Building the right team is a crucial aspect of Honkai: Star Rail, a turn-based game where players battle their way through various stages using a team of characters. A well-constructed team can make all the difference between victory and defeat, as each character has unique abilities and attributes that can complement or clash with other team members. Therefore, it's essential to understand how to build a balanced and effective team to succeed in the game.
Ultimately, the choice of which characters to include in a team comes down to the player's preference and their enjoyment of their favorite characters. However, to optimize team performance, players should consider a variety of factors, such as elemental affinities, character roles, and skill synergy. By taking these factors into account, players can create a team that can handle any situation thrown their way, from high-damage output to strategic crowd control. With proper team building, players can conquer even the toughest challenges in Honkai: Star Rail and progress through the game with ease.
Things To Consider
Team building in Honkai: Star Rail follows a familiar approach found in many turn-based games. Each character is assigned specific roles and possesses unique abilities and move sets. The key factors to consider when building a team are the character paths, elemental affinities, synergy between characters, the type of content, and the overall build of each character.
Players have the freedom to create diverse team compositions and easily swap between them or change characters within the team. This flexibility allows players to adapt their strategies and optimize their performance in different situations. Whether it's adjusting the composition to tackle specific challenges, experimenting with different character synergies, or accommodating personal playstyle preferences, the game provides ample opportunities for customization.
Paths
When building a team, players should typically focus on having a DPS character and other characters to support them in some way. In Honkai: Star Rail, there are a total of seven different paths to choose from. Out of these, three are generally considered DPS roles: The Hunt, The Erudition, and The Destruction. Alongside these paths, players will come across two offensive support roles, the Nihility and the Harmony, and lastly, two defensive support roles, the Preservation, and the Abundance.
The great thing about these paths is that while certain characters may synergize better with each other, players can mix and match any support role or have multiple characters of the same path, primarily the Nihility, the Harmony, or the Preservation, if it suits their play style and the effects are stackable. For example, Harmony characters like Tingyun and Bronya can both be beneficial in buffing the main DPS character, as their effects can stack. However, having two healer characters may not work as effectively, similar to having two DPS characters, except for certain occasions.
Elements
Alongside a character's path, the element they utilize is also highly important in each specific battle due to the Toughness Meter and Weakness Break mechanics. Unlike in games like Pokemon or Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail doesn't have a straightforward "elemental weakness" or elemental reaction system. This means that players are not required to limit themselves to specific team compositions for optimal damage based on element synergy or complete elemental coverage.
In Honkai: Star Rail, players can see the enemy's weakness in advance before entering a battle and prepare accordingly. While utilizing the toughness break mechanic is generally recommended for difficult content, it is not mandatory since enemies can still lose HP without depleting their weakness meter. Therefore, while it is recommended in the long run to have different DPS characters covering each element, this may not be as significant for Harmony or Abundance characters that primarily target allies and have less impact on the enemy themselves.
In the short-term or early game, players may not have access to multiple DPS characters with different elements or the resources to build them effectively. In such cases, it is still better to focus on a well-built character who may not have a strong element advantage against a particular enemy, rather than choosing another character solely based on their element. Players can also rotate their support characters to exploit elemental weaknesses if possible. The versatility and flexibility of the game's mechanics allow players to focus on a mono-element composition as long as the enemy is weak to that particular element, eliminating the need to cover every weakness an enemy may have.
Synergy Between Characters
In Honkai: Star Rail, character synergy takes various forms, and one important aspect to consider is the skill point usage of each character. For instance, certain support characters like Bronya rely on using skill points frequently to maintain their buffs, while their basic attacks may not be as impactful in most cases. When pairing Bronya with a DPS character, players should consider whether the DPS character's basic attacks are still strong or if they have follow-up attacks or other means to gain skill points. On the other hand, another Harmony support character, Tingyun, has buffs that last for 3 turns, reducing the need for frequent skill point usage. Additionally, characters like Fire Trailblazer have enhanced basic attacks, making it beneficial to use their basic attacks frequently. Therefore, players should be mindful of whether the other characters in the team can compensate for a character that heavily relies on skill points.
Another aspect of synergy to consider is whether a certain character can provide specific benefits to another character. For instance, March 7th has the ability to perform follow-up attacks when a shielded character is attacked. Even if March 7th herself has not provided a shield, her effect can still trigger if there is another character in the team who shielded the allies, such as Gepard or Fire Trailblazer, who can provide shielding. This creates a synergy that enhances the overall effectiveness of the team. Another example of more specialized synergy can be seen with Asta. One of her passive traces allows her to boost the Fire damage of the team. This means that Fire DPS characters can particularly benefit from having Asta in the team, in addition to the buffs she can provide to allies of any element. It is important to note, however, that currently there aren't many characters who offer such niche benefits.
Content Type
The requirements for different character paths in Honkai: Star Rail vary depending on the type of content being played. For instance, when players are engaged in material farming, the difficulty is relatively low, allowing them to prioritize multiple DPS characters to progress through turns quickly, without necessarily needing a healer. However, in more challenging content like the Simulated Universe, particularly at higher difficulty levels, a defensive playstyle becomes crucial. This is because the enemies in this mode are higher level than the characters and can deal significant damage, potentially resulting in one-shot defeats. Since time constraints are not a factor in this content, players have the flexibility to run a DPS character alongside multiple defensive support options.
Conversely, the Forgotten Hall presents a different level of challenge. At later levels, this content becomes highly demanding, requiring players to complete it within a specified number of turns and ensuring that no more than one character is defeated. To succeed in the Forgotten Hall, players must focus on a team that can advance turns, deal significant damage, and maintain a balance between healing and offensive capabilities. It is important to note that healers are currently limited in Honkai: Star Rail, which can pose challenges in higher levels that require two separate teams. In such cases, players may find it beneficial to include Preservation characters instead. Additionally, it is worth considering that certain levels of the Forgotten Hall provide healing opportunities for characters.
By understanding the specific demands of each content type, players can tailor their team compositions accordingly. This enables them to optimize their chances of success, adapt to the challenges presented, and make the most of the available character paths and abilities in Honkai: Star Rail. As such, team building is a dynamic and ever-changing process.
Character Kits and Builds
Many players may prioritize their 5-star characters, as they are generally believed to have more effective kits that make content easier. However, it is important to note that not all 5-star characters outperform their 4-star counterparts. Therefore, when building a team, players should focus more on the characters' kits rather than their rarity. Additionally, ensuring that characters are well-built with appropriate relics, traces, and light cones is crucial for their effectiveness in a team composition.
Relics, traces, and light cones significantly impact a character's performance. If players lack these resources or have not ascended their characters or leveled up their traces, the characters may not be as valuable to include in a team. Therefore, unless players are using a character to learn their strategy, it is generally not advisable to include under-built characters in challenging content. Instead, it is more beneficial to allocate that slot to a character with a less fitting kit but is well-built and can contribute more effectively in most situations.
Honkai: Star Rail is now available on Android, iOS, and PC. A PlayStation version is in development.