Dune Awakening Planetologist Class Guide and Best Skills

The Dune Awakening Planetologist class is the survivalist’s pick. It’s not flashy, but it keeps you alive, helps your team, and makes the desert feel a little less deadly. While not a class you can pick from the start, it's worth getting it when you can. It's the only class that can't be used as a primary class, which means that the Planetologist can do some unique things.

If you care about movement and support tools and are making the most of what Arrakis gives you, a Planetologist might be the best choice. It’s a utility-heavy class with skills that lean into mobility, resource gathering, and environmental control. It's only usable as a secondary class, so it's worth bearing that in mind.

In this guide, we’ll go over how Planetologist works, what it’s good at, where it struggles, and how to build around it in both solo and team setups.

Content

• Overview
• Strengths and Weaknesses
• Specialisations
• Second class
• Talents
• FAQ

Planetologist Class Overview

Planetologist isn’t a combat class in the usual sense. It’s not here to lead a charge or dish out big damage. Instead, the Planetologist is here to aid the rest of your gameplay. It will help you explore the world with vehicle repair and improvements. Increase your resource-gathering skills, which include scanning, environmental adaptation, and so much more.

If you’re playing solo and want to explore, this class makes your life easier. If you’re in a group, you’re the one keeping people alive, supplying water, and offering tools that others don’t have.

Almost every talent in the Planetologist tree is a passive boost; one notable exception is the Suspensor Pad, which drops a suspensor device that launches you (and targets) into the air. The rest are passive buffs, improving how you gather resources, gather dews, and aid in climbing.

Playstyle

Planetologist is more passive than most classes. You’re not front-lining, and you’re not bursting people down. You’re boosting stamina, recovering water, and using gadgets to keep moving and keep fighting. Outside of combat, the style is about aiding in the external parts of the game. Making your vehicle work better, resource gathering, and power management.

That doesn’t mean it’s boring; if you play with the right primary class, you can become a nightmare to pin down, jumping cliffs, surviving long-range fire, through chip damage. PvP isn’t your strong point; your tools let you outlast and escape most fights if needed.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Planetologist

This is a strong support and exploration class, but it won’t suit everyone. It shines when used with the right second class.

Planetologist Strengths

Best Movement Tools in the Game

From hover pads to terrain boosts, Planetologist has the best options for crossing the desert. You’ll climb faster, move smoother, and stay mobile longer.

Water and Stamina Management

When it comes to progressing, two things that will hold you back are your water retention and stamina management. That's where the Planetologist comes into play, keeping you out in the world longer.

Great for Gathering and Exploration

If your focus is on surviving, farming, or just crossing the map solo, this class is unmatched. It adds value even outside combat, making your exploration even easier.

Spice Wars

Spice is a huge part of the game, and while it comes into its own later on, it will also impact you early. That's where the Planetologist comes into play. Two passive abilities help us here: Sandcrawler Yield and Spice Surveyor. The former simply makes us harvest spice more efficiently, while the latter comes into play in the Deep Desert, allowing for massive yields.

Planetologist Weaknesses

Almost No Damage

This is a secondary class that adds no direct damage advantage. You will gain world traversal, but if you're looking to PvP, this won't add much.

Poor in PvP

Unless paired with a strong main class, Planetologist struggles in player fights. It’s not designed for direct combat or burst trades. There are some niche advantages, but in a 1v1 it won't add much.

Relies on Specific Gear

You’ll need items that reduce cooldowns and improve mobility. Without those, your skills feel underwhelming.

Passive

While a positive, it's also a negative of how the class plays. Almost everything in the talent tree is "improve how you do X by an amount." This won't be fun for many, and will likely be avoided by the class.

How to Unlock the Planetologist

Early in the game, you'll need to head near Griffin's Reach Tradepost. The full details are in our Unlocking the Planetologist guide.

Note: This information was correct as of the final beta and will be updated if things have changed on the full release

Planetologist Specialisations Explained – Class Skills and Abilities

The three specialisations for Planetologist reflect different aspects of survival, movement, and resource management.

• Mechanic
• Explorer
• Scientist

Mechanic takes the spot of the damage role for most classes, and as you can imagine, it focuses on vehicles. This specialisation will focus on you staying on the Dunes longer, helping reduce durability loss when repairing vehicle components.

Explorer is all about movement. You’ll get climbing boosts, hover skills, and buffs that let you cover ground faster and safer. It’s a must if you plan to explore or need to escape trouble. From a passive point of view, it helps you gather resources from hard-to-reach places and do so faster.

Scientist is all about resource gathering and improving yields, which is probably why most people want to take this class. The Scientist also keeps you out in the Dunes longer, and allows you to take more risks.

Used as a Second class/subclass

Note: The Planetologist can only be used as a secondary class, so the section below will look at how it works as said secondary class for the classes listed below.

Trooper – Best for PvE Balance

Why it’s good for Planetologist:

Trooper gives you mid-range damage, grenades, and a simple way to win fights. You survive longer, and now you can hit back. Trooper is the most standard of the four starting classes; as such, it works really well with the Planetologist.

Why it might not be:

While the two classes go well, they are also the two most barebones combat-wise. The Trooper is very basic, and with no flavour being added from the Planetologist it can make for a fairly dull combo.

Mentat – Best for Outlasting and Smart PvP

Why it’s good for Planetologist:

Mentat gives you enemy tracking, control tools, and cooldown boosts. Now you’re smarter, harder to hit, and harder to chase down.

Why it might not be:

Still doesn’t solve your damage issue. You’re now fully a support/control build.

Bene Gesserit – Best for Control and Movement

Why it’s good for Planetologist:

Bene Gesserit is a great PvP spec, and the Planetologist does add a few benefits.

Why it might not be:

Sadly, the majority of the build doesn't help the Bene Gesserit making it a weak combination.

Swordmaster – Best for Burst and Escape

Why it’s good for Planetologist:

Much like with the Trooper, the Swordmaster is one of the most obvious options. Swordmaster is one of the main damage classes, making Planetologist a good subclass.

Why it might not be:

Planetologist is already fairly gear hungry, and the Swordmaster doesn't make that easier, also requiring a lot of gear.

Best Planetologist Talents

These will be listed once more testing is done after launch. For now, pick talents that reduce movement cooldowns and improve water use. You can reset as needed.

FAQ

Is Planetologist a good first class?

The class cannot be your primary class, but it does make for a good first secondary class, given that it buffs your resource gathering. Something that is key in the early game.

Can Planetologist win fights on its own?

Not really, some of the skills in the tree could come in clutch, but it would take a high level of outplay to make it work.

Is Planetologist good for PvP?

Not really, in some niche cases it can help, for example you can clear crash sites faster making it harder for other players to steal them from you. But directly, no.

What’s Planetologist best for?

Exploration, survival, resource gathering, and supporting your group's base. It's ideal for solo play, and especially those that want to play the game as a sort of solo RPG, as it will make you a lot better at gathering and your progression in that aspect of the game.