Editing New Player Guide (section)

===Skill-based Character Growth===
AC does not have character classes as many other MMORPGs do.  There is no 'healer' class, no 'tank' class, no 'attack' class.

With AC you have complete control of the design of your character, allowing you to mix and match skills from any of the traditional class based systems into a character that is truly your own design.  The bad news is with this freedom, you can create some extraordinarily bad designs.  However, even these designs can succeed, and some players take pride in taking a so-called unplayable design to very high levels.

When grouping for quests, player mixes of skills allow for much greater freedom in creating your groups.  A group does not have to consist of a healer, a tank, a leader and damage specialist. Instead, parts of these roles can be taken by anyone in the group.

This also allows for a greater ability to 'solo'.  Very little of the content in AC cannot be soloed by a powerful enough character.