Arlan Honkai: Star Rail Guide for Relics, Light Cones, and Skills

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Due to the lack of dodging mechanics and unbreakable shields in Honkai: Star Rail (HSR), Arlan’s risky playstyle might not seem all that appealing to players at a surface level. After all, why put your DPS in an unsafe situation where they could be knocked out with a single hit when they could dish out damage from the comfort of a full health bar?

Still, there are always going to be players looking to defy tier lists and expectations to make characters like Arlan shine.

If Arlan having the cute dog Peppy in his splash art doesn’t convince you to use him on your team, maybe this Arlan Honkai: Star Rail guide will.

Best Relic Set and Ornament for Arlan

The relic choice for Arlan is quite simple, given that he mostly deals Lightning DMG to his enemies. The 4-Piece set of Band of Sizzling Thunder is perfect for him as it makes him deal even more Lightning DMG along with rewarding his frequent skill usage with the additional ATK% buff. You can get this relic set from the Path of Holy Hymn of the Cavern of Corrosion.

The Band of Sizzling Thunder gives its user:

• 2-Piece Bonus – Increases Lightning DMG by 10%.
• 4-Piece Bonus – When the wearer uses Skill, increase the wearer’s ATK by 20% for 1 turn.

Brother Arlan works as Herta’s Space Station Security Head so it’s only fitting that his best Planar Ornament is the one that references it. World 3 of the Simulated Universe drops this Ornament set in exchange for Trailblaze Power or Store Immersifiers.

Space Stealing Station grants these effects:

• 2-Piece Bonus – Increases the wearer’s ATK by 12%. When the wearer’s SPD reaches 120 or higher, the wearer’s ATK increases by an extra 12%.

Stats to Prioritize for Arlan

These are the stats that you should get on your relic pieces:

• Body: Crit Rate
• Feet: SPD or ATK%
• Orb: Lightning DMG
• Line: ATK%

Arlan is your typical DPS unit that requires CRIT stats to reach his maximum damage output. A CRIT Rate body piece will make his critical strikes consistent. You can never go wrong with SPD Boots in a turn-based game, but running ATK% on his boots is something to consider if you’ve already got a lot of SPD substats. As for his ornaments, Lightning DMG and ATK% are a great combination.

The rule of thumb for Arlan’s substats is to get as much CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG, and ATK% as possible. These three are his most important stats that he can make great use of. The occasional SPD substat is also welcomed. 

Best Light Cone for Arlan

The 5-Star Light Cone ‘Something Irreplaceable’ is easily Arlan’s best-in-slot (BiS), and the competition is not even close. It stands above the rest of the Path of Destruction Light Cones because it gives him some much-needed survivability.

Here’s what ‘Something Irreplaceable’ gives to Arlan:

• Increases the wearer’s ATK by 24/28/32/36/40%. When the wearer defeats an enemy or is hit, immediately restores HP equal to 8/9/10/11/12% of the wearer’s ATK. At the same time, the wearer’s DMG is increased by 24/28/32/36/40% until the end of their next turn. This effect cannot stack and can only trigger 1 time per turn.

Most Destruction Light Cones hand their wearer a significant amount of ATK buffs but ‘Something Irreplaceable’ goes a little further. Equipping this on Arlan would give him HP recovery along with an overall DMG increase upon defeating an enemy. Arlan deals more damage the lower his health gets, so anything that lessens the risk of him getting knocked out, the better. You can get this Light Cone through warping or by buying it in the Starlight Exchange shop for 600 Undying Starlight.

Budget Alternative

His BiS Light Cone might be called irreplaceable, but desperate times call for desperate measures. The 4-Star Light Cone ‘Nowhere to Run’ is a decent alternative as it is basically a powered-down version of ‘Something Irreplaceable’.

To compare, here’s what ‘Nowhere to Run’ does:

• Increases the wearer’s ATK by 24/30/36/42/48%. Whenever the wearer defeats an enemy, they restore HP equal to 12/15/18/21/24% of their ATK.

Not counting the difference in stats, ‘Nowhere to Run’ virtually has the same effect as ‘Something Irreplaceable’ sans the secondary DMG boost upon defeating an enemy. This 4-Star option is even comparable to its higher rarity counterpart upon higher superimposition levels. No warping is necessary to get your hands on this light cone. Players can get it by purchasing the Nameless Glory and reaching level 30 in the Nameless Honor tab.

Arlan Skill Priorities

Here’s an explanation of Arlan’s skills:

• Lightning Rush (Basic ATK) – Arlan’s Basic ATK deals Lightning DMG equal to 50 to 110% of Arlan’s ATK to a single enemy.
• Shackle Breaker (Skill) – Using Arlan’s skill consumes 15% of his Max HP to deal Lightning DMG equal to 120 to 264% of Arlan’s ATK to a single enemy. If he does not have enough HP when he uses this skill, his HP will be reduced to 1.
• Frenzied Punishment (Ultimate) – Arlan’s Ultimate deals Lightning DMG equal to 192 to 346% of his ATK to a single enemy and 96 to 173% to enemies adjacent to it.
• Pain and Anger (Talent) – The lower his HP gets, the stronger Arlan becomes. Arlan’s Talent increases his DMG for every percent of HP below his Max HP, up to a max of 36 to 79% more DMG.
• Swift Harvest (Technique) – Arlan immediately strikes an enemy, dealing Lightning DMG equal to 80% of Arlan’s ATK to all enemies at the start of combat..

This is how we would prioritize his skills:

• Ultimate (Frenzied Punishment)
• Skill (Shackle Breaker)
• Talent (Pain and Anger)
• Basic (Lightning Rush)

Leveling his Ultimate nets you the greatest increase to his damage, so this should be your priority along with his skill. His Talent is also worth leveling, as this would improve the conversion rate of his missing health to DMG. Since his skill does not consume a skill point, players have little incentive to use his Basic ATK over his skill which makes his Basic ATK not worth leveling at all.

Leveling these skills will take up the following resources:

Collecting trace materials like Worldbreaker Blade requires the use of Trailblaze Power, a regenerating but finite resource. Thus, knowing what skills to prioritize will allow you to raise your characters efficiently.

Best Arlan Team Compositions

Players can classify Arlan as a berserker type of character. He deals great damage at the expense of his own health. You can make the most out of his ‘high risk, high reward’ play style by putting him on a team that enables him to go ham on his enemies without worry.

Consider the following characters when picking out Arlan’s best helpers:

• Gepard (Amazing shielder and tank)
• Asta (SPD is always great on DPS)
• March 7th (Arlan prefers shields over healing)
• Bailu (To revive him)
• Bronya (To give Arlan another turn to attack)
• Tingyun (ATK buffs and Energy Regeneration)
• Trailblazer (Fire) (To redirect enemy aggression)

The beauty of Honkai: Star Rail is that there’s no one way to play the game. With the right builds, investment, and team compositions, even unpopular picks like Arlan can be used to clear the hardest challenges this game has to offer.