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The latest entry from HoYoverse, Honkai Star Rail, features engaging turn-based combat with a brilliant roster of characters. Compared to its older sibling Genshin Impact, Honkai Star Rail features a few more intricate boss battles and challenges that may require proper team building and careful selection of units. One such area that every team has to focus on is the DPS, of which there are plenty of options to pick from - but as expected, some are undoubtedly better than others.
This article will list out the best DPS characters players can get their hands on in Honkai Star Rail from an endgame perspective.
Note: This article is subjective and reflects the writer’s opinions.
The five best DPS characters in Honkai Star Rail
5) Serval
The sister of Gepard and a Landau, Serval is a free character everyone can get their hands on at launch thanks to the pre-registration rewards. This 4-star Lightning damage dealer is probably one of the best AoE DPS units currently available within Honkai Star Rail. It's all thanks to her unique passive, which applies Shock damage over time to enemies - which can be further extended with the use of her ultimate. The Shock damage then lasts two whole turns and has an 80% proc rate.
Her skill, Lightning Flash, deals Lightning damage to a single foe and half of its damage to the other enemies on the field. Her ultimate, Here Comes the Mechanical Fever, also deals AoE Lightning damage scaling directly on her ATK.
Serval more than earns her place in this list thanks to her being a free starter unit and a 4-star rarity character.
4) Quinque
This 4-star character from the Xianzhou Luofu is a Quantum DPS with an exciting set of abilities and is a free unit obtainable after completing a set portion of Honkai Star Rail’s campaign. Her damage source is completely gated by an RNG mechanic, which can draw one out of three possible attack variations once per turn. If she draws 4 matching tiles, her basic attack (Out With Dead Wall Tile!; deals single target quantum damage and additional AoE damage) is incredibly enhanced, making her an AoE nuker with an ATK boost. Unfortunately, this improved basic attack does not recover a skill point, which requires players to micromanage skill points more efficiently. Tiles that do not perfectly match are discarded, with the lowest tile being the first.
Her ultimate, A Scoop of Moon, draws two Jade Tiles, increases her damage by a set percentage until the turn’s end, and is stackable up to a maximum of four times.
Despite the RNG nature of her skills and damage output, Quinque is a solid 4-star DPS and a powerful AoE nuker when used correctly.
3) Yanqing
Yanqing of the Xianzhou Luofu is a 5-star gacha character attuned to Ice. He is a deceptively powerful single-target nuker with bonus stats thanks to his skills and ultimate ability to wipe out bosses with relative ease. His skill can also freeze enemies, buying you an additional turn. While the damage dealt by his skill, Darting Ironthorn (deals Ice damage to one enemy scaling on Yanqing’s ATK), is mediocre at best, it applies a stack of Soulsteel Sync that increases his Crit damage by a set percentage for one turn. This skill is deceptively strong and makes him one of the best single target nukers in Honkai Star Rail when writing this article.
His ultimate and skill can also buff his Crit rate and damage significantly, as well as dealing additional follow-up damage to the targeted foe as a bonus.
2) Himeko
Himeko of the Astral Express is a 5-star Fire unit following the path of Erudition, mainly focused on AoE attacks. Her skill, Molten Detonation, deals Fire damage on up to three enemies at a time, and her basic attack deals single target Fire damage to a single foe, scaling on her ATK.
However, all of this pales compared to her ultimate, Heavenly Flare, which deals Fire damage to all enemies in the field and regenerates 5 Energy for each foe defeated. This skill is incredibly powerful and can instantly annihilate mobs when used correctly. Another honorable mention would be her Talent, Victory Rush, which allows Himeko to immediately deal with a follow-up attack when an enemy is inflicted with a Weakness Break.
Himeko is the best AoE nuker to get in the game right now.
1) Seele
Seele is a 5-star single-target Quantum DPS in Honkai Star Rail from Belobog’s Underground. She is currently the best single-target DPS in the game, and for a good reason, her skill (Sheathed Blade) deals Quantum damage to an enemy scaling off her ATK while increasing her speed by 25% for two whole turns. Her ultimate, Butterfly Flurry, buffs Seele and dispatches out Quantum damage to the targeted enemy. In her Buffed state, Seele deals additional damage for a single turn.
In addition, her Quantum resistance penetration allows her to be used almost as efficiently on non-quantum enemies.
Seele is a solid DPS all around, with no significant caveats or drawbacks other than being a limited gacha unit and locked to single targets only.
Honkai Star Rail was released worldwide on April 26th, 2023, for PC and mobile devices. A PlayStation port is also in development and will be released later this year.
