All ATLYSS races and unique starting skills

ATLYSS has a cute, fun aesthetic that allows you to create and customize your character, and beyond cosmetics, you can choose between several races with unique starting skills that influence gameplay—but you’re not limited to having just one skill later in the game.

All races and their inicial skill in ATLYSS

An Atlyss character in front of a door with a massive lock. — The race won’t define your character’s build. Image via Kiseff

There are five races in ATLYSS: Imp, Poon, Kobold, Byrdle, and Chang. The race determines the main physical features and the initial skill of your character. You can alter the proportions of their body such as height, arms, and belly, but the starting skill is locked to that specific race.

The skill isn’t immediately available as you start playing, however. You’ll have to level up and spend skill points to unlock skills. You’ll also have other skills you can unlock based on your class of choice. You’ll be able to place six of your skills in your hotbar.

Here are all the races and their starting skill in ATLYSS:

Race	Type of creature	Initial skill	Description
Imp	Demon	Siphon Leech	“Shoots a siphoning projectile that spawns eldritch leeches on the hit target, healing the caster as they deal damage.”
Poon	Mammal	Leg Up	“Grants a movement speed increase buff additionally increasing evasion.”
Kubold	Reptilian	Alacrity	“Applies a clearcast boon. The next cast will be instant with no mana, health, or stamina cost.”
Byrdle	Bird	Inner Focus	“Provides a buff that guarantees a 100 percent Critical Strike chance for the next attack.”
Chang	Rodent	Sturdy	“Provides a buff that grants immunity to knockback and auto parries incoming attacks.”

How to get more skills in ATLYSS

You can’t change the initial skill from a race when creating a new character in ATLYSS, but you can get the other skills as you progress through the game through Skill Scrolls. The starting skills are part of a pool of 14 novice skills, so if you wanted to create a character from a race because of the aesthetic but wanted the skill from another, don’t worry. You can get that skill later.

Skill Scrolls can be bought from NPCs or dropped as loot from defeating enemies, so you’ll need to complete some quests to accumulate Crowns before you can buy the skill you wanted, and you’ll also need to be a certain level to be able to unlock the skill.

If you started a build and didn’t like it, you can use a Tome of Unlearning to reset all your skill points. You won’t lose the skill you have, but you’ll be able to replace the skill points and place them again onto the skills you want to unlock instead of keeping the skills you don’t use anymore.

Here are all the skills you can get through Skill Scrolls beyond the race skills: