Best DPS characters in Honkai Star Rail as of August 2023

DPS characters in Honkai Star Rail are some of the most desired units since they are the frontrunners in any team composition. Each of them has strong abilities in their arsenal that are geared towards damaging enemies. With a few different characters to choose from, players may wonder which the best DPS unit to use is in this title's current meta.

Hence, this article will present these units in a tier list after considering their performance across Honkai Star Rail's end-game content as of August 2023. It is worth noting that this article doesn't aim to undermine any DPS character.

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DPS character tier list in Honkai Star Rail as of August 2023

DPS character tier list (Image via HoYoverse)

This tier list above ranks all the DPS characters currently available in Honkai Star Rail. Hybrid units like Sampo, Welt, and Luca have been excluded from it, however, as some elements of their abilities are designed to support allies in battle.

That said, characters in a specific tier have been placed in no particular order. Their efficiency has been considered without any Eidolon for fair judgment, and players might get different results based on their usage.

SS tier

All SS-tier DPS characters (Image via HoYoverse)

Characters at the peak of this tier list are typically prioritized for meta-team compositions. They possess near-perfect abilities capable when it comes to taking down all enemies and bosses in Honkai Star Rail. Here is a list of DPS characters that deserve to be in the SS tier:

• Seele
• Blade
• Kafka

What is interesting is how each of the above 5-star characters introduces a different playstyle into this title's current meta. Along with that, they can unleash excellent damage output with low investment in terms of resources and gear.

While Seele has been consistent with her single target impact, Blade follows the Destruction Path to unleash AoE attacks during combat. In contrast, Kafka specializes in DoT-based compositions to extend some passive damage.

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S tier

Clara is a unique DPS that deals massive DMG with her counter attacks (Image via HoYoverse)

Honkai Star Rail characters in the S-tier require more investment and specific team setups to flourish in combat. The individuals listed below are mostly reserved as secondary options and aren't as good as the SS-tier units.

• Yanqing
• Jing Yuan
• Clara

Both Yanqing and Jing Yuan serve as great substitute DPS for various end-game team setups. However, the former heavily relies on a shielder to maintain his Soulsteel Sync stacks. On the other hand, Jing Yuan has been powercrept by Kafka.

On the other hand, Clara can unleash massive damage only using her counterattacks, which limits her team compositions.

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A tier

Both the Fire DPS belongs to the A-tier (Image via HoYoverse)

The A-tier contains DPS units that are underwhelming to use in Honkai Star Rail's challenging content as of August 2023. They usually require more investment to be viable during combat.

The following characters offer a relatively weak performance without any Eidolons:

• Himeko
• Dan Heng
• Sushang
• Serval
• Hook
• Arlan
• Qingque
• Physical Trailblazer
• Herta

This tier list should provide a general idea of the best DPS characters to clear the difficult stages of Forgotten Halls and Simulated Universe.