Source: HoYoverse
Honkai: Star Rail version 2.5 is almost upon us and the new update’s first half banners are definitely worth spending some hard-earned Stellar Jade on.
First off, the 5-star Wind Hunt character Feixiao will be making her debut as the first half’s featured banner character. Then there’s also an all-new triple 5-star rerun banner featuring the Lightning Nihility character Kafka, the Wind Nihility character Black Swan, and the Physical Harmony character Robin.
With four powerful characters available to pull, deciding who to pull for will surely be a hard decision. Fret not, we’re here to help and break down the reasons why you should pull for Feixiao, Kafka, Black Swan, Robin, or maybe even all of them at once.
Need a new top-tier Hunt DPS? Get Feixiao
Feixiao wields the Wind element and follows the Path of the Hunt, and is looking like the game’s new premier Hunt DPS character.
Feixiao will be the game’s second character to not have an energy bar after Acheron, and will also rely on accruing stacks from her Talent to charge up her ultimate.
Feixiao gains stacks of ‘Flying Areus’ for every 2 attacks unleashed by her or her allies. She is able to use her ultimate at 6 stacks and can save up to 12, letting her use two ultimates in quick succession at max stacks. Because of this, Feixiao charges up her ultimate much faster than other characters who rely on energy as her stack generation scales with her party’s attack frequency.
Feixiao’s ultimate is a powerful single-target ability that unleashes multiple hits on an enemy, with each hit either reducing the target’s Toughness or dealing more damage if they are already Weakness Broken.
The mechanics of Feixiao’s ultimate means she is best paired alongside characters with follow-up attacks built into their kits due to their tendency to build high Speed stats and multiple actions per turn. If you already have the likes of Topaz, Hunt March 7th, Aventurine, or even the new 4-star character Moze, then you’re already on your way to building a strong Feixiao team.
The composition for your Feixiao team should always see her paired alongside a sub DPS character like Topaz, Hunt March 7th, or Moze to help her charge up her ultimate. The third slot should go to a Harmony support with Action Advance abilities like Robin or Bronya, though you can still run a Nihility debuffer or even another sub DPS. Finally, your best choice for a sustain support will either be Aventurine or Gallagher for their high attack frequency.
Feixiao’s kit also turns her into a hybrid ultimate and follow-up attack DPS, which makes her best relic choices the 4-piece Wind-Soaring Valorous and 2-piece Duran, Dynasty of Running Wolves sets.
She also has plenty of good Light Cone choices. If you’re not able to get her signature, then the 5-star Light Cone ‘Cruising in the Stellar Sea’ can be acquired and superimposed to S5 for free from the Simulated Universe’s Herta Store.
Much like Acheron, Feixiao boasts a powerful kit centered around her ultimate that will only get stronger with time as better teammates and gear become available to her over time. If there is one character you’ll be pulling for in the first half of version 2.5, then why not the new top-tier DPS character Feixiao?
Need the premier DoT team? Get Kafka and Black Swan
Two of the 5-star characters available in the all-new triple rerun banner are the damage-over-time (DoT) queens Kafka and Black Swan. Even in the current metagame dominated by Super Break teams, the DoT teams headlined by these two femme fatales remain very strong.
Kafka is the key character in any DoT team, as she has the ability to trigger any DoTs on enemies at will. With this dangerously elegant Stellaron Hunter on your team, there’s no more need to wait for your enemy’s turn to deal damage – now you dish out hurt on both your party’s and your enemy’s turns.
Meanwhile, Black Swan boasts the strongest DoT output while also increasing the damage enemies receive with her ultimate. While she is unable to trigger DoTs on enemies at will like Kafka, the sheer amount of DoT she dishes out is nothing to scoff at.
If you’re looking to build the premier DoT team, then we recommend going for both Kafka and Black Swan. If you’re only able to get one of them, then we recommend going for Kafka now and waiting for Black Swan to get another rerun. But let’s be real, just go for both of them. We promise you won’t regret it!
Need an all-around top-tier Harmony support? Get Robin
While the three other 5-stars available in the first half of version 2.5 are all DPS characters, that doesn’t mean you should ignore Robin just because she’s a Harmony support. After all, this intergalactic popstar puts the ‘Harm’ in Harmony as she dishes out tons of damage on her own while also buffing her teammates and increasing the frequency of their attacks.
Robin’s kit is anchored on her ultimate, which lets her start singing her hit song ‘Sway to My Beat in Cosmos’ to empower her allies and spell doom for her enemies. Once Robin’s ultimate is activated, all her allies will have their ATK buffed and their action advanced by 100%. In addition, all their attacks will be accompanied by a separate instance of Physical DMG from Robin.
As if that wasn’t enough, Robin’s skill also lets her provide a party-wide DMG buff. This lets her support a wide variety of team archetypes, from Hypercarry, follow-up attack, to DoT compositions.
Robin’s powerful ultimate has a high energy cost, but this is offset by her ability to gain energy whenever her allies attack. Because of this, she is the go-to Harmony support for follow-up attack teams or any dual DPS composition.
If you’re looking for a versatile Harmony support to empower your teams and let you listen to interstellar bops in battle, then pull for Robin and join her intergalactic fan club today!
Honkai: Star Rail version 2.5 will be released on September 10 with three new playable characters in Feixiao, Lingsha, and Moze as well as tons of other new content, including a special triple rerun banner in the first half of the version featuring Kafka, Black Swan, and Robin. For more information on what's to come in Honkai: Star Rail version 2.5, check here.