Images: HoYoverse
Should you get a new DPS or a top-tier healer? We'll help you decide.
Honkai: Star Rail version 2.4 is set to be released on Wednesday (July 31), with the first half of the update featuring the debut of the 5-star Physical character Yunli and a rerun for the 5-star Wind Abundance character Huohuo.
If you've got plenty of Stellar Jade saved up and are looking to expand your roster of playable characters, then read on as we break down why you should pull for the upcoming banner characters.
Need a counter-based DPS? Get Yunli
Yunli wields the Physical element and follows the Path of Destruction, with her kit focusing on tanking enemy hits and unleashing powerful counterattacks. This makes her the second Counter-based DPS in the game after the standard 5-star character Clara, though Yunli is significantly better by virtue of being a limited character.
Just like Clara, Yunli's Talent lets her unleash a counterattack on an enemy that attacks her. But what makes Yunli better is that her basic counterattack damages her attacker and any adjacent enemies, whereas Clara's basic counterattack only damages her attacker. In addition, Yunli's counterattack also regenerates additional energy for her in order to charge up her ultimate faster.
Yunli's ultimate also improves her counterattack by increasing the DMG and Crit DMG of her next counterattack. Timing the use of her ultimate before an enemy's attack also greatly enhances its damage output with bonus instances of DMG. Yunli also has the added quirk of having 240 maximum energy and a 120 energy cost ultimate, allowing players to store up to two usages of her ultimate in quick succession.
Another thing Yunli has the advantage over Clara is her ability to self-sustain, as her skill lets her regenerate up to 30% of her Max HP while also dealing damage to up to three enemies.
Because of her kit, Yunli can be run in both Hypercarry and Dual DPS team compositions in any combat scenario. She will work best against enemies with high frequency attacks that trigger plenty of her counters, such as boss enemies in Memory of Chaos and Apocalyptic Shadow. With that said, the big groups of enemies in modes like Pure Fiction also work to her advantage.
Yunli's best team composition will feature supports that can draw enemy aggro to her while also fueling her energy needs. You can go with Preservation March 7th or Lynx to help with Yunli drawing enemy aggro as well as Tingyun and Huohuo to keep her energy levels topped up.
While Yunli will work best with her signature Light Cone, her being a Destruction character does give her plenty of good Light Cones to choose from. Chief among these will be the free 5-star Light Cone On the Fall of an Aeon from the Simulated Universe's Herta Store.
Yunli will also be the first character to make use of the 4-piece The Wind-Soaring Valorous relic set, as the empowered counterattacks from her ultimate will also be counted as Ultimate DMG. She also has plenty of good Planar Ornament sets to choose from, such as the 2-piece Inert Salsotto and the 2-piece Duran, Dynasty of Running Wolves sets.
While Yunli won't be clearing enemies as fast as the likes of Acheron or Firefly, she does provide constant damage output during both her turns and enemy turns. And if you ever feel like drawing a huge sword and tossing it at your enemies, then Yunli will scratch that itch very nicely.
Need the best healer in the game? Get Huohuo
Huohuo wields the Wind element and follows the Path of Abundance, boasting the title of best healer in the game. Not only does she provide both on-turn and off-turn healing matched only by Luocha, she also dispels debuffs and provides party-wide energy regeneration and ATK buffs. In effect, having Huohuo is like having Abundance and Harmony supports in just one party slot.
Huohuo's kit is pretty straightforward. Her skill dispels a debuff on one ally target while also healing them and any adjacent allies, with the healing scaling off of Huohuo's Max HP. Her ultimate regenerates the energy of all allies (except for Huohuo herself) by up to 20% of their max energy while also increasing their ATK by 40% for 2 turns.
Meanwhile, Huohuo's talent lets her provide off-turn healing by activating Divine Provision for 2 turns after using her skill. When Divine Provision is active, an ally starting their turn or using their ultimate will receive healing based on a portion of Huohuo's Max HP. Allies whose current HP are below 50% of their Max HP will also be healed at the same time.
With everything that Huohuo brings to the table, she'll fit in very nicely as the sustain support in just about every team. While Acheron and Blade can't benefit from the energy regeneration and ATK buff, respectively, from Huohuo's ultimate, the other supports on their teams can still make good use of them. Healing is always nice too.
Building Huohuo is pretty easy too, just get her the 2-piece Passerby of Wandering Cloud and 2-piece Longevous Disciple mixed set to boost her HP and Speed stats. Her go-to Planar Ornaments should also be the 2-piece Fleet of the Ageless or the 2-piece Broken Keel to further boost her teammates.
As for her Light Cone options outside of her signature, your best bet will be the event-exclusive Hey, Over Here. If you're looking for a 5-star alternative, then go with Time Waits for No One, Bailu's signature Light Cone. Two other solid 4-star Light Cones for Huohuo are Quid Pro Quo and Post-Op Conversation.
While having a lot of DPS characters prepared for all combat situations is well and good, it is also important to have strong support characters as well. What's more, versatile supports like Huohuo provide more value for an account than a new DPS character that can only be used in certain niches or situations. So, if you're having trouble surviving difficult fights, then Huohuo should help you get over the hump.