Dune Awakening Dr. Jalanta Boss Guide: How to Beat Her in The Old Quarry (Update 1.4)

You beat Dune Awakening Dr. Jalanta by interrupting her self-healing: at the end of each phase she eats Suboids to regain health. Kill the Suboids marked in orange right away, and the supposedly endless boss goes down reliably.

With Update 1.4 (version 1.4.0.0 from May 19, 2026), Funcom brought the new scalable testing station The Old Quarry to Arrakis, and with it a boss many players get stuck on at first: Dr. Jalanta. The fight isn't hard because she soaks a lot of damage, but because she heals herself. If you don't understand her mechanic, you'll keep fighting a full health bar. This guide covers the route to the boss, her phases and the gear that gets her down safely.

🗺️ What Is The Old Quarry Testing Station?

The Old Quarry is one of the new testing stations from Update 1.4. According to the community wiki, it's an abandoned Water Shipper quarry on the outskirts of the Polar Sink. The same update added the new location Wind Pass. The dungeon has scalable difficulty: higher levels give better rewards. Since Update 1.5, new thresholds apply, which we break down in our Grade 5 guide.

Player reports say it's often more pleasant solo or as a duo than in a full group, because the enemy density in the rooms before the boss drags big teams out noticeably. New Landsraad missions arrived together with the new locations.

🧟 The Route to Dr. Jalanta

Before the boss room, you pass through two lock-in rooms where the doors close and several enemy waves spawn. You have to clear them to move on. Along the way you'll meet Abominations: slow, zombie-like creatures that hit hard in melee and throw rocks at you as soon as you're airborne.

In the lock-in rooms, enemies are already waiting, and two more waves spawn that you have to beat before the doors open again. You don't have to kill every enemy outside, but they get annoying if you leave them. The door to the boss room is sealed. According to player reports, you need a bladed weapon to cut it open and start the fight.

🩸 Dune Awakening Dr. Jalanta: Her Mechanics in Detail

At the start, four Abominations wait at her side. While they rush you, Dr. Jalanta keeps her distance and fires her drillshot rifle (three shots, then a reload). Dash to dodge these drill rounds. Player reports add a warning: if a drillshot hits you while your shield is down, it bores through and deals about 15% more damage. Since actions like shooting drop your shield, keep it up at the right moments. She can also jump away with a suspensor leap and has a melee shove.

The core of the fight is her three health phases. Each time you empty one, she becomes briefly invulnerable, and that's where the real problem starts: she calls her test subjects (Suboids) to her and eats them to heal. How much health she gets back depends directly on how many Suboids she manages to consume.

Player reports also say her three special abilities get stronger as the fight goes on, another reason to push through the phases quickly and not let her heal at all. The consumption takes a few seconds to charge and is telegraphed by orange energy waves around the Suboids' heads.

⚔️ How to Win: Interrupt the Healing

The whole fight comes down to one thing: kill the Suboids before she can eat them. As soon as the orange waves appear, those Suboids are your top priority. Every one you take out in time is health she doesn't get back. Let her feed, and she refills her bar and the fight drags on forever.

Useful, according to player reports: she randomly marks Suboids and empowers them. They turn red, faster and more aggressive. Keep the adds under control and you solve both problems at once. One more detail from player reports that trips up a lot of people: the adds keep attacking after the boss dies, until you're dead. You have to clear the boss and the remaining Suboids, or the fight resets.

🛡️ Recommended Gear

Against a scaling boss, your preparation matters more than your character level. Walk in unprepared and you'll wipe reliably. This gear has proven itself:

• Melee with area damage: a bladed weapon with a wide swing that hits several enemies shines here, because you hit the boss and Suboids at the same time. Swords and double blades work well.
• Ranged as backup: a shotgun or another ranged weapon for distance and for quickly cleaning up empowered adds.
• Spice buff: practically mandatory. It raises your damage, lowers skill cooldowns, speeds up stamina regeneration and shows enemy health bars. How to get spice efficiently is in our spice farming guide.
• Suspensor belt and supplies: mobility, plus enough water. Keep in mind: if a drillshot hits you mid-jump and you can't land and dodge, it gets deadly fast. Defensive mobility beats reckless hopping here.

📦 Rewards From The Old Quarry

The run is worth it for more than the boss. According to player reports, several large chests with schematics sit along the way, two on the normal route and one behind a short detour. The dungeon also has lore recordings and smaller chests scattered around. The boss drops a loot roll; as with every testing station, not every drop is a jackpot, but you'll always take the schematics.

👥 Solo, Duo or Group?

The Old Quarry can be played solo or in a group. Player reports say it's surprisingly quick alone or as a duo: a clean run often takes only about 7 to 8 minutes. In a full group of four, the enemy density in the rooms before the boss explodes, and the run can stretch to half an hour.

For pure farming, small is more efficient; in a group, coordinating the Suboid focus is what counts. Since Update 1.5, bosses in groups of three and four have less bonus health according to the patch notes, which shortens group boss fights.

🔁 The Fight in Short

• Keep your shield up and dash to dodge drillshots.
• Keep the adds down, empowered (red) ones first.
• End of a phase = kill the orange Suboids immediately, before she eats them.
• At the end, clear the boss and remaining adds together.

💡 Final Tips

Use the scalable difficulty: solo or as a duo, the run to the boss is much shorter than with four people. Keep your shield discipline high so the drillshots don't bore through, and always watch for the orange Suboids. Once your Suboid timing clicks, Dr. Jalanta goes down reliably, and the supposedly endless boss becomes a predictable fight. The gear from 1.4 also has a noticeable effect on ground PvP.

❓ Dune Awakening Dr. Jalanta FAQ

How do I interrupt Dr. Jalanta's healing?
At the end of each of her three phases, she calls Suboids and eats them to heal. Kill the Suboids marked in orange right away. Every one you take out is health she doesn't get back.

Where do I find Dr. Jalanta?
In the testing station "The Old Quarry", added with Update 1.4; according to the community wiki, it's on the outskirts of the Polar Sink. Player reports say you cut the boss room door open with a bladed weapon.

What's the best gear?
A bladed weapon with a wide swing (hits boss and Suboids), a shotgun as backup, a spice buff and a suspensor belt for mobility.

Solo or group?
Player reports say the run is often faster solo or as a duo, at around 7 to 8 minutes, than in a group of four, where enemy density rises sharply.

Location and changes checked against the official Funcom patch notes for Update 1.4.0.0 and Update 1.5; location and healing mechanic against the community wiki awakening.wiki. Details labeled as player reports aren't officially confirmed. Values can change with future patches, so double-check in the game if in doubt. Checked against Update 1.5 as of October 2026.