Best Himeko builds for Honkai Star Rail: Abilities and equipment explained

Honkai Star Rail is a new action RPG from HoYoverse that features many playable characters. Of the several launch characters available in the permanent standard banner is Himeko, a fire DPS unit boasting insane damage combos with flashy attacks despite being a genius scientist. She can be obtained via a random drop chance when you summon a 5-star character in a banner and is a very specialized AoE unit.

This article will discuss her best build and gear at the time of writing this article.

Note: This article reflects the author’s opinions and is subjective in nature.

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Himeko is Fire AoE DPS in Honkai Star Rail

Following the path of Erudition, Himeko is a Fire elemental unit 5-star unit that prefers to dish out a massive area of effect damage to foes on the battlefield. Her skill, Molten Detonation, is an AoE attack against three individual targets, scaling on her ATK stat.

Additionally, her ultimate - Heavenly Flare unleashes an explosive laser beam from the skies to annihilate enemies present in the field, dealing an impressive amount of Fire damage and regenerating 10 Energy for her in the process.

But perhaps the most useful skill for Himeko is her Talent named Victory Rush, which will deal AoE damage against all opponents for every three Weakness Breaks.

While builds in general on Honkai Star Rail may vary according to the player, a generalized list of variables for each of her upgrades and gear are listed below in descending order of priority:

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Light Cones

• Night on the Milky Way (5-star)
• Long Night (5-star)
• The Birth of the Self (4-star)
• Make the World Clamor (4-star)
• Data Bank (3-star)

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Relic Sets and Planar Ornaments

• Firesmith of Lava-Forging (4-set)
• Musketeer of Wild Wheat (4-set)
• Thief of Shooting Meteor (4-set)
• Inert Salsatto (2-set)

Choosing Relics with improved Attack and Critical Hit is recommended for more DPS. Break Effect % is another useful skill if players choose to use the Victory Rush Talent more often.

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Preferred stats for Relics and Planar Ornaments

• Head - HP
• Hands - Attack
• Body - Critical hit Damage %
• Feet - Speed
• Planar Sphere - Fire Damage %
• Link Rope - Attack %

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Best team for Himeko in Honkai Star Rail

Himeko is an AoE specialist in Star Rail and prefers Bronya and Pela for support, along with Bailu as the go-to healer for the ultimate build. In a nutshell, Bronya increases Himeko’s basic Attack stat while Pela decreases the enemy’s defense to allow for maximum damage output from Himeko. Bailu is the de-facto healer of choice, thanks to her unique skillset.

A more free-to-play, friendly alternative would be Natasha instead of Bailu and Tingyun instead of Bronya.

Additionally, players should make sure to level up Himeko’s Skill, Talent, Ultimate, and Basic Attack in this particular order of priority. While her Ultimate is fancy and deals impressive damage, it still takes some time to charge up. Hence, players should not skimp out on leveling up her Talent for more consistent DPS playthroughs.

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Honkai Star Rail was released on April 26, 2023, for PC and mobile devices worldwide.