Arlan is the only character in the launch version of Honkai: Star Rail who uses HP instead of SP when casting a Skill. This gives him a bit of a niche use, but overall, he is still a decent single-target Lightning DPS with strong AOE potential that becomes even better once players master how to manage his health bar.

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This health-drain mechanic does mean that Arlan is a little bit more team and build-reliant compared to other characters. Once players find a way to circumvent this mechanic, then they can turn Arlan into a capable DPS carry that can match some of the best damage dealers in Honkai: Star Rail. Here are two recommended team comps for this character.

Honkai: Star Rail Best Arlan Teams

When taking Arlan into the field, players need to be wary of his 30% Max HP sweet spot—ideally, Arlan should always be at or near this health threshold in order for him to deal maximum damage. He has his own ways of getting his health back, but since they involve defeating enemies, it's best to have someone on the team protect or sustain him so he doesn't get knocked out by a stray attack AOE damage.

Lightning Hypercarry Comp

This is a Lightning-focused variation of the standard hypercarry team comp with Arlan as the main DPS unit. It is primarily meant to deal with short encounters where the main threat is vulnerable to Lightning DMG—this can range from Stagnant Shadow domains, Simulated Universe Elites, and Forgotten Hall floors.

• DPS: Arlan
• Support 1: Tingyun
• Support 2: Bronya/Asta
• Tank/Healer

Tingyun is the main Support character here due to her ability to infuse Arlan with more ATK and Lightning DMG. She can also help him charge up his Ultimate, which has a relatively low cost of 110 Energy.

Bronya can help Arlan hit harder and act faster, with the latter being especially important as it allows him to shave off his own health more frequently in order to reach that 30% HP sweet spot. Asta is a good F2P alternative to Bronya, though her speed buff won't be as potent as Combat Redeployment's instant turn advancement.

As for the last slot, players can get either Gepard or Natasha to keep the team alive. Gepard's AOE shield can protect everyone from damage, while Natasha can give Arlan a constant source of healing that persists between turns. Players with an E6 March 7th may want to use her instead—March's healing is weak enough to help Arlan stay in his sweet spot without necessarily putting him at risk of dying.

Skill Generator Comp

One of the main benefits of having Arlan as a Sub-DPS is the fact that he does not use SP to deal damage. With him on the field, players can cast abilities more frequently without sacrificing any DPS. Arlan won't always be generating SP himself, but he can keep the team's SP economy positive simply by existing.

• DPS: Seele/Jing Yuan
• Sub-DPS: Arlan
• Support: Tingyun/Bronya
• Any Tank/Healer

This team setup can feature any combination of units, though Seele and Jing Yuan make good examples of carries who can benefit from having Arlan. Both characters are SP-hungry, especially if they're paired with a Support unit that can buff their damage. In this case, Arlan's jobs are to generate Skill Points, break Lightning Weaknesses, and nuke groups of weak enemies while the other damage dealers handle bigger targets.

Players can find the most success with this team in the Simulated Universe with blessings from the Path of the Hunt. Arlan's AOE ultimate can prime Seele for long damage chains, and he can continuously destroy minions summoned by Elites and Bosses. Arlan is especially strong in World 4 since the final fight against Svarog involves a lot of robotic enemies.

Honkai: Star Rail is available now on PC and mobile devices. A PlayStation version is in development.