Stats matter in Anime Expeditions, but a unit’s kit decides whether it earns a permanent slot on your team. Secret, Exclusive, Mythic, and Legendary units all carry passive skills and, in many cases, active abilities that trigger status effects, summons, buffs, or map-wide effects. Epic and Rare units do not have abilities, so they are not covered here.
Quick answer: Every Mythic and higher unit has at least one passive; the standout actives are Shadow’s Shadow Realm (map-wide Magical buff on a 60s cooldown), Crimson’s Piercing Crimson channel, Puppet’s Complete Control rewind, and Lady Giant’s Giant transformation.
How unit abilities work in Anime Expeditions
Abilities fall into a few types. Passives are always active or trigger automatically during a run. Actives run on a cooldown, either a global cooldown shared across the whole game or a player-triggered cooldown you control. Equipment passives unlock through a unit’s gear rather than its base kit. Some units also apply status effects such as Burn, Freeze, Slow, Stagger, Stun, Bleed, or Dismembered.
Many abilities unlock at specific upgrade levels during a match, so a unit’s full power only comes online after you invest enough Yen into it. Damage values scale off a unit’s current Damage unless a skill specifies base Damage instead.
Secret unit abilities
The two Secret units sit at the top of the roster and are obtained only through evolution. Shadow leans into crowd control and a team-wide Magical buff, while 8th Sword ramps into a late-game hypercarry through takedowns.
| Unit | Passives and active abilities |
|---|---|
 Shadow (Divine) Dark · Magical | Shadow Realm (Active, 60s Global CD): Turns the whole map into the Shadow Realm, rewinds enemies in range by 50% of Shadow’s Range, and grants all Magical units +25% Damage for 30 seconds. An enemy can be rewound at most twice. Divine Spirit (Active, 99,999s Player CD): Summons a Divine Spirit and Stuns Shadow for 15 seconds. The summon deals 100% of Shadow’s base Damage and cannot despawn, be killed, or be Stunned. Winged Spirit (Passive, Upgrade 3): Summons a spirit circling at 50% Range that deals 75% of current Damage every five seconds and applies Stun. Wolf Spirit (Passive, Upgrade 5): Summons a Wolf Spirit that can be upgraded on its own. |
 8th Sword (Berserk) Neutral · Physical | Execution Cycle (Passive): Every 10 seconds teleports to a priority target and applies Stun. Each takedown permanently adds 1% Damage, up to 100%. Demonic Presence (Passive): Enemies inside the inner 40% of his Range take 5% of his current Damage every second. Savage Rebound (Passive): Instantly cleanses Stun, performs Thunderclap Cut for 100% current Damage, and applies Dismembered on follow-ups. Dismemberer’s Rush (Passive): When an enemy in range drops below 10% HP, performs Unrestrained Rampage for 100% current Damage. The Nameless Demon (Passive): After 25 takedowns, enters Berserk for 15 seconds, gaining 20% Damage, 10% lower SPA, and Dismembered on every attack. Dismembered permanently cuts enemy Movement Speed by 0.15. |
Exclusive unit abilities
Exclusive units come from events, Battle Pass rewards, tournaments, and limited-time activities. Crimson is a DoT-focused lane clearer, Toy Maker summons blockers instead of attacking, and True Saint is a beginner-friendly amplifier.
| Unit | Passives and active abilities |
|---|---|
 Crimson (Brother) Dark · Magical | Crimson Explosion (Passive): Regular attacks apply Crimson Mark; marked enemies explode after five seconds for 15% of current Damage. Crimson Pool (Passive): Explosions leave a pool for six seconds (max three). Enemies on a pool take 10% of current Damage every two seconds. Piercing Crimson (Active, 90s Player CD, Upgrade 9): Channels toward a point for 10 seconds, dealing 75% of Damage every second and applying Crimson Mark. He cannot attack normally while channeling. |
 Toy Maker Dark · Psychic | Build-a-Toy (Passive): Summons Toys on every path in range instead of attacking. Toys have Health equal to 100% of current Damage. Upgrade 2 adds 15% Movement Speed; Upgrade 4 adds AoE death damage equal to 10% of a Toy’s max Health; Upgrade 6 makes every fifth cycle create mutated Toys with 150% more Health. Health splits across covered paths. |
 True Saint (Holy) Light · Magical | Predictive Calculation (Passive): Regular attacks apply True Saint Mark to up to five enemies. Critical attacks remove all marks and deal 10% of current Damage to each. Every upgrade adds 2% Critical Chance. Seize (Active, 200s Player CD, Upgrade 11): Steals 20% Damage from the three strongest allies in range for 60 seconds. |
Mythic unit abilities
Mythics form the backbone of most endgame teams. Several rely on status-effect synergy, so their damage depends on what sits beside them. Cursed Student copies a nearby ally’s attack, Hollow needs a Burn source, and String Demon wants a high attack volume to break its cocoons.
| Unit | Passives and active abilities |
|---|---|
 Cursed Student (True Love) Dark · Physical | Cursed Mimicry (Passive): Every three regular attacks, copies the closest ally’s attack for 100% of Cursed Student’s current Damage plus 40% of that ally’s Damage. Each new copy raises the inherited percentage by 20%. Spirit Bats (Equipment Passive): Every 20 Bleed stacks in range summons a Bat Spirit (max three), each dealing 25% of current Damage per attack and despawning after three attacks. |
 Elf Mage (Unleashed) Wind · Magical | Arcane Magic (Passive): Gains one Arcane Charge per regular attack, up to seven, then resets. Overcharge (Passive): Each reset adds 5% Arcane Spell Damage, stacking to 25%. Arcane Spells (Passive): Count as follow-ups. At 3 charges, Old Magic hits a Line AoE for 100% Damage; at 5, Eruption hits a Circle AoE for 100% and applies Mana Burn; at 7, Storm hits a Full AoE for 100%. |
 Flame Emperor (Reincarnate) Flame · Magical | Wildfire (Passive): Each Burn application spreads to the three nearest non-burning enemies. Burn deals 1× the applying unit’s Damage over four ticks across four seconds. Wall of Fire (Active): Places a wall on any path in range; enemies passing through are Burned. |
 Hollow (Blaze) Flame · Physical | Radial Flames (Passive): When Burn stops ticking on an enemy in range, converts one Burn into Austere Flames for 85% of current Damage. Instances do not stack. Attack Flames (Passive): Attacking a burning enemy converts one Burn into Austere Flames for 65% of current Damage. Instances do not stack. Austere Flames deals its total over four ticks across four seconds. |
 Lady Giant (Envy) Terra · Physical | Stone Wall (Passive): Summons a wall every 15 seconds (max two). Base Form walls have 75% of current Damage as Health; Giant Form walls have 50%. Rock Storm (Passive): Each regular attack grants a Rock Chunk. At four chunks, throws a rock as a follow-up for 100% Damage in Base Form or 125% in Giant Form. Size Control: Giant (Active, 60s Local CD): Transforms for 25 seconds, adding 125% Damage and 50% Range but 25% higher SPA. |
 Puppet (Telekinetic) Light · Psychic | Marionette’s Gaze (Passive): Every 15 seconds marks the strongest unmarked enemy in range for 15 seconds; marked enemies take 20% increased incoming damage. Puppet Creation (Equipment Passive): When a marked enemy dies, summons a Doll with 200% of Puppet’s current Damage as Health. Complete Control (Active, 30s Global CD, Upgrade 8): Rewinds all enemies in range by two seconds. |
 Reaper (Released) Light · Physical | Adaptation (Passive): For each different enemy type attacked, permanently gains 10% Damage and 10% Critical Chance. Critical Tempo (Passive): Critical attacks cut SPA by 5% for 20 seconds, stacking to 15%. Mirage Swap (Passive): When Stunned while a Mirage Clone exists, cleanses the Stun and swaps positions with the clone. Mirage Step (Active): Relocates Reaper anywhere in Range and creates a Mirage Clone with 50% of his base Damage. |
 Salmon Sorcerer (Grade 1) Gale · Magical | Crumble Away (Passive): Applies 20% Slow at every upgrade stage. Plummet (Passive): When an enemy enters the inner 50% of Range, applies Stagger for two seconds. |
 String Demon (Awakened) Neutral · Magical | Cocoon of Carnage (Passive): Every fifth regular attack Cocoons all enemies hit, Stunning them until the Cocoon takes 10 hits or five seconds pass. Breaking it with 10 hits deals 125% of current Damage; if it is not broken in five seconds, it despawns with no bonus. String Sync (Passive): When the nearest ally attacks, attaches a String (max three). On the next regular attack, linked allies perform a follow-up for 100% of String Demon’s Damage, then the Strings break and cannot reattach for 15 seconds. |
Legendary unit abilities
Legendary units mostly fill support, economy, and niche damage roles that stay useful past the early game. The Hero and Forbidden Teacher are the main team buffers, Ramen Guy is the top farm pick, and Ice Queen and Water Princess add control and protection.
| Unit | Passives and active abilities |
|---|---|
 Ice Queen Hydro · Magical | Soul Rend (Passive): Deals 20% more damage to enemies below 20% HP. Freeze (Status Effect): Freezes a target for two seconds, blocking movement and actions. Has a five-second application cooldown and counts as Stun. |
 Greed Dark · Physical | Fox Hunt (Passive): Deals 20% more damage to Boss-type enemies. |
 Forbidden Teacher No Element · Magical | Teacher Blessing (Passive): Buffs the Damage of all Magical units in range, increasing by 5% per upgrade. |
 Ramen Guy No Element · Physical | Capital Lock (Passive): Selling him refunds only 10% of his total cost. Donbori (Passive): Increases Yen earned from kills by 50%. |
 Scissor Terra · Physical | Stacking Cuts (Passive): Each consecutive regular attack on the same enemy adds 5% damage, stacking to 20%. |
 Water Princess Hydro · Magical | Debuff Shield (Passive): Grants a shield to the nearest ally that breaks after blocking one debuff and regenerates after 15 seconds. |
 The Hero No Element · Physical | Hero Blessing (Passive): Buffs the Damage of all Physical units in range, increasing by 5% per upgrade. |
Which abilities matter most for team building
A few kits stand out because they either carry runs on their own or make everything around them stronger. Shadow’s +25% Magical buff and permanent summons make it the anchor of any Magical team. Puppet’s 20% incoming-damage mark on the strongest enemy acts as near-permanent team-wide amplification against bosses. 8th Sword scales into a hypercarry once it hits 25 takedowns, so getting it placed early pays off.
Watch the buff types when you build. The Hero only strengthens Physical units, while Forbidden Teacher only helps Magical ones, so pairing the wrong buffer with your carries wastes the slot. Hollow needs a Burn source such as Flame Emperor to trigger its Austere Flames, and Cursed Student wants a strong ally beside it to copy. Salmon Sorcerer’s Slow and Stagger keep enemies inside your damage dealers’ range without any setup, which is why it stays a reliable control support.
You can push any of these units further with the right traits, equipment, and evolutions, but the passive and active kits above are the deciding factor when you choose who to invest your Gems and materials into. As new units release, the ability list will grow, but this covers every unit with abilities available at launch.
