Source: HoYoverse
The second half of Honkai: Star Rail Version 2.6 is almost upon us, and it features a banger of a banner with two of the most valued characters in the game.
Honkai: Star Rail's Version 2.6 banners have been revealed. First up is the 5-star Lightning Nihility character Acheron, one of the best DPS characters in the game, who can only get stronger as more powerful supports are released. Then there’s the 5-star Imaginary Preservation character Aventurine, the best sustain character in the game who can also double as a sub DPS.
We’re sure you have plenty of Stellar Jade saved up for these two, but who exactly should you spend them on? Should you get them both? If you’re still on the fence, read on and we’ll break down why you should pull for Acheron and Aventurine.
Need one of the best DPS characters in the game? Get Acheron
Acheron is one of the strongest damage-dealers in Honkai: Star Rail, excelling against both single targets and large waves of enemies thanks to her powerful ultimate. Instead of energy, Acheron relies on the team inflicting debuffs on enemies to charge up her ultimate.
Acheron’s ultimate can be used once she has 9 stacks of ‘Slashed Dream’, which increases whenever Acheron herself or her teammates inflict debuffs on enemies. Once unleashed, Acheron’s ultimate deals a ton of damage to the enemy with the highest amount of debuffs on them as well as all other enemies on the field. Her ultimate also reduces the Toughness of all enemies regardless of their Weakness.
The most reliable way to charge up Acheron’s ultimate is to surround her with two other Nihility characters who can inflict debuffs such as Jiaoqiu, Silver Wolf, or Pela (with the ‘Resolution Shines like Pearls of Sweat’ Light Cone). Having two other Nihility characters in the party also increases Acheron’s DMG thanks to her A4 passive. While Acheron is already strong in her base form, she becomes even more powerful with more investment – specifically, once you get her signature Light Cone and her E2.
Acheron’s signature Light Cone lets her inflict more debuffs during her turn while also increasing her Crit DMG and ultimate DMG. Meanwhile, her E2 lets her charge up her ultimate even faster, while also reducing the required number of Nihility characters to trigger the full DMG buff from her A4 to just one. Acheron’s E2 is what really pushes her into gamebreaking status, as it lets you buff her already absurd DMG output with powerful Harmony supports like Sparkle, Bronya, or Robin.
Right now, the best team for an E2S1 Acheron includes Jiaoqiu, an action advance Harmony support (like Sparkle Bronya, or Robin), and Aventurine to cap things off. If you don’t have her E2 and want to stick with 4-star supports, then we recommend going for Pela, Guinaifen, and Gallagher.
Need the absolute best sustain in the game? Get Aventurine
Aventurine is hands-down the best sustain character in the game. Not only does he boast the strongest shield that automatically activates and refreshes itself, he can also double as a sub DPS as he can unleash follow-up attacks over the course of a battle.
Aventurine’s shield is activated by his skill, which is also automatically activated at the start of battle by his A6 passive. The shield also stacks with itself, with the follow-up attack from his Talent also creating additional shields for the party. As a cherry on top, Aventurine’s shield also increases the Effect RES of the entire party, effectively neutering crowd-control debuffs from enemies.
Aventurine’s sub DPS potential lies in his Talent, which lets him accumulate stacks of ‘Blind Bet’. He gains stacks of Blind Bet whenever allies with his shield either get attacked or unleash a follow-up attack. Once Aventurine reaches 7 stacks of Blind Bet, he unleashes a follow-up attack against a single random enemy. His sub DPS potential is further boosted by his A2 passive, which gives him up to 48% Crit Rate for every 100 DEF he has over 1600.
Finally, Aventurine’s ultimate lets him gain a random amount of Blind Bet stacks while also damaging a single enemy and inflicting them with a debuff that increases the Crit DMG it receives from ally attacks. Aventurine’s strength and versatility as a sustain/sub DPS character lets him fit into just about any team. With that said, he especially excels in a follow-up attack composition or by acting as the sustain support in an Acheron team.
The best follow-up attack team we have right now features Feixiao, Topaz, Robin, and Aventurine. The sheer amount of follow-up attacks unleashed by Feixiao and Topaz allows Aventurine to constantly get his own follow-up attack off all while Robin buffs the entire team and gives them more actions with her ultimate.
Meanwhile, Aventurine’s role in an Acheron team is to protect everyone with his shields while also providing an extra source of debuffs with his ultimate. Aventurine’s debuff potential in an Acheron team is further boosted when he has his signature Light Cone or his E2. With that said, Aventurine doesn’t require either of those to shine.
Honkai: Star Rail Version 2.6 was released on October 23 with a new 5-star character in Rappa, a new Trailblaze Continuance Mission that sees the Astral Express Crew return to Penacony, a new Simulated Universe game mode, and more. For more details on what's coming in Version 2.6, check out our breakdown here.
Following Honkai: Star Rail Version 2.6 is Version 2.7 in December, which will feature the release of two highly-anticipated 5-star characters in Sunday and Tingyun's ‘Fugue’ form.
