Dune Awakening: Trooper build guide

Troopers are masters of gunplay in Dune Awakening, and in the early game, this might not seem that appealing. After all, by the time you start running into enemies that have Holtzman Shields, you, as a Trooper, have no answer to it. This is why even Troopers need to have a bladed weapon for a long time in this game. There are guns later that can break through shields or simply put so much ammo out that they shred them.

If you’re a fan of using powerful tools to deal tons of damage all at once, Trooper is going to be your best bet in Dune Awakening. In general, Trooper has valuable passives for other builds, like Swordmaster, but if you want to focus more on Trooper as your primary class, here’s what you need to know.

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How to play as a Trooper in Dune Awakening

When playing a Trooper in Dune Awakening, the goal is to obliterate enemies before they get anywhere near you. You’ll still want to have some kind of bladed weapon when someone inevitably gets too close, but for the most part, you’re going to be focused on ranged weapons. What makes Trooper so great is their ability to do AOE damage.

It's all about keeping enemies at bay for as long as possible with a Trooper build (Image via Funcom)

You’re likely going to wind up pairing this class with Mentat for powerful single-target damage and some Swordmaster skills for survivability.

Primary Skills

• Shigawire Claw (Trooper)
• Explosive Grenade (Trooper)
• Collapse Grenade (Trooper)
• Attractor Field (Trooper)

Trooper’s Shigawire Claw is not only your starting skill but arguably one of the best skills in all of Dune Awakening. It launches a grappling hook that connects to nearby objects and launches you forward. You can also use it to stun enemies, giving it tons of versatility.

Explosive Grenade deals plenty of damage, but it’s better when you combine it with Collapse Grenade because it pulls enemies together with the power of gravity. Another solid option is Attractor Field, which, when it hits an enemy, ensures all your bullets will hit the center of mass on that target.

Primary Techniques

• Battle Hardened (Trooper)
• Center of Mass (Trooper)
• Trauma Recovery (Bene Gesserit)

As far as your early techniques, you’re going to want Battle Hardened for cooldown reduction all around. Center of Mass increases your body shot damage but does reduce headshot damage. Then you want a Bene Gesserit skill, Trauma Recovery, as it improves your healing/regeneration.

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Most important talents and techniques to pick for Trooper in Dune Awakening’s early/midgame

Here's what you can expect some of your loadout to look like (Image via Funcom)

As with all talent builds in Dune Awakening, Trooper’s is pretty flexible. I want to focus on anything that increases my ranged damage and survivability, first and foremost. For the early/mid-game, I’m looking at Trooper, Bene Gesserit, and Mentat, which means you’re going to need to complete at least Bene Gesserit and Mentat’s introductory quests at their trainers.

This is for a roughly level 30 build, but of course, do keep in mind you should use what you find most comfortable. For this build, I definitely would start as a Trooper since you will be investing the most points there.

Trooper Talents

• Shigawire Claw x1
• Explosive Grenade x1
• Battle Hardened x1
• Attractor Field x1
• Anti-Gravity Field x1
• Gravity Field x1
• Suspensor Efficiency x1
• Collapse Grenade x1
• Ranged Damage x2
• Disruptor Damage x1
• Center of Mass x1
• Scattergun Damage x1

Bene Gesserit Talents

• Recovery x1
• Trauma Recovery x1

Mentat Skills

• The Sentinel x1
• Ranged Damage x2
• Pistol Damage x1

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What types of guns should you bring as a Trooper in Dune Awakening to deal with shields?

At the beginning of your life as a Trooper in Dune Awakening, all you’ll really have are Maula Pistols and the occasional rifle, like the Karpov 38. This can drop in some of the early areas of Hagga Basin South. However, as you begin to shift towards the mid/late game, you should have some idea of what kind of guns you should have on hand.

Disruptors are never a bad pick as a Trooper in Dune Awakening (Image via Funcom)

There are a few types I definitely recommend. Having at least one Disruptor on your wheel is a must. It’s a great rapid-fire gun that can help pierce shields. Having a Drillshot won’t hurt either since it just ignores shields altogether. If that’s not your cup of tea, why not go with a Spitdart rifle? These fire-poisoned darts also completely ignore shields.

The final potential gun you should have on you is the Vulcan Machine Gun. You’ve seen enemies hit you with these before; now, I can almost guarantee it. This type of gun fires tons of shots and shreds Shields down. Their downside is the short range and a mountain of ammunition. I don’t recommend this one as much, but they’re so fun to use.

While playing a Trooper, there are also a few Unique guns I recommend. Fivefinger’s Tripleshot Rifle is incredible, but you have to farm chests in the very radioactive Sheol, so it’s not easy to get. But it’s a powerful gun that also inflicts poison, so it’s high on my list.

Thufir’s Best is an amazing sniper rifle for Trooper builds in Dune Awakening, too. While not a gun, I also recommend picking up a Jolt-sword for when enemies get too close for comfort. Other fantastic guns include Shredder, Starburst, Scorchbolt, and Seb's Kisser.

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Endgame talents for Trooper in Dune Awakening

In the end, you should pick the passives that work best for you — this is what we recommend, however (Image via Funcom)

As you shift into the endgame for a Trooper build in Dune Awakening, it’s going to be more about staying mobile. That’s why you will 100% want to get Bene Gesserit’s Bindu Sprint to help reposition yourself alongside the Shigawire Claw. Having a good Suspensor Belt is important, too, to avoid fall damage from all the maneuvering with Shigawire.

You’re going to want to open up a fight from as far away as possible with a sniper rifle and then wrap things up with your hardest-hitting gun, probably a rifle. All the while, keep an eye on your cooldowns and keep moving to avoid being stunned, staggered, or hurt.

As always, you’re going to want to prioritize your Stamina, Health, Shields, and, of course, Ranged Damage for a build like this. You want to be able to stay alive long enough to enjoy all that beefy gun damage.

As far as your passive gun damage talents (Heavy Weapon, et al), focus on the ones you use the most, and put 3 points in those. This is just what I recommend, but your needs might be different.

Trooper talent picks

• Shigawire Claw x3
• Battle Hardened x3
• Explosive Grenade x1
• Attractor Field x1
• Anti-Gravity Field x1
• Suspensor Dash x1
• Gravity Field x1
• Collapse Grenade x1
• Ranged Damage x3
• Disruptor Damage x3
• Center of Mass x3
• Field Maintenance x2
• Scattergun Damage x3
• Gunsmith x3
• Heavy Weapon Damage x2

Bene Gesserit talent picks

• Bindu Sprint x3
• Recovery x2
• Trauma Recovery x2
• Vitality x3
• Self-Healing x3
• Sun Tolerance x2

Mentat talent picks

• Poison Capsule x1
• Headshot Damage x2
• Assassin’s Shot x2
• The Sentinel x1
• Ranged Damage x3
• Pistol Damage x3
• Garment Keeper x1
• Tailoring x1

Swordmaster talent picks

• Knee Charge x1
• Field Medicine x2
• Optimized Hydration x2
• Crippling Strike x1
• Disciplined Breathing x1
• General Conditioning x2
• Desert Conditioning x2
• Deflection x1
• Bleed Tolerance x1
• Solid Stance x1

Planetologist Talent picks

• Cutteray Mining x2
• Dew Gathering x2
• Compaction x1
• Vehicle Repair x1
• Fuel Efficient Driver x1
• Fuel Efficient Pilot x2
• Vehicle Mining x2
• Sandcrawler Yield x1

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Check out our other Dune Awakening guides and features

• Dune Awakening: Research and Intel points system, explained
• Dune Awakening: How to recover from sandworm death as a solo player
• Dune Awakening: How to unlock Trooper Skills (Basic and Advanced Trainer locations)