Aniimo Best Starter Guide: Helion vs Lunara
Your first major choice in Aniimo is between Helion and Lunara, two Light DPS Guardians that look similar on paper but solve fights in very different ways. The decision isn't really about which one has the bigger starting stat total, because they're equal there. What matters is how many jobs your starter can cover and what you'll need the other three members of your team to provide afterward.
There is another reason to think about the choice before confirming it. You currently choose one starter, while obtaining the Guardian you leave behind has not been confirmed as an available option. That makes this less of an early-game rental and more of a decision worth getting right for the way you actually want to play.
Jump To Section:
Best Starter in Aniimo
Why Lunara Is the Best Overall Pick
When You Should Pick Helion
How Your Starter Changes Your Team
Can You Get Both Starters?
Lunara Is the Best Starter in Aniimo Overall
I would pick Lunara as the best starter for most Aniimo players. Helion and Lunara are both Light DPS Guardians with the same overall starting stat total and the same Hustle exploration ability, so Lunara's advantage isn't that you're simply choosing the character with better base numbers.
It's that Lunara compresses several useful combat jobs into one slot.
Her ranged attacks let you operate from a safer position, Lumin Bolts applies Fox Mark to reduce an enemy's Light Resistance by 5% per stack up to three stacks, Lunar Eclipse deals heavy Break damage, and Moon-Washed restores 20 EP. She can also contribute substantial burst while providing her own sustain.
Put together, you're getting a starter that can deal damage, help create Break windows, improve Light damage through resistance reduction, manage its own EP, and operate at range. That's a lot of problems solved by the creature you receive at the beginning of the game.
Helion absolutely has reasons to pick him, but Lunara gives you more freedom with the other three positions in your eventual team. That's the difference I'd care about most.
Why Lunara Is Such a Good First Guardian
Lunara's biggest advantage isn't any single ability. It's that several parts of her kit continue being useful even when she isn't the only source of damage on your team.
Fox Mark is the clearest example. Lumin Bolts can reduce Light Resistance by 5% per stack, stacking three times for a potential 15% reduction. If you later add another Light damage dealer, Lunara isn't simply competing with that Aniimo for the same job; she's creating a condition that can improve Light damage against the target.
Lunar Eclipse gives her another job through heavy Break damage. That matters because Break isn't just another damage number to chase. Creating the opening for the rest of your team can be more valuable than having four characters whose only contribution is attacking the enemy's health bar.
This is why I think Lunara ages particularly well as a starter. Early on, you can rely on her as your main ranged DPS. As your roster improves, the debuff and Break portions of her kit give you reasons to keep using her even if another Aniimo eventually becomes the centerpiece of your damage rotation.
There's also a basic quality-of-life advantage that's easy to undervalue when comparing abilities on paper: range gives you space. If you're still learning enemy attacks and combat timing, being able to contribute without constantly sitting beside the enemy makes mistakes less punishing.
When You Should Pick Helion Instead
If you already know you prefer aggressive melee combat, I would ignore the general Lunara recommendation and pick Helion.
Helion is much more appealing as a character you want to actively build around as a close-range carry. His kit can stack his own Light Damage Amplification through Holy Roar, while Light Bombardment benefits from effects such as Ring of the Golden Sun and Solar Halo to increase its damage. With Solar Halo active, Light Bombardment can also restore HP.
Holy Storm gives him another useful melee tool by attacking surrounding enemies while pulling them toward the center. Rather than creating distance and weakening a target from range like Lunara, Helion wants to get into the fight, establish his buffs, group enemies, and turn that setup into concentrated burst.
That makes the choice surprisingly straightforward once you stop asking which starter has the better tier-list position. Lunara is the more flexible package. Helion is the more committed melee package.
If I wanted my starter to remain the character I aggressively control and pour early resources into, Helion would be tempting. If I wanted a starter that could change jobs as the rest of my collection expanded, I'd take Lunara.
Your Starter Changes What the Rest of Your Team Needs
This is the part I'd actually consider before locking the choice in, because your starter doesn't exist in isolation.
Lunara already provides ranged damage, so immediately surrounding her with other creatures that only give you more ranged damage can create unnecessary overlap. An early melee option such as Emberpup gives that lineup something different, while your remaining positions can cover things like healing, additional Break pressure, or support.
Helion creates the opposite problem. He's already comfortable operating at close range, so adding a ranged attacker such as Celestis gives your early lineup another way to approach fights instead of stacking everything around melee range.
This is why I wouldn't choose a starter based solely on which one seems to deal more damage in a vacuum. Pick the one whose weaknesses you're happier filling.
Choosing Lunara means you start with range, debuffing, Break utility, and damage already condensed into one slot, leaving you free to add melee presence and sustain around her. Choosing Helion means you begin with a more direct melee centerpiece and can build outward with ranged coverage and support.
That distinction becomes less important once you've caught and evolved a much larger collection, but it's arguably more important during the exact portion of the game where the starter decision matters most.
Can You Get Both Helion and Lunara?
You currently have to choose either Helion or Lunara as your starter Guardian, and there isn't a confirmed way to simply go catch the one you didn't choose afterward.
There is an interesting hint during the story. Dr. Lewis mentions an Ancient Prism that may eventually allow you to awaken and obtain the other starter, but I wouldn't make your initial decision on the assumption that this will definitely happen. The actual method remains unconfirmed.
So I'd treat your first selection as meaningful. If you're undecided, Lunara is my preferred overall choice because her range, Break pressure, Light Resistance reduction, damage, EP recovery, and sustain give her more ways to stay relevant as the rest of your team changes.
Pick Helion instead if that flexibility isn't what you're looking for. His close-range combat, self-buffing, enemy grouping, and burst make considerably more sense for someone who already knows they want their starter to be an aggressive melee carry.
Neither choice ruins your account, and their identical overall stats make this much less about choosing the secretly stronger Guardian than it first appears. You're really choosing which set of problems you want your first Aniimo to solve.
