel Generators or route whatever grid you’ve planned so the shield never spends time down.
7. Shift storage last.
   • Move containers only once the new shield is up; with the current replicator you can also reproduce your storage plan quickly. (If you’re very risk‑averse, keep both bases powered during the handover.)
8. Collect refunds, then retire the old console.
   • Dismantle remaining placeables for 100% refunds; remove the old console last (expect 50% back from the console).
9. Set your new respawn/home.
   • Avoid the classic “respawn 1,500 km away in your underwear” mistake—make the new base your active home before you log out.

Micro‑move (sliding the claim a few meters): If you only need to “nudge” boundaries to clear unbuildable terrain, place a second console nearby, power it, and move machines/containers across the overlap. When satisfied, retire the old console. Because console refunds are only 50%, be sure the move is necessary before you scrap.

PvE security notes you can’t ignore

• Weekly Deep Desert wipes are non‑negotiable. Everything there is temporary. Build with speed and evacuation in mind.
• As of v1.1.20, NPCs can no longer damage player buildings in PvE areas, closing a griefing path that targeted unpowered bases. All the same, don’t leave shields down.
• Pentashield‑only builds (unsupported shield surfaces) were invalidated in 1.1.20; rebuild with proper supports or face collapse. Also, pillars can now be placed between walls, making legit reinforcement easier.

Practical placement heuristics (that survive patches)

• Rock beats sand. If the terrain around your doors is drum sand, move; Funcom’s overview makes clear that bases need solid land to outlast worm activity.
• Build where errands are short. Early Hagga bases by a Tradepost minimize taxi runs and banking trips. Later, Vermillius Gap and Eastern Shield Wall keep crafting tiers within a short hop.
• Leave stake room. Don’t jam your console against POIs, cliffs, or neighbors. Claims can’t overlap or sit too close to Tradeposts or Imperial Testing Stations; give yourself a buffer so all five horizontals will snap when you can afford them.
• Check budgets early. If your design hits the 2,500‑piece ceiling before your vision does, pivot the layout or add vertical volume with stakes.

TL;DR “Do this” list

• Own three sub‑fiefs max; at most two can be Basic. Use one Basic as a tax‑free utility bunker and Advanced for your main/guild hall.
• Expand to 5×5 (horizontal × vertical) stakes if you need it; place vertical inside the claim and horizontal at the edge.
• Dismantle everything for 100% mats except the console (50%). Reclaim stakes before removing the console.
• Use the post‑1.1.20 Replicator to copy full bases (with placeables) and rebuild elsewhere; keep both bases powered during the handoff.
• Build on rock near useful hubs (Hagga early; Vermillius/Shield Wall later). Keep Deep Desert bases temporary and evacuate before the weekly storm.

Final word

The fastest builders on Arrakis do three things relentlessly: plan console height, budget by category, and prototype with the Replicator. Do those and you’ll spend your play sessions crafting gear and flying sorties—not chasing missing materials or rebuilding melted walls.