If you are wondering how flexible character builds are in Dune: Awakening, the answer is: surprisingly flexible, but not unlimited. A recent, popular Reddit thread helped clear up some early confusion, and it is worth breaking things down now that we are close to the official launch.
Here is what you need to know.
You Get 200 Skill Points, Not Enough for Everything
There are three types of skill nodes:
- Abilities (diamond-shaped): Active powers like Turret or Shigawire Trap
- Techniques (octagons): Strong passive-style bonuses
- Passives (circles): Always-on bonuses
You can:
- Unlock as many passives as you want (these are always active)
- Equip 3 Abilities and 3 Techniques at a time
- Swap your equipped Abilities/Techniques freely when needed
But you will only earn 200 total skill points, which is not enough to max every tree. Some skills also require multiple points to level, so careful planning pays off in the long run.
Yes, You Can Mix All Skill Trees
You are not locked to a single class or tree.
You can unlock skills from every class by finding class trainers across Arrakis. So even if you start as a Bene Gesserit, you can eventually grab Trooper, Mentat, or Swordmaster skills too, assuming you spend the points.
However, you will not be able to fully level every skill, so hybrid builds are likely going to be very popular.
What About Respecs?
This is where things got a bit murky in the beta, but the current understanding is:
- Full respecs are available, letting you refund all your spent skill points
- Cooldown: Respecs reportedly have a 48-hour timer
- Your starting skill (the first ability) may still be locked, depending on how Funcom handles things post-beta
Some devs on Discord mentioned that starting skills are still non-refundable, but community members shared conflicting info from streamers and testers. We will likely get a definitive answer after launch, later today, as players test it themselves.
Until then, just assume your first class skill might be stuck; choose wisely when you first crash land.
Want to Test Builds? Use This Skill Planner
There is a handy unofficial Dune: Awakening Skill Builder tool where you can preview trees and plan builds in advance: https://dune.gaming.tools/skill-builder
It was accurate as of the Beta Weekend, but live version changes are still being verified.
If you want to read the full community discussion related to this info, check out the original Reddit thread here:
For more updates on Dune, as well as other games, make sure to check out our news hub here.
