Honkai Star Rail 1.3 character tier list: Best characters in September 2023

Phase two of Honkai Star rail version 1.3 has commenced, bringing with it the long-awaited arrival of Fu Xuan’s banner. With the ever-expanding selection of playable characters, it’s time to assess the top Honkai Star Rail characters as of September 2023 using a tier list.

In order to fully immerse yourself in the expansive universe and captivating storyline of Honkai Star Rail, it is necessary to assemble a team of four characters who possess the abilities to attack, defend, protect, and heal. With each update, a plethora of new characters with distinct abilities are introduced, making the task of selecting the ideal team from this diverse roster a potentially perplexing endeavor.

Forming balanced teams is crucial to excel in Honkai Star Rail’s turn-based combat. However, acquiring the desired characters is a challenging endeavor due to the limited availability of Stellar Jade and the pity system.

In order to assist you in creating optimal teams, we present to you a Honkai Star Rail characters tier list, showcasing the most powerful characters introduced up to this point.

• Tier List for Honkai Star Rail Characters
• Top-tier Honkai Star Rail characters (S-tier units)
• Honkai Star Rail boasts a roster of exceptional characters placed in the esteemed A-tier ranking.
• Honkai Star Rail features an array of B-tier characters.
• Characters classified as C-tier in Honkai Star Rail.
• Characters of D-tier in Honkai Star Rail

Honkai Star Rail characters tier list

The following table categorizes each Honkai Star Rail character into different tiers based on their strength. Characters in the S tier are considered the strongest, while those in the D tier are deemed the weakest.

Tier	Characters
S	Bronya, Gepard, Seele, Tingyun, Silver Wolf, Luocha, Blade, Kafka, Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae, Jing Yuan, Fu Xuan
A	Welt, Sushang, Trailbazer (Fire), Lynx, Pela, Yanqing, Himeko, Yukong, Clara, Luka, Bailu
B	Asta, March 7th, Sampo, Natasha
C	Serval, Qingque, Hook, Herta, Dan Heng
D	Arlan, Trailblazer (Physical)

Best Honkai Star Rail characters (S-tier units)

According to the current meta, the most powerful characters in Honkai Star Rail are as follows:

Fu Xuan

• Path – Preservation
• Element – Quantum

Nearly unbeatable in Honkai Star Rail, Fu Xuan emerges as the epitome of a flawless support character. By equipping her with Planar Ornaments, Relics, and Light Cones, players can bolster her HP to a staggering extent, rendering her nearly invincible. Moreover, Fu Xuan’s offensive capabilities are equally formidable, ensuring a high damage output.

By enabling Fu Xuan’s second trace, you can transform her into a reliable healer and her Technique ability positions her as one of the top characters to initiate battles with. Throughout battles, your objective should be to utilize her Skill every three turns, as this allows her to absorb the team’s damage and accumulate her own offensive power.

Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae

• Path – Destruction
• Element – Imaginary

Dan Heng, also known as Imbibitor Lunae, is renowned in Honkai Star Rail for his exceptional ability to deal explosive damage. His skill set focuses on enhancing his aggressive attributes, such as ATK and Crit Dmg. As the battle unfolds, his damage output intensifies, making it crucial to ensure his protection with the assistance of healers and shielders.

Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae possesses the ability to inflict both area-of-effect and single-target damage, making him an ideal versatile damage dealer. When combined with a character capable of enhancing his Ultimate regeneration, you can consistently utilize Dan Heng LI’s distinct skill points without impeding the team’s skill usage.

Kafka

• Path – Nihility
• Element – Lightning

Players can now experience playing as Kafka in the game, thanks to the second phase of the 1.2 banner. Kafka is a formidable five-star character known for her lightning abilities. As a member of the Path of The Nihility, she possesses the power to not only inflict damage on enemies but also apply debuffs for enhanced effects.

Kafka possesses several abilities that specialize in inflicting Damage over Time (DoT). Additionally, her Ultimate, although less potent in terms of damage compared to other characters, guarantees a 100% chance of shocking enemies. This makes Kafka an excellent partner for any DPS character.

Blade

• Path – Destruction
• Element – Wind

If you are familiar with Hu Tao from Genshin Impact, then grasping Blade’s abilities in Honkai Star Rail should come easily. In essence, Blade excels as an AoE damage dealer, inflicting damage proportionate to his HP. To maximize his damage potential, Blade must deliberately lower his HP.

Blade’s basic attacks are enhanced by his skill, and his Ultimate skill automatically adjusts his HP to 50%, reducing his reliance on healers. Since the enhanced attacks last for 3 turns, he does not heavily depend on his skill.

In Honkai Star Rail, Blade excels as an independent damage dealer, making him ideal for players who prefer focusing on building up their HP. Additionally, Blade is a great choice for beginners due to his user-friendly skills. With the recent release of Lynx, players now have access to a specialized healer specifically designed to complement Blade’s abilities.

Luocha

• Path – Abundance
• Element – Imaginary

Honkai Star Rail has introduced an impressive healer in the form of Luocha, whose healing abilities are directly linked to his ATK. This exceptional trait alone places him in the S-tier unit category. Additionally, Luocha possesses the unique capability to create a healing field that benefits all allies, providing healing based on their own attacks. This remarkable feature ensures that Luocha continues to heal despite being disabled by opponents.

By utilizing a suitable build, Luocha has the capability to bestow more than 5000 healing to each character through his Abyss Flower skill, with two stacks. Remarkably, this healing capacity doesn’t compromise Luocha’s own offensive capabilities, as the amount of healing directly correlates with his ATK. Furthermore, in addition to this impressive healing prowess, Luocha possesses the ability to inflict debuffs upon foes and eliminate any active buffs they may have.

In Honkai Star Rail, Luocha stands out as the perfect healer for any team. Whether you’re in need of a strong support or finding it difficult to withstand formidable foes, it’s a clear choice to summon Luocha from her banner.

Silver Wolf

• Path – Nihility
• Element – Quantum

In Honkai Star Rail, Silver Wolf stands out as an exceptional single-target damage dealer. This five-star unit impressively delivers on her potential. With her impressive abilities, she inflicts debuffs like DEF reduction, weakness, ATK reduction, SPD reduction, and more.

Although Silver Wolf may not be the primary source of explosive damage, her debuffs greatly enhance the damage output of other team members, making her a valuable asset.

Jing Yuan

• Path – The Erudition
• Element – Lightning

After Seele, Jing Yuan made his entrance into Honkai Star Rail. Despite the daunting task of filling big shoes, he managed to astound the community with his exceptional damage output.

In battle, Jing Yuan calls upon the Lightning Lord, showcasing its impressive abilities. The resulting damage is remarkable, capable of effortlessly dismantling the shields of numerous adversaries with its consistent area-of-effect attacks. However, it is essential to manage Jing Yuan’s energy cost (130 for the Ultimate ability), which can be resolved by utilizing support characters that aid in energy regeneration.

It should be mentioned that you will not have any control over the Lightning Lord summoned by Jing Yuan. Although some of his attacks may lead to victories in battles, others may be completely ineffective. However, the five-star Arbiter General is a remarkable AoE damage dealer, as his attacks inflict equal damage to all targets.

Bailu

• The Abundance – On the Path
• Element – Lightning

Bailu in Honkai Star Rail shares similarities with Kokomi from Genshin Impact, but Bailu stands out with decent damage stats. As a dedicated healer, Bailu is crucial in the early stages of the game, allowing damage dealers and supports to remain on the field for extended periods of time.

Gepard

• Path – The Preservation
• Element – Ice

Gepard in Honkai Star Rail excels in versatility, surpassing nearly every other character. With the ability to inflict freezing ice damage on enemies and provide protective shields for the entire party, this character proves adept at both offense and defense.

When facing tanky bosses that deal explosive damage, Gepard’s ability to revive himself with his talent proves to be incredibly useful.

Seele

• The Hunt – A Journey
• Element – Quantum

In Honkai Star Rail, Seele’s main focus is inflicting damage. Unlike other characters from The Hunt, she truly shines in situations with multiple targets due to her ability to gain an extra turn after eliminating an enemy.

Seele’s exceptional skill lies in her ability to effortlessly dismantle shields, while her damage output against adversaries unaffected by Quantum attacks establishes her as the most dependable damage dealer within the game.

Tingyun

• The Harmony – A Path
• Element – Lightning

Thanks to her exceptional buffs for DPS characters, Tingyun stands out as the top-rated four-star character in Honkai Star Rail. With her ability to generate energy for allies and enhance their damage over several turns, it’s a no-brainer to pair her with formidable characters like Seele and Dan Heng.

After developing your DPS units, support characters like Tingyun play a crucial role. Tingyun has proven herself as an exceptional four-star support and is expected to maintain her position as the best in this role for an extended period.

A-tier characters in Honkai Star Rail

Lynx

• Path – The Abundance
• Element – Quantum

Lynx, a specialized four-star healer designed for Blade in Honkai Star Rail, excels in providing single-target healing with her skill. Her Ultimate ability focuses on healing allies as a group and has the additional ability to remove debuffs. By prioritizing a build that enhances her maximum HP, Lynx has the potential to surpass Natasha and become a superior healer.

Lynx possesses a unique power that grants her control over the target of enemy attacks, granting her a significant advantage in turn-based scenarios. Additionally, she excels as a healer while also dealing respectable damage, leaving little room for any dissatisfaction with her overall performance.

Bronya

• Path – Harmony
• Element – Wind

Bronya is an exceptional support character ideal for embarking on your Honkai Star Rail adventure. With her diverse abilities, she can bolster the damage output of teammates within an area, eliminate debuffs, enhance movement speed, and boost Crit Rate. It’s hard to ask for more from a single unit.

Bronya’s ability to bestow an extra turn is akin to the perfect finishing touch. By skillfully employing this power, you can effortlessly inflict double damage or provide your team with two healing opportunities.

Bailu’s healing is directly proportional to her maximum HP, making her character build in the game relatively simple. Additionally, her passive abilities also provide Energy, further enhancing her overall contribution to the team.

Luka

• Path – Nihility
• Element – Physical

Arriving in the game alongside Kafka, Luka proves to be a formidable force. This Wildfire member possesses a powerful mechanical arm, capable of dealing significant damage to designated foes. Moreover, Luka showcases the ability to impose debuffs on opponents, effectively diminishing their strength.

Luka’s versatile abilities allow him to excel in various roles during battles. By upgrading the right Traces, he can be a formidable DPS character. Additionally, he can also serve as a valuable support character, enhancing the performance of other formidable team members.

Clara

• Path – The Ruin
• Element – Physical

If you heavily rely on counterattacks, Clara proves to be an invaluable asset in Honkai Star Rail. Her follow-up attacks not only generate additional energy but also inflict more damage compared to regular basic attacks. With her skill, you can lure enemy attacks, taking advantage of her resilient nature to absorb a significant amount of damage.

When constructing Clara in Honkai Star Rail, prioritize damage reduction and attack. Clara excels at enabling your damage dealers to freely inflict damage, making her an exceptional tank that is difficult to surpass within the game.

Yukong

• Path – Harmonious Journey
• Element – Imaginary

In Honkai Star Rail, Yukong is a support character with a four-star rating, known for significantly enhancing your team’s damage output. When activating her skill, she has the ability to provide an impressive 100% ATK bonus, which is truly massive. Additionally, her Ultimate move grants allies a substantial increase in both Crit Rate and Crit DMG.

Yukong’s versatility shines through in Honkai Star Rail as she can provide buffs that benefit any damage dealer. However, her attack speed may cause some disagreement, especially when running two damage dealers, as only one of them can receive the attack and Crit buffs.

Himeko

• Path – A Journey of Learning
• Element – Fire

In any Honkai Star Rail team, damage dealers play a crucial role alongside healers and supports. Himeko excels in this aspect, as she possesses exceptional Fire AoE damage abilities that have the potential to swiftly conclude the entire battle in just one turn.

Welt

• Path: The Void
• Element – Imaginary

In Honkai Star Rail, Welt possesses commendable damage-dealing capabilities; however, his true strength lies in crowd control. With his ability to generate portals and manipulate enemy movement and speed, he proves to be the perfect support character for Dan Heng and Seele.

Sushang

• The Hunt – Path
• Element – Physical

Sushang, a formidable four-star damage dealer in Honkai Star Rail, excels in delivering powerful blows. Her exceptional physical damage capabilities make her a valuable asset in the early stages of the game. Additionally, her specialization in the four-star Light Cone known as Swordplay perfectly complements her skillset.

Although Sushang’s single-target damage may not be exceptional, she can easily be substituted by more powerful five-star characters. Nonetheless, when equipped with her signature weapon, Sushang becomes an incredibly formidable duo capable of carrying any team.

Trailblazer (Fire)

• The path is subject to change as you make progress.
• The element has the ability to change as you make progress.

Converting the original Trailblazer in Honkai Star Rail to Fire element significantly enhances their performance. Their damage output greatly improves, making them a valuable support character in various team compositions.

Converting the Path is a highly beneficial action for the Trailblazer as it enables the application of debuffs like Burning on enemies, in addition to causing fire damage.

Natasha

• Path – The Overflow
• Element – Physical

While Natasha may not possess the same level of skill as Bailu, she remains one of the top-tier four-star healers available in Honkai Star Rail. Her abilities and ultimate are formidable, capable of effectively healing allies and shielding them from devastating assaults.

During the early game, Natasha’s basic skill not only inflicts physical damage but also assists in breaking numerous shields.

Pela

• Path – The Void
• Element – Ice

Pela, a character in Honkai Star Rail with a four-star rating, surpasses expectations with her versatile abilities. Not only can she diminish enemy defense and eliminate their buffs, but she also excels at rapidly generating energy. Her ultimate skill requires minimal energy consumption and can be utilized frequently by simply applying debuffs with her various moves.

Yanqing

• Path – The Hunt
• Element – Ice

Although Seele often outshines Yanqing as a The Hunt damage dealer, it does not imply that Yanqing cannot be utilized as a primary DPS to carry your team.

Yanqing’s Ultimate grants him significant Crit boosts and enables him to execute freezing attacks on enemies. When teamed up with a formidable shielder like March 7th, Yanqing becomes a reliable source of damage output. Unless you acquire a more powerful five-star DPS character, there is no necessity to swap him out.

B-tier characters in Honkai Star Rail

Asta

• The Harmony – A Path
• Element – Fire

In Honkai Star Rail, Asta is a freely available character who shouldn’t be anticipated to possess any excessively remarkable abilities. She primarily functions as a support character for Fire DPS units by boosting the Fire damage output of allies and inflicting Burning status on enemies.

March 7th

• Preservation: Follow the Path
• Element – Ice

In Honkai Star Rail, March 7th is an additional four-star character that possesses the ability to inflict Ice damage upon enemies and provide protective shields to her allies. If an enemy strikes a character protected by March 7th’s shield, she retaliates with a powerful Ice attack.

March 7th is undeniably impressive in terms of usefulness, especially considering that it is a free four-star character. Once you have unlocked effective healers and damage dealers, it becomes highly desirable to have March 7th in order to enhance their ability to survive.

Gepard stands out as the sole character in Honkai Star Rail who truly fills the void left by March 7th. Therefore, it is not a poor strategy to rely on March 7th until you obtain the five-star defender.

Sampo

• Path: The Void
  
  OR
  
  Path: Emptiness
• Element – Wind

Sampo’s abilities in Honkai Star Rail bear a striking resemblance to Welt’s, albeit with variations in Element and Path. Sampo possesses a skill that allows for bouncing attacks, while his Ultimate inflicts a Damage over Time (DoT) debuff on adversaries, causing them to absorb damage over multiple turns.

Sampo excels at shield-breaking, a crucial aspect of combat in Honkai. To maximize his effectiveness, simply alternate between his skill and ultimate abilities. As the damage over time (DoT) builds up, feel free to unleash a flurry of basic attacks.

C-tier characters in Honkai Star Rail

Serval

• Path – The Pursuit of Knowledge
• Element – Lightning

If you’re looking to break the shields of enemies with a Lightning weakness, Serval in Honkai Star Rail is the character you’d want. However, her other abilities are quite lackluster, and her damage output is nowhere near comparable to someone like Seele.

Although Serval has some limitations, she performs admirably as a free character. In the beginning, it is recommended to have her on the team primarily for her Lightning damage, and later on, she can be substituted with Tingyun or Bailu.

Dan Heng

• Path: The Pursuit
  
  or
  
  The Hunt: A Path to Follow
• Element – Wind

In Honkai Star Rail, Dan Heng is a valuable four-star character that can be obtained at no cost. Initially, he proves to be a proficient damage dealer, capable of conquering early-game challenges effortlessly. However, as you progress further, you may find it advantageous to consider upgrading to a five-star DPS unit or exploring other four-star alternatives like Yanqing for enhanced performance.

Dan Heng is an ideal choice for beginners due to his straightforward kit. To maximize the damage from his Ultimate ability, it is necessary to slow down enemies, which may lead you to consider building a team around Dan Heng.

As you continue, Dan Heng’s replaceability becomes evident, despite the benefits he offers.

Qingque

• The Erudition – A Path
• Element – Quantum

In Honkai Star Rail, if you find the RNG in the warp system lacking, you have the option to play as Qingque. Qingque utilizes a damage-dealing mechanism that relies on an RNG system. During battles, she strategically selects tiles, and the number of tiles she possesses greatly influences her condition and the amount of damage she inflicts.

If you’re a fan of unconventional playstyles, Qingque is a must-try. However, it’s important to mention that her damage output lacks consistency.

Hook

• Destruction: The Path
• Element – Fire

If the main focus of combat in Honkai Star Rail was causing damage to enemies who are affected by Fire, Hook would undoubtedly be ranked as an S-tier unit. Unfortunately, this is not the case, resulting in her being positioned quite low on our tier list.

If you want Hook to gain additional energy and attack power, make sure to attack enemies who are affected by the Burn status. However, in order for this strategy to be effective, it is necessary to have a Fire DPS and a team that aligns with Hook’s play style. It is important to note that investing such effort into a four-star character may not be worthwhile, and you may find better results with Himeko or Asta.

Herta

• Path: The Pursuit of Knowledge
• Element – Ice

In Honkai Star Rail, Herta’s contribution to a team is limited to AoE damage, significantly affecting her overall usefulness. Comparatively, other free characters like Serval excel more as damage dealers due to their superior abilities, while Herta’s attack multipliers are relatively underwhelming.

Herta’s follow-up attacks possess usefulness in completing tasks, however, their situational nature prevents her from achieving a higher position in this tier list.

D-tier characters in Honkai Star Rail

Trailblazer (physical)

• The path is subject to change as you make progress.
• Element – Adaptive.

In Honkai Star Rail, the protagonist, Trailblazer, embarks on their adventure as a physical damage dealer. This initial stage is considered their least powerful state, where their primary attack inflicts physical damage on a single target, while their skill causes slightly more damage by targeting multiple enemies at once.

Trailblazer (physical) doesn’t have many strengths besides breaking shields, making them likely to be the character you switch out first on your team.

Arlan

• Path – The Annihilation
• Element – Lightning

In Honkai Star Rail, your goal is not only to defeat your opponents but also to protect and heal your characters, ensuring their survival. Unfortunately, Arlan is not very effective in this context since his skill requires sacrificing his own HP, and his damage output actually increases when his HP is low.

Arlan’s damage falls short of warranting the utilization of your esteemed shielders and healers. Numerous alternatives to this character exist, offering greater rewards without any sacrifice on your part.

You don’t have to chase the meta to have a good time and make progress in Honkai Star Rail. Instead, you can have fun and improve by unlocking characters that align with your playstyle and expectations. So, feel free to focus on those characters!

If you’re someone who prefers completing challenges effortlessly and only desires the strongest characters on your team, this tier list will undoubtedly be beneficial.