Image: HoYoverse
The second half of Honkai: Star Rail version 2.5 is finally here, and with it comes the debut of a new 5-star character in Lingsha!
Lingsha arrives as the new premier Abundance support for the Firefly Super Break team that has been one of the most dominant lineups in the metagame, but she also brings more to the table in terms of versatility.
If you were lucky enough to have pulled Lingsha, read on as we break down how to utilise her effectively as well as her best build, gear, and teammates.
Lingsha wields the Fire element and follows the Path of Abundance, fighting alongside her adorable bunny Summon Fuyuan to aid her allies in battle. She boasts party-wide healing and debuff cleanses while also constantly reducing the Toughness of enemies weak to Fire and boosting the amount of Break DMG they receive.
Lingsha’s kit is centered around her Talent, Mistdance Manifest, and skill, Smoke and Splendor, that lets her summon Fuyuan to aid the party in battle.
Fuyuan works much like other Summons in Honkai: Star Rail like Topaz’s Numby or Jing Yuan’s Lightning-Lord, appearing in the action order and having its own fixed Speed stat. But unlike those other Summons, Fuyuan only has a designated number of actions it can take before disappearing that Lingsha can refresh.
Fuyuan has a fixed Speed of 90 and an initial action count of 3. When it takes action, it unleashes a follow-up attack that deals Fire DMG based on Lingsha’s ATK to all enemies as well as another instance to a single random enemy (enemies with Toughness greater than 0 and have Fire weakness are prioritised). At the same time, Fuyuan also heals the entire party based on Lingsha’s ATK and cleanses 1 debuff from them.
Lingsha can increase Fuyuan’s action count by 3 with every use of her skill, with the Summon’s maximum action count capped at 5. Lingsha’s skill also deals Fire DMG to all enemies, heals all allies, and advances Fuyuan’s next action by 20%.
Lingsha’s ultimate, Dripping Mistscape, inflicts the ‘Befog’ debuff on all enemies, which increases the Break DMG they receive by 25% at max level. At the same time, it deals Fire DMG to all enemies, heals all allies, and makes Fuyuan take action immediately after.
Meanwhile, Lingsha’s major Traces improves her Break Effect scaling and energy generation while also letting her provide emergency healing for allies with dangerously low health.
Lingsha’s A2 Trace, Vermilion Waft, increases her ATK and Outgoing Healing by an amount equal to 25% and 10% of her Break Effect, respectively, up to a maximum increase of 50% and 20%. Her A4 Trace, Sylvan Smoke, causes her basic attack to regenerate an additional 10 energy for her. And Lingsha’s A6 Trace, Ember’s Echo, causes Fuyuan to immediately take action if a party member’s HP is reduced to 60% or below of their Max HP. This does not consume Fuyuan’s action count and will take effect again after 2 turns.
Finally, Lingsha’s Technique, Wisps of Aurora, lets her immediately summon Fuyuan at the start of battle and inflict the Befog debuff on enemies for 2 turns.
When levelling up Lingsha’s abilities, prioritise her Talent first, skill second, and ultimate third – though you should have them all maxed out eventually. There’s also no need to level up her basic attack, so you can leave it at level 1 in order to save on resources.
In battle, make sure to use Lingsha’s Technique against strong enemies to ensure that Fuyuan and the Befog debuff are already active from the start. Keep track of Fuyuan’s remaining action count and use Lingsha’s skill whenever it starts to get low. You can also use her ultimate as an emergency heal if her A6 is not active or to increase the amount of Break DMG enemies receive once your party starts going on the offensive.
Lingsha’s best Light Cones
Lingsha’s best Light Cone is, of course, her signature, Scent Alone Stays True, which gives her a huge amount of Break Effect while also letting her inflict the ‘Woefree’ debuff on enemies that increase the amount of DMG enemies receive.
Her best 5-star alternative is Echoes of the Coffin, which is Luocha’s signature and lets her recharge her ultimate a lot faster. Night of Fright, Huohuo’s signature, also improves her energy regeneration while providing more healing to the party.
But if you don’t have any of those limited 5-star Light Cones, don’t fret as Lingsha has plenty of 4-star alternatives. The best one by far is What is Real?, which increases her Break Effect and lets her restore her own HP when using her basic attack. This Light Cone can also be acquired and Superimposed for free through the Forgotten Hall’s Light Cone Manifest.
Quid Pro Quo, also available for free from the Light Cone Manifest, is also a good choice if Lingsha’s teammates have high energy needs.
Aside from those, limited 4-star Light Cones that are also good for Lingsha include Post-Op Conversation, Shared Feeling, and Perfect Timing.
Lingsha’s best Relics
Lingsha has plenty of options when it comes to her choice of Cavern of Corrosion Relic sets, depending on how you want to play her.
If you want to make Lingsha a damage-dealer on top of being a healer, then go for the 4-piece Iron Cavalry Against the Scourge. If you want her to be a pure healer, then go for the 4-piece Passerby of Wandering Cloud. You can also go for a mixed 2-piece set that gives her any combination of Outgoing Healing Bonus, ATK%, or Break Effect.
As for Lingsha’s Planar Ornament Relic set, your best bet will be the 2-piece Forge of the Kalpagni Lantern for its Speed buff and huge Break Effect boost against Fire weak enemies. You can also go for Talia: Kingdom of Banditry, Sprightly Vonwacq, or even any of the support-oriented sets like Fleet of the Ageless, Broken Keel, or Penacony, Land of the Dreams – depending on whatever your team needs.
Lingsha’s best teammates
As the premier Abundance support for Super Break teams, Lingsha’s best teammates are undoubtedly Firefly, the Harmony Trailblazer, and Ruan Mei. This powerful composition all perfectly complement each other’s kits, with Firefly dishing out the majority of the damage but the rest also dealing good Super Break DMG on their own with their Break Effect scalings.
Lingsha can still work in other variants of the Super Break team alongside the likes of Boothill, Xueyi, or even a Super Break build Himeko, but her synergy with them won’t be as good with the Firefly Super Break team.
Fuyuan’s actions being considered as follow-up attacks also makes Lingsha a viable Abundance support in follow-up attack teams alongside the likes of Topaz, Feixiao, Dr. Ratio, or Jade.
With that said, Lingsha’s healing and debuff cleanse utility on its own is already good enough that she can fit in just about any team, even those that can’t really synergise with the rest of her kit.
Honkai: Star Rail version 2.5 was 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. Meanwhile, the second half featured the debut of Lingsha and a rerun for Topaz.
If you’re still undecided on whether you should pull for Lingsha or Topaz in the second half banner for version 2.5, check here and we’ll help you decide. For more information on what's in Honkai: Star Rail version 2.5, check here.
