JUST like its predecessor Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail has a huge cast of characters.
Each has their own strengths and weaknesses, and you’ll need a good mix to balance out your team.
However, some are still more flexible than others, and these are the ones you will hope to pull.
Here are the Honkai: Star Rail characters you should try to add to your team.
S-Tier Honkai: Star Rail characters
These are some of the best characters in the game, and are often the best characters of their damage type.
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Their skills, ultimates and talents also allow them to shine even when dealing neutral damage. You should aim to have at least one of these on your team.
Bronya – Harmony, Wind
Bronya’s skill increases ally damage, and advances their actions by 100%, while her ultimate is a team-wide attack and critical damage buff for two turns.
She can also recover skill points which helps her keep up the pace in battle.
Seele – Hunt, Quantum
Seele is one of the best single-target damage dealers, and can buff her attack and speed.
She also increases her number of turns when she defeats an opponent.
Tingyun – Harmony, Lightning
Her skill gives an attack buff and adds lightning damage, while her ultimate restores 50 energy, and boosts damage of any ally.
She is further buffed by her Eidolons which support her other skills.
Jing Yuan – Erudition, Lightning
A fighter that does powerful area-of-effect damage, and can be assisted by a summon in battle.
This can use follow-up attacks to deal more lighting damage, and can also debuff enemies.
Bailu – Abundance, Lightning
She’s a great healer who can either cast single-target or partywide healing. Her ultimate will also invigorate all targets.
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With the right build she can also revive up to two allies, and provide big damage buffs.
Yanqing – Hunt, Ice
A single-target ice-type damage dealer, his main boon is the boosts to his critical hit rate and damage.
He can also trigger follow up attacks, apply freeze to enemies, and with the right build, dodge attacks.
A-Tier Honkai: Star Rail characters
These characters are good all-rounders that come with a few drawbacks.
They still boost their team significantly, and are worthy of a spot if you manage to nab one.
Gepard – Preservation, Ice
More of a tank than an attacker, he provides strong shields, and can resurrect himself in battle.
He provides effect resistance for his party and can also freeze opponents.
Himeko – Erudition, Fire
She has devastating area-of-effect follow-up attacks but needs to charge these in order to use them.
However, she still deals a lot of fire damage and can regenerate energy by defeating enemies.
Clara – Destruction, Physical
Clara is another tank, with her robot protector Svarog who can launch counterattacks.
She can taunt opponents to distract them and buff Svarog, while her build can help her resist damage.
Welt – Nihility, Imaginary
There aren’t many characters that deal imaginary damage, and Welt works by reducing opponents’ speed.
This helps your team to gain the tempo advantage which can change the flow of battle.
Natasha – Abundance, Physical
Natasha is a free character, and luckily the second best healer in the game.
She can heal, provide regeneration, and has a team-wide heal that is boosted by her Eidolons.
Trailblazer (Fire) – Preservation, Fire
The best version of your main character Trailblazer is the fire variant which is an excellent tank.
They increase damage reduction and can taunt opponents. The more they are hit, the more powerful they become.
B-Tier Honkai: Star Rail characters
B-Tier characters can fit into your party, but are rarely the best option for the job.
If you combine them in the right way they can still be strong, but there is usually a better choice.
Arlan – Destruction, Lightning
The lower Arlan’s HP the more damage he does, so he needs a good shielder to be effective.
Dan Heng – Hunt, Wind
He can deal good single-target damage, but requires allies who buff him to do well.
March 7th – Preservation, Ice
Her role is to generate shields, and she has a good chance of freezing opponents and triggering follow-up attacks, however she doesn’t deal much damage.
Sushang – Hunt, Physical
She can deal some decent single-target damage, and build up speed, but needs further buffs to let her steamroll.
Pela – Nihility, Ice
She reduces opponents’ defense and follows up with solid ice damage. She can also apply debuffs to the opposing party.
C-Tier Honkai: Star Rail characters
C-Tier characters usually only fill one niche, but can be useful if positioned well.
Herta – Erudition, Ice
In order for Herta to work, her allies need to cause the enemy’s HP to fall below 50%, so she can deal devastating follow up attacks.
Hook – Destruction, Fire
Hook needs enemies to be burned in order to deal large amounts of damage, but is capable of triggering the effect herself.
Sampo – Nihility, Wind
He can trigger the Wind Shear effect on large amounts of enemies for damage over time, but it keeps the pace of battle slow.
Serval – Erudition, Lightning
In the same way, Serval can apply shock to multiple enemies, but needs a buff in attack to be worth using.
D-Tier Honkai: Star Rail characters
These characters have significant drawbacks, but can work if built appropriately.
Qingque – Erudition, Quantum
Qingque is reliant on a full suit of matching Jade Tiles to boost her damage, but her ability to shuffle turn order can be good.
Trailblazer (Physical) – Destruction, Physical
This version of the main character deals physical damage, but has special skills to synergise with your team.
Not rated here are Kafka, Silver Wolf, and other characters that have not been released yet to be playable on a permanent basis.
If you need more help with Honkai: Star Rail, then use these codes for free in-game items.
Written by Marco Wutz and Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.
