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How Capability Awakening works in Aniimo
Capability Awakening resets for free and refunds every material, but only while your Aniimo is under level 60. Here is what each Star material does and how to spend it.
The short version
- Capability Awakening raises an Aniimo's acquired potential by spending materials on individual stats, and you choose which stat each point goes into.
- Below level 60 you can reset Capability Awakening freely and recover the materials you put in, Stardust included. Once an Aniimo reaches level 60, the reset is gone.
- Stardust is the everyday spend for Awakening points, Star Sand raises potential, and Star Essence is required to push Awaken Potential past 10 points toward the 20 cap.
- The thumbs-up icons on the stats panel mark an Aniimo's two strongest natural attributes, which are its recommended primary stats for Awakening.
- Higher levels of attribute potential need progressively rarer materials, so mistakes get more expensive the further you go.
Every Aniimo has six attributes, and each one is set by two things: innate potential, which is rolled when you capture it, and acquired potential, which you can improve. Capability Awakening is how you improve the second half. It sits in the training menu and lets you spend capability points to raise individual stats by hand.
That makes it one of the few places where you decide exactly where an Aniimo's strength goes. It is also one of the easiest places to waste materials, because the costs climb and the safety net has a cutoff.
This guide covers what each material does, how to choose stats, and the level 60 rule that decides whether a bad allocation is a free fix or a permanent one.
What Capability Awakening changes
Acquired potential is the part of an Aniimo you can raise after capture. You do it in the capability awakening tab, spending enhancement materials such as Star Cyst Essence and Stardust Essence on its stats. Each point goes into a stat you pick, not one the game picks for you.
This sits on top of the potential grade system, which sets the quality of an Aniimo and the ceiling on its stat growth. Higher potential ratings mean higher innate stats and better combat performance. That system has its own guide on this site. The short version for upgraders: grade sets the ceiling, and Awakening is how you fill toward it on the stats you care about.
The catch is cost. Upgrading attribute potential to higher levels requires progressively rarer materials, so the first few points are cheap and the later ones are where your stockpile actually goes.
Stardust, Star Sand and Star Essence
Stardust is the material you will spend most. It puts points into Capability Awakening stats, and it is also used for potential upgrades and for modifying IV stats. Because it pulls in several directions, it is worth knowing where each batch is going before you spend it.
Star Sand is used for capability awakening and raises an Aniimo's potential.
Star Essence is the one to be careful with, because its role is not settled. It is described as being consumed to level up an Aniimo, and also as a capability awakening material that raises potential. In that second role it is required to upgrade Awaken Potential beyond 10 points, up to the cap of 20. If you plan to take any Aniimo past 10, treat Star Essence as the gate and do not burn it on levels without thinking.
The level 60 reset rule
This is the rule that matters most. On any Aniimo below level 60, you can reset Capability Awakening freely at any time. Put points into the wrong stat and you can take them back, with the training materials you invested fully recovered. That refund includes Stardust.
Once an Aniimo reaches level 60 or higher, Capability Awakening can no longer be reset. Whatever you allocated stays. How the refund behaves around that line is not fully settled, so plan as though level 60 is a hard wall.
In practice that means two things. Experiment while an Aniimo is still under 60, because mistakes cost you nothing. And before you level it to 60, look at its Awakening points one last time and make sure they are where you want them for good.
60
Level when awakening resets lock
Choosing which stats to awaken
The stats panel gives you a starting point. Thumbs-up icons mark an Aniimo's favorable, recommended primary stats, which are its two strongest natural attributes. Those are the default targets for capability points.
Somniwing is a clear example. Its recommended stats for capability awakening are HP and regeneration, and it should be built for maximum regen, with capability points going into regen. When an Aniimo's role is that obvious, there is little reason to spread points thin.
If you are unsure, follow the thumbs-up stats and remember the reset: as long as the Aniimo is below level 60, a wrong guess costs you nothing.
Where Awakening fits among other upgrades
Awakening is one progression system among several. Aniimo are made stronger through standard leveling, traits, potential (Capability Points), resonance progression, carried equipment and runes, and beyond leveling they are also enhanced through training, enchantment, resonance, awakening, carried items and runes. Training is the broad term for raising an Aniimo's stats, and Awakening is the part of it you steer by hand.
Capability Fruit is the item you are likely to run into next. It costs 1,000 Glimmer in the Glimmer Shop, but you can also get it for free through regular gameplay, including by exchanging 20 Potential Seeds. Since free routes exist, spending Glimmer on it is a choice rather than a requirement.
Core Skill upgrades on a normal, non-Alpha Aniimo are not settled. They are described as using 10 Marks of the Strong, as requiring a contract with a Legendary Held Item, and as using Prismatic Stones together with capability fruit to upgrade the Core Skill once, boosting its damage and adding utility. What is clear is that unlocking a held item pact effect or a Core Skill enhancement costs 10 Mark of the Strong stones.
Where to start
Spend Stardust and Star Sand on your Aniimo's thumbs-up stats, hold Star Essence back for anything you plan to push past 10 points, and check every allocation before the Aniimo reaches level 60. Below that level a reset is free. From 60 on, it is permanent.
Parts of this page were re-checked against the released game on 2 October 2026. The rest has not been re-confirmed since release.