The Secret World gives players the freedom to develop their characters the way they want, without the constraints of classes and levels. Players can acquire any of the game’s over five hundred unique abilities, and through them play exactly as they like.

The swarm of abilities makes up the Ability Wheel, and organizes each of them into helpful groups. These main groups are Ranged, Melee and Magic. They divide further into Assault Rifles, Pistols, Shotguns, Blades, Hammers, Fists, Elementalism, Chaos Magic and Blood Magic. All abilities in the wheel are tied to one of these nine weapon groups, and each weapon offers a wide array of different play styles and tactics.

A character can learn any, and potentially all (after playing for a very long time), of the abilities in the Secret World. This is done through playing and earning experience points from doing missions, defeating enemies, crafting and player versus player combat. The player starts near the center of the wheel and acquires more and more abilities as he progresses outwards towards the outer layer.