The second half of Honkai: Star Rail's 1.0 patch is starting off strong with the release of Jing Yuan, one of the Arbiter-Generals of the Xianzhou Luofu who has officially entered the roster as a 5-star Lightning Erudition character.
With a number of strong contenders in the current lineup as well as a wealth of upcoming Honkai: Star Rail characters, this begs the question: will Jing Yuan be worth getting? Here are a couple of things to know about this character as well as the supporting units that will also be present in his banner.
Is the Jing Yuan Banner Worth Pulling For?
Simply put, yes. In essence, Jing Yuan acts as an upgrade to Serval—both are Erudition units, though the former works better as a direct damage dealer while the latter is capable of tremendous synergy with Nihility characters and DoT effects. Both are great at dealing with groups of enemies, but Jing Yuan offers a completely different flavor of AOE damage compared to Belobog's resident rock star.
Even during the Honkai: Star Rail closed beta tests, Jing Yuan has been a solid Erudition character that's got plenty of damage to offer. He effectively attacks two separate times courtesy of his Lightning Lord, and he can use both opportunities to break Lightning Weaknesses with his hard-hitting moves. Jing Yuan can be especially useful in Memory of Chaos floors that include tons of enemies that are vulnerable to Lightning DMG.
Here's a breakdown of his pros and cons:
Strengths | Weaknesses |
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Players who are looking for a strong Lightning DPS carry can gain a lot of value from Jing Yuan. He can fill in for any vacancies in Memory of Chaos, and he can be extremely satisfying to use in the Simulated Universe with Elation blessings. Jing Yuan can also synergize efficiently with Harmony characters, as any buff that goes to him also translates directly to the Lightning Lord's damage output. Also, his Eidolons are all very powerful, but they are not needed to make him a viable unit.
Like all characters, players will need to heavily invest in Jing Yuan if they want to make him as effective as possible. Min-maxing this character can get very expensive as he scales best with Light Cones which increase his follow-up attack damage, and there aren't many of these as of Honkai: Star Rail 1.0.
One important thing: Jing Yuan may have good DPS against single targets, but he will still pale in comparison to other Lightning damage dealers who actually specialize in melting bosses. Players who want an ST Lightning DPS carry might want to save for Kafka instead. Her banner is yet to be announced, but she is expected to arrive after Luocha and Silver Wolf.
Jing Yuan Banner 4-Star Characters
The featured 4-stars in every limited banner are always worth taking a look at. This is a big deal for many players, especially when the characters in question have valuable Eidolon bonuses—such is the case with the first-ever Jing Yuan banner in Honkai: Star Rail.
Tingyun
Tingyun is one of the best 4-star Support characters in the game, and it's expected that she will remain relevant well into the future patches even after other Harmony characters are released. She works especially well with Jing Yuan because of her ability to charge the Arbiter General's Ultimate while simultaneously buffing his damage.
Also, Tingyun's Benediction skill grants one turn's worth of extra Lightning DMG that scales off the targeted ally's stats. Since Jing Yuan will naturally build for Lightning DMG boosts on his Relics and Planar Ornaments, he'll get more value out of this buff.
With Eidolons unlocked, Tingyun will be able to supply more Energy and higher DMG multipliers on top of giving extra SPD to her targeted ally.
March 7th
Everyone starts the game with March 7th already on the roster. She's a very effective Tank character who can keep allies safe via strong shields and Freeze effects. March can work well with Jing Yuan by virtue of her kit alone, but she can be even better once her Eidolons are unlocked.
March's E1 and E4 bonuses both help her regenerate Energy for her Ultimate. Meanwhile, her E6 lets her heal allies that are protected by her shield. The latter is especially useful in hypercarry team comps or niche strategies for Memory of Chaos and Simulated Universe. Unlocking March 7th's full potential can open up an array of possibilities, and players can't go wrong if they all of her Eidolons.
Asta
As of launch, Asta is the premier Support character for SPD-based team comps, and she can help maximize the damage output of Jing Yuan's Lightning Lord in more ways than one—the more Jing Yuan attacks and the higher his ATK stat is, the more damage Lightning Lord will do.
Asta is a good unit at base, but she becomes significantly more useful when she reaches E2, as it allows her to maintain her Charging stacks for much longer as long as she can keep casting her Ultimate. When combined with her E4 and E6 bonuses, she can keep her Charging stacks almost indefinitely, giving the team a massive ATK boost for the rest of the fight.
Honkai: Star Rail is available for PC and mobile devices. PS4 and PS5 versions are in development.