In lieu of the race-based system that the vast majority of role-playing games employ, Anarchy Online uses genetically engineered breeds. There are four breeds from which you can choose: Solitus, Opifex, Nano, and Atrox. The Solitus, Opifex, and Nano breeds are available in both male and female persuasions, while the huge Atrox only comes in one form: unisex. Each breed has its own strengths and weaknesses, detailed in the table and breed-specific sections below.

Depending on your breed and profession, raising different skills and abilities will cost you improvement points (or IPs) awarded every time you level up. The cost of raising each skill or ability will be reflected by the color in your skill view (accessed by pressing the letter U on your keyboard or by clicking “skill” at the bottom of your screen). A colored bar represents your character’s aptitude in specific skills and abilities: A green bar shows that your character is extremely adept, and it will consequently cost you very few IPs to improve these skills; a light blue bar represents average ability; and a dark blue bar represents very little talent, and it will cost you a large number of IPs to significantly raise these skills.

Breed Strengths and Weaknesses

Ability Solitus Opifex Nano Atrox
Strength Average Average Weak Adept
Agility Average Adept Weak Average
Stamina Average Weak Average Adept
Intelligence Average Average Adept Weak
Sense Average Adept Average Weak
Psychic Average Average Adept Weak

The breed you choose will also determine the starting value of each of your abilities, with adept abilities beginning higher than average, and so on. However, realize that this starting value has virtually no importance in the grand scheme of things. The relative cost of raising the abilities is much more important, so choose a breed that will lower the cost of improving your character in the areas you need most, rather than one that will simply start you out with slightly higher values in a certain area.

Solitus

The Solitus is the epitome of the “average” person. The Solitus breed has no particular strengths or weaknesses, so choosing this breed for your character will provide you with the most well-rounded base for your character. However, unless you plan to be a jack-of-all-trades of sorts, you’d likely be better off with a more Anarchy Credits specialized breed.