Honkai Star Railis a turn-based game that requires players to set up a strategically synergistic team in order to succeed. The game features a variety of characters with different abilities, strengths, and weaknesses, and players must carefully select and build their team to achieve maximum efficiency. One important aspect of team building inHonkai Star Railis understanding the various characters' roles and abilities. Some characters are primarily focused on dealing damage, while others are more supportive, providing buffs or debuffs to their allies or enemies. Additionally, characters are classified into different categories, such as Damage Dealers, Healers, and Shielders and other supports, each with their own unique abilities and strengths.
In order to build a successful team, players must carefully consider the synergies between their chosen characters. For example, some characters may have abilities that complement each other like giving an elemental boost. Additionally, players must also consider the elemental affinities of their characters, as enemies are weak to different elements, andbreaking their toughnesscan benefit the team greatly in difficult fights. With the focus on creating a powerful team, players often seek out the strongest characters to include in their roster. 5-star characters are highly sought after due to their rarity, and players may believe they are stronger than their 4-star counterparts. However, it’s important to note that there are many powerful 4-star options available that can outperform certain 5-stars. Therefore, players may be wondering which 5-star characters inHonkai Star Railare worth investing in to maximize their potential. Considering their different roles however, comparing each character can be rather difficult.
Updated on July 19, 2025, by Elara Leclair:With the massive amount of updates and new characters introduced since its launch, Honkai: Star Rail has provided players with the opportunity to test out many 5-star and 4-star characters. While newly added 5-star characters surely bring new mechanics, potentially more suitable for the new end-game content like Pure Fiction or later stages of Memory of Chaos, some of the older characters have also increased in feasibility. Options like Kafka, Seele, and Jing Juan have received highly synergistic support characters that can increase their potential immensely. Nevertheless, it is still quite difficult to assess the strength between certain characters due to their roles. Here’s how they rank, primarily based on their versatility and utility.
26Trailblazer (Physical)
Trailblazer is a unique character inHonkai Star Rail, similar to the Traveler inGenshin Impact. As the main character of the game, players have the freedom to name them and select their gender. Moreover, players can accessdifferent elements and pathsfor Trailblazer, making them adaptable to various situations. At the beginning of the game, players are introduced to Physical Trailblazer, who follows The Destruction path.
Although players may find this character versatile and useful in the beginning, as they collect more characters of both 4-star and 5-star rarities, they will realize that there are better options available than Physical Trailblazer. This is because their damage output will not be as impressive compared to other 5-star options for both single target and AoE attacks, and they have limited support abilities.
25Yanqing
Compared to other 5-star characters, Yanqing is not a popular option among players. This is due to him also following The Hunt path, which puts him at a disadvantage compared to characters like Seele and Dan Heng. While Yanqing has the potential to deal high single-target damage due to his scaling, he may not be as flexible in team compositions as he requires frequent shielding and is not as easy to play. However, as an Ice character, Yanqing can easily freeze many opponents, giving the team a significant advantage in terms of damage and turns.
24Himeko
Himeko is a unique character inHonkai Star Rail, being the only 5-star character with the Erudition path until therelease of Jing Yuan. As such, Himeko remains apopular returning character due to her versatility and ability to deal substantial AoE damage with decent single-target potential. In particular, her follow-up attack can activate and annihilate enemies, making her great for farming and auto-battle. With the proper build and support, Himeko can even become a hyper carry, benefiting from characters like Asta who boost Fire damage. This makes her particularly useful in early game.
23Trailblazer (Fire)
In contrast to the Physical Trailblazer, the Fire Trailblazer is a surprisingly versatile support character that excels at both dealing damage and providing shields. One of Trailblazer’s unique abilities is to taunt all enemies, drawing their attacks away from other team members and reducing overall damage taken.
Additionally, Trailblazer can recover skill points when attacked or using skills, making him an excellent choice for dealing more damage. Many characters rely heavily on their skills for damage or utility, so having a character like Trailblazer on the team can greatly enhance their overall effectiveness. Nevertheless, with the addition of other characters like Fu Xuan, Trailblazer has become less priority to focus on.
22Bailu
Bailu is a valuable asset to any team due to her healing abilities, which can be crucial in theearly stages of the gamewhen players have limited access to healers. With her ability to heal the entire team and revive a fallen ally once per battle, Bailu can turn the tide of a tough fight. However, she lacks significant offensive power or other utilities, in comparison to other healers like Luocha, Huohuo or Lynx, making her not as sought after as before.
21Gepard
Gepard is a character inHonkai Star Railwho specializes in defense and is particularly good at absorbing damage. His unique ability to draw enemies towards him makes him an ideal choice for distracting and drawing enemy attacks away from more vulnerable teammates. Additionally, Gepard has a powerful Ultimate Skill that can create a shield to protect his allies from incoming damage.
As an ice character, Gepard is also able to freeze enemies, which can give his team the opportunity to attack and potentially win battles early on. However, while characters who can generate a shield are important early in the game, especially before players can access healer characters that are currently lacking in power, there are other characters like March 7 who also possess preservation abilities and are ice characters, making Gepard less unique in comparison to some others on the list.
20Clara
Clara, much like Trailblazer, is a Physical damage dealer who follows The Destruction path. Despite being in the middle of this list, Clara boasts exceptional damage potential with a single attack, making her particularly effective in battles with multiple enemies due to her AoE attacks. However, her reliance on her Ultimate can hinder her performance with her other skills, meaning that she requires a more specific team composition to unleash her full potential, such as pairing her with a character that can provide her with energy for her ultimate, like Tingyun. It’s important not to underestimate Clara’s capabilities, as she has the potential to be a valuable addition to any team with the right setup.
19Topaz
Topaz brings a unique combination of being a Hunt character, typically associated with DPS, and having support abilities. Her follow-up attack orientation allows for seamless pairing with other DPS characters, boosting their follow-up damage. This versatility enables players to choose between using Topaz as a support or as a hyper-carry on her own. However, it’s worth noting that Topaz’s performance relies heavily on the synergy with other characters to achieve high damage numbers.
Despite her distinctive qualities, Topaz faces the challenge of Fire not being a particularly favored element in the current stage of the game. Players may find more utility in other DPS characters, and Topaz’s effectiveness could be overshadowed by alternatives. Ultimately, her viability will depend on individual play styles and team compositions.
18Welt
Welt’s rarity as an Imaginary Element character makes him highly desirable and unique inHonkai Star Rail. As a character who follows the Nihility path, Welt can fulfill several roles, including that of a sub-DPS character and enemy debuffer. His ability to slow down enemies can be extremely useful in challenging combat situations. Furthermore, Welt is versatile and can be utilized in different scenarios thanks to his ability to deal both AoE and single-target damage. One of the most important utility of Welt is the fact that he can Imprison enemies with his Ultimate, which is what makes Welt very unique as a support. Nevertheless, with many more support characters added, his utility has dropped quite a bit, since the turn orders have become more manipulated.
17Dr. Ratio
As a F2P 5-star character provided to players as a token of appreciation, Dr. Ratio excels as an Imaginary DPS character, particularly for players seeking a strong single-target DPS option or lacking Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae. With his kit, Dr. Ratio can execute follow-up attacks on enemies affected by debuffs (and fortunately, he can apply debuffs himself), thereby increasing his own strength in the process. However, despite being a solid character, he does have some drawbacks compared to other 5-star limited DPS characters. Primarily, current content doesn’t favor single-target DPS, and his kit requires more strategic thinking regarding team compositions and character builds. Nevertheless, with the right build and strategy, he can still be a valuable asset to the team.
