Dune: Spice Wars - House Vernius of Ix

Dune: Spice Wars - House Vernius of Ix is a major add-on to the real-time strategy game Dune: Spice Wars released in 2023. The expansion was developed by the authors of the base game, namely Shiro Games studio.

Plot

In Dune: Spice Wars - House Vernius of Ix the main role is played by the titular House of Vernius, headed by Count Rhombur Vernius. After a failed assassination attempt on his life, he had to sacrifice part of his humanity and become a cyborg. Now his house secretly defies the will of the Emperor and the restrictions of the Bulterian Jihad, secretly researching forbidden self-learning machine technology.

Mechanics

Vernius stands out from other houses thanks to its unique knowledge and mechanics that reduce its dependence on water. In exchange for reduced consumption of this resource, as well as restrictions on expansion, it covers its lands with a so-called nodal network, ensuring better protection for its drones.

Since the main goal for victory is technological development, our house must have a high position in the Landsraad. The alliances we enter guarantee us various bonuses, including accelerated research. Although initially the fruits of the latter provide benefits to the factions allied with us, over time (or more precisely - after gaining 10,000 Hegemony points and sacrificing 20 standing points) we may conceal our technological progress.

Another factor distinguishing the Vernius from the rest of the houses is the way the districts operate in the main base. Each of them offers bonuses, which are determined by the buildings erected in them. As for military actions - we have a wide range of units at our disposal, led by close combat drones, flankers, anti-tank units, an invisible spaceship (Spirit) and a Folder Relay, which is a frigate with the ability to teleport quickly.

Heroes

Dune: Spice Wars - House Vernius of Ix expansion debuted with a free update to the base version of Dune: Spice Wars. Thanks to it, heroes appear on the map and they influence the military potential of a given faction, differentiated in terms of the bonuses they provide and the skills they have.

In the DLC, we are given such characters as C'tair Pilru, a specialist in guerrilla warfare, as well as Nuwa Cenva, who leads the secret Vernius project and has abilities that enhance the combat drones of this house.

Technical aspects

Dune: Spice Wars - House Vernius of Ix is a non-standalone expansion, so it requires the base version of the Dune: Spice Wars game to run.