Honkai: Star Rail Tier List – A Comprehensive Guide To The Best Characters

Jing Yuan, a general of the Xianzhou Luofu, is one of the best Erudition characters in Star Rail. He deals additional damage by summoning a Lightning Lord, which performs follow-up attacks. By stacking ‘hits per action’ with his skill and ultimate, Jing Yuan increases the number of times the Lightning Lord hits enemies. With up to ten stacks, each dealing 33% of Jing Yuan’s attack, it’s easy to see why he’s such a formidable character.

Gepard is an upgraded version of March 7, a shielder capable of protecting the entire party with his Enduring Bulwark ultimate while potentially freezing enemies with his Daunting Smite skill. He also has a self-revive ability, similar to Bailu’s, which restores 25% HP when he takes a lethal blow. Gepard is your go-to character for overall survivability, akin to Zhongli in Genshin Impact.

Seele, a five-star Wildfire member, excels at dealing single-target damage. She gains an extra turn with buffed damage when she defeats an enemy or uses her ultimate. When paired with a good support character like Bronya, who has a Combat Redeployment skill that allows Seele to take immediate action with increased damage, she can constantly combo turns while gaining energy for her ultimate. Seele’s skill also increases her speed by 25% for two turns, allowing her to act even faster.

Clara, accompanied by her robot guardian Svarog, excels at follow-up attacks. She counters whenever she takes damage and marks enemies for receiving extra damage from her Svarog Watches Over You skill. Her Promise, Not Command, ultimately allows her to bait enemy attacks, with Svarog providing counter overwatch for the entire team. Clara’s follow-up attacks generate extra energy and deal more damage than a basic attack, making her a valuable addition to any party.

Bailu may not be the top damage dealer, but she is Star Rail’s best healer. She heals allies with her Singing Among Clouds skill and applies Invigoration to them with her Felicitous Thunderclap ultimate. This effect partially heals allies every time they are hit, mitigating damage. Bailu’s healing is especially powerful when combined with shields, as characters will still receive the healing even if they take no damage. Bailu is also the only character that can revive a fallen ally, using her electrified hands as defibrillators.

Bronya is a potent offensive support character. Her most vital ability is her Combat Redeployment skill, which dispels a debuff on an ally and grants them immediate action with increased damage. She is excellent at providing fast characters like Seele and Sushang with extra turns for increased damage. By consistently using her basic attack, Bronya advances her action forward, making her an essential support for any damage dealer using her skill. Her ultimate is also highly effective, offering the entire party a direct attack and crit damage boost.

March 7 is the Noelle of Star Rail – a reliable, free character that provides incredible utility for your team. She offers significant survivability by baiting enemies with her Power of Cuteness shields and charging her ultimate with her Girl Power counterattacks. March 7 also provides freezes with her Glacial Cascade maximum, slowing down attacking enemies.

Himeko may not be as adept at countering as Clara and Svarog, but she is highly effective against multiple enemies. She gains charge for each weakness break inflicted and performs a powerful attack on all enemies when she reaches three. Himeko’s frequent follow-up attacks allow her to use her ultimate often, and she regenerates five energy for each enemy defeated, making her the strongest Erudition path character.

Welt’s primary strength lies in his ability to slow enemies using his Edge of Void skill, causing them to take fewer turns. He also damages slowed enemies more, thanks to his Time Distortion talent. With his Synthetic Black Hole ultimately imprisoning enemies, slowing them, and delaying their actions, Welt consistently deals extra damage while preventing enemies from acting quickly.

Yanqing is a crit machine, receiving massive crit rate and crit damage boosts from his Amidst the Raining Bliss ultimate and Soulsteel Sync state. When active, Yanqing has a 50% chance to follow up his attacks, potentially freezing the enemy. The only drawback is that Yanqing can lose this state when he takes damage, but this can be mitigated with proper planning and a reliable shielder like March 7.

This version of Trailblazer serves as a hybrid shielder and damage dealer. They can taunt enemies with their Ever-Burning Amber skill, gaining damage reduction and a stack of Magma Will. This resource stacks up to eight times, and once Trailblazer has four, their regular attack deals damage to multiple enemies and applies a small shield to all allies that last for a few turns. Trailblazers’ ultimate damage and shields both scale with defense, making them an excellent choice for dealing damage and protecting the rest of the party.

Pela is an exceptional offensive support character who can reduce enemy defense by applying Exposed with her Zone Suppression ultimate. If an enemy has a debuff after Pela attacks, she regenerates five energy, allowing her to recharge quickly and keep applying debuffs. She is also one of the few characters who can remove buffs from enemies with her Frostbite skill, making her invaluable in battles against elite enemies and bosses.

Sushang is a potent single-target physical damage dealer who relies on weakness breaks to increase her speed and guarantee that her Mountainfall skill deals extra Sword Stance damage to enemies. Her Dawn Herald ultimate grants her another turn, and for two turns, she receives an attack buff and an additional chance for her Sword Stance’s extra damage to activate. Sushang excels at chaining her skill into her ultimate and then into another skill for massive single-target damage, making her a four-star version of Seele.

Tingyun is one of the best support characters in Star Rail, primarily due to the Benediction buff she applies to an ally with her Soothing Melody skill. This buff increases their attack and adds some lightning damage to their usual attacks. When Tingyun attacks an enemy, the partner with Benediction also deals lightning damage. The good news is that Benediction works on follow-up attacks, making Tingyun a valuable asset for characters with powerful counters.

The physical Trailblazer is a solid damage dealer, but their overall kit is somewhat lackluster compared to other characters. Their primary advantage is their ease of building, as you only need to stack attacks to see results. The basic Trailblazer is versatile in dealing damage, with their RIP Home Run skill hitting multiple targets and their Stardust Ace ultimate offering both single-target and multi-target DPS modes.

Dan Heng is a decent starter character who can excel if built correctly. However, much of his utility relies on landing crits with his skill to slow enemies and deal more damage with his ultimate. It takes time to acquire a decent crit rate in the early game, and by the time you do, you may have already rolled a better Hunt character. Sushang, for instance, does not have her speed buff locked behind a bonus ability, and her ultimate fully advances her action forward. Dan Heng is a free character who can be powerful when adequately set up with the right party composition and buffs.

Natasha is the first free healer you will acquire in Star Rail. While she can’t compare to Bailu’s healing and reviving abilities, she is more than sufficient if you don’t have any other options. She can also deal some damage while healing. Natasha has some great Eidolons, such as the ability to grant continuous healing and deal extra damage, making her a viable long-term investment for endgame content, especially if you don’t have Bailu.

Although her buffs may not be as game-changing as Bronya’s, Asta is a decent free support character who can increase attack for the party by up to five times for every stack of Charging she has. Asta excels as a fire-specific support, buffing allies’ fire damage and applying Burning to enemies when her bonus abilities are unlocked. If you’re running Trailblazer (Preservation) alongside Himeko, an upgraded Asta is likely your best choice to back them up.

Serval is a decent character who can apply Shock to multiple enemies for extra lightning damage. However, like most other Erudition characters except Himeko, she struggles to deal damage against enemies without a lightning weakness. If you received her for free as part of the pre-registration rewards and need a lightning character for dealing with specific challenges, Serval will get the job done.

Qingque has a unique playstyle involves collecting tiles of the same suit to transform her basic attack into an enhanced version that hits multiple enemies. Her Scoop of Moon skill allows her to draw two tiles, increasing damage each time she does. When she activates her Cherry On Top enhanced attack, it deals significant damage. Qingque’s primary drawback is her reliance on many skill points for optimal performance, making her heavily dependent on team composition.

Sampo is one of the best breakers in the game and an excellent skill point builder. He slots perfectly next to other AoE-focused damage dealers like Serval or Himeko. Sampo’s talent gives him a 65% chance to apply Wind Shear, a powerful Damage Over Time effect, to enemies for three turns, and it can trigger off of his multi-hit skill and ultimate. Additionally, his AoE ultimate will give enemies a debuff that increases damage done by DoTs, even from your other characters. All you have to do is cycle between his skill and ultimate and essential spam attacks while you watch the damage ticks drain the enemy team of their HP.

Hook’s effectiveness is largely contingent on the viability of mono damage-type parties in specific challenging content. His playstyle centers around attacking enemies afflicted with Burn for extra damage and energy regeneration. While he can apply Burn to a single target with his skill, Hook relies heavily on other characters to apply Burn to enemies, limiting his effectiveness outside of particular team compositions.

Like most four-star Erudition characters, Herta struggles against bosses and elite enemy encounters. Her follow-up attack depends on bringing an enemy’s HP below 50%, and her One-Time Offer skill’s extra damage is based on the same condition. Herta doesn’t provide any additional value in those fights. However, she is one of the few four-star characters you can obtain guaranteed Eidolons for through the Simulated Universe, which can help to make her somewhat stronger.

In a game where healers are scarce, and survivability is crucial, Arlan’s high-risk, high-reward playstyle is not worth the gamble. His Pain and Anger talent may increase his damage based on his low HP, but maintaining Arlan’s health can be challenging without a strong healer or shielder. Utilizing Arlan effectively might even come at the expense of your other characters receiving adequate healing and protection.