Dune: Awakening incorporates RPG features such as thirst management and crafting alongside RPG-style character modification. Players will confront foes like Sardaukar patrols while also dealing with environmental challenges including sandstorms and quicksand. A pivotal aspect of the game is the class system, which allows players to customize their gameplay experience by merging different abilities into a singular playstyle.

• Overview
• Which Class Should You Start With?
• Ability Slots
• Trooper
• Mentat
• Bene Gesserit
• Swordmaster
• Planetologist

↖ Overview

Choosing the right class in Dune: Awakening can feel overwhelming, especially with five classes and a flexible system that allows mixing and matching. 

Key Points:

• 5 Classes: Four combat-focused classes (Trooper, Swordmaster, Benedigestate, Menntat) and one non-combat class (Planettologist).
• Flexible Progression: You can unlock all classes by visiting NPC trainers as you progress.
• Skill Points Limit: You'll earn up to 200 skill points, but this isn't enough to max out all abilities across all classes.
• Custom Playstyle: Combine abilities and passives from different classes to create a unique build.
• Respec Anytime: You can reset your skill points and redistribute them if you want to change your playstyle later.

↖ Which Class Should You Start With?

Your starting class doesn't lock you into one path forever, but it does shape your early-game experience. Here’s what you need to know before making your choice:

Beginner-Friendly Classes

• Trooper: Trainer is located in the first tier zone, making it the easiest combat class to access, Great for new players who want a straightforward damage-dealing option early on.
• Planettologist: A non-combat class that's also easy to unlock early, Focused on exploration and resource gathering rather than combat.

Advanced Options Classes

The other 3 combat classes: Swordmaster, Benedigestate, and Menntat —take longer to unlock. Starting with one of these classes can give you a head start on unique abilities, but you’ll need patience to access their trainers if you don’t pick them right away.

↖ Ability Slots

Mastering your class starts with understanding ability slots. You may equip three abilities, draw from any class to create a unique mix, and unlocks through use. Combining abilities from different classes is encouraged; however, there is no limit to how many abilities you can draw from different classes.

Skill Tree

Each class has a skill tree with three sub-trees, offering:

• Abilities: Triangular nodes with active effects.
• Passives: Circular nodes enhancing damage, healing, or resource efficiency.
• Techniques: Octagonal nodes with passive effects triggered by specific conditions.

Advanced Skills

At the top of the skill tree, you'll find advanced skills:

• Spice Infusion Required: Activate these powerful abilities by consuming enough spice.
• Ultimate Abilities: Generate significant power, trigger hunter seeker explosions, or enter super modes.

↖ Trooper

The Trooper is a combat-focused class designed for players who enjoy raw firepower and durability. If you prefer a more traditional shooter-oriented playstyle, this class will serve you well.

Strengths

• Heavy Weapon Specialization: Excels with scatter guns (shotguns), flamethrowers, and Vulcans.
• Mobility: Unique air dash ability using the Suspenser Belt for quick repositioning.
• Area Control: Wide range of grenades and AoE damage options.
• Shield Countering: Effective against shielded enemies with disruptors and gravity fields.

Abilities Breakdown

1. Shigawire Claw (Grappling Hook)

• What It Does: Grapple to enemies or terrain with momentum preservation.
• Why It's Great: Perfect for traversal across cliffs or deserts. It's a universally valuable skill for any build.
• Pro Tip: Even if Trooper isn't your main class, unlock this ability from their tactical tech tree!

2. Heavy Weapon Bonuses

• Scatter Guns & Flamethrowers: Increased body shot damage and movement speed while using heavy weapons.
• Disruptors: Ideal for breaking enemy shields, especially in gun-based builds.

3. Energy Capsule (Ultimate Ability)

• Effect: Boosts ranged damage significantly for 10 seconds.
• Combine With: Death from Above (bonus damage while airborne); Scatter gun or las gun for devastating one-shot kills.

4. Suspenser Blast (Ultimate Ability)

• What It Does: Releases a powerful AoE blast that slows enemies, drains resources, and disables them temporarily.
• When to Use: Perfect against heavy enemies or in crowded combat situations.

5. Grenade Options

Troopers have a wide arsenal of grenades for crowd control and damage:

Playstyle

In contrast with the more strategic and adaptable Mentat or Benegesserit, the Trooper is much more straightforward and aggressive. Less worrying about complex mechanics, focus on damage dealing and control of the battlefield.

Build Recommendations

↖ Mentat

The strategic pick-and-play class Mentor seems to operate differently from the rest; it's most effective when it is meticulously planned for, can readily adjust to change, and needs prep work. In comparison with other more mainstream classes, Mentat might feel neglected during beta testing, but its seasoned players stand out and earn a lot of value for their effort.

Key Featureas:

• Strategic Gameplay: Ideal for players who enjoy setting traps, ambushes, and controlling the battlefield.
• Ranged Combat Focus: Excels with rifles and pistols, offering bonuses to headshot damage and ranged attacks.
• Poison Damage: A rare ability to deal damage over time, even through enemy shields.
• Utility and Support: Offers team-wide buffs, decoys, and deployable turrets for tactical advantages.
• Anti-Bene Gesserit Abilities: Can resist mind-control commands, making it a strong counter in PvP scenarios.

Mentat Skill Trees and Abilities

The Mentat has 3 main skill trees: Assassination, Tactician, and Mental Calculus. Each tree provides distinct tools to enhance your playstyle. 

Assassination Tree

This tree focuses on high-damage ranged attacks and poison effects.

• Exposed Weakness: Creates a weak point on unshielded enemies for bonus damage (up to 50%).
• Poison Abilities: Apply damage over time to enemies, useful in tight spaces or prolonged fights.
• Hunter Seeker Ultimate: Control a drone to deal massive damage (1,200 base) with a long cooldown.

Tactician Tree

Designed for utility and control in combat.

• Shield Wall: Deploy waist-high cover for protection.
• Decoy Creation: Distract enemy AI or confuse inattentive players.
• Source of Power Ultimate: Boosts power regeneration for you and allies for 20 seconds—perfect for group content.

Mental Calculus Tree

Enhances ranged combat effectiveness with passive bonuses.

• Ranged Damage Buffs: Increases damage for rifles, pistols, and headshots.
• Shield Overcharge: Allows ranged attacks to bypass enemy shields under certain conditions.
• Iron Will: Resists Bene Gesserit voice commands, a lifesaver in PvP.

↖ Bene Gesserit

The strategic and tactical juxtaposition that is Bene Gesserit truly encapsulates a class of its own. Like a Star Wars Jedi, they may appear to the outside world as grapplers, but their melee enhancement skills sets them in a class of their own. Are you someone who is seeking unrestrained flexibility and assertiveness? Try out the agile strength laden Bene Gesserit.

Key Features:

• Command Abilities: Compel enemies to move or act against their will.
• Enhanced Mobility: Use Bindu Sprint to traverse areas or escape danger quickly.
• Melee Excellence: Execute powerful combos and blink behind enemies with Weirding Step.
• Supportive Utility: Boost health regeneration, resist sunstroke, and reduce incoming damage for allies.

Core Abilities and Playstyle

The Bene Gesserit excels in both combat and utility, making them a versatile choice for various scenarios. Here's a breakdown of their standout abilities:

1. Bindu Sprint: Grants a burst of speed in the direction you're facing. Escape dangerous situations like grenades or overwhelming enemies, Close gaps quickly for melee attacks, Traverse sand or reposition during combat.
2. Weirding Step: Blink behind an enemy and instantly enter melee range. High stamina cost but perfect for surprise attacks, Punish vulnerable enemies or finish duels in seconds.
3. Compel (Voice Ability):  Forces a target to walk toward you. Isolate backline targets like snipers or mentats, Set up perfect headshots for ranged attacks, Create openings for melee combos.
4. Spice Prescience: Become impervious to attacks for a short duration after a successful parry. Allows aggressive gameplay while staying defensive, Ideal for melee-focused builds.
5. Body Control Tree: Health regeneration bonuses and overheals, Resistance to sunstroke for extended outdoor encounters, Ultimate ability to reduce incoming damage and stagger for allies.

Playstyle

The Bene Gesserit thrives in melee-oriented setups but can adapt to ranged or hybrid builds.  If you enjoy a dynamic playstyle that combines agility, strategy, and raw power, the Bene Gesserit is an excellent choice. Their ability to control the battlefield, dominate in melee combat, and support allies makes them one of the most well-rounded classes. 

↖ Swordmaster

Melee-oriented video game warriors will love the explosive fury that comes from selecting the Swordmaster class. Up-close and personal with foes numerous tools at hand, players can quickly dispatch enemies with adrenaline fueled frantic pace. This makes selection easy for adrenaline addicts.

Key Features:

• Melee Combat Expertise: Focuses on dealing high melee damage with abilities that amplify blade and slow blade attacks.
• Synergy with Other Classes: Combines well with Benegesserit passives for increased health regeneration, self-healing, and bonus damage.
• Defensive Skills: Offers parries, damage mitigation, and ranged attack deflection for survivability in chaotic battles.
• Momentum-Based Playstyle: Rewards aggressive gameplay with abilities like Dance of Blades that boost damage after defeating enemies.
• Utility Abilities: Includes skills like Knee Charge for traversal and combat, as well as Crippling Strike to exhaust enemies' stamina.

Core Abilities

The Swordmaster comes equipped with a range of skills that allow for versatility and dominance in combat. 

Playstyle

• Stay Aggressive: Use abilities like Dance of Blades to chain kills and maintain momentum.
• Manage Stamina Wisely: Skills like Crippling Strike help drain enemy stamina, giving you an edge in prolonged fights.
• Use Deflection Strategically: Activate it when crossing open areas to avoid ranged damage.
• Combine Skills: Pair Inspiration with high-damage attacks like Knee Charge or Preient Strike for massive bursts of damage.
• Experiment with Synergies: Incorporate Benegesserit passives to enhance survivability and amplify your melee capabilities.

↖ Planetologist

The Planetologist is a class fixated on gathering intel and vehicles that, while not directly engaged with the combat, remains essential in bolstering effectiveness. This class, like all others, is not focused on combat and thus, offers rallying support for combat missions. Should you prefer resource gathering, exploration, and strategic contribution, this is class perfectly suited for you.

Key Features

• Resource Management: Boost yields from spice fields, water collection, and compactors.
• Exploration Tools: Survey areas, create sync charts, and sell maps for profit.
• Vehicle Enhancements: Reduce fuel consumption, heat generation, and improve vehicle efficiency.
• Power Pack Optimization: Recharge faster, reduce power consumption, and increase max power.
• Synergy with Other Classes: Combine abilities with Trooper for unique combat strategies.

Why Choose the Planetologist?

If you enjoy collecting resources and franc hopping through uninhabited, breathtaking landscapes without engaging in Player versus Player combat, this class is perfect for you. Unlike any other class, it perfectly emphasizes collaboration and offers players to actively engage in PvE.

Core Abilities

As with any game, the class selection in Dune: Awakening is most suited to the player's preferences. A player could choose to play as a Bene Gesserit and dominate others with mind games, a survivalist Fremen eager to explore the outside world and pulses with intrigue, or even a combat enthusiast choosing to play as a Sardaukar inspired warrior. The game has limitless customization options.

What about you? Do you wish to focus on one mentor's abilities, or intertwine different playstyles to create something completely new? Let us know in the comments!