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

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Coming at the tail end of Honkai: Star Rail’s Jarilo-IV questline, the Trailblazer acquires a new set of powers after earning the favor of Qlipoth, the Aeon of Preservation.

Trading the bat for a fiery lance, the Preservation Trailblazer has quickly become the preferred path due to their amazing defensive kit that enables their teammates to forge through the trials ahead without fear.

It’s not often that our main character can keep up with more limited characters so here’s a guide to everything that your Trailblazer will need to master this new Path of Preservation.

Best Relic Set and Ornament for Trailblazer

Preservation Trailblazer’s strength lies in their defense, protecting their frailer teammates from harm like a knight in shining armor. This makes the aptly named ‘Knight of Purity Palace’ their best-in-slot relic set as it improves the Trailblazer’s already impressive defensive kit with bonuses to their DEF stat and the extra durability to their shield. Players can get this relic set from the Cave of Corrosion: Path of the Sacred Hymn.

Knight of Purity Palace has the following effects:

• 2-Piece Bonus: Increases DEF by 15%.
• 4-Piece Bonus:  Increases the max DMG that can be absorbed by the shield created by the wearer by 20%.

For support characters like the Preservation Trailblazer, Fleet of the Ageless is a great all-around ornament. The additional max health makes them incredibly bulky on top of their damage reduction and defense stat. The secondary effect is also quite helpful for the team in general if the SPD requirement is met. This planar ornament set can be farmed by doing runs in World 3 of the Simulated Universe.

Here are the numbers for Fleet of the Ageless:

• Increases the wearer’s Max HP by 12%. When the wearer’s SPD reaches 120 or higher, all allies’ ATK increases by 8%.

Stats to Prioritize for Trailblazer

It’s one thing to get an entire set of relics and ornaments, it’s another to get the right stats on them. Trailblazer’s gear would ideally have these main stats:

• Body: DEF%
• Feet: SPD
• Planar Sphere: DEF%
• Link Rope: Energy Regen Rate

Players should focus on raising Preservation Trailblazer’s defenses which they can do so by stacking as many DEF% pieces on him with his Body piece and Planar Sphere ornament. Being slow in a turn-based game is a great disadvantage, even for a defensive character like the Trailblazer, so SPD boots will help them keep up with the rest in battle. Lastly, an Energy Regen Rate link rope will recharge their ultimate much quicker from every action they take and every enemy hit they endure.

As for their substats, aim to get as many substats of SPD, DEF%, and HP% as possible. The extra SPD enhances both the Trailblazer’s offensive and defensive capabilities. It would let them attack more frequently and be able to refresh their taunt earlier within the turn. HP% is great to have on them as it will allow them to tank more hits before needing to be healed.

Best Light Cone for Trailblazer

Getting a copy of ‘Moment of Victory’ is definitely cause for celebration as it’s easily the best Preservation light cone that’s currently available in the game. It offers a great amount of DEF and Effect Hit Rate along with applying a passive taunt effect on its wearer which is all this version of Trailblazer needs to succeed. This 5-Star light cone is obtainable through warping or through the Starlight Exchange shop in exchange for 600 Undying Starlight.

Get the best defenses with the effects of ‘Moment of Victory’:

• Increases the wearer’s DEF by 24/28/32/36/40% and Effect Hit Rate by 24/28/32/36/40%. Increases the chance for the wearer to be attacked by enemies. When the wearer is attacked, increase their DEF by an additional 24/28/32/36/40% until the end of the wearer’s turn.

Budget Alternative

‘Landau’s Choice’ is the only choice for a taunt tank like Preservation Trailblazer. While they do already have a guaranteed taunt in their skill, ‘Landau’s Choice’ helps in keeping other party members unharmed even when their taunt is not up. The added damage reduction also goes a long way in keeping the Trailblazer from taking too much damage at the same time.

Here’s why ‘Landau’s Choice’ is great:

• The wearer is more likely to be attacked, but DMG taken is reduced by 16/18/20/22/24%.

If you’ve not managed to grab a copy of ‘Landau’s Choice’, ‘Day One of My New Life’ can also work well. It still gives Trailblazer a substantial amount of DEF while improving her allies’ damage resistance to help with their survivability should an attack slip through the Trailblazer’s defenses.

‘Day One of My New Life’ gives its wearer the following stats:

• Increases the wearer’s DEF by 16/18/20/22/24%. After entering battle, increases DMG RES of all allies by 8/9/10/11/12%. Effects of the same type cannot stack.

Trailblazer Skill Priorities

Get your lance at the ready by understanding the Trailblazer’s skills:

• Ice-Breaking Light (Basic ATK) – Their Basic ATK deals Fire DMG equal to 50 to 110% of the Trailblazer’s ATK to a target enemy and gains 1 stack of Magma Will. On the other hand, consuming 4 stacks of Magma Will results in an Enhanced Basic that deals Fire DMG equal to 90 to 146% of the Trailblazer’s ATK to a single enemy and Fire DMG to equal to 36 to 58% of their ATK to adjacent enemies.
• Ever-Burning Amber (Skill) – This skill increases the Trailblazer’s DMG Reduction by 40 to 52% and gains 1 stack of Magma Will, taunting all enemies for 1 turn.
• War-Flaming Lance (Ultimate) – Trailblazer’s Ultimate deals Fire DMG equal to 50 to 110% of their ATK plus 75 to 165% of the Trailblazer’s DEF to all enemies. The next Basic ATK will be automatically enhanced and does not cost Magma Will.
• Treasure of the Architects (Talent) – Each time the Trailblazer is hit, they gain 1 stack of Magma Will for a max of 8 stacks. When Magma Will has no fewer than 4 stacks, the Trailblazer’s Basic ATK becomes enhanced, dealing DMG to a single enemy and enemies adjacent to it. Any action that the Trailblazer does applies a Shield to all allies that absorbs DMG equal to 4 to 6% of their DEF plus 20 to 89 and lasts for 2 turns.
• Call of the Guardian (Technique) – Using this technique grants the party a Shield that absorbs DMG equal to 30% of the Trailblazer’s DEF plus 384 for 1 turn in the next battle.

Upgrade their skills in this order:

• Ultimate (War-Flaming Lance)
• Talent (Treasure of the Architects)
• Basic ATK (Ice-Breaking Light)
• Skill (Ever-Burning Amber)

Trailblazer’s Ultimate benefits from the levels the most solely because it improves the scaling in its damage. While Trailblazer’s ATK stat is nothing noteworthy, all the DEF stacking in their relics and ornaments makes their DEF stat quite beefy. This would translate into greater damage on their ult due to the additional damage scaling based on their DEF. Talent level ups would lead to better shields for all allies and levels for their Basic ATK improves the damage of both normal and enhanced states. You can leave their skill for last as their taunt is already guaranteed at base level and the change to their damage reduction is minimal.

Leveling up Preservation Trailblazer’s skills require these materials:

The Trailblazer, regardless if you picked Caelus or Stelle, is currently the only character in Honkai: Star Rail that can change their Path but this comes with the caveat that although their overall level carries over from one Path to the next, the same can’t be said for their skills. Leveling up skills in the Path of Destruction does not increase the skills in the Path of Preservation and this will hold true for all future paths as well. Each path would require different path-specific trace materials and Tracks of Destiny for their own Major Abilities. So those players who would like to upgrade their Trailblazer will have to be wise in picking which Paths they would like to invest in.

Best Trailblazer Team Compositions

A good support is universal in the sense that they can pretty much join any team composition and still work effectively in each one. Preservation Trailblazer’s ability to shield and redirect enemy aggression is great for role compression, allowing you to have more options for what teammates you can put in your party.

Trailblazer enables the players to run these characters in their team:

• Glass cannon DPS characters like Yanqing or Arlan
• Buff-centric support like Bronya or Tingyun
• Debuff-centric support like Welt or Pela
• Healers like Natasha or Bailu

As it’s one of the missions of the Nameless to connect with the people they meet in their journey, it’s great that this is reflected in the fact that Preservation Trailblazer can go along with almost everybody. Unfortunately, Clara is the only exception to this as the one character that actually wants to get hit to do damage which is counteractive to what the Trailblazer does. Still, we can’t blame you if you want to put them on the same team though. To protect others is the will of preservation, regardless of efficiency.