Best Early Game Skills in Dune: Awakening

In Funcom's interpretation of the Dune Universe, players progress in a unique manner for a game of this genre. There are five different classes, each with three separate skill trees. Classes function in a fluid system, allowing players to place points into whatever they like.

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That is, if they've unlocked it. Stronger skills require questlines that get more and more difficult, culminating in the ones that unlock Capstone skills. With that in mind, we've highlighted the strongest ones that are available from the moment you unlock a class. Here are the best early game skills in Dune: Awakening.

Best Trooper Skills

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In Dune: Awakening, Troopers are your run-of-the-mill soldiers. They excel in shooting close to medium-range guns and utilizing gadgets to get the upper hand in combat. Here are their five strongest early game skills:

• Shigawire Claw (Active)- Their strongest early game skill, and candidate for the best in the entire game, is the Shigawire Claw, which is a grappling hook. This skill is powerful for two reasons: it is the most useful vertical traversal tool available in the early game, allowing you to climb much higher even with a low stamina pool; it staggers opponents in combat, making it valuable in the two main facets of the game.
• Ranged damage (Passive)- It might be boring and self-explanatory, but that doesn't make it any weaker. This is a raw % increase in all ranged damage dealt. It starts at 3%, goes up to 6% at the second level, and 9% at the third and final level.
• Center of Mass (Technique)- Techniques are powerful passive skills in Dune: Awakening. They need to be equipped in one of your three available Technique slots to work. Center of Mass is a strong early Trooper skill if you don't really trust in your headshot aim. It boosts your bodyshot damage by 10/15/20%, while reducing your headshot damage by 10% on all three levels.
• Suspensor Dash (Technique)- One of the first utility tool you'll unlock is a version of a suspensor belt. These do different things depending on their specific model, but they all revolve around letting you hover in the air. The Suspensor Dash technique allows you to perform an air dash while suspended, quite useful in tough climbs or in creative combat scenarios.
• Battle Hardened (Technique)- Our fifth and final recommendation for best early game Trooper skill is a third Technique. Battle Hardened passively reduces the cooldown of all skills when equipped. That is a 20/25/30% cooldown reduction, which makes it really impactful even as a first level skill.

Best Mentat Skills

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The Mentat is the closest option Dune: Awakening has to a Sniper class. Mentats excel in long distance engagements and lack any abilities to boost their close to melee-range prowess. Here are their best early game skills:

• Ranged Damage (Passive)- This is the exact same skill we highlighted in the Trooper tree. It boosts damage dealt by all ranged weapons by 3/6/9%, and it stacks with the Trooper skill, which is excellent if you have both classes unlocked.
• Marskman (Technique)- The Marksman technique is for those who felt offended by the Center of Mass suggestions because they are fully confident in their ability to hit heads. It boosts headshot damage by 10/15/20%, while reducing body shot damage by 3% on all levels.
• Exploit Weakness (Technique)- Whether you opted for the Marksman or Center of Mass technique, Exploit Weakness is the perfect choice to combo with it. Hitting an unshielded opponent with a ranged weapon will turn the hit area into a weakpoint, boosting ranged damage dealt to the that area by 30%.
• Rifle/Pistol Damage (Passive)- We're fusing these two skills into one option because you should choose the one that fits your playstyle better. If you prefer using Pistols, choose that one, and choose the other one if you prefer Rifles. They are a 5/10/15% damage boost for their respective weapon type, and they stack with previously chosen ranged damage boosts.
• Headshot Damage (Passive)- Doubling down for those who fully trust their aim, Headshot Damage is a passive 5/10/15% increase to all damage dealt to an enemy's head. And, you guessed it, it stacks with the Marksman Technique.

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Best Planetologist Skills

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Planetologists are the only class who has no combat benefits in Dune: Awakening. They excel in exploration and farming, which will likely be around half of your playtime in the game. Their best early game skills are:

• Suspensor Pad (Active)- The Suspensor Pad is an active ability that places a suspensor device under your feet, propelling you directly upwards and holding you there until you cancel the ability or until it runs out (15 seconds). Combined with the Shigawire Claw, it makes the strongest vertical traversal combo in the game, allowing you to climb mountains much faster and with much less stamina consumed.
• Cutteray Mining (Passive)- A boring but nearly mandatory skill. Until you unlock a Buggy, and even after you do if you're a solo player, all your mineral farming will be done via the Cutteray. This passive boosts how many resources you get from Cutteray mining by 10/15/20%, a massive increase for a minor investment.
• Deep Analysis (Passive)- When mining via a Cutteray, you can either hold left click for a slower, but more passive way of mining, or hold right click to go into analysis mode, allowing you to cut a line that shows up for a much quicker yield. Deep Analysis boosts the resources you get from analysis mode by 10/15/20%, and it stacks with Cutteray Mining.
• Fuel Efficient Driver (Passive)- Early on in your Dune: Awakening playthrough you will build the Sandbike, your very first vehicle. From that point onwards, vehicles will become your primary means of transportation, which makes fuel a precious resource. That's what makes Fuel Efficient Driver, a passive skill which reduces fuel usage by 15/20/25%, so powerful.
• Mountaineer (Passive)- One of the most crucial parts of early game exploration is climbing tall rocks to enable the launch of a Survey Probe. Even with the aforementioned skill combos, climbing is difficult. Mountaineer's passive reduction of stamina consumption while climbing (15/20/25%) makes it considerably easier.

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Best Bene Gesserit Skills

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Faithful to the books, Bene Gesserits are practitioners of the dark art of the Voice. Luckily, they make exceptions to their female-only rule in Dune: Awakening, so you can still join them even if you're a male character. Bene Gesserit skills allow you to manipulate enemies in combat and give you useful exploration tools.

• Sun Tolerance (Passive)- In Arrakis, the Sun is deadly. Prolonged exposure will give you Sun Stroke, which drastically raises the rate at which your hydration plummets. The Sun Tolerance passive reduces the sun stroke rate to 90 90/80/70%, allowing you to spend a lot more time in the Sun.
• Bindu Sprint (Active)- The Bindu Sprint is an active ability that allows you to run at super-humans speeds while draining your stamina. The bigger your stamina bar, the longer you'll run for. Before you get access to a Sandbike, the Bindu Sprint will be your strongest method of transporation. But even after you get access to vehicles, this sprint will remain a crucial tool in exploring vast areas like Imperial Stations.
• Ignore (Active)- Active Bene Gesserit combat abilities often make use of the Voice to manipulate enemies. The Ignore ability issues a command to a single target, making you invisible to them. This makes fights versus groups much easier, allowing you to make one of them entirely useless while you clear the others.
• Blade Damage (Passive)- Even if you're not a fan of melee combat, you will benefit a lot from using it. Shielded enemies will tank a lot of shots in the early game to kill, but will often die as soon as you penetrate their shields with a melee weapon. That's why the Bene Gesserit Blade Damage passive bonus (3/6/9%) is an excellent early game skill.
• Weirding Step (Active)- The best way to kill shielded enemies is to parry one of their melee attacks and follow it up with a heavy strike. That's if you aren't a Bene Gesserit, of course. The Weirding Step active ability teleports you behind an enemy target, forcing them to ignore you. This allows you a free heavy strike to penetrate their shield, which will often kill them in a single hit.

Best Swordmaster Skills

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The Swordmaster is to melee what the Trooper is to ranged weapons. Swordmasters excel at melee combat and also boast multiple ways boost stamina. Here are their five best early game skills in Dune Awakening:

• Blade Damage (Passive)- This is an exact copy of the Bene Gesserit skill, and it stacks with it. It boosts your damage with all bladed weapons by 3/6/9%, based on skill level.
• Dance Of Blades (Technique)- If you're investing into Swordmaster skills, we're going to guess you want to place a bigger focus on melee combat. If so, Dance of Blades is the strongest Technique you can get access to early. It boosts your attack with a melee weapon by 10/15/20% for 10 seconds following any kill with a melee weapon. Your weapon will glow green while the effect is in place.
• Optimized Hydration (Passive)- While water may seem scarce at first, it becomes much more readily available when you craft your first Blood Extractor and Blood Sack. From that point onwards, you'll frequently remain on the second or third threshold of hydration, boosting your stamina. Optimized Hydration is a passive skill that boosts how much stamina you get from those thresholds by 15/20/25%.
• Disciplined Breathing (Technique)- This powerful technique will boost your stamina recovery rate by 10/15/20%, making it a valuable tool in melee combat, and an equally valuable investment for climbing when you're exploring Arrakis.
• General Conditioning (Passive)- Our final recommendation is a third stamina-related skill. General Conditioning passive boosts your stamina by 15/20/25 points flat. Much like Disciplined Breathing, it will be useful in all facets of the game, boosting your combat prowess and your climbing ability.

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