Great support characters create the best teams but with a team of only supports, you may lack the firepower to finish the job efficiently. In a turn-based game like Honkai: Star Rail (HSR), a good DPS will carry the team no matter how unpolished they are.
Unlike its sister game Genshin Impact, the distinction between single target damage dealers and Area of Effect is more felt due to the game’s fixed gameplay structure. For those who were wondering who are the best carries in the game, youโve come to the right place. Here are the 10 best DPS characters in Honkai: Star Rail.
1. Dan Heng – Imbibitor Lunae
Rarity: 5-Star
Element: Imaginary
Path: The Destruction
The Imaginary Element started out slow on the damage department compared to other elements but quickly shot up the ranks with the release of Imbibitor Lunae. This new and improved version of Dan Heng is a monster on the battlefield, able to flush out hordes of enemies at a time without breaking a sweat.
With Imbibitor Lunaeโs massive damage multipliers, AoE coverage, and fantastic weakness typing, itโs hard to compete with him. He does, however, require a lot of skill point investment which skews his learning curve on the steeper end as improper management of your combat resources can stunt this Elder Viyadharaโs momentum.
2. Blade
Rarity: 5-Star
Element: Wind
Path: The Destruction
The undying swordsman of the Stellaron Hunters, Blade, comes right after the heels of his former friend. Also hailing from the Path of Destruction, Blade’s self-destructive playstyle can easily cleave his opponents down before him with tons of Wind Damage.
Heโs the first DPS character to scale from HP instead of your typical ATK stat. The bigger his health pool, the more health he has to play with. Just like a certain funeral director from HSRโs sister game Genshin Impact, Blade gets empowered the more HP that he loses so he actually wants to take a hit or two every now and then. With self-sustain built-in to his kit, enemies will have a tough time taking Blade out for the count for good.
3. Kafka
Rarity: 5-Star
Element: Lightning
Path: The Nihility
Kafka was one of HSRโs most anticipated characters from launch and with her debut in Version 1.2, she certainly did not disappoint. Sheโs the first 5-Star DPS character thatโs built to enable a Damage Over Time (DoT) playstyle, an alternative to your typical crit-chasing team compositions.
This Stellaron Hunter takes advantage of an enemyโs debuffs as sheโs able to trigger all instances of DoT afflicted to an enemy with the use of her Skill and Ultimate. She also strays away from teaming up with conventional supports, favoring fellow debuff supports and Toughness breakers in her teams as this will give her more DoT effects to proc.
4. Seele
Rarity: 5-Star
Element: Quantum
Path: The Hunt
While she may have been slightly powercrept by characters with access to AoE, Seele remains the queen of single-target damage in HSR. With the help of her very powerful passive that allows her to take another turn after an enemy takedown, she can pick off her enemies one by one.
Seele was the first limited 5-star to be released but sheโs only gotten stronger ever since. Her Mono-Quantum team, with top supports like Fu Xuan and Silver Wolf, ensures that thereโs not a challenge in the game that she canโt clear.
5. Qingque
Rarity: 4-Star
Element: Quantum
Path: The Erudition
Qingque used to be ranked very low on any tier list and even excluded from them entirely due to her RNG-dependent playstyle. However, thereโs just no denying the immense damage potential sheโs capable of when the odds are in her favor. And letโs be honest, thereโs nothing more satisfying than winning big on the gamble.
She might also need to have all of her Eidolons unlocked to achieve this level but her lower rarity helps in making that possible without having to spend so much Stellar Jades.
6. Jing Yuan
Rarity: 5-Star
Element: Lightning
Path: The Erudition
The competition between AoE DPS has only gotten fiercer with each update and unfortunately, Jing Yuan has lagged behind other members of the High-Cloud Quintet. Thatโs not to say that the General of the Luofu is no longer a powerful DPS. A fully built Jing Yuan can still do some hefty damage lifting alongside his Thunder Lord, raining down thunderbolts from the heavens itself.
7. Clara
Rarity: 5-Star
Element: Physical
Path: The Destruction
Using Clara in HSR is basically the same as playing an Uno Reverse Card. She taunts foes to hit her once before Mr. Svarog retaliates even harder. This Destruction character not only offers damage but also incredible utility as a tank that can keep her allies safe.
While Clara has always been a formidable unit, gauging her true potential as a DPS was difficult to do at first due to her counters being her main source of damage. Since this was dependent on enemies attacking her instead of Clara attacking them, they excluded her from tier lists for a while like Qingque.
8. Himeko
Rarity: 5-Star
Element: Fire
Path: The Erudition
Once considered as the worst 5-Star from the Standard Pool of 5-Stars, Himeko has finally lived up to her potential as a follow-up DPS character. Her unique Talent enables players to capitalize on inflicting Weakness Break on enemies by continuously dealing Fire damage.
The only thing thatโs really hindering Himeko is her abysmal performance against single-target cases This makes bringing her to tough boss battles suboptimal.
9. Serval
Rarity: 4-Star
Element: Lightning
Path: The Erudition
Itโs not that shocking that Serval made it on the DPS list. Sure, sheโs a 4-Star character which typically means that sheโll fall behind 5-Star characters in terms of damage potential but what she does have is a very high Base ATK. You can build her as a crit-centric rockstar or as a supportive bandmate who can provide Shock DoT effects.
10. Sampo
Rarity: 4-Star
Element: Wind
Path: The Nihility
Sampo Koski might be one smooth criminal in evading the Silvermane Guards for all of his scams and shenanigans but when the going gets tough, it turns out that he can dish out some good damage too.
His attacks might not churn out big screenshot-worthy numbers but once youโve got his Wind Shear DoT effects stacked up, itโll be melting his opponentโs HP with every turn. To Sampo, victory is only a matter of time.