A complete and easy guide to the turn-based combat system of HoYoverse’s newest JRPG game Honkai: Star Rail.
Honkai Star Rail is the latest RPG game by renowned developer HoYoverse, who is also the developer of Genshin Impact. Honkai: Star Rail includes a lot of similar features to Genshin Impact. But the game has a distinct combat mechanism.
The combat system of Honkai: Star Rail might be a little tricky for beginners to understand. However, players with previous JRPG experience can grasp the whole mechanism very quickly.
Honkai Star Rail features turn-based battles, which are less intense and also a bit time-consuming. Follow this simple guide to understand the complete combat mechanism of Honkai Star Rail.
Honkai Star Rail Combat System
Primarily, players will need to form a team with four characters before going into any fight. They are free to use any character that they own. However, it would be best to create a balanced team keeping all the elements in mind, to make your team composition more stable.
In a turn-based combat system, players have a range of actions they can take. Initially, they can use basic attacks to damage enemies, but they can also use more powerful skill abilities. However, using these abilities requires skill points, which can be earned by using basic attacks in battle. Each player can hold up to five skill points, which are shared among the team. Without skill points, players won’t be able to use their skill abilities.
Players can also use ultimate abilities, which deal significant damage to enemies. It’s best to use these abilities when they are fully charged and they don’t end the player’s turn. However, using ultimate abilities when it’s not the player’s turn will activate them immediately after the current turn.
To have the greatest impact, players can use multiple ultimate abilities, but using them requires energy. Players can earn energy by using skill abilities and basic attacks, defeating enemies, and collecting light cones and character effects. Increasing characters’ energy restoration rate stats can also boost the amount of energy they earn.
Types of Attacks
Normal Attack
Normal attacks are the basic attacks of the characters. There are no cooldowns on this attack, which gives the players a chance to use Normal Attack whenever they want.
Skill Attack
Skill Attack is one of the most powerful attacks of each character. Each character possesses a certain skill. According to their type, players can use the skills of these characters to contribute to the fullest during any battle.
Ultimate Attack
This is the strongest attack of each character. When activated during turns, characters can use their ultimate attacks to deal a serious amount of damage to the enemies. With every basic attack, the ultimate attack also gets refilled.
Elemental Weaknesses
Enemies in Honkai Star Rail are weak against a few elements. Before heading out to the battle, players must learn about their enemies and their weaknesses in order to win the battles. Here are all the elements and enemy weaknesses against the elements.
| Element | Weakness |
| Physical | Deals Physical damage. Applies Bleed, dealing Physical damage over time. |
| Fire | Deals Fire damage. Applies Burn, dealing Fire damage over time. |
| Wind | Deals Wind damage. Applies the Wind Shear effect, dealing Wind damage over time. |
| Lightning | Deals Lightning damage. Applies Shock, dealing Lightning damage over time. |
| Ice | Deals Ice damage. Applies the Frozen effect, thereby immobilizing the enemy and dealing Ice damage over time. |
| Quantum | Deals Quantum damage. Applies Entanglement, delaying the opponent’s turn and dealing Quantum damage over time. |
| Imaginary | Deals Imaginary damage. Applies Imprisonment, reducing the opponent’s speed and causing action delays. |
Honkai Star Rail Paths Explained
Honkai: Star Rail’s combat system has a significant feature called the Path assigned to each character. These Paths are like the typical RPG roles of tanks and healers, and they differ for each character. Every character has a pre-defined Path that determines their role within the team.
In Honkai: Star Rail’s combat system, each character has a unique Path, which determines their role within the team. Having a team with a mix of Paths is ideal for standard opponents, whereas stronger opponents may require specific Paths.
The seven Paths and their specialties in Honkai: Star Rail’s combat system are listed below.
| Paths | Effects |
| The Destruction | Characters excel at attacking from the front. They are also the best when fighting solo. |
| The Abundance | Characters can heal allies. |
| The Harmony | Characters provide buffs to boost the team’s power. |
| The Preservation | Characters have defensive abilities that can protect allies. |
| The Erudition | Characters are good at striking multiple targets with AoE attacks. |
| The Nihility | Characters can debuff opponents. |
| The Hunt | Characters are single-target Critical Hit dealers. |
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