Best Races by Playstyle in Abyss

Who This Guide Is For

You already know what races are in Abyss and roughly what they do — you just want to know which one fits how you play. If you want a stage-based breakdown instead (early game / mid game / late game), see the Best Race Guide which covers the same races through a progression lens. This page is organized by archetype: Aggressive Player, Passive Farmer, Speedrunner, and Casual Play.

Quick Reference by Playstyle

• Aggressive PlayerShark or Kraken — Shark for raw combat; Kraken if you can get it for the more versatile passive.
• Passive FarmerSpirit or Coral — Spirit for cooldown reduction and cash bonus; Coral for oxygen sustain during long sessions.
• SpeedrunnerMonkey — The 10% Speed bonus is the strongest movement bonus among common races.
• Casual PlayCoral or Shark — Coral for forgiving oxygen management; Shark because its combat passive activates without any setup.

Aggressive players are always hunting — chasing rare spawns, diving into dense enemy areas, and prioritizing combat over passive income. VG247 rates Shark as an A-tier combat race, and Game8 describes its passive as giving a meaningful edge in fights against tough enemies. The key advantage is that Shark's passive does not require setup or conditions — it simply buffs your damage in combat.

• Shark — A-tier (VG247)Direct combat damage bonus. No conditions, no cooldown management. Works at all times in any combat zone.
• Kraken — S-tier (VG247)If you have Star Shards to spare, Kraken is rated S-tier by multiple sources and described as the best overall race in the game. More versatile than Shark with similar combat utility.
• Avoid for this playstyleCoral and Monkey — their passives are movement and XP focused, not combat focused, so they do not reward an aggressive play pattern.

Passive farmers focus on catch-and-sell loops, minimizing downtime and maximizing revenue per session. Game8 rates Spirit as the best mid-game race for exactly this reason — the cooldown reduction and 5% cash bonus both compound over long play sessions. Coral is the alternative if you find yourself running out of Oxygen in deep zones and dying before you can sell your catch.

• Spirit — cooldown reductionReduces delay between catches, effectively increasing catches per unit time. The more time you spend fishing, the more this pays off.
• Spirit — 5% cash bonusSmall but consistent boost on every sale. Over a full farming session this adds up to a meaningful chunk of extra income.
• Coral — 10% Oxygen bonusGives you more survivability time in deep zones before needing to surface. Useful if Oxygen management is your actual bottleneck rather than catch speed.

Speedrunners care about one thing: reaching a target as fast as possible. Whether that is hitting a specific zone, unlocking an upgrade, or finishing a quest chain, movement speed is the primary multiplier. Monkey gives the highest raw Speed bonus among common races at 10%, which both Game8 and Pro Game Guides confirm. Kraken also has movement utility that experienced speedrunners leverage, but it is significantly harder to obtain.

• Monkey — 10% SpeedThe highest movement bonus among races accessible without rare rerolls. Gets you between zones faster and through narrow passages more quickly.
• Monkey — 5% XPA secondary benefit for speedrunners who are also pushing level gates. Reaching level thresholds faster means unlocking gear faster.
• Kraken — S-tier mobilityCommunity consensus describes Kraken as the best overall race and it has significant mobility utility, but the rarity barrier makes it impractical as a speedrun target race for most players.

Casual players want to explore, enjoy the atmosphere, and progress without worrying about optimization. The best race for this playstyle is the one that does not require you to think about it. Coral gives you more Oxygen so you can dive deeper and stay longer without stress. Shark gives you a passive combat boost that just works without any conditions or management.

• Coral — 10% OxygenMore Oxygen means fewer trips to the surface, which means more time enjoying the ocean and less time managing a bar. The most relaxing passive in the game.
• Shark — passive combat buffNo conditions, no management. You fight things, you deal more damage. Simple and effective without requiring any build knowledge.
• Do not stress about rerollingAll sources agree that early-game race differences are small enough that they do not meaningfully hold back casual players. Enjoy the game first, optimize later if you want.

Common races (easy to get): Monkey, Coral, Shark

Epic races (moderate effort): Spirit, Vampire Squid

Legendary races (high effort): Kraken, Sea Angel

• ✕Chasing S-tier races with no Star Shards Save your Star Shards. Rerolling into Kraken or Sea Angel without enough saved just wastes shards. Spirit and Vampire Squid are much more accessible epic alternatives that still perform well.
• ✕Using XP-focused race and skipping combat content Monkey's XP bonus is useful early, but if you ignore combat entirely you will hit level walls where gear from fights would have helped. Balance matters.
• ✕Rerolling too early Beebom notes that early game differences between races are small. Do not spend Star Shards on rerolls in your first few sessions — play first, understand what you need, then reroll with purpose.
• ✕Treating tier lists as absolute VG247's tier list weights rarity. A C-tier Spirit is often better value per Star Shard than an S-tier Kraken you cannot reliably obtain. Use tier lists as a guide, not a rule.