Galactic Domination: The Ultimate Honkai Star Rail Tier List 2023

Honkai Star Rail is Hoyoverse’s latest addition to their roster of gacha games, driven by a thrilling story starring unique characters that mingle to create memorable sequences. However, getting through the game’s story means clearing any challenging content that may come your way, and when push comes to shove, you’ll need to count on your characters to deliver. 

Related: Burned Out in 2023: The Repetitive Grind of Honkai Star Rail and Genshin Impact

Explaining the Honkai Star Rail Tier List

Before delving into our tier list, it’s important to establish a few things. Firstly, our tier list is ultimately subjective and open to debate – however, we urge you to consider our tier list and its accompanying rationale before agreeing or disagreeing. Secondly, aside from opportunity cost, our tier list evaluates each character in terms of versatility – a character that can synergise with multiple characters and facilitate several teams will be of higher value to the average player than a character that has a very niche team.

Lastly, this goes without saying, but if there is a character you absolutely adore, whether it be because of their character design, role in the story, voice acting, or moveset, you should pull for them by all means. After all, you can clear most content in the game with a team built around any character, five-star or four-star, with the right amount of investment. Honkai Star Rail is all about having fun, which is also derived from playing your favourite characters!

S-Tier Characters

SS-Tier characters are what we would call “Must-Pulls”, for any player’s account. They don’t require much investment to get going with and will make your grind much easier!

1. Blade (5-Star)

Blade is just as strong as he was made out to be in his trailer. He is capable of exchanging health points for more damage whilst also being able to heal himself – that, in itself, is a broken combination. His damage numbers are insanely high, and although he comes off as a high-risk, high-reward character, running him with a good healer makes him quite comfy to play with.

2. Bronya (5-Star)

Bronya has to be one of the most used characters in the game due to her massive supporting capabilities. On top of giving you the easiest free turn ever, she is capable of dispelling all debuffs, buffing ATK% and Crit damage, and allowing your team to achieve high damage numbers per turn. She does not need to synergize with any particular element, so you can just slot her into any team as a flex slot.

3. Gepard (5-Star)

While healing is one way of keeping your team alive, shielding is just as good of an alternative, which is where Gepard shines. Aside from the tanky shield that spawns with his Ultimate, Gepard freezes fairly consistently and delivers copious amounts of ice application. Your enemies will only be able to get decent hits if they’ll be either frozen or up against a shield more than half the time.

4. Luocha (5-Star)

Healing is the most essential mechanic in Honkai Star Rail, and Luocha is currently the face of it – every other healer pales in comparison. On top of deliberately healing and cleansing, his passive allows him to fully heal any one character below half HP after two turns, making him one of the best passive healers in the game. Just to add the cherry on top, he is perfectly capable of breaking as well if you build a decent bit of ATK% on him.

5. Seele (5-Star)

Before Blade, Seele was the undisputed best DPS character in Honkai Star Rail, and even now, her combo with Bronya is as lethal as it used to be. She breaks the norm by gaining an extra turn whenever she eliminates an enemy, allowing her to hunt down the next opponent with immense Quantum damage. Hence, she is able to excel at multi-target scenarios as a single-target DPS simply by taking out the opposite party, one enemy at a time.

6. Silver Wolf (5-Star)

Silver Wolf is the best 5-Star support unit when it comes to enhancing your team’s damage by reducing the enemy’s resistance and defence. Her Skill brute forces a weakness onto the enemy against any of the elements in your party, oftentimes making your DPS unit hit much harder and reach some of the highest damage numbers ever seen in the game! Furthermore, her Ultimate shreds through the enemy’s defence whilst dealing Quantum damage as a little cherry on top.

7. Pela (4-Star)

Pela is arguably the best 4-Star support unit for late-game content, falling on the lower spectrum of S-Tier due to how easy she is to obtain. Her niche is to debuff enemies with her skill and shred through the defences of multiple mobs with her icy Ultimate. Pairing her Ultimate with an AoE damage dealer, particularly Blade, will literally allow you to decimate multiple enemies simultaneously.

8. Tingyun (4-Star)

Tingyun rivals the kind of support that Pela channels, but in a different way, making her just as good of a 4-Star support unit, if not better. She is designed purely to boost the impact of your main DPS character but not only enhancing ATK% with her skill but also restoring a lot of energy upon using her Ultimate. If you ever feel like you aren’t able to use your Ultimate as often with your DPS, then Tingyun is the character you’re missing!

A-Tier Characters

A-Tier characters are quite good, but they do require a certain level of investment before you actually start seeing tangible results. While you should try to secure every S-Tier character, you can pick and choose whichever of the A-Tier characters you want based on likability.

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1. Bailu (5-Star)

Bailu is a very good on-command AoE healer that can also revive one of your fallen party members once per battle. Even though Luocha is currently the best healer in the game, we would still recommend getting her as a healer for your second team in the Forgotten Hall. Given how essential healing is in Honkai Star Rail right now, one healer won’t simply cut it.

2. Jing Yuan (5-Star)

Jing Yuan is a very solid pick simply due to the amount of raw pressure he applies to the enemy team. His ability to consistently inflict breaks, coupled with his damage ceiling that gets raised significantly due to his Lightning Lord stacks, make him a force to be reckoned with. 

3. March 7th (4-Star)

March 7th is the first 4-Star to appear on our A-Tier list due to the awesome level of support she offers to your team – truly an “All-in-one”, kind of support character amongst 4-Stars. Her Skill shields one of your characters whilst also trading blows for that shielded character, while her burst freezes enemies in an AoE, locking them in place. When paired with even a mediocre healer, March 7th will keep your team alive for long. 

4. Natasha (4-Star)

Natasha is the best budget healer in Honkai Star Rail at the moment, and can easily be a substitute for even Bailu’s healing for newer players. On top of that, she is relatively easy to obtain due to her 4-Star rarity. Just to be clear, healing is just about all you get from her – her Skill heals a particular character, while her Ultimate heals the entire party. Do build her at most until mid-game before replacing her with Bailu.

5. Asta (4-Star)

Asta is quite viable for clearing most of the game’s content, thanks to her buffing. Her attack speed buff scales off her Ultimate’s trace level, reaching as high as 52.8 at full investment. This, coupled with her ATK% buff via stacks of Charging (7%-15.4% per stack depending on investment), makes her a great 4-star support unit for new players as well as old players should they pair her up with another complementary support.

6. Sushang (4-Star)

Sushang is a relatively rare character when it comes to being a physical breaking option, as only a few characters can compete with that as of patch 1.2. This, coupled with the fact that she gets another turn after using her skill, makes it much easier to break an enemy’s weakness. Thus, her weakness-breaking ability becomes extremely valuable in single-target, boss-like scenarios. Do build her as she will only become better as more physical DPS get added to the game in the future. 

7. Fire Trailblazer (4-Star)

Fire Trailblazer is a very good substitute for Fire DPS characters like Himeko and Hook because not only can he/she dish out lots of Fire damage after consuming Magma Will stacks, but the Magma Will mechanic itself makes him/her a DPS-tank hybrid. You should see amazing results if you’re forcing enemies to attack Fire Trailblazer and keeping his/her Magma Will stacks from over-capping by using your Ultimate timely.

8. Welt (5-Star)

Apart from decent breaking, and alright damage, the real reason why Welt is so sought-after is because of his slow-down ability, which can really do wonders for your team when paired with high-speed characters. Think about it: what would happen if you reduce the enemy’s speed by a great margin and increase your speed by a great margin? Yes, you’ll end up swiping additional turns from your opponent, overall having more impact on the battle.

9. Yanqing (5-Star)

Yanqing is a relatively easy character to build, really only requiring investment towards stats like ATK% and Crit damage, while the return on that investment is very solid. If you’re a relatively experienced player who’s just moving on from 4-Star DPS characters to 5-Star DPS characters, Yanqing will work perfectly. He has a very flexible kit, with on-command AoE and freezing capability, making him a reliable mid-game DPS.

10. Yukong (4-Star)

Yukong is another 4-Star support unit that, similar to Tingyun, buffs the offensive capabilities of your DPS characters but is different in that she buffs Crit rate and Crit damage. Yes, she is currently the only character that buffs both Crit stats (Bronya only buffs Crit damage). However, she isn’t S-tier like Tingyun because her rotations are quite difficult to pull off since her ultimate only lasts two unit actions and, thus, can easily desync with your main DPS unless you speed tune.

11. Kafka (5-Star)

Kafka is Hoyoverse’s newest addition to Honkai Star Rail’s 5-Star roster, and although she has been hyped up since the beginning of the story, her uniqueness is a little restrictive at the moment. To elaborate, Kafka is a very strong hypercarry whose damage increases manifolds with other Damage over Time (DoT) characters, but the problem is that the only character that can currently synergise with her is Sampo. We are currently placing her on A-Tier, but as soon as the DoT roster expands, she will become easier to build and shoot up to S-Tier.

B-Tier Characters

B-Tier characters are quite alright, especially for beginners trying to clear novice-level content. They will get the job done for you at the start of the game but do consider upgrading your teams to incorporate more S-Tier and A-Tier characters later on. However, should you choose to stick to a B-Tier character for the long run, be prepared to invest in a lot of Trailblaze Power to keep up!

1. Clara (5-Star)

Clara’s place in the meta is slowly being replaced by characters who can clear content much faster and easier. Furthermore, she is not as versatile in terms of team compositions due to her Counter mechanic, which forces you to build a team purely around her to achieve the maximum number of Counters possible whilst keeping her alive. It’s a unique and fun playstyle but requires high investment, so we classify Clara as a high B-Tier character.

2. Himeko (5-Star)

Similar to Clara, Himeko’s place in the meta has also started to fade away with the introduction of more DPS options. She is still quite viable, especially early to mid-game if you manage to get her off the Departure Warp, so do invest into her, but not too much beyond mid-game, as you’ll probably find a better replacement by then. Her Fire application is, nevertheless, solid, and she shouldn’t have a hard time clearing out enemies weak to fire, especially with her spectacular-looking Ultimate. 

3. Dan Heng (4-Star)

Dan Heng is another character who has been eclipsed by Blade and also in terms of being “That cool Wind DPS everyone wants”. However, he is still very viable, especially with the kind of gear we are now getting in the game – with the right investment, he can shine in more than just single-target scenarios. So, if you think you won’t be able to secure Blade this patch and have an unbuild Dan Heng, feel free to build him – he’ll clear the game’s content.

4. Hook (4-Star)

Hook is another Fire DPS, just like Himeko, except that she is a 4-Star unit. As such, although her damage ceiling is not as Himeko’s, her damage is relatively more consistent. Thus, when you compare the two’s average damage per turn, the difference is not so significant as to warrant an entire tier difference. Do build her if you like her personality and/or playstyle, but as far as a fire DPS goes, the Fire Trailblazer is more than enough.

5. Qing Que (4-Star)

Qing Que is not a very recommended character due to the random nature of her kit. Her kit revolves around her drawing Jade Tiles (Or cards) into her hand of 4 Jade Tiles – if you get a good hand, you’ll be inflicting damage comparable to the best 5-stars, but if you get a bad hand, you might as well skip your turn. Interesting concept, but playing a gacha game inside a gacha game is not our cup of tea.

6. Serval (4-Star)

Serval used to be ranked quite high in earlier tier lists due to her Lightning application which was particularly effective against much of the game’s Lightning-prone content back then. However, as the game has progressed, she has experienced a loss in pull value due to the fact that she doesn’t offer much else when enemies aren’t weak to Lightning. So, if you’re a new player who got her early, you can use her to clear the game’s early content but drop her for a more versatile Support unit after that.

C-Tier Characters

C-Tier characters could be better at this point in time, and you should not bother pulling for them, much less building them. However, if you like collecting them for more Star Rail Passes on the Stellar Warp, then that’s fine, as the Stellar Warp features many S-Tier and A-Tier characters.

1. Arlan (4-Star)

Arlan sinks lower in terms of viability, especially with the introduction of Blade in patch 1.2. While he does free up skill points for your DPS characters, his life-losing mechanic is nowhere nearly as strong as Blade’s, which can output manifold more damage. You’re better off running a more helpful assistant instead.

2. Herta (4-Star)

Herta is simply not worth building anymore, even as an Ice DPS, with the induction of Silver Wolf into the Honkai Star Rail roster. Sure, you can use her very early into the game if you manage to get her quickly off the Departure Warp, but don’t invest that much into her, as you’ll probably be replacing her shortly.

3. Sampo (4-Star)

Sampo is an AoE Wind DPS who isn’t exactly worth building due to the fact that you get someone as strong as Dan Heng quite early in the game, and he, too, can function in AoE scenarios. However, he can be somewhat useful with his Damage over Time Ultimate, something that only synergises with Kafka, making him a high C, low B-tier character. As such, if you don’t have Kafka yet, don’t even bother building Sampo.

4. Physical Trailblazer (4-Star)

Physical Trailblazer ranks at the bottom of the C-Tier as of right now. While many of the B or even A-Tier 4-Star characters are usable before you replace them with 5-Star upgrades, Physical Trailblazer is astonishingly eclipsed by other 4-Star characters. Sure, you can use him at the very start of the game but put him aside as soon as you start racking up 4-Star characters. 

Also Read: How to Unlock Stagnant Shadows in Honkai Star Rails

Conclusion

Even though Honkai Star Rail currently comes off as a game brimming with characters, there are still more characters to come and roles to fill. The meta will undoubtedly change once every couple of patches, and you will need to adapt to beat the Forgotten Hall. So keep following our Tier List to stay updated with the best characters to use!

Frequently Asked Questions

What 5-Star Character Should I Pull From the Stellar Warp After 300 Pulls?

In Honkai Star Rail, players can choose any 5-Star characters in the Stellar Warp after making their 300th pull. While this roster is sure to expand in the future, if you wish to make a choice right now, then it depends. Pull for Bailu if you lack a healer for your second team; pull for Geopard if you don’t need another healer; pull for Bronya if you have Seele, as their synergy is amazing; otherwise, pull for Welt.

Is E6 Yukong Worth It?

Currently, Yukong is the only support character in Honkai Star Rail who can buff both Crit rate and Crit damage, skyrocketing your DPS character’s damage. Moreover, when you get her E6, she naturally gains a Roaring Bowstrings stack, significantly reducing the need to speed tune since you can use her Ultimate at any time. So yes, her E6 is worth it unless you are willing to wait for more Crit buffing characters to drop.

What is Clara’s Best Team?

One of Clara’s most niche teams involves two buffers (Ideally Tingyun and Yukong) and a healer (Ideally Luocha or high-investment Bailu). Conversely, if you don’t have a single very good healer, then one buffer (Tingyun or E6 Yukong) and two healers (Ideally Natasha and low-investment Bailu) can also work nicely.