Abiotic Factoris a new survival game inspired by the original Half Life, trapping a group of scientists in a facility with strange alien creatures and forcing them to scrounge office supplies and other materials to survive.
When you create your character in Abiotic Factor, you’re forced to choose a startingJoband a set ofTraitsto define your playstyle and starting skillset. These choices will greatly affect the first few hours of the game, and if you’re playing with a group, they’ll determine your overall role within the squad.
All Abiotic Factor Jobs Explained
There arenine Jobsto choose from in Abiotic Factor.
Each of these sounds much more complicated than they actually are. If you read the description of a Job, it’ll tell you thesuggested rolethat they should play. They’re essentially classes with different starting skill allocations.
TheLab Assistant, for example, is the stealth class since it gets bonuses to Sprinting and Sneaking at the start of the game.Defense Analystis the offensive combat class since it gets bonuses to Fortitude, Strength, Blunt Melee, Reloading, and Accuracy. If you’re playing with a group, attempt to coordinate your Jobs so that your team has specialists in each area.
In general, there are some Jobs that are more useful than others, though.Defense Analystis the best Job for combat-focused players. If you’re more into base building, then go withArchotechnic Consultant. Solo players should chooseLab Assistant since sneaking past enemies is the best strategy when playing alone.
If you want to have the most control over your character and have the most starting points available for your Trait selection, thenSummer Internprovides a blank slate. You’ll miss out on starting bonuses, but you’ll be able to min-max your character more effectively.
Best Traits to Choose in Abiotic Factor
Speaking of starting points, your Trait selection can make or break your character’s build in Abiotic Factor. There arepositiveandnegativeTraits to choose from, each with its own associated point cost. You’ll need to choose negatives to offset the buffs you get from positives.
The best overall Traits in Abiotic Factor areLead Belly,Wrinkly Brained,Gardener, andInconspicuous.Lead Bellyis an incredibly helpful Trait since it lets you drink tainted water without getting sick, greatly increasing the hydration sources available to you in the early stages of the game.Wrinkly Brainedgives you a permanent 20% increase to XP gains, which really adds up.
GardenerandInconspicuousdon’t seem nearly as helpful on paper, but their lower point costs make up for that.Gardenerlets you level up Agriculture-related skills twice as fast, and it also grants you recipes for basic gardening plots right from the start of the game.Inconspicuousmakes you attract enemy attention twice as slowly as others, which is perfect for smaller teams and solo players.
To offset the point costs of these Traits, you’ll need to choose a few negative Traits. The best negative Abiotic Factor Traits arePainfully Obvious,Slow Healer, andWeak Bladder. These don’t affect your character nearly as much as the worst negative Traits likeNarcolepticorFear of Violence. Of course, you should pick Traits that mesh well with your build (a stealthy player shouldn’t choose Painfully Obvious, for example), so look over the Trait list carefully before making your choices.
Diego Perez
Currently serving as a Senior Staff Writer at PC Invasion, Diego Perez has been writing about video games since 2018, specializing in live service games like Destiny and Final Fantasy XIV. His work is featured at publications like Game Rant and Attack of the Fanboy (where he served as Associate Editor), but PC Invasion is home to his best work. When he’s planning content or writing guides, he’s yelling about Ape Escape or grinding Lost Sectors in Destiny. Plus, he has a Bachelor of Science in Telecommunication Media Studies for Texas A&M University.
