At the beginning of Dune: Awakening, you’re able to select one of four classes for your character, with another being available later on in the game. Your class determines the ability trees you have access to, your stats, and certain playstyles that mesh better with specific classes. While you can make any class into what you want, it’s most beneficial to choose a class that you can scale properly and efficiently as you advance in Dune: Awakening.

There are some classes that are best for beginners, but these classes won’t benefit most players in the long run. If you’re just looking for the best overall classes in Dune: Awakening, then you can check out the guide below to see a full class tier list and explanations for why each class is ranked where it is.

Dune: Awakening class tier list

One of the most important aspects of the class system to remember is that you’re not locked to your class’s ability trees for the entire game. You can eventually interact with “trainers” in Dune: Awakening that allow you to unlock other classes’ ability trees, giving you the chance to create a new build entirely or add some abilities you previously didn’t have access to.

However, not all trainers are accessible at the same time in Dune: Awakening. You can find some trainers early on in your journey, while others can’t be found until much later. So, if you’re looking for the optimal class route, you want to select a class that has a late-game trainer unlock, as this gives you that class’s ability trees right away.

Of course, this doesn’t always apply when it comes to picking a class, as one or two classes in Dune: Awakening are strong enough on their own that they don’t necessarily need abilities from other trees.

With all of that in mind, here’s our current class tier list for Dune: Awakening:

Tier	Class
S	Swordmaster, Bene Gesserit
A	Mentat, Planetologist
B	Trooper

Naturally, there is quite a lot of room for debate with this tier list, as the classes in Dune: Awakening are all varied and can appeal to different players. However, we have a few concrete reasons for our rankings, which we’ll outline below.

S Tier

In S tier, we have Swordmaster and Bene Gesserit. Starting with Swordmaster, this is arguably the best class in all of Dune: Awakening, regardless of your skill level, experience, etc.

Swordmaster begins with the Knee Charge ability, which can absolutely shred through enemies at close range in the early game and maintains its value in the late game as well. Knee Charge makes going through camps and other enemy spots an absolute breeze, allowing you to save ammunition and healing items when they’re most crucial to have.

As for Bene Gesserit, this is one class you’ll want to use if you’re an experienced survival player or you’ve gone through Dune: Awakening a time or two already. The Bene Gesserit begins with the Voice: Compel ability, and the class emphasizes a psychological approach to combat rather than a physical one. This can make the early game a bit challenging, as you need to utilize your wits and avoid relying on abilities for every situation. However, if you can master the Bene Gesserit class, it’s incredibly powerful as you progress.

A Tier

Moving on to the A tier, we have selected Mentat and Planetologist. The Mentat class could make an argument for the S tier, while Planetologist is just an all-around solid class that’s good, not great,t for the duration of Dune: Awakening.

Mentat begins with The Sentinel ability, which is a terrific way to fight enemies without your character having to do much. The ability places a turret down and allows you to deal damage and get out of sticky situations with ease. One of the more intriguing parts of the Mentat, though, is its access to poison damage, which scales particularly well with ranged weapons.

As for the Planetologist, this technically isn’t a starting class, but it’s still a class you can unlock as you approach the late game. The Planetologist is arguably the best late-game class, but it’s only in A tier, seeing as you can’t use it for a majority of your playthrough. The class excels at base building, resource management, and other survival aspects of the game. It’s seen as a utility class that doesn’t have a major focus on combat, but you’ll still have loads of combat abilities to access in the late game in addition to your new abilities from the Planetologist’s trees.

B Tier

Finally, in the B tier is the Trooper. This ranking is slightly unfair, as the Trooper is actually a highly enjoyable class with a ton of use, especially in the early game. The only reason we put it in B tier is because you can access the Trooper’s trainer early on in Dune: Awakening, allowing you to access its ability trees. So, you can essentially get the best of both worlds if you select another class at the start.

Nevertheless, the Trooper has some of the best mobility out of any class in Dune: Awakening, primarily thanks to its starting Shigawire Claw ability that acts as a grappling hook. The Trooper also has some terrific early combat abilities, making it a solid beginner class as well as a decent class for all skill levels.

And that wraps up our class tier list for Dune: Awakening. Of course, as time goes on, developer Funcom might make some updates to the classes and even add new ones, so this tier list may change over time.

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