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DuneII-devastator

The Devastator as seen in Dune II.

The Devastator is a vehicle used by House Harkonnen in the Dune II, Dune 2000 and Emperor: Battle for Dune video games.

File:Dune2KDevastator.jpg

The Devastator as seen in Dune 2000.

The first iteration of the Devastator (as seen in Dune II and 2000) that was used during the first war between Harkonnen, Atreides and Ordos was a massive tank with a fixed turret carrying two plasma cannons. It was extremely slow and vulnerable to Sandworms but had thick armour that allowed it to withstand plenty of returning fire from enemy weapons. It was also capable of self-destructing to cause a massive explosion in an attempt to take out nearby enemies.

EmperorDevastator

The Devastator as seen in Emperor: Battle for Dune.

The second iteration of the Devastator (as seen in Emperor: Battle for Dune) was used during the War of Assassins by House Harkonnen. Here, the Devastator is depicted as a "mech" that walked on three legs. Like its predecessor, it too was a slow, heavily-armoured vehicle capable of self-destructing and was armed with plasma cannons, but it also carried a missile launcher for use against lighter and more mobile threats such as infantry and Ornithopters. It was also capable of being transported by advanced, militarized versions of the Carryall, which made up for its extremely slow movement. The engine of this version of Devastator can be set to overload which results in a huge blast that destroys the machine and deals heavy damage to anything nearby. Both iterations are accesible to high tier only.

Behind the scenes[]

Both the Devastator Tank and the Devastator Walker are implied to run on atomic fuel and are categorized "Atomics", similar to the original Book series' Stone burner. Designer notes from Dune II indicate they were designed to circumvent the laws concerning atomic warfare[1] by being merely "atomic-powered", and not strictly using said atomic power for offensive purposes. Storyline-wise, the fact they create a nuclear explosion when destroyed was rationalised as merely an unfortunate side effect, and the existence of their deliberate self-destruct function was most likely kept secret.

  1. Westwood News & Notes Volume 1, number 2, page 3: ("I don't think putting atomic weapons in is a good idea") ... ("Well, we're not supposed to be able to do it, but there just might be a way....")
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