Honkai Star Rail pathways and light cones
See our Honkai Star Rail tier list and Honkai Star Rail banner guidelines if you're not sure who to cheer for. Don't forget to use our Honkai Star Rail codes to get some goodies. Oh, and we also have a guide on all Honkai Star Rail relics for you to review in order to maximise your build.
Now, let's use our Honkai Star Rail light cones guide to help us understand these amazing tiny gadgets.
What are light cones on the Honkai Star Rail?
The game describes light cones as "solidified phenomena sealed inside slices of pure light," which are utilised to enhance skills. They essentially look like a card-shaped object that, depending on their class, you may equip to various characters. They function roughly in the same manner as Genshin Impact's weaponry. A character on the Preservation route has to have a light cone on the Preservation path, much like an archer has a bow.
There are three rare varieties of cones: the three-star, four-star, and highly sought-after five-star. Giving your characters the greatest light cones doesn't always equate to the highest rarity since every cone has unique advantages that can be useful to various individuals. Fortunately, because each character's face appears often on them, it's easy to determine which ones work best for them!
Which routes make up the Honkai Star Rail system?
There are seven pathways that light cones and characters may take in Honkai Star Rail. Any character cannot be equipped with any random light cone; they must all follow the same route. Sampo of the Honkai Star Rail, for instance, ought to use light cones only on the Nihility course.
Like classes in other games, a character's role is determined by their Honkai Star Rail route.All of the game's routes are shown here, along with a short explanation and the basic categories they belong to. We'll be sure to include any additional trails that Hoyoverse adds in the future here.
Remember that roles may be rather flexible, so to figure out how to get the most out of your pioneering friends, check out the character skills or visit our severalHonkai Star Rail character builds.
| Path | Description | Character role |
| Destruction | Deals outstanding amounts of damage and possesses great survivability. Suitable for various combat scenarios | All-rounder DPS |
| Hunt | Deals extraordinary amounts of single-target damage. These characters excel as the main damage dealer against elite enemies | Single target DPS |
| Erudition | Deals remarkable amounts of multi-target damage. These characters excel as the main damage dealer against groups of enemies | AoE damage |
| Harmony | Applies buffs to allies to improve the team’s combat capacities | Support buffer |
| Nihility | Applies debuffs to enemies to reduce their combat capabilities | Sub-DPS or enabler |
| Preservation | Possesses powerful defensive abilities that allow them to protect allies in various ways | Tank or shielder |
| Abundance | Heals allies and restores HP to the team | Healer |
Apart from their distinct abilities, every light cone has three secondary stats. These are the following:
- HP
- ATK
- DEF
Which Honkai Star Rail light cones are the best?
We're currently working on our list of the top Honkai Star Rail light cones, but these are some of our suggestions so far. Any light cone is really worth its salt; it just depends on the person you're using it on and the results you seek. Make sure to check out our build guides for each Honkai Star Rail character, which include our suggestions based on their kits. The finest character in the slot is always the one that debuts with a new five-star character; nevertheless, this might be difficult to get.
Suggested light cones
These are the light cones that are readily available and that we suggest; none of them are five-star restricted light cones; instead, they are all either obtainable via purchases, freebies, or any banner.
| Light cone | Path | Rarity | How to obtain | Skill |
| Night on the Milky Way | Erudition | Five-star | Standard banner | For every enemy on the field, increases the wearer’s attack, up to five stacks. When an enemy is inflicted with a weakness break, the damage dealt by the wearer increases for one turn. |
| Something Irreplacable | Destruction | Five-star | Standard banner | Increases the wearer’s attack by up to 40%. When the wearer defeats an enemy or is hit, they restore HP equal to a percentage of the wearer’s attack. The wearer’s damage is also increased until the end of their next turn. Can only trigger once per turn. |
| The Seriousness of Breakfast | Erudition | Four-star | Mission reward, Forgotten Hall store | Increases the wearer’s damage. For every defeated enemy, the wearer’s attack increases and can stack up to three times. |
| Shared Feeling | Abundance | Four-star | Any banner | Increases the wearer’s outgoing healing by up to 20%. When using a skill, regenerate some energy for all allies. |
| Birth of the Self | Erudition | Four-star | Battle pass reward | Increases damage dealt by the wearer’s follow-up attacks. If the current HP of the target enemy is below 50%, this cone further increases damage dealt by follow-up attacks. |
| Chorus | Harmony | Three-star | Any banner | Increases the attack of all allies when entering battle. |
| Collapsing Sky | Destruction | Three-star | Any banner | Increases the wearer’s basic attack and skill damage. |
Check out the data bank in the in-game menu to view the talents for every light cone in the game, even the ones you haven't yet unlocked.
How can I get light cones for the Honkai Star Rail?
In Honkai Star Rail, light cones are rather common, while five-star drops are more uncommon. The majority of the drops you get from tugging on the banners are three-star light cones, however sometimes you may obtain a four-star. Additionally, three- and four-star light cones may be found in map treasure chests and/or as mission prizes.
Every limited five-star character gets a light cone banner with their distinctive five-star light cone and improved rate four-stars in addition. For example, Seele's banner has her light cone In The Night as the centrepiece, along with increased light cones for each of the four-star personalities.
In addition, Herta's Store sells three exclusive five-star light cones that may be bought with Herta Bonds, the money you get by advancing through the Simulated Universe. They are as follows:
- On the Fall of an Aeon (Destruction)
- Cruising in the Stellar Sea (The Hunt)
- Texture of Memories (Preservation)
You may buy one of seven light cones from the Starlight Exchange shop if you can save up a whooping 600 Undying Starlight by tugging on the banners. These seven choices cover every route and serve as the standard light cone signatures for the characters on the Honkai Star Rail banner.— yet they may serve other characters just as well, of course. They are as follows:
- Honkai Star Rail Himeko‘s light cone, Night on the Milky Way (Erudition)
- Honkai Star Rail Clara‘s light cone, Something Irreplaceable (Destruction)
- Honkai Star Rail Bronya‘s light cone, But the Battle Isn’t Over (Harmony)
- Honkai Star Rail Welt‘s light cone, In the Name of the World (Nihility)
- Honkai Star Rail Gepard‘s light cone, Moment of Victory (Preservation)
- Honkai Star Rail Bailu‘s light cone, Time Waits for No One (Abundance)
- Honkai Star Rail Yanqing‘s light cone, Sleep Like the Dead (The Hunt)
How can I improve the light cones on my Honkai Star Rail?
You may improve your Honkai Star Rail light cones in two ways: by levelling them up, and by superimposing them. You may click "enhance," choose "superimpose," and then "meld" to combine several copies of a light cone. Their skill's effects are enhanced as a result. Each light cone may be superimposed up to level five.
It is easy to level up your light cone. Navigate to the 'level up' option when viewing the light cone and add materials. Using aether, the light cone EXP material that may be obtained from Calyxes or daily missions, is the most effective method to do this. Light cones that you don't need may be used, however we usually advise against doing so with three-star light cones that you won't need.
Before you may enhance your light cone any further, you must climb it every 10 levels. Certain resources are needed for this, such extinguished cores or thief's impulses. Fortunately, there are several methods to get these materials, including assignments, the Embers Exchange store, opponent drops, and the Omni-Synthesize material exchange.
Here are our construction instructions for characters such as Honkai Star Rail Bronya, Honkai Star Rail Blade, Honkai Star Rail Herta, and the lion man himself, Honkai Star Rail Jing Yuan. That is all we currently have for Honkai Star Rail light cones.