It has been three weeks since the release of HoYoverse’s latest game, the turn-based space opera RPG Honkai: Star Rail. Over this period of time, the content locusts like yours truly have already devoured everything the game has to offer. Meanwhile, more casual and easygoing players are just reaching the point in the game where they amassed a serious collection of characters and now have choices to make.
Note: if you are at a point where you are wondering how you can enhance your Seele hypercarry to down Svarog in 4 turns down from 5 or can’t decide between Attack% or Break Effect on your Link Rope to properly minmax, this article is not for you. You are better off looking at the sites dedicated to the character builds and comps.
However, if you have a number of characters and you don’t know which ones are working well together and just want to have fun farming the open world/Calyxes/Caverns and poking the Simulated Universe, proceed below!
Seele / Yanqing & Bronya / Tingyun
Let’s knock this one out of the park right away: you are among the lucky ones that managed to snatch Seele from the event banner, and now you are wondering what to do with her.
Seele is an incredibly strong character with a massive single-target Quantum damage. While her main mechanic revolves around finishing off mobs with her skill and ult to proc extra turns, she is very powerful even without resets and even against the targets that have no Quantum weakness. So the correct course of action would be to feed her as many buffs as possible from your supports to increase her damage even further.
Enter: Bronya. Bronya is a support character that lets you dispel debuffs, increase other character’s damage and push their turn forward. Coupled with Seele’s already impressive penchant for not giving any other character a time to shine, this is a match made in heaven. The main drawback is that Bronya is a 5-star character and thus is not easy to get.
If you don’t have the Belobog princess, consider taking the Foxian beauty Tingyun for a spin alongside Seele. Tingyun is a 4-star support that can be pulled from the standard banner, and she can both increase the Attack characteristic of other characters as well as refresh their Ults faster, both of which are a dangerous combination when it comes to Seele.
If you want to see some really impressive numbers, use both of them together with Seele – but make sure you have a strong healer (Natasha or Bailu) or a strong Tank (Fire Trailblazer or Gepard) to help the party survive. If you do not have Bronya and Tingyun and you do not want to risk pulling a 5-star from the banner while you save for someone, try using Asta – read on to find out more about her below.
Note: you can build Yanqing using the same principles & characters to support him. He is an Ice character that follows the Path of the Hunt and can deal enormous single-target damage when properly geared, built and further buffed by supports. This young swordmaster gets an impressive amount of Crit Rate & Crit Damage from his kit, and so the extra Attack provided by Bronya and Tingyun can make him dish out crazy damage. He doesn’t have Seele’s mechanic of making all turns his turns, so you might want to focus a bit more on defense and/or healing for his comps.
Comp examples:
- Seele, Bronya, Tingyun, Bailu;
- Asta, Seele, Tingyun, Natasha;
- Yanqing, Tingyun, Bronya, Gepard;
- Yanqing, Tingyun, Natasha, Fire Trailblazer.
Clara & March 7th
Continuing with the list of 5-stars you possibly own, our next stars are Clara and Mr. Svarog. Clara is a Physical Destruction character that can dish out some very serious damage… provided that she is being attacked. So, in a way, she can also take on the role of a tank for your party, if you will help her out with healing and/or shields.
This is where March 7th comes in. She is a starter companion that is surprisingly versatile and useful even for the mid-game. March provides a chosen ally with a shield based on her DEF and increases their chance of being attacked – which is exactly what you need for Clara.
Additionally, both March and Svarog will launch follow-up attacks if Clara draws the aggro of enemies.
- Comp example: Clara, March 7th, Pela, Natasha.
Welt & Dan Heng
Are you among those who have fished out the only currently available Imaginary character, Welt? Then you are in luck! In addition to providing a type of damage that is currently much needed in the game and reducing enemies’ speed, he is also incredibly versatile and works well with almost any comp.
Due to his Skill having a chance to inflict Slow and his Ultimate providing Imprison, he works really well in a duo with Dan. Especially considering the fact that the latter deals increased damage to Slowed enemies with his Ultimate. Plus, Dan Heng is one of the starter characters that is relatively strong even without his Eidolons.
- Comp example: Fire Trailblazer, Welt, Dan Heng, Natasha.
Bailu & everyone (minus Natasha)
Bailu is the only 5-star healer currently available in Star Rail and one of the two healers total if you count Natasha. Her healing output is massive, and her Invigorate mechanic allows your party to mitigate some of the damage taken.
Additionally, she has a revive mechanic that works once per fight and comes in clutch during some unfortunate RNG. Where she is losing to Natasha is not having a cleanse on her skill, but one can’t have everything (at least not yet).
If you know that a fight will feature a mechanic you have to dispel (such as the Simulated World fight against boss Kafka and her Domination), you might want to bring in a character that can do that for Bailu while she keeps the team healthy. Examples of such characters are March 7th and Bronya. Otherwise, a well-invested Bailu can keep a comp alive all on her own.
Comp examples:
- Seele, Bronya, Asta, Bailu;
- Dan, Serval, Asta, Bailu.
Gepard & everyone (minus Fire Trailblazer & Clara)
Despite being slandered once the game was released, at the moment Gepard is one of the most desired characters in Star Rail due to the sheer comfort he provides being on the level of Genshin’s Zhongli. With the power of his shields, you can use Gepard as the solo tank, without a need for healer – provided you have leveled up his Traces, Light Cone and farmed for some DEF-focused gear.
Thus Gepard works well with almost any combinations of other characters – with the exceptions being Fire Trailblazer and Clara. As a Preservation-type character, Gepard more often than not will be drawing the aggro of enemies, getting in the way of Clara’s follow-up attacks. He is also a mass shielder (on his Ult), which makes Fire Trailblazer a better fit for another party.
Otherwise, have fun combining him with other available characters! You might want to slot Pela to debuff enemies or Asta/Tingyun/Bronya to buff your allies along with him, but all in all it is a great thing to have Gepard this early.
- Comp example: Gepard, Dan Heng, Serval, Asta.
Preservation (Fire) Trailblazer & Natasha
Once you finish Belobog, you will unlock the Preservation Path for your protagonist of choice, making them a durable tank that can provide the entire party with a shield. It makes them indispensable in the Simulated Universe and Memory of Chaos, where the damage dealt to your party can be quite significant.
Similar to Gepard, Fire Trailblazer works well with almost any other character but, unlike the Landau tank, it is possible that Trailblazer will need some extra help on the battlefield. Namely, Natasha – a healer that joins you at some point during the Belobog questing. Natasha can dispel, provide a significant healing and a small healing-over-time with her Skill as well as do a massive amount of party-wide healing with her Ult.
Fire Trailblazer & Natasha are a solid duo that can carry your chosen party through the majority of the available content. The only drawback is that for Memory of Chaos you require two comps, and using both on one side leaves only March 7th as the tank-ish character for the other. Unless you have pulled Gepard, Clara or/and Bailu, of course.
- Comp example: Fire Trailblazer, Serval, Dan Heng, Natasha.
Himeko & Herta
At the moment, most of the endgame content is centered around slaying beefy bosses which makes Himeko and Herta less useful and desirable than they should be. Both characters are missing a niche when it comes to high-end challenges in Star Rail. However, the duo is still exceptionally strong when farming open world, Calyxes, Stagnant Shadows and so forth as well as clearing the Simulated Universe using the Remembrance Path.
When an ally’s attack causes an enemy’s HP percentage to fall to 50% or lower, Herta will launch a follow-up attack that deals damage to all enemies. Himeko gains the points of charge when enemies are inflicted with Weakness Break. Upon reaching 3 stacks, she will perform a follow-up attack that deals damage to all enemies and consumes all charge stacks.
The two build off one another nicely, making their performance a manual auto-battle.
And remember: TIME TO TWIRL!
Hook & Sampo (& Kafka)
Pitch-Dark Hook the Great is a Fire Destruction character that has a 100% chance of inflicting all enemies with Burn upon using her Technique (attacking an enemy in the open world to trigger Weakness) and a 100% chance of inflicting Burn on a single enemy with her Skill. Enemies affected by Burn take increased damage from Hook and suffer from a DoT effect (Damage over Time) dealing damage based on her Attack characteristic.
Your pal Sampo Koski has a 65% chance to inflict Wind Shear dot on an enemy he is attacking. Additionally, his Ultimate has a 100% base chance to increase the target’s DoT taken by 20% for 2 turns.
If you want to concentrate on DoT-based teams, you might want to consider waiting and pulling for Kafka who will empower the DoT-based gameplay. Her ultimate applies DoTs to all enemies and her skill makes them do additional damage. It is currently unknown when Kafka will become a playable character in Star Rail.
- Comp example: Hook, Sampo, Serval, Natasha. Premium team for the future: Hook, Sampo, Kafka, Bailu.
Pela & Asta (not necessarily together)
Let’s say you’ve decided on a party, picked your tank/healer, main DPS, support/sub-DPS… and find that you have an extra slot left with a whole crowd of characters clamoring to get in. Who should you choose?
The easy answer would be Asta or Pela.
Asta is a Fire Harmony character that acts as a buffer for your party, increasing the speed of your characters by 36 with for 2 turns her Ultimate. Provided she has enough Energy Regen rate, she will be able to use it frequently enough. Meanwhile, Pela is an Ice Nihility character that debuffs your enemies instead. With her skill, she can dispel a beneficial effect off your enemy. Her Ultimate inflicts Exposed on all enemies for 2 turns, reducing their DEF by 30%.
How to choose between the two? Consider your party’s needs and enemy composition. If an enemy is weak to Fire, like, for example, Cocolia, or your party can use that additional speed (Seele / Dan), Asta might be a better pick. If you have a slower party and would rather weaken your enemies (comp built around Clara or Gepard) or the enemy is weak to Ice, Pela would work better.
Can they be used together? Sure, in some cases, and if your main DPS can make up for their relatively mediocre damage output. Although, due to the limited number of Buffers/Debuffers, the two are usually separated into different parties.
Comp examples:
- Seele, Asta, Tingyun, Natasha;
- Clara, Pela, Natasha, March 7th;
- Sushang, Asta, Pela, Natasha.
The list of the available characters of Honkai Star Rail will grow even greater with the upcoming banner of Jing Yuan and the teased 1.1 additions: Silver Wolf, Luocha & Yukong. Is there anyone you are saving for? Let us know in the comments below.
