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What are the Best Skills to Unlock in Dune: Awakening?

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On July 5, 2025

You might have the perfect weapon or sharp instincts, but without the right skills, you’ll find yourself buried in the sand more often than not. Some skills in Dune: Awakening help you fight better, while others help you survive longer. With so many to pick from, it’s easy to feel lost, especially when each skill comes from a different path like Weirding Way, Body Control, or Mental Calculus.

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This list is a breakdown of skills that consistently deliver when the heat turns up. These are the skills that help you hold your own in PvP, push deeper into the desert, or recover from a fight that should’ve left you dead.

10

Manipulate Instability

Class: Bene Gesserit

Manipulate Instability Skill in Dune: Awakening

Manipulate Instability gives you a short burst of extra damage when your target is thrown off balance. This effect kicks in only after you’ve stunned, staggered, or knocked an enemy back. To unlock this skill, you need to get Bindu Sprint first. They’re on the same branch of the Weirding Way skill tree, and Bindu Sprint is the direct path to Manipulate Instability.

Manipulate Instability is great for those who like close combat. If you’re using stuns, kicks, or knockbacks in your build, it gives you more payoff for setting up those moves. Short blades and fast weapons work well here because you can deliver that follow-up strike quickly while the enemy is still stunned.

9

Trauma Recovery

Class: Bene Gesserit

Trauma Recovery Skill in Dune: Awakening

Sometimes the smartest move isn’t charging ahead, it’s lasting long enough to fight again. And Trauma Recovery helps with that. It boosts how much health you regain when resting and how fast it comes back.

This skill works even when you’re not using medkits or healing items. Your body just starts repairing itself more effectively the moment you’re out of danger. Trauma Recovery is especially useful after rough fights when you’re low on health but don’t want to waste healing gear. As long as you find a safe spot and wait a little, you’ll regain health faster.

8

The Sentinel

Class: Mentat

The Sentinel allows you to use a floating turret. This turret doesn’t fire right away. First, you drop it with one button. Then, when you press the skill again, it powers up and begins shooting darts at anything that moves near it. You can use it to control space, protect an area, or deal damage while staying safe.

The Sentinel doesn’t need constant attention. Once it’s active, it automatically fires at enemies nearby. This makes it great for defending tight spaces, watching your back, or helping you hold a position during a long fight. You can even set it up before the battle starts, so it’s ready when enemies get close. Just make sure you place it at the right moment, because there’s a short delay before it starts firing.

7

Knee Charge

Class: Swordmaster

When you use Knee Charge, you dash forward and slam into an enemy with a strong knee strike. This move hits hard and stuns the target, giving you a chance to follow up with more attacks before they can react. If you picked Swordmaster at the start, you get this skill right away. If not, you can unlock it by visiting the Swordmaster trainer and completing a short quest.

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Knee Charge works well when you want to rush into a fight and take control right away. The burst forward lets you cover space quickly, and the hit can break through an enemy’s poise, causing them to stagger. Knee Charge is fast, strong, and easy to use, and it keeps getting better as you level it up. For close combat fighters, it’s one of the best ways to hit first and hit hard.

6

Mountaineer

Class: Planetologist

Mountaineer helps you climb without using up too much stamina. It doesn’t launch you or move you faster, but it makes climbing way easier by lowering the amount of energy you lose every second while going up steep walls or rocks.

You have to unlock the Suspensor Pad first before Mountaineer becomes available. Once you have both, they work really well together. The Suspensor Pad lifts you straight into the air, and Mountaineer makes sure you don’t burn too much stamina if you need to grab a wall after that.

5

Suspensor Pad

Class: Planetologist

The Suspensor Pad is a movement skill used by the Planetologist class. It lets you throw a small floating device under your feet that pushes you high into the air as soon as it activates. This lift is strong enough to send you over walls, cliffs, or ledges that would normally take time and stamina to climb. It’s one of the simplest ways to get around quickly in rough terrain.

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The best thing about the suspensor pad is you don’t have to aim it. The pad just appears right where you’re standing, and it launches you straight up the moment you trigger it. You can use it to escape danger, jump to safety, or surprise enemies from above.

4

Dew Gathering

Class: Planetologist

Dew Gathering helps you collect more water each time you use a dew reaper. You don’t have to press anything or do anything extra. Once this skill is active, your water yield goes up automatically. If you’re out in the desert often or just want to stay hydrated, Dew Gathering comes in handy.

This skill works best when paired with a good dew reaper and the right timing. Dew forms more at night or early in the morning, and if you gather during those times, you can get a lot more out of each trip.

3

Shigawire Claw

Class: Trooper

The Shigawire Claw lets you pull yourself across the map using a sharp hook and wire. When you use it, the claw shoots forward and grabs onto a surface or even an enemy. Once it latches on, you’re pulled toward the spot instantly. This is incredibly useful when you need to climb tall cliffs or move across rough ground without wasting stamina. It works kind of like a grappling hook in other games, but here, it also helps in battle.

You can use the Shigawire Claw just to get to high places faster, but if you aim it at an enemy, it will drag you to them and stagger them. That gives you a short window to strike before they can fight back. It doesn’t do damage by itself, but it can set up your next attack or let you escape danger.

2

Shield Wall

Class: Mentat

Shield Wall lets you place a solid, waist-high Holtzman shield in front of you. This shield works like a small wall that you and your allies can hide behind. It doesn’t just block enemy shots, it also slows anyone who tries to walk through it.

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I love using this skill to buy time. When enemies are rushing in, you can drop the shield to slow them down and make it harder for them to push forward. It’s also a safe spot to reload, heal or catch your breath when things get messy. The slowdown effect makes it harder for enemies to rush past you, so it’s especially useful in narrow areas like doorways or tight paths.

1

Explosive Grenade

Class: Trooper

Explosive Grenade Skill in Dune: Awakening

The Explosive Grenade is a damage skill used by the Trooper class. When you throw it, it explodes and sends out sharp metal pieces that cut through anything nearby. It’s one of the most straightforward but powerful tools for dealing with groups of enemies, especially when they’re close together.

Even though the grenade doesn’t break an enemy’s shield, the blast still shakes them up. It causes a stagger effect that interrupts whatever they’re doing. That gives you an opening to fire more shots or reposition.