The Buggy is your first proper multi-seater vehicle in Dune: Awakening. It’s slower than the Sandbike but much sturdier, offering space for passengers, combat add-ons, and extra cargo. Most importantly, it's an ore-farming machine.
It can be tempting to skip straight past the Buggy and rush for your ornithopter, and that's a fine idea, but the Buggy is going to be a staple farming machine for you throughout the entire game. It harvests ore at around 4-5x the rate of your Cutteray.
This guide explains how to unlock and craft your first Buggy, how to protect it, and how to make the most of it on Arrakis.
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How To Get Your First Buggy
To get access to the first Buggy, you’ll need to research the “Buggy Mk3” in the Vehicle branch of the tech tree. This will provide you with all the basic parts needed to build the first tier of the Buggy. From here, you can expand it, add modules and upgrade parts to Mk4, Mk5 and Mk6.
Once unlocked, you can craft the components at the Vehicle Fabricator and then assemble it like other vehicles using Welding Torch.
Pro Tip: You can get a free Buggy fairly early, provided you don’t mind a fixer-upper.
Buggy Crafting Materials
The Buggy is built using separate parts placed on the ground and assembled. Make sure you’ve got fuel ready as well.
Tools Needed
- 1x Welding Torch (Fabricator – 6x Copper Ingots)
Buggy Components (Vehicle Fabricator)
- 1x Buggy Chassis Mk3 (30x Steel Ingot + 21 x Advanced Servoks + 13x Cobalt Paste + 135x Water)
- 4x Buggy Tread Mk3 - (20 x Steel Ingot + 24 x Advanced Servoks + 16 x Cobalt Paste + 180x Water)
- 1x Buggy Engine Mk3 - (20 x Steel Ingot + 30 x Particle Capacitor + 13 x Cobalt Paste + 10 x Complex Machinery + 180x Water)
- 1x Buggy Hull Mk3 - (30x Steel Ingot + 20 x Advanced Servoks + 13x Cobalt Paste + 135x Water)
- 1x Buggy PSU Mk3 - (20x Steel Ingot + 20 x Particle Capacitor + 13x Cobalt Paste + 135x Water)
AND
- 1x Buggy Rear Mk3 - (30x Steel Ingot + 21 x Advanced Servoks + 13 x Armor Plating + 13x Cobalt Paste + 135x Water)
OR
- 1x Buggy Utility Rear Mk3 - (30x Steel Ingot + 20 x Advanced Servoks + 13 x Armor Plating + 13x Cobalt Paste + 135x Water)
Note: To use the Buggy Cutteray (which is the primary purpose of the Buggy) you will need the Buggy Utility Rear.
Place all the components on the ground, equip your Welding Torch, and assemble the vehicle. Then, insert the fuel by holding “F” and selecting the fuel option.
Pro seat: Always store an extra Medium Size Vehicle Fuel Cell in the vehicle storage compartment. While Small ones are fine, the Buggy and later the Ornithopter will burn much more fuel.
The Buggy seats two players and, once a Mk3 storage module is installed, it has storage space for 20 items and a volume of 1500 (up from the maximum of 15 slots for a Sandbike and a tiny 250 storage volume). It’s slower than the Sandbike but handles better on rough terrain.
Storing Your Buggy
Unlike the Sandbike, the Buggy is a not considered a 'light' vehicle, meaning it must be stored inside your base to be protected from the storm. It cannot be placed inside the Vehicle Backup Tool.
- Keep it sheltered - It doesn’t really matter how you do it, and it doesn’t have to be pretty. Just keep your Buggy out of the sun and away from the storm.
- Pentashield Doors - To keep the Buggy safe, store it inside, using a Pentashield to act as a door. These are fairly easy to make, just place the first section in one corner of your doorway and the other in the opposite corner. The game will do the rest.
- Easy road access - If you use your Buggy to mine ore, then make sure you can get it in and out of your base easily.
Upgrading Your Buggy
The Buggy can be upgraded using better parts or fitted with extras like storage, Cutteray, Boosters, and later a Rocket Launcher.. These are installed the same way you built the vehicle. Take parts off with the Welding Torch and swap them out with the new ones you want to place on the Buggy.
Some upgrades increase durability, others improve handling or fuel efficiency. Others, like the Cutteray, turn the Buggy into a mining machine, while the Rocket Launcher Mk5 turns it into a Deep Desert anti-air vehicle.
Here are some of the vehicle upgrades you'll want to consider for the Buggy:
- Buggy Booster Mk 3/4/5/6 - Gives you a speed boost at the cost of increased heat
- Buggy Storage Mk 3/4/5/6 - Adds a large storage capacity, when you mine ore with the Cutteray it will automatically feed into this storage
- Buggy Cutteray Mk 3/4/5 - Allows you to swap to the Cutteray seat and mine Ore. Can also be done by a second player
- Buggy Rocket Launcher Mk5/6 - Adds a rocket launcher to the buggy via the Rear Hull utility slot
- UNIQUE: Rattler Boost Module Mk 3/4/5/6 - Generates much less heat than the standard Buggy Booster
- UNIQUE: Bluddshot Buggy Engine Mk 3/4/5/6 - Slightly slower than the standard engine but much faster acceleration
- UNIQUE: Bigger Buggy Boot Mk 3/4/5/6 - A better version of the standard storage. At Mk 5, it has 10 slots more than the regular Mk5 storage
- UNIQUE: Focused Buggy Cutteray Mk4/5/6 - Higher yields than the standard Cutteray
Repairs
Like all vehicles, your Buggy will take damage over time.
- Repair – Use Welding Wire (crafted from scrap metal in the Fabricator). Switch the Welding Torch to repair mode and patch up damaged parts. Certain parts, like Engines, can be hard to “click,” so look to place the cursor just to the side of them to find the right spot.
- Replace – If a part is too damaged, swap it out with a new one. As parts get repaired repeatedly, their max durability drops slightly.
Planetologists get a bonus when repairing or operating vehicles, so consider that if you're using one. This is especially useful for repairing, with the Planetologist being able to “reduce” the max durability loss.
And that’s how to get a Buggy, store it, and keep it safe. You can see our other Vehicle Guides for Sandbike and Ornithopter content.
