Deciding on the best caste, homeworld, and class mentor in Dune: Awakening’s character creation section seems like a tall order. However, only one of these choices has a serious effect on the way your Arrakis adventure plays out, and even then, you can branch out of your chosen class after making some progress in the main story. Still, picking the right class can make getting started much easier.
Below, we’ve explained which starting class mentor is best in Dune: Awakening and broken down what your homeworld and caste choices influence.
Best homeworld in Dune: Awakening
Image: Funcom via Polygon
Dune: Awakening’s homeworld choice is mostly a role-playing decision. While your choice of homeworld does influence certain dialogue options at specific points in the main quest and some side quests, in our experience, none of these options have an important bearing on how the story unfolds. You’ll miss out on some dialogue themed around your origin, but nothing of vital significance. That’s true even if you pick Caladan or Geidi Prime and start digging into the Harkonnen or Atreides factions.
You also get a unique emote. In other words, there is no best homeworld in Dune: Awakening. Pick whichever homeworld fits the background you have in mind for your character or whichever one has the emote you think sounds the most appealing.
- Ix – Technologist trait, Ixian Secret emote
- Kaitain – Political trait, Kaitan Bow emote
- Caladan – Honorable trait, Atreides Salute
- Chusuk – Cultured trait, Chusuk music
- Geidi Prime – Deception trait, Harkonnen curse
Best caste in Dune: Awakening
Image: Funcom via Polygon
What caste you choose in Dune: Awakening is another role-playing decision. It’ll throw up some background-specific dialogue options from time to time depending on the situation, but it has absolutely no influence on the main story or what quests are available to you.
- Bondsman, a civil servant between the working class and nobility
- Pyon, a worker
- Na-familia, a noble
Pick whichever fits the role you have in mind for your character.
Best mentor and starting class in Dune: Awakening
Image: Funcom via Polygon
Your class choice isn’t tremendously important in the long-term, as you can find and learn from trainers who unlock skill trees for the three classes you didn’t pick. However, there are a couple of choices that make life easier as you’re getting used to Arrakis and one that’s kind of a waste.
Trooper is a very good class for combat and exploration, one whose skill tree includes things like attack drones, anti-gravity fields, and passive traits that increase your damage. However, the first trainer you find in Dune: Awakening is the Trooper trainer. Unless you want to save your in-game money for other things – which you don’t really need to do early in the game – you might as well skip Trooper and pick something else.
Just make sure to visit the Trooper trainer when you can. The Trooper’s starting skill fires a wire that lets you cover ground quickly, and it makes climbing much easier.
Bene Gesserit is an odd class choice. It blends a handful of Voice-themed abilities that are highly situational with some general buffs to health recovery and damage output. None of them are particularly game-changing, even if using Voice commands to influence battle has its uses. The most important skill is Bindu Sprint, a mobility skill that makes it easier to grab rare resources in dangerous locations or to outrun a sandworm. You can learn it from the basic Bene Gesserit trainer, though, so it’s not worth making this your default class just for Bindu Sprint.
Image: Funcom via Polygon
Swordmaster does what it says on the label and focuses on close-quarter combat, offering a range of passives that boost damage output, increase damage mitigation, and, more importantly, augment your water management. This is a strong pick for anyone, but especially if you’re playing solo or are part of your group’s combat unit.
Mentat is a brilliant class with a broad range of universally useful skills. You get skills that create weak points on enemies, an assassination drone, a capsule that creates poison clouds, a knowledge of garment-making that lets you reinforce equipment so it doesn’t break – and that’s just the initial set of basic skills. The best skill, however, is the Mentat’s starting skill, The Sentinel, which lets you deploy a ranged turret that’s perfect for clearing out scavenger camps without actually getting your hands dirty.
Mentat is the best mentor in Dune: Awakening and offers the most useful, varied skills to keep you going until you find skill trainers to help broaden your ability set. Swordmaster is a close second, though has less to offer if you prefer long-range combat. Bene Gesserit is a skip. Meanwhile, Trooper is excellent, but one you can unlock within the game’s first three hours.
If you’re just landing on Arrakis for the first time, check out our 19 essential Dune Awakening beginner’s tips to help you get started, and brush up on where to find plant fiber locations to help make staying hydrated with your blood purifier easier.
