Looking to master the Mentat class in Dune: Awakening? Here’s a full guide to their playstyle, abilities, and unique skill trees.
In Dune: Awakening, there are five unique classes, each with its own strengths, skills, and specialties: Swordmaster, Planetologist, Bene Gesserit, Trooper, and Mentat. Every class brings something completely different to the table, which means the way you experience the world depends a lot on who you choose to become.
This article is all about the Mentat, a class built for long-range precision, tactical thinking, and setting the pace of a fight before it even begins. We’ll break down how the Mentat plays, what their skill trees offer, and why this class might be the perfect fit if you like being the smartest person in the room, and making that count.
What Is the Mentat Class?
Mentats in Dune: Awakening are trained thinkers, analysts, and planners. They’re not designed for close-range brawls or brute force fights. Instead, Mentats thrive by controlling the combat zone with gadgets, traps, and carefully placed shots. Think of them like a mix between a sniper, a saboteur, and a battlefield commander.
When you play as a Mentat, your starting ability is The Sentinel, a dart projector you can deploy to watch key locations and fire at enemies automatically. That early ability already sets the tone for the class. You’re not always front and center, but your presence is always felt.
Mentat Class Core Playstyle
Mentats are at their best when they’re thinking a few steps ahead. They have tools to scout, disrupt, and punish enemies who walk into their traps or get caught in the open.
They can place poison mines, slow enemies with gravity fields, stun targets with darts, or even send out a remote assassin drone to finish someone off from afar. Some of their passives boost headshot damage or let them exploit weak points on enemy shields, which makes them dangerous if you give them space.
You’ll probably enjoy this class most if you like controlling engagements instead of charging into them. Mentats require good timing, smart positioning, and some patience, but when everything lines up, they hit hard and can completely shut down enemy plans.
Mentat: All Skill Trees
The Mentat skill tree is split into three paths: Mental Calculus, Assassination, and Tactician. You can mix and match between them, or go all-in on one depending on how you want to play.
Mental Calculus is all about maximizing ranged damage. It improves your rifle and pistol effectiveness, boosts headshot damage, and gives you tools like Exploit Weakness, which reveals enemy vulnerabilities after a hit. If you prefer sitting back and taking clean shots, this tree is perfect.
Assassination leans into poisons and surprise attacks. It unlocks poison capsules, mines, and even a Hunter-Seeker drone that you control remotely. There’s also a stun dart and some brutal passive upgrades like Assassin’s Shot, which boosts damage when you shoot someone in the back. This path rewards aggressive players who like surgical strikes.
Tactician focuses on battlefield support and area control. With gadgets like Shield Wall, Gravity Mine, Solido Decoy, and Anti-Gravity Mine, this tree helps you disrupt groups of enemies and create breathing room for your allies. One especially useful skill here is Source of Power, which gives nearby teammates power regeneration, great in group fights or defense scenarios.
How It Feels to Play Mentat
Playing Mentat feels a lot like being the person pulling the strings from behind the curtain. You’re setting traps, watching from a distance, and waiting for the perfect moment to strike. That doesn’t mean you’re slow or passive; you just pick your fights carefully.
It can be really satisfying to take out someone with a perfectly placed Sentinel or to catch a group walking into your gravity field and follow it up with a poison cloud. You have to be aware of your surroundings, and sometimes that means falling back or relocating rather than going toe-to-toe.
Mentats shine most when you control the terms of the fight. In open spaces or tight chokepoints, you can completely lock down enemy movement and chip away at their defenses with headshots or poison damage over time.
Should You Pick Mentat?
If you’re the kind of player who enjoys long-range combat, setting traps, or supporting your team with clever tools, then Mentat might be the most rewarding class to play. It’s not the easiest pick for beginners, especially if you’re used to charging into fights, but once you get used to the pacing, the class becomes incredibly fun to master.
It’s also a great pick for solo players who want to scout, hold territory, and avoid direct fights. But it really comes alive in team scenarios where you can set up ahead of time and act as a control anchor for your squad.
Before You Go
If you’re looking to really master the Mentat, make sure to check out our full guides:
