[Guide] Honkai Star Rail – Suggested Light Cones For Each Path

Light Cones in Honkai Star Rail make a huge impact when tackling content, it could easily mean the difference between clearing that Simulated Universe level or having your party wiped and ruining your run.

Due to this, we have came up with some suggested 5-Star and 4-Star Light Cones that are free-to-play friendly for the different Paths and the corresponding character that best suits these Light Cones for your convenience.

While certain characters do have their own uniquely tailored Light Cones which most certainly be the most useful to them such as Jing Yuan and his Light Cone, Before Dawn, for the purpose of this guide we are looking at a more broader scope to ensure that most Trailblazers would be able to use these suggested Light Cones and build their team accordingly. There are currently seven Paths for us to walk through so lets get started.

Path of Destruction

For Path of Destruction the Light Cones that were selected are focused on dealing big damage through either the Basic Attack or Skills which is why the 5-Star Light Cone, On the Fall of an Aeon and 4-Star Light Cone Woof! Walk Time! comes to mind.

The 5-Star Light Cone, On The Fall of an Aeon can be obtained through Herta’s Store in the Simulated Universe which can be easily obtained for all players. Superimposing the Light Cone could also be done through free-to-play means by purchasing the Superimposers in Herta’s Store as well should you desire.

This particular Light Cone is generally great for most situations as the Light Cone Ability could be utilized for all and is beneficial universally to any DMG dealers which include Clara or Physical Type Trailblazer.

The 4-Star Light Cone, Woof! Walk Time! while not as great for overall use when compared to The Moles Welcome You Light Cone (obtainable through gacha), it is still a great choice for Trailblazers who are looking for a free-to-play option to build their team.

Due to its Light Cone Ability that requires the enemy to have Burn or Bleed to fully maximize its potential, character-wise, this 4-Star Light Cone is best used with Hook who can put down the Burn debuff herself or pair with allies such as Asta or other Physical Type characters that can cause Burn or Bleed debuff to maximize the Light Cone’s effectiveness.

Path of The Hunt

Characters on the Path of The Hunt have a wide range of Light Cones to utilize, but for the purpose of this guide the 5-Star Light Cone, Cruising in the Stellar Sea and 4-Star Light Cone, River Flows in Spring are great options for Trailblazers looking for a free-to-play option to compliment their characters with. While there are other more effective Light Cones out there such as In The Night or Swordplay, these Light cones could only be obtained through the gacha system.

The 5-Star Light Cone Cruising in the Stellar Sea is a great option for all The Hunt characters as you could put CRIT rate as a side benefit for your gear rolls which allows you to focus more on the other important stats such as the character’s ATK or CRIT DMG. This Light Cone can also be purchased through Herta’s Store which is great for free-to-play players.

Personally I use this on my Seele which has been clearing content relatively well, the additional CRIT rate percentages allows for more flexible builds in case your Relic stat rolls turn out unfavorable. While great for most of The Hunt characters, this Light Cone would suit Seele more as she gets an extra turn after every kill allowing her to utilize the ATK increase effectively.

The 4-Star Light Cone, River Flows in Spring can be purchased through the Forgotten Hall NPC and while its special effects could be cancelled if the character is attacked, teaming up with a character that can draw attacks like the Fire Type Trailblazer should be sufficient enough to get full use of the Light Cone benefits before the enemy character does a strong Area of Effect attack.

Character-wise, Dan Heng is best suited for this Light Cone as he has a Trace upgrade that reduces the chance of him being attacked if his HP percentage is 50% or lower, this would allow Dan Heng to continuously do DMG on the enemy with the full effect of the Light Cone in effect. Other characters such as Sushang may also utilize this Light Cone however not ideal.

Path of Erudition

Erudition characters are difficult to build as they require more investment gear-wise to make them effective and perform well during battle. The Light Cone’s used are equally as important and the ideal one that most characters could utilize fully would be the 5-Star Light Cone, Night on the Milky Way and 4-Star Light Cone, The Seriousness of Breakfast.

The 5-Star Light Cone, Night on the Milky Way unfortunately can only be obtained through the gacha or by purchasing through the store using Undying Starlight which can only be gained through warping and getting duplicates of 4 or 5 Star characters or Light Cones. While it is not that free-to-play friendly like previous entries on the list, it makes up for it by being a great Light Cone option for all Erudition users due to its special affects which is easily accessible.

The Seriousness of Breakfast on the other hand, is a free-to-play friendly 4-Star Light Cone which can be purchased through the NPC at the Forgotten Hall. It is a Light Cone that is very versatile while also being great for Boss Battles that summon minions like Svarog or Cocolia in Simulated Universe.

As the parameters for the Light Cone Ability is pretty straight forward, any character can fully utilize this Light Cone without any problems such as Serval, Herta and even Jing Yuan.

Path of Harmony

For those that walk the Path of Harmony, the ideal 4-Star Light Cone would be Carve the Moon Weave the Clouds while the 5-Star Light Cone would be But the Battle Isn’t Over.

Similar to Night on the Milky Way, the 5-Star Light Cone, But the Battle Isn’t Over can only be obtained through the gacha or purchased from the store using Undying Starlight. It is the only 5-Star Light Cone currently in the Path of Harmony and gives a lot of benefits to the user which is an increase in Energy Regeneration Rate as well as giving an ally up to 50% additional DMG for one turn.

This 5-Star Light Cone is perfect for those who have Bronya but also usable on Asta or Tingyun as the Light Cone Ability is easily triggered by simply casting skills to give the next ally that moves an increase in DMG output. The increase in Energy Regeneration Rate would also be helpful for any of the characters as getting any of their Ultimate’s off would be a boon for any team.

The 4-Star Light Cone, Carve the Moon, Weave the Clouds is the best 4-Star option at time of writing due to it giving out constant buffs to your team. It is however only obtainable through the gacha, so for free-to-play users and those who do not have this specific Light Cone, you could utilize the other 4-Star Light Cone which can be purchased from Forgotten Hall called Past and Future which gives the ally who’s turn is next up to 32% increased DMG for 1 turn.

There is also a 3-Star alternative called Chorus which boosts all allies ATK by up to 12%.

Path of Nihility

This path only has two 5-Star Light Cone at time of writing which is In the Name of the World and Incessant Rain while having five options to choose from in terms of 4-Star Light Cones. Picking the ideal Light Cone for this specific path was not easy as most of the good options are quite premium such as Incessant Rain which is a limited Light Cone alongside the Silver Wolf banner currently on-going at time of writing.

Which is why for the purpose of this guide, for the 5-Star option, In the Name of the World would be the ideal option if you do not own Incessant Rain. This Light Cone boosts Effect Hit Rate which is essential for those walking the Path of Nihility as they are primarily a debuff type character, while also allowing the user to do additional DMG and boosting the ATK of the user as well. This Light Cone can be purchased with Undying Starlight.

Thankfully unlike its 5-Star counterpart, selecting the ideal 4-Star Light Cone was relatively easy as the best one would be the most recent one which you can get through an event called, Before the Tutorial Mission Starts. While this Light Cone was designed with Silver Wolf in mind due to its Light Cone Ability which has the wearer regenerating energy by attacking DEF-reduced enemies, it still gives an Effect Hit Rate of up to 40% which is a significant amount.

The only character alongside Silver Wolf that can take advantage of this Light Cone without the need for an additional teammate to cast DEF-reducing effects would be Pela who can cast that effect through her Ultimate. Pela with this Light Cone would be great for teams who are fighting against enemies who are weak to Ice Type DMG and as a general use case as well due to Ice Type characters being able to Freeze enemies making them lose a turn.

Path of Preservation

Characters who are on the Path of Preservation generally would have skillsets that protect teammates which is why having a Light Cone that focuses more on overall DEF and DEF RES values are taken into account when selecting the Light Cone. For this path, the 5-Star Light Cone that we would suggest is Moment of Victory and the 4-Star Light Cone would be Day One of My new Life.

The 5-Star Light Cone, Moment of Victory can be purchased through the Store via Undying Starlight and would be the best Light Cone currently for your Preservation Path characters. The Light Cone checks all the boxes required which is increase in DEF, Effect Hit Rate (perfect for landing taunts), while also having an innate passive that makes enemies more likely to target you, similar to the Ability of the 4-Star Light Cone Landau’s Choice.

This Light Cone is usable for all of the current Preservation Path characters including March 7th as it basically turns the enemy’s focus directly on them while also increasing their overall sustainability to absorb the DMG. There is also a free-to-play option for 5-Star Light Cone called Texture of Memories which can be found at Herta’s Store. This Light Cone while not as effective as Moment of Victory, it does increase the Effect RES of the user, grants a shield and decreases DMG received which is perfect for Fire Type Trailblazer who can taunt enemies into attacking him/her as well.

In terms of 4-Star Light Cone, Day One of My New Life does a lot for the team especially on characters like March 7th who gives shields that scale with her DEF and the increase in DMG RES for all allies would help with overall sustainability during prolonged fights. However, for those looking for a more free-to-play option, the 4-Star Light Cone, We are Wildfire is a good substitute which can be purchased from the Forgotten Hall NPC.

While not as good as Day One of My New Life in a prolonged battle, the Light Cone does keep your team alive through early game surprise DMG bursts from the enemies by reducing the DMG dealt to them by up to 16% for five turns.

Path of Abundance

The last Path on our list is the Path of Abundance which is the Path that heals and only consists of two characters at time of writing which is Bailu and Natasha. The 5-Star Light Cone options are limited to only one which is Time Waits for No One and for 4-Star Light Cones, players can either opt for the free-to-play option Quid Pro Quo or the more effective choice, Post-Op Conversation which can only be obtained through the gacha.

The Light Cone choices for this Path generally should be focused on either improving Health Max HP values (for better heals and survivability) and/or Outgoing Healing. Additional effects such as regenerating Energy are great to have but I would advise you to always opt for Max HP and Outgoing healing when possible as your heals will be determined based on your Max HP values.

With that being said, the 5-Star Light Cone, Time Waits for No One is definitely a good fit for both Bailu and Natasha as it provides both Max HP increase and additional Outgoing Healing alongside an additional effect which has enemies taking additional DMG by up to 60% of the Outgoing Healing value from allies. Fortunately, this Light Cone can be purchased with Undying Starlight so free-to-play players could get this Light Cone over time.

For 4-Star Light Cones, Quid Pro Quo which can be obtained through the Forgotten Hall NPC is a great free-to-play option that boosts a random ally’s Energy regeneration rate to ensure that allies can get their Ultimate faster which definitely would add value in battles. However, the user will need a reasonable amount of SPD to make full use of the Light Cone as the effect only kicks in when the user takes a turn.

With that, we come to the end of this guide. Do take note that with time, new and possibly better Light Cones may be added to the game which may make you want to adjust accordingly. Also as a reminder, this guide is strictly for reference and should no way limit how you want to play Honkai Star Rail.

For our thoughts on the newest limited character, Silver Wolf you may check our guide. For further information regarding the game, you may refer to their official website.

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