As players experience the turmoil in Belobog's underground society in Honkai Star Rail, they'll eventually cross paths with Svarog, an ancient robot who's just doing his best to keep humanity alive. His methods, however, might be a little extreme, and that's something that the Astral Express crew simply can't stand for.
Svarog is an intimidating enemy in Honkai Star Rail. His towering size and lethal arsenal of weapons stand in the way between players and the rest of the game's story. Thankfully, he isn't too hard to beat, and even a team full of free characters can take him down if played properly.
How to Beat Svarog in Honkai Star Rail
Svarog is an incredibly tanky opponent who can drag a fight out to the point of exhaustion. He can catch unprepared teams by surprise and reel them into a drawn-out battle where he has the advantage. Thankfully, his own damage output isn't on the extreme side, and as long as players can break his Toughness bar often, he won't pose much of a threat at all. Here are some recommended units, Light Cones, and tactics for this boss fight:
- Dan Heng - Only Silence Remains (or any Light Cone that doesn't need kills)
- March 7th - Landau's Choice
- Serval - Sagacity
- Asta, Seele, Trailblazer, or Natasha
Any team that can exploit Wind, Fire, and Lightning weaknesses will do great against Svarog.
Dan Heng and Serval are excellent choices for this because they're both free and can deal huge amounts of damage per turn. The former specializes in inflicting big bursts, while the latter constantly applies the Shock DoT effect.
March 7th is arguably the best tank early in Honkai Star Rail, and the protection and crowd control she provides are invaluable. She won't be able to deal any break damage to Svarog's Toughness bar, but her counterattacks can help whittle away the boss' health throughout the course of the fight.
The last team member slot here is pretty flexible. A Fire character like Asta is ideal for players who want to break Svarog's Toughness quickly, but a healer like Natasha may be useful in case things don't go according to plan. Physical Trailblazer and Seele are also decent DPS choices, though much of their value only starts to shine once Svarog is actually incapacitated.
Svarog Battle Mechanics
Svarog will sometimes summon an Auxiliary Robot Arm Unit that will capture and detain a party member. It's imperative that players break this unit's Toughness bar as quickly as possible so they can keep their team at full strength. The robot will often target March 7th and other Preservation characters, which means players will find themselves without their tank once the bot launches its attack.
Other than this, Svarog's remaining attacks are simple and straightforward. He has several moves that deal high single-target damage, as well as an AOE bombardment skill that inflicts moderate damage to everyone in the party. Natasha's healing can negate much of this, but since most of Svarog's damage comes from his single-target attacks, a tank with Landau's Choice or some other way to get aggro is more than enough.
When it comes to actually dealing damage, players should try to keep Svarog Shocked by using Serval's abilities. Not only does this status effect deal damage to the boss after every turn, but it also increases Serval's own DPS against him via her Galvanic Chords passive, which inflicts extra Lightning Damage to any target that's already Shocked.
Asta is especially useful thanks to the SPD and ATK buffs she can provide. Her Meteor Storm skill is also capable of doing high damage against Svarog since it can hit him four times, assuming he's the only enemy on the field. Hook and Himeko are also good choices, but they don't have the same utility that Asta does.
Relics can help end this fight quicker, but they aren't that important this early in the game. It's best to rely on innate abilities and synergies for now.
As for the fight itself, keep the team protected by March 7th's shield and use Dan Heng and Serval's ultimates whenever they are available. March and the player's chosen fourth character should be the ones responsible for generating Skill Points. Svarog has a fairly large health pool, but he'll eventually go down so long as players can lay the pressure on him while surviving incoming damage.
Honkai Star Rail is available on PC, iOS, and Android. A PlayStation version is in development.