Honkai Star Rail has a lot of characters to choose from, and the list is only expected to grow over time. You’ll have to make the almost impossible decision of who to play and master, but how?
We have good news: we’ve ranked each character from the worst to the best for you.
You’ll experience a lot of chaos along the way, and if you want to restore peace, you need to have the right characters by your side. Let’s see who is a top-tier Honkai Star Rail character and who you may want to avoid playing.
Star Rail has a gacha mechanic, so be sure to grab a Google Play Gift Card from OffGamers to make the most of it.
2023 Honkai Star Rail Character Ranking: Worst to Best
27. Hook
Hook is, well, underwhelming. You can deal decent damage with Hook, but there’s nothing that really makes this character stand out. Other characters have an array of abilities that are more useful for teams.
However, if you do give Hook a try, make a note of the following:
- Most of her damage comes from damage over time, through fire spells.
- Pair her with other fire-based characters, such as Asta or Himeko.
You won’t find Hook as part of many teams because Asta is just the better character.
26. Qingque
Qingque is a Honkai Star Rail character that you’ll want to love, but she’s just not the top choice. She’s free, which is nice, but you’ll rely on RNG to deal consistent damage. Some hits are powerful, like the Self-Drawn Win, but you really need the right light cone and build to justify her over someone like Seele.
That doesn’t mean Qingque isn’t a useful Quantum character, but she’s mediocre at best.
25. Serval
I feel bad for having Serval ranked this low because she’s a powerful ally early on. Her buffs can help you in the beginning, but then they become obsolete. She does do some nice AoE damage with her lightning, but it’s not enough to use her beyond a starter character.
If you are inclined to use her, be sure to hunt down the Space Sealing Station and Band of Sizzling Thunder relics.
24. Tingyun
Tingyun is 100% reliant on her team because she has very poor damage otherwise. The main reason people even try this character is because of her buffs, which are decently strong. But do they make up for the weak offensive abilities?
No. Not really.
She’s a true support character that does help with energy regen and damage output. Carve the Moon is her go-to light cone that you’ll get as a gacha. Band of Sizzling Thunder should be equipped to maximize her damage.
23. Sampo
Sampo is best used for his slowing skill, but it’s a skill that you really need to master to appreciate. He always seems to get himself in trouble, and while he can dish out decent damage, it’s his utility that really shines.
Use his blinding technique to stop enemies from detecting your team.
Plus, Windtorn Dagger (one of your passive skills) will apply a nice wind DoT on your enemies. In the right situations, Sampo is an asset in Star Rail. Sadly, those situations are too rare to rank him lower on the list.
22. Arlan
Arlan can be a rockstar, but he is only very powerful when his health is low. If you like living on the edge and have the right setup, he is a lethal character with the potential to:
- Inflict a lot of damage.
- Turn the tide of a game.
Natasha is the perfect Honkai Star Rail character to pair with Arlan due to her high controllability. Band of Sizzling Thunder will bring Arlan’s damage to a new level.
21. March 7th
Want to play support in Star Rail? March 7th is one of the best early-game support characters, especially with her shield. The shield is one of the main reasons for me getting through the first few bosses.
She harnesses the power of ice to freeze her enemies, making her a great option for when you need a quick freeze and a burst of damage to beat an enemy.
20. Dan Heng
Dan Heng is a fantastic option for single-target damage and has the power to turn a match with his polearm. He also buffs his own skills and slows enemies, so he is quite an impactful character.
But there’s a problem.
He lacks AoE abilities that make him effective against waves of enemies. If you have another character with heavy AoE damage, Dan will be sure to help take down one foe at a time fast.
19. Asta
Asta is like Tingyun on steroids. She has a lot of buffing mechanics, and she helps those fire characters we talked about earlier, such as:
- Hook
- Himeko
In the right hands and if you make the right choices, such as focusing on her hit rate and speed, you’ll find that Asta can elevate a team’s chance of winning. Planetary Rendezvous is the light cone that we recommend if you have other pyros on the team.
18. Sushang
Sushang is a character that is easy to understand and can inflict a decent amount of damage. If she can take advantage of her enemy’s weakness, she’s very powerful. Otherwise, she doesn’t have much else to offer.
Her major strength is taking down bosses and single-target damage.
She does have an awesome bird that accompanies her and Swordplay will help you stack damage up to five times.
17. Herta
Herta is the “upgrade” to March and is known for offering awesome utility if you have the right team to back her up. She is an ice-DPS who can inflict a lot of AoE damage. If you get the Birth of the Self as a gacha, it’s her best light cone and one that will be the top choice in 95% of situations.
Equip the Hunter of Glacial Forest to further boost Herta’s damage.
16. Trailblazer
Trailblazer will join the Astral Express, and they’re a character that is super easy to use, fits well with most teams and is reliable. So, why did we place them in the middle of our list? Well, it’s cause they don’t really do anything truly special.
If you have a Destruction path, the Trailblazer will hit hard and scale with each attack.
15. Silver Wolf
Silver Wolf is the first Honkai character on our list that we can see is viable for many lineups. She’s a master of damage and utility, and she works very well on teams that have other high-damage dealers.
What’s her downside?
She lacks AoE potential, but she makes her opponents weak and does AoE damage. Her debuffs can be a complete game-changer.
14. Welt
Welt’s slows are able to change the tempo of a fight, and his element in the imaginary is something that is hard to learn but worth the effort. He’s good at damage but will spend most of his time as a utility character.
He can incapacitate foes and is one of two characters you’ll want on your side if you face enemies who are vulnerable to imaginary damage.
13. Natasha
Longer fights are Natasha’s jam. She’s a safe healer to bring along and her passive ability buffs her healing even more. Additionally, she offers amazing support and focusing on energy restoration rates will help refresh her heals even faster.
The Post-Op Conversation light cone is the ideal choice for Natasha.
12. Yanqing
Yanqing is all about ice, and he allows you to play very aggressively, thanks to his strong output. As a single-target damage specialist, you’ll be able to pump out tons of damage output and play very aggressively with the right team.
Rock Sleep Like the Dead as your light cone, and you’ll do massive crit damage with Yanqing.
11. Pela
Pela doesn’t get as much attention as she deserves. As a support character, she’s brilliant. Pela can debuff enemies and make it easy to cheese through some difficult battles.
Her Ultimate lowers enemy defence by 32% for two turns, and she can deal immediate damage after entering the battle.
Before we forget, click here to learn how to top up Honkai Star Rail.
10. Himeko
Himeko is a well-rounded character offering a mix of damage and utility. She’s a great addition to most teams because she can help turn the tide.
Himeko can take out enemies that are clinging to life, earning you another turn. Her follow-up attacks are brutal, and her Ultimate – Heavenly Flare – deals fire damage to all enemies.
9. Bailu
Bailu is a traditional support character. She can revive and heal to keep your team alive. While her healing is impressive, it’s a little unreliable because of its random targeting effects.
Still, if you have a team that revolves around turtling, you’ll want Bailu on your side.
8. Blade
Blade can deal some absurd damage, but he is not the easiest to use. In the right hands, he can decimate enemies.
His passive skill, Shuhu’s Gift, consumes all charge stacks to deliver follow-up attacks on all enemies and heals him at the same time. Blade’s Ultimate, Death Sentence, is a blast attack that damages enemies and adjacent targets.
7. Kafka
Kafka has the potential to deal serious damage if you have a team that does damage over time. Her Caressing Moonlight ability deals lightning damage to enemies, but if they’re already affected by a DoT, she deals immediate damage equal to 100% of all DoT effects.
Her Ultimate, Twilight Trill, deals 60% of her attack as lightning DoT to shocked enemies at the start of their turn.
6. Luocha
Luocha is a seriously helpful support character. He can potentially save you a turn by knocking out low-health enemies automatically.
His debuffing abilities make him a great team asset. Luocha can also restore health and attack multiple targets. His Ultimate deals 80% of his attack as imaginary damage to all enemies and dispels an enemy buff.
Stacking Abyss Flower allows Luocha to restore health when allies attack from within his field.
5. Seele
Seele has insane burst DPS. She can easily deal some serious damage to a single target in a short amount of time.
And with her Resurgence ability, she gets another free turn if she defeats an enemy. Her Resurgence can be game-changing, but that’s not the only impressive ability in her arsenal.
Seele can also gain stealth to hide from enemies. Her Ultimate, Butterfly Flurry, gives her a buff and hammers out 256% of her attack as quantum damage.
4. Bronya
Bronya doesn’t do much in the way of damage, but her skills make her invaluable. Use her correctly and you’ll easily dominate.
Bronya’s skills allow you to manipulate turn orders to give you a huge advantage. You’ll need to strategize, but it’s well worth the effort to master this character.
Her Ultimate, The Belobog March, boosts all ally attacks by 33% and crit damage by 12% of Bronya’s crit damage.
3. Gepard
Gepard is the ultimate tank. His Moment of Victory ability boosts his defence by 20% and taunts enemies. His Ultimate shields all allies against damage. There’s no question that Gepard is essential to any turtle-strat team.
His abilities can give your team an insane survivability boost.
Gepard deals ice damage, and his Unyielding Will skill can keep your team in the game. Rather than being struck with a killing blow, Unyielding Will renders Gepard incapacitated and restores his health to 27%. It only triggers once per battle, but it can be a lifesaver.
2. Jing Yuan
Jing Yuan can deal some crazy damage. He excels at damaging multiple targets, and he’s surprisingly easy to use.
With the help of Lightning Lord, Jing Yuan can deal some nasty follow-up attacks in between his turns.
His Ultimate deals 120% of his damage as lightning damage, crushing all enemies in its path.
1. Clara
Clara comes as a pair with Svarog, and together, they are great for off-tanking and dealing damage. Clara’s taunt is insane during those do-or-die moments. She has heaps of damage-reducing abilities and physical attacks. Build her up like a tank, and she’ll be a pest to your enemies.
So, what character do you like best? While the list above is a representation of our opinion of who is the worst and best, experiment and find someone who you enjoy playing. After all, experiencing characters for yourself is something every hardcore gamer should do.
And don’t forget to hop on Twitch or YouTube to find updates and playthroughs to learn from.
Having fun and want to experience a game similar to Honkai? Check out our list of 8 games like Honkai Star Rail. Now, don’t miss out on more deals on the OffGamers website. Be sure to click the ‘Sign Up Here’ button and sign up for an account with us today!
