Kafka was one of the first characters we got to play a demonstration of at the start of Honkai Star Rail, and she has been hyped up ever since. With her release in 1.2, it’s no surprise to see her quickly shooting up in everyone’s character tier list. With that said, let’s look at how you can master the most wanted member of the Stellaron Hunters.
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Abilities and Traces
Kafka is a DoT (Damage over time) lightning hyper-carry character that requires a team to be built around for maximum performance output. Her playstyle revolves around delivering consistent lighting application with her Skill and Ultimate to do Lightning damage that scales off the DoTs applied on enemies.
Caressing Moonlight (Skill)
Kafka’s Skill, Caressing Moonlight, inflicts lightning damage to the selected target while dealing a moderate percentage of that damage to adjacent enemies. Moreover, if the target enemy is receiving DoTs from other abilities like, Kafka’s Shock, Sampo’s Windshear, Luca’s Bleed, those DoTs will instantly inflict a large percentage of their damage.
Twilight Trill (Ultimate)
Kafka’s Ultimate, Twilight Trill, deals lightning damage to all enemies with a high probability of Shocking them, in the event of which they will take additional damage from the shock across the next two turns. Additionally, you probably guessed it, but just like her skill, all Shocked enemies will also receive further DoT damage.
While the latter damage may seem a little underwhelming because enemies have to be Shocked, fret not for her Trace, as Torture will alleviate this condition and inflict DoT damage on all enemies based on the DoTs applied.
Gentle but Cruel (Talent)
Kafka’s Talent, Gentle but Cruel, allows her to trigger a follow-up attack whenever an ally does a normal attack. This follow-up attack is just as likely to inflict Shock as is her Ultimate, and that, too, also lasts for the next two turns. It’s important to note that her Trace, Thorns, increases the chance of inflicting Shock by 30%, which, coupled with her other Trace, Plunder (Generates five energy upon defeating an enemy), greatly reduces her energy requirements.
Mercy Is Not Forgiveness (Technique)
Kafka’s technique, Mercy Is Not Forgiveness, is a good way to kick off a battle in the closed world as it inflicts lightning damage right off the bat with the same chance of applying Shock. It is particularly useful when you don’t have your Ultimate ready, as you can apply a DoT right away and capitalise off it with your Skill.
Light Cones
After having understood Kafka’s kit, you can easily tell by now that damage output is what she specialises in, as opposed to inflicting debuffs. Keeping that in mind, the best Light Cones for her are those that increase her damage and synergise with her DoTs.
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Patience Is All You Need (5-Star)
Of course, Kafka’s signature Light Core, Patience Is All You Need, is her best-in-slot; It’s tailor-made for her, which is not very surprising. At Superimposition 1, she gains a 24% damage increase coupled with a 4.8% speed increase, where the speed increase stacks up to three times, each time she attacks. Moreover, enemies damaged by this Light Cone will have a chance of being applied by a Lightning DoT through its passive, Erode.
Good Night and Sleep Well (4-Star)
There’s a very high chance you already have this 4-Star Light Cone, for it serves as a very good budget alternative to Kafka’s signature, especially at high Superimposition. At Superimposition 1, Good Night and Sleep Well deal 12% additional damage for every debuff (Maximum 36%) inflicted on an enemy, a number that doubles at Superimposition 5 (Maximum 72%). Furthermore, as a cherry on top, this damage bonus also applies to damage dealt through DoTs.
Fermata (4-Star)
If you don’t have Kafka’s signature or Good Night and Sleep Well at high Superimposition, you can easily get a Superimposition 5 Fermata from the Forgotten Hall shop. Aside from increasing the Break Effect, this massively free-to-play option works well as it increases Shock and Wind Shear damage by 32% at S5, including in the context of DoTs.
Relic Sets
Seeing how Kafka’s Light Cone options are quite forgiving, even involving a very free-to-play option, her Relic sets are just as flexible. Kafka technically does not have a strict best-in-slot set, so you can even mix and match two-piece Relic sets to get the best sub-stats on her.
Cavern Relics
As far as four-piece sets go, Band of Sizzling Thunder synergises the most with her due to its lightning damage bonus (2pc) and the 20% ATK increase it gives upon using a Skill (4pc); Since you’ll be spamming her Skill quite a lot, you can maintain decent uptime on his ATK% buff. Aside from that, you can also mix and match two-piece Band of Sizzling Thunder with either Musketeer of Wild Wheat (12% ATK) or Messenger Traversing Hackerspace (6% SPD).
Planar Ornaments
As far as Planar Ornaments go, while there are some niche options that you can explore with more vertical investment, your safest bet would be slotting Space Sealing Station on Kafka. Aside from increasing ATK by 12%, it gives a further 12% increase if Kafka’s SPD is at least 120.
Main Stat and Sub Stat Priority
Kafka is relatively easy to build. Aside from 120 SPD and 28% Hit Rate (18% of which you get for free from her minor Traces), you should ideally be stacking as much ATK% as possible. Crit Rate and Crit DMG are not applicable to Kafka as DoT damage does not scale off them. As such, you should go for a Lightning DMG Boost Sphere, ATK% Rope, ATK% Body, and SPD Boots.
Eidolon Recommendations
Before delving into this section, it’s important to point out that Kafka is perfectly viable at E0. However, if you still want to squeeze the most performance out of her, then keep reading.
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Eidolon 1 (Da Capo)
Kafka’s E1, Da Capo, will further increase her chance of applying Shock via Follow-up attack by 30%, which, although it does lower her Hit Rate requirement, can be helpful at higher stages of the Memory of Chaos.
Eidolon 2 (Fortississimo)
Kafka’s E2, Fortississimo, will increase the damage dealt by all DoTs by 25% when she is on-field. It is a good place to stop collecting her Eidolons unless you want her E6.
Eidolon 3 (Capriccio)
Kafka’s E3, Capriccio, increases her Skill level by +2, up to a maximum of Lv. 15.
Eidolon 4 (Recitativo)
Kafka’s E4, Recitativo, regenerates 2 Energy for Kafka upon taking damage from Shock, lowering her energy requirements.
Eidolon 5 (Doloros)
Kafka’s E5, Doloros, increases her Ultimate level by +2, up to a maximum of Lv. 15.
Eidolon 6 (Leggiero)
Kafka’s E6, Leggiero, increases Shock damage by 156% regardless of how it is inflicted and lasts one more turn. Good overall boost of damage, especially at a high Hit Rate.
Team Compositions
Kafka’s team compositions are pretty straightforward. You ideally want to run her with at least one DoT Sub-DPS like Sampo (AoE) or Luca (Single-Target), one Debuffer like Pela (AoE) or Silver Wolf (Single-Target), and one Shielder/Healer (Even Natasha gets the job done).
Conclusion
Kafka is a solid addition to Honkai Star Rail’s 5-Star roster, and even if you build her to be very free-to-play, she will deliver on what she does best: Maximising DoT damage. Her team compositions are also quite easy to achieve, as not only are Luca and Sampo currently running on her 1.2 banners, it’s not hard to get Pela and Natasha.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I Pull for Kafka?
Aside from her free-to-play friendliness, if you do feel like you’re lacking the damage needed to clear the Memory of Chaos, then you can pull for her, especially if you like her character and playstyle. Conversely, you could wait till the end of the banner for more information on Fu Xuan and Dan Heng IL before making that choice.
Can Kafka Use Her Ultimate Once Every Two Turns?
Yes, for an optimally built Kafka, if you have her E4 and give her an Energy Regeneration Rate Rope, she will easily be able to use her Ultimate every two turns as opposed to the standard three. Aside from that, you can, of course, build her for Energy Regeneration Rate, but that is not recommended at all.
How Do I Synergise Luca and Sampo with Kafka?
Since Luca and Sampo need to be applying DoT before Kafka steps in to use her Skill and Ultimate, you should be building them to have at least one more speed than Kafka. This way, they’ll be able to apply DoT first, allowing you to play Kafka as she is supposed to be played.