Phainon E1 vs S1 in Honkai Star Rail: Which one should you get?

The much-awaited character Phainon has finally been released as a playable unit in Honkai Star Rail. Phainon is a 5-star Physical Destruction character whose role in a team composition is that of the main DPS. Phainon's signature Light Cone Thus Burns the Dawn is also available for players to pull alongside his Event Warp banner.

Since Phainon's overall strength as a DPS unit depends on his build, many players might be wondering if it would be better to obtain his E1 (Eidolon 1) or his S1 (Signature Light Cone). The answer to this is it would definitely be more advantageous to pull for Phainon's S1 in Honkai Star Rail. Read on to find out why his Light Cone is the more viable choice.

Note: Aspects of this article are subjective and reflect the writer's opinion.

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Why should you get Phainon's S1 over his E1 in Honkai Star Rail?

Thus Burns the Dawn (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming/HoYoverse)

As stated, it would be better to get Phainon's S1 over his E1. To understand this choice, let us first take a brief look at Phainon's signature option, Thus Burns the Dawn, a 5-star Destruction Light Cone. Needless to say, it is Phainon's best-in-slot Light Cone, as it provides him with a variety of buffs and boosts.

Firstly, Phainon gets a base SPD increase of 12 with this Light Cone equipped. This SPD buff is extremely helpful, as it will help him generate stacks for his Ultimate faster. Additionally, when Phainon uses his Ultimate to transform into "Khaslana," he inherits 60% of his base SPD.

This means that having a higher base SPD (which he gets from his Light Cone) will also allow him to cycle through his turns faster while in his "Khaslana" form, thus dealing more damage to enemies.

Secondly, Phainon also gets an 18% enemy DEF shred from his Light Cone, which automatically allows him to dish out greater damage to opponents. Phainon's raw multipliers are already very high, and the DEF Ignore can help further increase his overall damage output.

Lastly, after Phainon uses his Ultimate, he gets a 60% DMG buff, which is a huge boost to his already incredible damage-dealing capabilities.

Phainon's Eidolon 1 (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming/HoYoverse)

If you opt for Phainon's E1, the base SPD inheritance for his Khaslana form is increased to 66%. Every enemy that Phainon defeats increases this ratio by 1.5%, up to a total of 84%. Furthermore, after he uses his Ultimate, his CRIT DMG is also increased by 50% for the next three turns.

While Phainon's E1 does grant him certain buffs that will be helpful to him in combat, his S1 is still the better option because of the base SPD increase, the 18% DEF Ignore, and the whopping 60% DMG boost.

The extra base SPD provided by his S1 is really important, as Phainon's territory duration for his Ultimate is calculated based on his base SPD only and does not take into account SPD substats on relics, SPD boots, or SPD buffs provided by teammates.

Furthermore, Thus Burns the Dawn, is currently the only Destruction Light Cone that provides a base SPD buff in the game, which will be extremely advantageous for Phainon due to the reasons stated above.

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