Article published on 15 February. Updated for 26 April 2023 to include launch updates.

Much like Genshin Impact, Honkai Star Rail has gachas in the form of heroes called Trailblazers. And each of them have their strengths and weaknesses.

Our tier list goes so far down to B, meaning that even the supposed “terrible” characters are viable for single-player turn-based play.

Here’s our preliminary tier list for now; think of it as a recommendation list rather than gospel truth. Honkai Star Rail will be getting more and more gacha characters in the future, so the meta will evolve and change.

S+ Tier Characters

Luocha

Luocha is a 5-Star character that exceeds the role of a mere healer. Through optimal construction of Luocha’s abilities, you can transform this enigmatic foreign merchant into an Imaginary DPS force, adept at both team enhancement and opponent weakening – a genuine master of versatility.

Kafka

This Dommy Mommy is one of the crowd’s favourite and for good reason. No, not because of those thighs. She has the ability to stack a lot of damage on enemies. This means she’s even better when paired with teammates who apply Shock, Wind Shear, Bleed, or Burn. She also does a follow up attack every time her allies do a basic attack.

Seele

Seele makes things dead really fast, and can give herself a speed boost by doing so. That means more turns for her, which equals more attacks. Her Ultimate deals massive damage and gives her a nice buff too; it’s what any character in the Hunt class should strive for.

Silver Wolf

Silver Wolf, a member of the Stellaron Hunters is an exceptional hacker, she has honed the art of ‘Aether Editing,’ enabling manipulation of reality’s data. She also has great fashion sense.

Central to Silver Wolf’s capabilities is her foremost skill, Weakness Implant, which introduces a vulnerability to an enemy contingent on your prevailing team composition. Additionally, she possesses the capacity to afflict the enemy with glitches that curtail their speed, attack, or defense. With a repertoire of potent debilitation techniques, this hacker emerges as a valuable support alternative for any team configuration.

Bronya

Survivability is pretty important in a turn-based combat RPG system, so Bronya is very useful as a Wind elemental support. She can remove debuffs from the party, buff them up, and even cast an Ultimate that makes your party critical damage-dealing monsters for 2 turns.

Gepard

Do you need a good defender for your party? Gepard’s your man in sustaining and holding the fort. His Ultimate gives everyone a nice shield buff that absorbs damage.

Jing Yuan

I may be a bit biased here but Jing Yuan is one of the best DPS in the game. Jing Yuan’s Lightning-Lord can hit each enemy up to 10 times, making it a powerful way to exploit Lightning vulnerabilities and apply Weakness Break. He is however very skill hungry.

S Tier Characters

Welt

Welt has good combat skills that slow down enemies, and a gravity-based Ultimate that slows down enemies even further. He’s one of the game’s best debilitator-type classes, debuffing enemies with his attacks every chance he gets.

Himeko

If you’ve playtested Himeko during the story mode, you’ll understand why she’s a big deal. She has a passive that allows her to use follow-up attacks if you exploit enemy weaknesses. Coupled that with her strong Fire attacks and you’re golden.

Blade

Another person who can make things dead fast. Blade can charge up an AoE-attack when taking 5 hits. He dishes it out and can also take it when necessary. Some of his strongest attacks rely on his health.

Bailu

One of the best healers in the game, if you can get her. She gets extra healing bonuses that are beneficial for the party, like her Leap of Marsh Drakon Ultimate and Singing Among Clouds skill.

Tingyun

She’s currently the best support in the game. Her skill ‘Soothing Melody’ grants a strong Benediction Buff to a single ally, enhancing their Lightning damage. When applied to a Lightning user like Jing Yuan, it creates a devastating synergy.

Pela

She weakens foes while accumulating Energy through her Skill, proving effective against bothersome elites and bosses. Her Ultimate is equally advantageous, inflicting Ice damage on all enemies and diminishing their defense, establishing an excellent opportunity for your area-of-effect damage dealers.

A Tier Characters

Yukong

Her Skill boosts the attack of all allies, while her Ultimate enhances the Crit Rate and Crit Damage of everyone, but only when Roaring Bowstrings is active. This makes Yukong slightly trickier to manage than Tingyun, as you must time your rotation carefully to ensure Roaring Bowstrings is active when your DPS employs their strongest attacks.

Asta

Asta has a Speed buff Ultimate that targets your whole party; something that’s sorely needed in a turn-based RPG where getting the most turns matter. Her AoE Skill and other passives aren’t too shabby.

Dan Heng (Default)

Default character #1 is a good Wind elemental damage dealer who specializes in single-target combat. Great against bosses and anything weak to Wind. His stats are pretty good for a base character too.

March The 7th (Default)

This Ice archer is fine and can freeze everyone with her Ultimate. The problem is that once you have better Ice characters in this list, you may sideline her. If your gacha luck gravitates towards other elementals, she’s a keeper in any party that needs Ice and the Freeze ailment.

Sampo

Sampo slowly increases his damage output by afflicting Wind Shear onto his foes. This makes him valuable for consistent damage and a solid choice for prolonged engagements. Another noteworthy aspect is Sampo’s technique, which can delay enemies’ actions.

Sushang

Sushang can dish out massive damage without needing special arrangements. She’s also excellent at exploiting weaknesses in enemies, making her already impressive damage even stronger. Her ultimate inflicts single-target damage and instantly moves her turn forward by 100%, ensuring she acts right after using it. The best part? She has a big bird that smooshes enemies.

Qingque

She uses mahjong-inspired tiles as weapons which is pretty cute. She’s a four-star character you can acquire at no cost in the Forgotten Hall. She’s a quantum element user and those little tiles of hers pack a strong punch!

Serval

Serval, the Landau family’s eldest daughter, is a world apart from her brother Gepard. She’s a four-star lightning character who wields a guitar and kicks butt. By day, she’s a mechanic, but by night, she rocks stages and zaps foes. She deals huge multi-target AoE damage and inflicts continuous lightning damage.

Luka

Luka is a 4-star Physical character in Honkai Star Rail. His attacks can make enemies Bleed, steadily wearing down their health.

Natasha

Natasha is a healer, and if you have been unlucky enough to not roll another healer then she is essential to have on your team. Her Skill only heals one ally, but her Ultimate heals the entire Party.

Yanqing

He’s the youngest lieutenant in the Xianzhou Alliance. He excels in Single Target damage. Yanqing’s damage is best when prioritizing equipment that enhances his attack, crit rate, and ice damage bonus. If his crit damage and effect hit bonus is high enough it gives him a higher chance of freezing enemies.

B Tier Characters

The main character (Trailblazer)

The Trailblazer is quite flexible as they can swap from Physical to Fire damage. They also have very good survivability.

Herta (Free)

Herta is a 4-star ice elemental character who has a good number of skills that deal good ice damage, with a lovely AoE Ultimate to boot. The best part is you can get her for free by completing the simulation side quest in the Star Rail early in the game.

Hook

Pitch-Dark Hook the Great, the leader of the moles is a mischievous young thing. Hook’s strategy revolves around setting enemies ablaze and then capitalizing on that weakened state. She excels at both Single Target and AOE damage.

Arlan

The only good thing about Arlan is that he does not use a Skill Point when he uses his Skill. However, there are many better characters that you can utilize in your party instead of him which is why he’s at the bottom of our list.