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Two-axis classification
Every Anima in Honkai: Nexus Anima is classified along two axes: an Aspect and a Trait. The Aspect functions like a faction or elemental affinity, driving team synergies. The Trait determines the Anima's battlefield role. How it fights, where it positions, and what utility it provides during auto-chess combat.
Aspects
Aspects correspond to the philosophical and scientific principles that once defined the Old World before the Sundering. In the Old World, Aspects existed in paired opposites controlled by Sovereigns. Each Sovereign governed both halves of a pair. Light and Dark, Love and Hate, Life and Death. After the Sundering split them apart, each half became a standalone concept governed by a separate Novarch.
Known Aspect pairs from the Old World
The following Sovereign-controlled pairs have been identified:
Order and Chaos Victus (1st Sovereign)
Reality and Illusion Kumyo Kyo (4th Sovereign)
Life and Death Amstradath (5th Sovereign)
Change and Stasis Bashirdo (7th Sovereign)
Light and Dark Armand (8th Sovereign)
Memory and Oblivion Darsea (10th Sovereign, deceased)
Strength and Weakness Kafka (11th Sovereign, missing)
Beauty and Ugliness Vowbinder Crone (12th Sovereign)
Love and Hate Parayaya (14th Sovereign)
Courage and Cowardice Masked Hero (20th Sovereign)
Wisdom and Folly Shen Wang (23rd Sovereign)
Good and Evil Qing Gang
Joy and Sorrow Lestrange
Profit and Loss Big Boss Daddy
Infinity and Finity Apeiron (28th Sovereign)
This means the total number of individual Aspects after the split is roughly double the number of Sovereigns. With 39 known Sovereigns, there could be up to 78 individual Aspects, though the 16 used as in-game synergy categories represent the ones most relevant to Anima classification.
In-game Aspect synergies
The following Aspects function as synergy categories during combat:
Satiation, Hate, Light, Memory, Dark, Love, War, Change, Beauty, Peace, Right, Insatiability, Competition, Regret, Weakness, Pride, Strength
When multiple Anima sharing the same Aspect are deployed in battle (including bench units in assistance slots), they activate escalating synergy buffs at the 2/4/6/8 thresholds. A team with 4 War Anima gets a stronger War synergy bonus than one with just 2. This stacking is the main incentive for building focused teams.
The 11 Traits
Traits define what an Anima does in battle. Each Trait has a fixed number of creatures assigned to it, which limits how many of each role are available for team building:
Trait | Effect |
|---|---|
Striker (4 Anima) | Single-target physical damage dealers. Their job is to delete specific high-priority enemies |
Blaster (3 Anima) | AoE damage specialists with DoT effects, knockback, and stun capabilities |
Gladiator (6 Anima) | Duelists with strong 1v1 performance, often featuring self-healing or crowd control immunity |
Protector (3 Anima) | Frontline tanks that absorb damage and defend the backline |
Mastermind (4 Anima) | Utility units that set traps, summon additional allies, buff teammates, and alter the battlefield terrain |
Hothead (4 Anima) | Crowd control focused, specializing in forced displacement and group taunts |
Cherubim (3 Anima) | Pure healers and buff providers for team sustain |
Explorer (4 Anima) | High-mobility units focused on capturing objectives |
Mascot (1 Anima) | A rare role providing passive team-wide stat bonuses. Only Damasque is currently known to hold this Trait |
Biggun | Found in beta datamines. Likely a heavy damage or siege role based on the name |
Spook | Found in beta datamines. Likely a stealth or disruption role |
Building a team
Good team composition comes from finding the right balance between Aspect synergies and Trait coverage. You need tanks (Protectors or Gladiators) to protect your backline, damage dealers (Strikers, Blasters) to win fights, and support (Cherubim, Masterminds) to keep the team functional. The Kardia leader's Exclusive Principle adds another variable. The 6 assistance slots let you pad synergy counts with bench Anima that contribute their Aspect tags without taking a deployment slot.