Tier List | Honkai: Star Rail | Prydwen Institute (2024)

Please keep in mind that Honkai: Star Rail is a game where team building matters most and while our tier list takes the optimal setup into account, a lot of characters can work and do well - even those ranked lower - when you invest into them. Also for story or lower difficulties of Simulated Universe, you don't need to worry about ratings and tiers. You can safely clear that content even with F2P characters as long as you build your team correctly.

These tier lists rate characters based on their average performance in both Memory of Chaos and Pure Fiction regardless of turbulence, whimsicality and cacophony. Characters rated higher will perform well without the need to rely on these and will only benefit more from receiving them. As new mechanics, characters and challenges are introduced each tier list will be updated.

Important! Characters are ordered alphabetically within a tier.

Available tier lists:

• Memory of Chaos (MoC) - how the character performs in the Memory of Chaos. Blast and single target damage are important here while AoE has niche uses against some bosses.
• Pure Fiction (PF) - how the character performs in the Pure Fiction. AoE is king here, followed by Blast while single target damage is mostly useless.

Categories

• Damage Dealer - Characters that focus on dealing direct damage and can perform their role unhindered by enemy type, enemy element or team composition,
• Specialist - Characters that excel under specific circ*mstances carrying a unique role that often requires a different and divergent playstyle,
• Amplifier - Characters that do not focus on dealing damage but instead amplify the damage other teammates deal by granting allies buffs or debuffing enemies,
• Sustain - Characters who are capable of keeping the team alive with their abilities.

Special tags

Tags are split into 3 categories: Pros, Cons and Archetype which represent the most defining features of a character's kit and the current meta archetypes they fit into. Archetype tags indicate a connection between characters with that tag e.g. Acheron requires debuffs to work and Silver Wolf applies them. Here is a full list of all current tags and what they mean:

• Break - the character belongs to the Break archetype focusing on Break Effect and Break Efficiency,
• Debuff - the character belongs to the Debuff archetype applying one or many debuffs or has a kit that directly relies on them to function,
• DoT - the character belongs to the Damage-over-Time archetype specializing in applying and/or amplifying DoT effects,
• FuA - the character belongs to the Follow-up Attack archetype benefitting from, buffing or delivering powerful Follow-Up Attacks.,
• Advance - the character can manipulate the turn order by either action advancing their allies or themselves,
• Buff - the character can apply various Buffs to help their teammates,
• Delay - the character can delay enemies and hinder their actions in battle,
• Energy - the character can recover the teammates energy,
• SP-Friendly - the character is substantially more skill point friendly than other characters in their role.
• SP-Unfriendly - the character is substantially more skill point un-friendly than other characters in their role.

Meta Lines

Meta Lines categorize each section of the tier list into a power bracket. Here are the four brackets:

• Apex Characters (T0 & T0.5) - characters in this bracket are the cream of the crop. They can do outrageous amount of damage, provide massive buffs (or debuffs) or keep the team alive no matter what the enemy throws at them. They simply can achieve the best, most consistent and accessible results in their best teams, allowing you to easily clear MoC and PF,
• Meta Characters (T1, T1.5, T2) - characters in this bracket make clearing MoC and PF a breeze, but compared to the Apex characters they require more work from your side. Either their team options are more restrictive, they require bigger Relic investment or they possess a notable weakness or downside. Still, they are all great and won't disappoint you if you give them what they need to shine,
• Niche Characters (T3 & T4) - characters in this bracket are lacking in one or many fields of their role in MoC or PF. These characters still possess the ability to clear all content with the right build, endgame blessing, team or enemy line-up but have much lower play rates and success rates than Meta and Apex characters,
• The Forgotten Ones (T5) - characters in this bracket struggle. A lot. Either their kits simply don't work in the mode or they require a ton of investment and love to be able to work. Just avoid them unless your husbando or waifu landed here and you believe in the power of love.

Half tiers

To further define the tier list and correctly represent the power level of each character in relation to each other we have added half tiers to the higher tier brackets. Under our previous system a tier rating jump of 1 tier rating made it difficult to position characters accurately, often leading to multiple characters ending up in the same tier despite a clear power and utility difference.

Criteria

• Manual play,
• Using optimal team composition/support characters,
• Character level 80,
• All Major Traces unlocked and skills upgraded to level 8,
• Character equipped with level 80 non-limited 4★ or 5★ Light Cone (including the 'standard' Light Cones),
• Battle Pass Light Cones aren't taken into account because you can't obtain them without spending,
• Character equipped with 5★ upgraded gear with optimal Main Stats and Sub Stats (with 24 desired sub stats out of a possible 54),
• Eidolon level 0 for 5★ characters,
• Eidolon level 0/6 for 4★ characters.

Roles

We compare characters within their role - so damage dealers are compared to other damage dealers and the ratings are adjusted based on their performance within the role. Don't try to compare characters between roles (for example an amplifier with a damage dealer), because their ratings mean different things.

• Damage Dealer - Rating is heavily influenced based on the characters ability to deal enough damage to achieve the 3-star objective, the easier and more quickly achieved the higher the rating,
• Specialist - Rating is heavily influenced based on the damage they provide, defense or efficiency boost created by the unique teams these characters create or the utility they provide against certain encounters,
• Amplifier - Rating is influenced based on the damage amplification abilities of the character and the utility they provide to the team,
• Sustain - Rating is influenced based on the characters ability to keep the team alive and the utility they provide. The more utility and higher the safety, the higher the rating.

Other criteria affecting the ratings

Each tier list rates characters based on their average value in the specific game mode it represents. The higher a character is rated on the tier list the greater their power and more widely they can be used effectively in the mode. We consider:

• Flexibility - how the characters kit functions against various enemy types, amounts of enemies and their ability to perform when not fighting against enemies vulnerable to their element,
• Investment - some characters require specific limited 5★ units, heavy investment in certain relic sets or an abundance of sub-stats in order to function at the highest level. Each of these points impacts the rating in a negative way. - the more the character requires to perform well, the bigger the impact,
• Utility - recently released characters possess abilities that lie beyond their defined role, for example Amplifiers/Sustains that can deal decent damage. The more a character helps the team outside of their role, the bigger positive impact on their rating it has.

19/06/2024

New additions:

• [Firefly] has been added to T0 in MoC and T1 in PF. Firefly’s release sees her skyrocket to the top of the Break damage meta when it comes to the carries.
• Firefly's best team deals some of the most damage of any team in the game while also almost completely ignoring the weakness inherent to her Break archetype thanks to her kit. Firefly can implant her own Weaknesses, amplify her own toughness damage, has multiple ways to scale her Break damage, has strong multi-target capabilities thanks to her Speed and cleave and has a full team of incredibly synergistic characters to play alongside her. It's just too much.
• We rank Firefly as the best Break carry, and one of the best overall damage dealers in the game thanks to her all encompassing kit eliminating many of the weaknesses of her archetype. As a Breaker, we’re placing her in the Specialist category alongside her closest peer Boothill.
• We’re ranking her at Tier 0 in MoC as she crushes the mode, but Tier 1 in Pure Fiction as her cleave-only kit and pure Break damage causes her to require the assistance of a more AoE inclined character such as Himeko to excel.

Changes:

• [Ruan Mei] T0.5 T0 in MoC. Ruan Mei is one of the most flexible, most used and strongest supports in the game. Our team was waiting for one of the top 3 amplifiers of Ruan Mei, Sparkle and Robin to break away from the pack and show they are worthy to move above the rest. As of 2.3 and the release of Firefly we feel Ruan Mei now absolutely deserves the top spot. Ruan can be played in almost every team in the game to some success but also possess many top tier teams where she has no comparable replacement (Boothill / Firefly / Superbreak teams) thanks to her incredible break capabilities. For these reasons Ruan Mei is moving to Tier 0 in MoC.
• [Harmony MC E6] T1 T0.5 in MoC and T1.5 T1 in PF. With the release of Firefly, Imaginary Trailblazer finds a close to irreplaceable position in one of the best teams in the entire game and also gains access to their long awaited E6 raising the power level of the character by a significant amount. After testing Imaginary Trailblazer with Firefly and also observing how their position in the Break meta has developed we’re updating their role and position on the tier list - as we’re adjusting Trailblazer’s role from Specialist to Amplifier. The reason for this is that in Firefly’s teams Trailblazer's main home they primarily contribute through their buffs and not their own personal damage - we’ve also found this to be the case in many other break teams. While their damage can be significant it’s their buffs that secure them a position on most teams. Due to Trailblazer’s reasonable performance throughout 2.2 and new top tier team composition with Firefly in 2.3 we’re also raising them up to Tier 0.5 in MoC and Tier 1 in Pure Fiction.
• [Gallagher E6] T1 T0.5 in MoC and T1 T0.5 in PF. As a completely Break-focused sustain with debuffing capabilities, Gallagher is by far one of the biggest winners of the Penacony patches overall. Gallagher finds himself as one of if not the best sustains for multiple of the best teams in the game - the latest of which is of course the tremendously powerful Firefly Break team. When discussing Gallagher and his position on Tier Lists, it’s almost easier to try to justify why he wouldn't be top tier. Gallagher is currently the uncontested best sustain in the Firefly’s team (one of the best teams in the game), a top option in Acheron’s team and also competes for a top position in Boothill’s best team as well (also a very strong team). Outside of this, he can also be used in other teams - but holding just these positions in our eyes justifies makes it hard not to move him up the list, for this reason we’re moving him up to Tier 0.5 in both MoC and PF.
• [Himeko] T4 T3 in MoC. Himeko's performance in the most recent MoC exceeded all expectations, but that's because all stars aligned for her. Still, we are raising her one tier up and we will continue to monitor her in the next phase.
• [Fu Xuan] T0 T0.5 in MoC. Fu Xuan has stood at the top of the MoC tier list for a long time thanks to her great offensive buffs, break potential, fantastic damage mitigation and protection abilities. Though, after much internal discussion and with input from the community, we have decided to move Fu Xuan down half a tier. The driving force behind community sentiment and our decision is Aventurine and his universally dominant kit. He has proven he is invaluable in some of the most powerful teams in the game but also is at the very least the 2nd best option in most others. Fu Xuan still has her own best team’s and has her highly valued CRIT RATE buff but Aventurine is more flexible thanks to his overpowered Shielding, skill point positive kit and single target break capabilities.

29/05/2024

• [Boothill] has been added to the tier list,
• Boothill is the new king of single target and absolutely dominates the niche when set-up correctly, routinely blasting enemies for 100’s of thousands of damage like it’s absolutely nothing thanks to his incredible mostly non-gear reliant Break-focused damage profile.
• We’ve ranked Boothill as a Specialist due to the majority of his damage being contingent on enemies being broken by his attacks or already broken - both of which require some form of interaction with Toughness. Boothill’s reliance on breaking enemies means he cares about enemy weaknesses and also enemies that can lock their toughness from being depleted, the first of which can slow down his clear times by varying degrees but the second of which can render him completely helpless against that enemy.
• There is no doubt that Boothill is more comfortable, easy and far more powerful against enemies that are Physical weak. This fact is the main driving force behind our categorization of him. We acknowledge Boothill is more than capable of brute forcing non-physical weak fights thanks to his Ultimate but in our tests those fights were harder required more planning and in many cases slower pushing him closer to his more Break-focused brethren like Luka.
• Boothill’s potential is incredible especially in the hands of a knowledgeable player with the gear and roster to support him, but as per our criteria event limited Signature Light Cones are no allowed so we’ve had to penalize Boothill’s ranking slightly as his Light Cone is a substantial damage increase for him (~30%).
• [Pela] T2 T1.5 in MoC. Based on overwhelming community support and recommendation we're raising Pela to T1.5 alongside Silver Wolf. A strong consensus has been reached that while Pela isn't a best in slot support for many or even any characters in the ultra endgame, she can be played in almost any team giving her supreme flexibility. On top of this while she might be behind in some compositions such as Jingliu's losing out to Ruan Mei it's not by enough to knock her variants of each team out of viability with many of them only being slightly behind. We agree with both these points and feel raising her is appropriate.
• [Gallagher] T1.5 T1 in MoC. Gallagher continues to find his way into more and more characters' best team compositions thanks to his Break-focused kit. Boothill being one such Break character of course absolutely loves Gallagher and has him present in many of his top teams. While Gallagher’s sustain may be harder to manage than other characters, his Break and offensive capabilities are undeniable in the team’s where he thrives and with another top tier team composition under his belt we’ll be raising him up a tier.
• [Ruan Mei] - With the Release of Boothill, Ruan Mei receives another top tier team while her closest competitors Sparkle and Robin maintain similar positions. We absolutely have our eye on Ruan and we will revisit her position after further testing.

09/05/2024

Added Harmony MC to the tier list.

08/05/2024

The tier list has been fully reworked, so we wiped the old changelog as it would only bring confusion.

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