Dune: Awakening offers massive build diversity once you hit the endgame, with unique weapons, specialized skills, and endgame armor sets that transform your gameplay. This guide covers the top 3 best late game builds in Dune: Awakening, showcasing their weapon loadouts, skills, passive abilities, and how to play them effectively in both PvE and PvP.
If you need to see the description of any skill in Dune: Awakening, be sure the check out the table at the bottom of the guide.
1. Best Late Game Hybrid Melee Build
The endgame melee build revolves around high mobility and punishing burst damage. This setup blends skills from the Swordmaster and Bene Gesserit trees, allowing fast gap-closing, stuns, and teleportation attacks. It excels at deleting enemies in both PvE labs and PvP skirmishes.
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- Trooper Skill Tree
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- Planetologist Skill Tree
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- Bene Gesserit Skill Tree
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- Swordmaster Skill Tree
1.1 Best Active Skills for Hybrid Melee Builds
- Shigawire Claw – Essential for pulling enemies closer or stunning them mid-combat.
- Knee Charge – Delivers massive poise damage, staggering enemies even through shields. Core opener for shield-breaking combos.
- Weirding Step – Teleports you behind an enemy for surprise heavy attacks.
- Retaliate – Counters enemy melee attacks with a devastating strike that deals heavy bleed damage.
1.2 Best Passive Skills for Hybrid Melee Builds
- Blade Damage – Increases all sword damage.
- Thrive on Danger – Grants health regen and reduced stamina costs when low on HP, keeping you alive in dangerous fights.
- Long Blade Damage – Boosts damage specifically for long blades.
- Optimized Hydration – Gives extra stamina when hydrated, crucial for chaining attacks and dodges.
- Poise Damage Reduction – Helps resist stagger effects during melee fights.
- Vitality – Raises max health for better survivability.
1.3 Best Weapons for Hybrid Melee Builds
- Jolt Sword – High base damage sword obtained via the Swordmaster questline. Deals powerful heavy attacks and enables two-hit kills against shielded enemies. Also excellent for parrying melee enemies with the Retaliate skill.
- Thufir’s Best — Often used for its poison damage that bypasses shields.
1.4 Best Armor & Equipment for Hybrid Melee Builds
- Scavenger Chestpiece – Provides lower stamina cost for dashes and higher mobility for gap closing.
- Holtzman Shield – Mark V or higher recommended for protecting against sudden ranged damage while approaching enemies.
- Full Suspensor Belt – Critical for traversing the desert and engaging or escaping fights quickly.
1.5 Playstyle Tips
- Start engagements with Knee Charge or Weirding Step to break shields or stagger enemies.
- Use Retaliate when melee enemies strike, turning their attack into a massive bleed counter-hit.
- Shigawire Claw can pull enemies into melee range or interrupt shielded targets preparing to attack.
- Stay mobile, using dashes and teleportation to avoid getting locked into corners during fights.
- Consider equipping a sniper rifle for flexible engagement options before closing in.
2. Best Late Game Ranged Sniper Build
This build focuses on maximizing long-range damage while maintaining safety through positioning and shield management. It’s ideal for players who prefer precision shooting and leveraging high-damage shots to quickly eliminate threats before they can engage in melee.
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- Trooper Skill Tree
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- Mentat Skill Tree
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- Planetologist Skill Tree
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- Bene Gesserit Skill Tree
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- Swordmaster Skill Tree
2.1 Best Active Skills for Ranged Sniper Builds
- Marksman – Increases headshot damage by up to 20% at max level.
- Exploit Weakness – Boosts damage further when hitting the same spot on unshielded enemies.
- Suspensor Dash – Provides additional mobility without consuming stamina, essential for repositioning during sniper duels or retreats.
- Iron Will – Helps avoid crowd control from Ben Jeserit voice abilities in PvP.
2.2 Best Passive Skills for Ranged Sniper Builds
- Ranged Damage – Increases all ranged weapon damage.
- Assassin Shot – Grants extra damage when attacking unaware enemies from behind.
- Suspensor Efficiency – Reduces power drain while hovering or dashing.
2.3 Best Weapons for Ranged Sniper Builds
- Dune Watcher Sniper Rifle – Single-shot sniper dealing high damage (~370 base damage) without spread issues, perfect for precision shots from long distances.
- Five-Finger Triple Shot Rifle – A powerful alternative offering triple poison shots (~271 base damage total). Best suited for medium-range engagements where spread is manageable.
- Penetrator – For shielded enemies, deals bleed damage and bypasses shields without the charge-up time required by other drill shots.
2.4 Best Armor & Equipment for Ranged Sniper Builds
- Kirab Heavy Jerkin Armor – Recommended for snipers to absorb ranged damage while maintaining safe distance from threats.
- Holtzman Shield – Required to mitigate incoming damage during engagements.
- Full Suspensor Belt – Allows vertical repositioning and evasive maneuvers.
2.5 Playstyle Tips
- Engage from high ground to avoid melee threats and maintain line-of-sight advantage.
- Target enemy shields first with Penetrator or grenades before switching to sniper shots for lethal hits.
- Use Suspensor Dash to evade return fire or reposition rapidly.
- Maintain distance and avoid being cornered by aggressive melee players.
- Capitalize on Assassin Shot by ambushing unaware targets whenever possible.
3. Best Late Game Heavy Weapon Solo Build
This build is perfect for solo players tackling endgame PvE labs or holding their own in PvP. It focuses on tanking damage while dealing massive bursts with heavy weapons and explosives.
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- Trooper Skill Tree
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- Mentat Skill Tree
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- Bene Gesserit Skill Tree
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- Swordmaster Skill Tree
3.1 Best Active Skills for Heavy Weapon Solo Builds
- Underslung Agility – Reduces the movement penalty when wielding heavy weapons.
- Energy Capsule – Boosts ranged damage by 35% for 10 seconds.
- Battle Hardened – Lowers cooldowns of Trooper abilities, allowing more frequent grenade and seeker usage.
- Gravity Field – Traps groups of enemies, setting them up for devastating rocket or cannon attacks.
- Underslung Agility – Keeps you mobile while carrying heavy weapons.
3.2 Best Passive Skills for Heavy Weapon Solo Builds
- Heavy Weapon Damage – Increases output from all heavy weapons.
- Field Maintenance – Helps prevent costly repairs on expensive gear.
- General Conditioning – Increases maximum stamina for longer fights and dodging.
3.3 Best Weapons for Heavy Weapon Solo Builds
- Arhun K-28 Lasgun – Deals high damage without consuming ammo, instead drawing power from your power pack. Excellent for sustained fights.
- Plasma Cannon – Heavy weapon for dealing AoE damage to groups of enemies, critical in lab waves.
- Regis Missile Launcher – Used in combination with grenades to obliterate grouped enemies during lab waves.
- Replica Pulse Sword – Backup melee weapon for when enemies get too close, capable of two-hit kills.
3.4 Best Armor & Equipment for Heavy Weapon Solo Builds
- CHOAM Heavy Armor – Offers 450 armor on the chest piece, providing strong survivability during intense fights.
- Holtzman Shield – Essential for tanking incoming damage.
- Power Pack Mk6 – Vital for sustaining energy-based weapons like the Las Gun and Plasma Cannon.
3.5 Playstyle Tips
- Start lab waves by throwing Gravity Field grenades to group enemies tightly.
- Follow up with missile salvos and plasma shots to quickly wipe out groups.
- Switch to the Replica Pulse Sword if enemies close in for melee combat.
- Manage your power levels to avoid running dry during long fights; always bring a Power Pack MK6.
- Use Battle Hardened to cycle grenades and seekers rapidly for constant crowd control.
4. Essential Utility Passives for All Builds
- Sun Tolerance – Reduces sunstroke risk while exploring the Deep Desert.
- Self-Healing – Boosts health recovery from bandages and medkits.
- Vehicle Repair – Helps reduce repair costs for high-tier vehicles.
- Fuel Efficient Pilot – Saves fuel when flying across Arrakis.
5. Where to Farm Endgame Weapons and Armor in Dune: Awakening
Many unique endgame weapons and armors come from specific POIs and dungeon locations. Here’s where to find some of the top gear featured in these builds:
- Five-Finger Triple Shot Rifle – Drops at Wreck of Euporia and Wreck of Delphis in Sheol, or via specific PvE dungeons like Edge of Acron.
- Jolt Sword – Reward from completing the Swordmaster questline.
- Thufir’s Best – Available as a drop at Rack of Euporia or through advanced Mentat quests.
- CHOAM Heavy Armor – Found in PvE dungeons and deep desert chests, notably Testing Stations in the Deep Desert safe zones.
- Dune Watcher Sniper Rifle – Occasionally available from Lansrad imports or testing stations during certain weeks.
Always check weekly rotations in the Deep Desert safe zones as many high-end items only appear during specific weeks or events.
Mentat Sniper
6. Best Capstone Abilities for Late Game Builds in Dune: Awakening
Capstone abilities are powerful ultimate unlocks that transform your playstyle and provide huge advantages in both PvE and PvP. This section explains the best capstone abilities in Dune: Awakening worth unlocking for each late game build, and how they fit into your overall strategy.
6.1 Best Capstone for Hybrid Melee Builds
- Prana Bindu Strikes (Bene Gesserit) – Allows your next sword strike to hit twice after using a Swordmaster ability. This pairs perfectly with the Jolt Sword, letting you deliver back-to-back heavy attacks for devastating burst damage. Ideal for hybrid melee builds focused on fast kills in PvP and PvE.
6.2 Best Capstones for Ranged Sniper Builds
- Reflective Reload (Trooper/Tactician) – Instantly reloads your weapon after throwing a grenade or seeker while under Spice Presence. Perfect for high-DPS ranged builds using weapons like the Dune Watcher Sniper Rifle or Five-Finger Triple Shot.
- Shield Overcharge (Mentat) – Temporarily boosts shield power and provides strong damage resistance during critical moments. Excellent for snipers needing to reposition or survive under pressure in PvP battles.
6.3 Best Capstone for Heavy Weapon Solo Builds
- Shield Overcharge (Mentat) – Also highly recommended for heavy builds, allowing you to tank more hits during intense PvE fights like labs or boss waves.
- Battlefield Inspiration (Trooper) – Boosts damage for you and nearby allies after using certain abilities. Great for solo players who want extra burst, or for group content where heavy AoE damage is crucial.
6.4 How to Unlock Capstone Abilities in Dune: Awakening
- Complete all quests from your chosen class trainer (basic and advanced). You can find the related quests on our site.
- Spend enough skill points to reach the end of that class’s skill tree.
- Finish any unique Pinnacle or Capstone quests provided by the trainer.
Once unlocked, your capstone ability becomes a cornerstone of your build, drastically improving your effectiveness in late game PvE and PvP.
7. List of all classes and their skills
| Skill | Skill Tree | Type | School (Class) | Skill Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bindu Dodge | Weirding Way | Passive | Bene Gesserit | When enough spice permeates your bloodstream, you become able to combine your prana-bindu training with your limited ability to see the future. After a successful parry, dart and blade attacks pass through you. |
| Bindu Sprint | Weirding Way | Ability | Bene Gesserit | You override your nervous system and musculature with an immense surge of activity, allowing you to run forward at an incredible speed.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Blade Damage | Weirding Way | Passive | Bene Gesserit | You know exactly where and how to strike with a blade to cause additional damage. |
| Compel | The Voice | Ability | Bene Gesserit | You use the Voice to force a target to your position from afar. Voice abilities require a short period for you to "register" your opponent before they can be used.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Ignore | The Voice | Ability | Bene Gesserit | You use the Voice to force your target to ignore you. For a short while, they will act as if you are completely invisible. Voice abilities require a short period for you to "register" your opponent before they can be used.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Litany Against Fear | Body Control | Ability | Bene Gesserit | Reciting this litany aloud will instantly hearten any allies nearby, as well as providing you with the strength to push through almost any attacks. You and your allies will have boosted damage mitigation and stagger resistance for the duration.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Manipulate Instability | Weirding Way | Technique | Bene Gesserit | Once an enemy is stunned, staggered or knocked back, you strike in vulnerable nerve endings to cause more damage.Techniques only take effect when equipped. |
| Metabolize Poison | Body Control | Technique | Bene Gesserit | You have developed your internal systems to the extent that any poison you take can quickly be catalyzed and removed from your system. Furthermore, attempts to poison you will not succeed - provided that you have enough stamina to fuel the process.Techniques only take effect when equipped. |
| Poison Tolerance | Body Control | Passive | Bene Gesserit | You have tuned your immune system to fight off toxins more effectively. Whenever you are poisoned it takes longer to reach damaging levels. |
| Prana-Bindu Stability | Body Control | Technique | Bene Gesserit | Through a combined focus of your nerves and muscles, you are able to resist being staggered by reducing all incoming poise damage.Techniques only take effect when equipped. |
| Prana-Bindu Strikes | Weirding Way | Ability | Bene Gesserit | You tap into your training to deliver a rapid series of powerful, painful strikes to enemies. This attack leaves them temporarily staggered.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Rapid Register | The Voice | Technique | Bene Gesserit | The Voice only works on targets who have been "registered". This technique allows you to focus on registering opponents more quickly, in order to use the Voice faster.Techniques only take effect when equipped. |
| Recovery | Body Control | Passive | Bene Gesserit | You are able to heal your body more effectively after suffering catastrophic injury - regenerating your health to a higher threshold than normal. |
| Screech | The Voice | Passive | Bene Gesserit | When enough spice permeates your bloodstream, your Voice becomes more powerful, causing those around your registered target to stagger under the force of your commands. |
| Self-Healing | Body Control | Passive | Bene Gesserit | You are strongly in touch with your own nervous and immune systems and are able to boost any healing that you perform yourself. |
| Short Blade Damage | Weirding Way | Passive | Bene Gesserit | You've been trained in the use of concealed blades such as daggers and slip-tips. You know precisely where to place these blades for maximum damage. |
| Stop | The Voice | Ability | Bene Gesserit | You use the Voice to stop your enemy from performing any actions for a brief period. Voice abilities require a short period for you to "register" your opponent before they can be used.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Sun Tolerance | Body Control | Passive | Bene Gesserit | You are able to slow the effects of direct sun exposure on Arrakis, by altering minor chemical reactions occurring in the layers of your own skin, thereby reducing the rate of Sunstroke buildup. |
| Trauma Recovery | Body Control | Technique | Bene Gesserit | You can use your own body to effectively heal catastrophic damage - improving both the rate at which healing occurs, and the amount.Techniques only take effect when equipped. |
| Vitality | Body Control | Passive | Bene Gesserit | Through careful tuning of your internal enzyme balance and musculature, you can increase your overall health. |
| Voice Training | The Voice | Passive | Bene Gesserit | Your rigorous training with the Voice allows you to reduce the time between uses. |
| Weirding Step | Weirding Way | Ability | Bene Gesserit | Combining the Voice and a limited form of Bindu Sprint - you force a single enemy to ignore you while moving with superhuman speed behind them. |
| Skill | Skill Tree | Type | School (Class) | Skill Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anti-gravity Mine | Tactician | Ability | Mentat | This mine, when triggered, uses a modified secondary phase Holtzman field to negate the effect of gravity in a spherical area. You can use the sphere to lift enemies or prevent fall damage during traversal.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Assassin's Shot | Assassination | Passive | Mentat | You do not squander an advantage in battle. Ever. You deal additional damage to your enemies when shooting them in the back. |
| Exploit Weakness | Mental Calculus | Technique | Mentat | You have learned to observe your enemies and predict their weaknesses based on a thousand minutiae. When you damage an unshielded enemy with a ranged weapon, the hit location becomes a weak point which you can target to increase the damage of subsequent attacks. Only one weak point may be visible at a time.Techniques only take effect when equipped. |
| Garment Keeper | Mental Calculus | Passive | Mentat | You are able to spot the flaws in any garment and see where it is most likely to tear first. This allows you to reinforce it, preventing wear and tear. Your garments maintain their durability for longer. |
| Gravity Mine | Tactician | Ability | Mentat | This mine, when triggered, uses a modified secondary phase Holtzman field to amplify the effect of gravity in a spherical area. You can use the sphere to slow enemies and drain their power or decrease the speed of projectiles.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Headshot Damage | Assassination | Passive | Mentat | As you train with ranged weapons, you become more proficient at shooting the vulnerable parts of the human body. Your headshot damage is increased. |
| Hunter-Seeker | Assassination | Ability | Mentat | You have been trained in the use of the Hunter-Seeker, a specialized assassination device used to kill enemies without causing alarm. You pilot a thin sliver of metal that, when it strikes, burrows inside the arteries of the enemy and causes them incredible pain and often, instant death. You are vulnerable while piloting the device.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Iron Will | Tactician | Technique | Mentat | You have developed such a strong sense of self, that you are able to alter your thought patterns to avoid the manipulations of the Bene Gesserit voice at the cost of stamina. At least, those of lesser practitioners.Techniques only take effect when equipped. |
| Marksman | Mental Calculus | Technique | Mentat | You are an expert at focusing on the most vulnerable part of the human body, the head. However your training to hit this smaller target has actually made you worse at putting darts into the center of gravity. Your headshot damage is increased, but your body shot damage is decreased.Techniques only take effect when equipped. |
| Pistol Damage | Mental Calculus | Passive | Mentat | Handfired weapons are usually less lethal the further away they are, but you have used your mental training to optimize your shots. All damage with pistol style weapons such as the Maula Pistol and Rafiq Subnose is increased. |
| Poison Capsule | Assassination | Ability | Mentat | You have a hidden dart dispenser that fires off a specially prepared capsule filled with poisonous spores. On impact, a cloud of poison spores appears, building poison on all who remain within.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Poison Mine | Assassination | Ability | Mentat | You can place a remotely triggered mine that, once triggered, releases a cloud of poisonous spores - stacking poison on all who stand within.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Poison Tooth | Assassination | Technique | Mentat | Installed by a Suk Doctor, you can activate this poison tooth when downed in combat, causing a cloud of poison mist that damages and poisons anybody nearby. The downside, of course, is that it damages you as well.Techniques only take effect when equipped. |
| Ranged Damage | Mental Calculus | Passive | Mentat | You use your considerable mental prowess to calculate the most impactful trajectories for your darts – increasing your damage with all ranged weapons. |
| Rifle Damage | Mental Calculus | Passive | Mentat | Learning to overcome the drop in trajectory that occurs when a firing rifles at long range, you have increased your lethality with rifles such as the Karpov 38 and JABAL Spitdart. All damage with these weapons is increased. |
| Shield Overcharge | Mental Calculus | Passive | Mentat | When your blood is saturated with the melange any ranged attack on a shield will reveal a vulnerability in the Holtzman shield. Continual attacks against this vulnerability will overcharge the enemy shield, causing it to drain their power pack more quickly. |
| Shield Wall | Tactician | Ability | Mentat | You deploy a half-height holtzman shield that provides cover during combat for you and your allies. It will also slow enemies who attempt to pass through it - giving you time to take them down.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Solido Decoy | Tactician | Ability | Mentat | You use a miniature solido projector to project a near-perfect image of yourself onto the battlefield. Triggering it again will force the projection to move forward, fooling enemies into attacking.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Source of Power | Tactician | Ability | Mentat | You place out a powerful generator that continuously regenerates power for nearby allies. Though the device uses a form of nuclear fission, it is small enough to be safe provided that it is given adequate time to cool between uses.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Stunner | Assassination | Ability | Mentat | You have a hidden dart dispenser that fires off a specially prepared sedative tipped dart. On impact, this dart stuns the enemy, locking their muscles and rendering them unable to move or attack.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Tailoring | Mental Calculus | Passive | Mentat | Your skills with a needle are legendary. Every time you repair a garment, you reduce the maximum durability damage the repair would cause. |
| The Sentinel | Mental Calculus | Ability | Mentat | You deploy a suspensor buoyed dart projector that uses motion detection to cover a field of fire. Trigger a second time to activate.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Skill | Skill Tree | Type | School (Class) | Skill Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cartographer | Explorer | Passive | Planetologist | You can now create sinkcharts of the areas revealed by your surveys.Create sinkcharts from the Map Screen, but you will require a blank sinkchart in your inventory. |
| Compaction | Scientist | Passive | Planetologist | You've made minor adjustments to the way you use the compactor that improves the efficiency of its resource yields. |
| Conservation of Energy | Scientist | Technique | Planetologist | When you focus your efforts, you can reduce the power drain of every action that you take.Techniques only take effect when equipped. |
| Cutteray Mining | Scientist | Passive | Planetologist | Your understanding of structural and mineral composition leads to an increase in the resource yield when using a cutteray. |
| Deep Analysis | Scientist | Passive | Planetologist | You develop an understanding of analysis mode mining with the cutteray. Your bonus yields are increased. |
| Dew Gathering | Scientist | Passive | Planetologist | Careful manipulation of the Holtzman field on the dew reaper allows you to increase the water yield. |
| Fuel Efficient Driver | Mechanic | Passive | Planetologist | Driving groundcars has taught you several techniques for fuel conservation while exploring. This applies to all types of ground vehicles. |
| Fuel Efficient Pilot | Mechanic | Passive | Planetologist | Piloting ornithopters has taught you several techniques for fuel conservation while exploring. This applies to all types of ornithopters. |
| Heat Management | Mechanic | Passive | Planetologist | While under the influence of large amounts of melange, you can instinctively sense where and how to shift a vehicle to reduce heat buildup. |
| Mountaineer | Explorer | Passive | Planetologist | You are better at finding handholds and footholds while climbing, reducing your stamina drain. |
| Overcharge | Scientist | Passive | Planetologist | You have learned to push your power pack beyond its limits, allowing you to increase the maximum power capacity. |
| Rerouting | Scientist | Passive | Planetologist | Tinkering with your power pack allows you to increase the recharge rate. |
| Sandcrawler Yield | Mechanic | Passive | Planetologist | Your understanding of sand and the vacuum static action of the sandcrawler allows you to harvest spice more efficiently. |
| Scanner Mastery | Explorer | Passive | Planetologist | You have become proficient with the hand scanner - improving the range of detection. |
| Spice Surveyor | Explorer | Passive | Planetologist | Through research and field experience, you've learned to recognize the density of a spice bed from surveys. This ability is of most use in the Deep Desert. |
| Stillsuit Seals | Explorer | Passive | Planetologist | Though you have no formal training with the stillsuit, you’ve adjusted several seals and tabs that must be properly fitted for the suit to act with optimal efficiency. Your water reclamation while wearing a stillsuit is improved. |
| Suspensor Pad | Explorer | Ability | Planetologist | Drop a suspensor device that launches yourself (and targets) into the air. Useful for navigation and traversal.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Vehicle Mining | Mechanic | Passive | Planetologist | Applying your understanding of structural and mineral composition to heavier vehicle machinery results in a larger resource yield. |
| Vehicle Repair | Mechanic | Passive | Planetologist | Your field training as a mechanic reduces the maximum durability loss of vehicle components when performing repairs. |
| Vehicle Scanning | Mechanic | Passive | Planetologist | You have become proficient with vehicle mounted scanners - improving the range of detection. |
| Skill | Skill Tree | Type | School (Class) | Skill Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anti-gravity Field | Suspensor Training | Ability | Trooper | This device, when thrown, uses a modified secondary phase Holtzman field to negate the effect of gravity in a spherical area. You can use the sphere to lift enemies or prevent fall damage during traversal.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Assault Seeker | Tactical Tech | Ability | Trooper | A modified hunter seeker that will fly in a direct line and explode upon contact with anything. Can be triggered to explode with a second activation. Useful for situations where a thrown grenade is not precise enough.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Attractor Field | Tactical Tech | Ability | Trooper | Originally used as a training device to offset poor aim, the Attractor Field uses a modified Holtzman field to draw attacks towards it’s center. Attach it to an enemy and any shot fired into the field will redirect into their center of mass.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Battle Hardened | Tactical Tech | Technique | Trooper | The inexperienced and untrained will flinch in the heat of battle, panicked and unable to remember their basic training. Trooper training prepares you for the realities of combat and allows you to use your abilities more often.Techniques only take effect when equipped. |
| Center of Mass | Gunnery | Technique | Trooper | You've been taught to shoot where you are most likely to hit and you do it by instinct - increasing damage that hits the body, but reducing your damage via headshots.Techniques only take effect when equipped. |
| Collapse Grenade | Suspensor Training | Ability | Trooper | This device, when thrown, uses a modified secondary phase Holtzman field to attract anybody within a spherical area. Those inside the sphere are drawn together and temporarily stunned, leaving them open to your area of effect attacks.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Death from Above | Suspensor Training | Technique | Trooper | While you are suspended in the air, any attacks using weapons will have a damage bonus.Techniques only take effect when equipped. |
| Disruptor Damage | Gunnery | Passive | Trooper | Using steady hands you are able to guide the disruptor's rapid fire darts more effectively to their target, thus increasing your damage. |
| Energy Capsule | Gunnery | Ability | Trooper | You pop an energy capsule, which fills you with concoction of neurostimulants and pain dampeners. You become detached allowing better targeting and ranged damage.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Explosive Grenade | Tactical Tech | Ability | Trooper | You throw a grenade with an explosive core that detonates in spray of shrapnel, damaging anybody within the radius. Though the shrapnel is incapable of penetrating a shield, the shockwave of the blast can still stagger a shielded enemy.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Field Maintenance | Gunnery | Passive | Trooper | You know how to strip down and clean your weaponry, slowing the durability cost of firing weapons and tools in hostile environments. |
| Gravity Field | Suspensor Training | Ability | Trooper | This device, when thrown, uses a modified secondary phase Holtzman field to amplify the effect of gravity in a spherical area. You can use the sphere to slow enemies and drain their power or decrease the speed of projectiles.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Gunsmith | Gunnery | Passive | Trooper | You are skilled in the repair of weapons and tools reducing the maximum durability cost of each repair. |
| Heavy Weapon Damage | Gunnery | Passive | Trooper | The bigger the gun, the bigger the mess. Your skill with heavy weapons such as the Flamethrower, Lasgun and Vulcan GAU-92 leads to more damage when you use them. |
| Ranged Damage | Gunnery | Passive | Trooper | Your time spent practicing your aim leads to bonus damage using all ranged weapons. |
| Reflexive Reload | Tactical Tech | Passive | Trooper | When your blood is saturated with the melange, the actions that you have performed a thousand times become effortless. Whenever you throw a grenade or drop a mine, you instantly reload your current weapon – your hands moving before your mind can even think. |
| Scattergun Damage | Gunnery | Passive | Trooper | You have mastered the spread patterns of the pellet firing GRDA 44 and Drillshot FK7 scatterguns, thus improving your damage with these weapons. |
| Shigawire Claw | Tactical Tech | Ability | Trooper | You use a wrist-mounted launcher to fire off a claw attached to a cable of shigawire. The extreme tensile strength of shigawire launches you in the direction of the cable. It can also be used to stagger opponents during combat.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Suspensor Blast | Suspensor Training | Ability | Trooper | You manipulate the suspensor field generated by your suspensor belt - forcing it to explode around you with extreme force, pushing enemies back, damaging them, and impairing their movement for a short time. You can hold the ability to increase the damage dealt and time the blast release.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Suspensor Dash | Suspensor Training | Technique | Trooper | Your training with suspensors allows you to manipulate your flow of movement. Press the Dash button while suspended to perform a mid-air dash.Techniques only take effect when equipped. |
| Suspensor Efficiency | Suspensor Training | Passive | Trooper | Your practice with the suspensor has taught you how to position yourself in the air to remain aerodynamic - reducing the power drain on your suspensor belts. |
| Underslung Agility | Gunnery | Technique | Trooper | You have trained yourself to move faster while using heavy weapons such as the Flamethrower, Lasgun or Vulcan GAU-92.Techniques only take effect when equipped. |
| Skill | Skill Tree | Type | School (Class) | Skill Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blade Damage | The Blade | Passive | Swordmaster | You've learned the difference between a cut and a slice, a point and an edge. You do more damage with bladed weapons. |
| Bleed Tolerance | The Will | Passive | Swordmaster | You have become harder to bleed due to a combination of training and resistance. Bleeding status takes a longer time to build on you. |
| Confidence | The Will | Passive | Swordmaster | Every time you attempt a difficult attack like a sprint attack or a slow blade, you gain increased confidence, which reflects as damage mitigation. |
| Crippling Strike | The Way | Ability | Swordmaster | You move in, striking at a low angle to cut your enemies below the knees. For a while after being hit, your enemies are slowed and their dashes require more stamina. While not the most honorable of attacks, the swordmaster understands that there is a difference between a duel and a war.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Dance of Blades | The Blade | Technique | Swordmaster | Defeating an enemy with a blade empowers your next attack with the blade for a brief period. The skilled swordmaster dances between opponents, keeping their damage high.Techniques only take effect when equipped. |
| Deflection | The Will | Ability | Swordmaster | You enter a defensive stance, deflecting darts that are fired at you. This ability lasts as long as your stamina holds out.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Desert Conditioning | The Way | Passive | Swordmaster | You have trained yourself to deal with the rigors of the deserts, decreasing your max stamina loss while dehydrated. |
| Disciplined Breathing | The Way | Technique | Swordmaster | When you focus on your technique and breathing, you can recuperate your stamina reserves more quickly.Techniques only take effect when equipped. |
| Eye of the Storm | The Blade | Ability | Swordmaster | You pirouette with your blade, becoming a whirlwind of piercing damage that cuts everything around you. While seemingly chaotic, the swordmaster maintains calm - the eye at the heart of the storm.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Field Medicine | The Way | Passive | Swordmaster | You recover more health immediately when using healkits due to your excellent conditioning. |
| Foil | The Blade | Ability | Swordmaster | You enter a heightened state of awareness and when next attacked in melee, you parry and counterattack with a precise strike that damages their arm and numbs them. For a short period of time, their damage output is reduced.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| General Conditioning | The Way | Passive | Swordmaster | Your extensive physical training has increased your maximum stamina. |
| Inspiration | The Way | Ability | Swordmaster | You inspire yourself and your companions to greater heights, increasing the damage of your melee attacks.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Knee Charge | The Way | Ability | Swordmaster | You propel yourself forward into battle with a terrific knee charge into the enemy. Deals damage and severely staggers your opponent, but costs stamina.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Long Blade Damage | The Blade | Passive | Swordmaster | Your training with long blades such as swords and rapiers gives you increased damage with those weapons. |
| Optimized Hydration | The Way | Passive | Swordmaster | Your body knows how to make optimal use of water, so you have additional stamina reserves when well-hydrated. |
| Precise Parry | The Blade | Passive | Swordmaster | When your blood is infused with melange, your parries expose additional weaknesses in the defense of your enemies. Their ability to mitigate damage is decreased. |
| Prescient Strike | The Way | Passive | Swordmaster | When your blood is saturated with melange, you see multiple ways in which to damage your enemies. After using any swordmaster ability, your next strike will strike twice, reflecting two possible versions of the future converging in a single spacetime. |
| Reckless Lunge | The Will | Technique | Swordmaster | Lunging at an enemy will often provide them with an easy opening to attack, but you have learned to turn a lunge into an advantage. Sprint attacks provide bonus damage mitigation for a short while after a lunge.Techniques only take effect when equipped. |
| Retaliate | The Blade | Ability | Swordmaster | You enter a heightened state of awareness and when next attacked in melee, you parry and counterattack with a savage riposte that bleeds and damages your enemy.Abilities must be equipped and activated from the ability bar. |
| Solid Stance | The Will | Passive | Swordmaster | As your training increases, you have learned to avoid being knocked around by enemy attacks. You can take more poise damage before being staggered. |
| Thrive on Danger | The Will | Technique | Swordmaster | When you are low on health, you regenerate health faster, receive less poise damage, and reduce all stamina costs for actions.Techniques only take effect when equipped. |
Best Guides for Dune: Awakening
