Tera’s character is very flexible
Tera’s character creator is very flexible, but more importantly, can have some absolutely stunning results. The creator is split into three stages; the race selection, the class selection, and the customization phase. In the race selection stage you select between seven different races, each with a set of passive and active racial abilities. They’re not very clearly explained (at all) in the character selection page at this point in time, though (keep in mind that this is a beta).
Creating a character you can identify with an important step for any MMO. You could be looking at the same face (or back of the head) for tens of thousands of hours. If you end up with a character that’s not easy on the eyes, or in some way unsatisfactory, it can make your time in the world uneasy. On the flipside, the chance to inhabit a fantastical world as a beautiful, or strong, or adorably cute being can greatly aid in the immersive process.
Humans have the ability to reduce the effects of crowd control and the damage they take from other players when they’re low on health. The Castanic — horned, vaguely-demonic-looking, and beautiful — benefit from attacking from behind and can craft weapons more efficiently. The massive Baraka are the distant children of one of Tera’s deities, and can instantly restore their health and have a passive resistance to crowd-control effects, while the High Elves (whose males look quite androgynous) can instantly refill their mana and gather essences for crafting more quickly than other races. The absolutely adorable Popori are the beast-race of Tera, and can move amongst enemies without attracting their ire, or zip across the land then they’re out of combat. They share these attributes with the child-like Elin race. Finally, the bulky Aman are incredibly tough, and can prevent certain types of crowd control, as well as reduce the damage they take when they are low on health, or from damage-over-time effects.