  Faraday patterns can be induced in Bose-Einstein condensates by a periodic
modulation of the system nonlinearity. We show that these patterns are
remarkably different in dipolar gases with a roton-maxon excitation spectrum.
Whereas for non-dipolar gases the pattern size decreases monotonously with the
driving frequency, patterns in dipolar gases present, even for shallow roton
minima, a highly non trivial frequency dependence characterized by abrupt
pattern size transitions, which are especially pronounced when the dipolar
interaction is modulated. Faraday patterns constitute hence an optimal tool for
revealing the onset of the roton minimum, a major key feature of dipolar gases.
