Blade Build Guide, Abilities, and Best Teams - Honkai: Star Rail Guide - IGN (2024)

Honkai: Star Rail character Blade is the perfect DPS to deal multiple-target damage. However, be warned that his power comes at a cost; Blade consumes his own HP in return for his devastating Wind attacks. Perhaps it’s not all that surprising for a member of the Stellaron Hunters who gave up his body to become the perfect weapon.

If you’re looking for the best Honkai: Star Rail Blade build, or are just curious about this mysterious swordsman’s abilities, this extensive Blade guide will help you out.

How to Get Blade

Blade was released as a playable character along with Honkai: Star Rail version 1.2 on July 19. Like most 5-star characters, Blade will only be obtainable as long as he’s featured as the main reward on a limited-time Character Event Warp banner. If you don’t get Blade while his banner is active, you’ll have to wait for his next character banner to try again. This may take a few months.

Blade Stats

Blade Abilities

• Basic Attack: Deals Wind DMG equal to 50% of Blade’s ATK to a single enemy.
• Enhanced Basic Attack (Forest of Swords): Consumes HP equal to 10% of Blade's Max HP and deals Wind DMG equal to the sum of 20% of his ATK and 50% of his Max HP to a single enemy. In addition, deals Wind DMG equal to the sum of 8% of Blade's ATK and 20% of his Max HP to adjacent targets. If Blade's current HP is insufficient, his HP will be reduced to 1. Forest of Swords cannot regenerate Skill Points.
• Skill: Consumes HP equal to 30% of Blade's Max HP to enter the Hellscape state. When Hellscape is active, his Skill cannot be used, his DMG dealt increases by 12%, and his Basic ATK is enhanced to Forest of Swords for 3 turns. If Blade's current HP is insufficient, his HP will be reduced to 1. This Skill does not regenerate Energy, and using this Skill does not end the current turn.
• Ultimate: Sets Blade's current HP to 50% of his Max HP and deals Wind DMG to a single enemy, equal to the sum of 24% of his ATK, 60% of his Max HP, and 60% of his total HP loss in the current battle. At the same time, deals Wind DMG to adjacent targets equal to the sum of 9.6% of his ATK, 24% of his Max HP, and 24% of his total HP loss in the current battle. The total HP loss in the current battle is capped at 90% of Blade’s Max HP. This value will be reset and re-accumulated after using his Ultimate.
• Talent: When Blade sustains DMG or consumes his HP, he gains 1 stack of Charge, stacking up to 5 times (with a max of 1 Charge stack every time he is attacked). When Charge reaches its maximum, it immediately launches a follow-up attack on all enemies, dealing Wind DMG equal to 22% of Blade's ATK plus 55% of his Max HP. At the same time, restores Blade's HP by 25% of his Max HP. The follow-up attack consumes all Charges.
• Technique: Immediately attacks the enemy. After entering battle, consumes 20% of Blade’s Max HP while dealing 40% of Blade’s Max HP as Wind DMG to all enemies. If Blade's current HP is insufficient, his HP will be reduced to 1 when this Technique is used.

Looking at this overview of Blade’s abilities (before Ascension), you can see that most of his attacks consume HP in return for higher damage. In other words, be ready to provide Blade with plenty of healing during battle. Since all of his attacks scale with HP (more than attack power), you also need to ensure that Blade has a high HP stat to begin with.

Blade has a very clear attack order: you should use his Skill first, and then his Enhanced Basic Attack. His Skill grants several buffs without ending his turn, so you’ll immediately be able to follow up with the Basic Attack. Before using his Ultimate, keep in mind that it drops his HP to 50% - which means it doesn't consume a certain percentage! If you use his Ultimate with full HP, the 50% loss will count towards the damage bonus.

Blade's Talent is an extremely important passive skill, as it provides him with much-needed healing and frequent follow-up attacks. Simply use his Skill and Enhanced Basic Attacks to gain stacks of Charge, and avoid buffs that protect him from taking damage (such as March 7th's shield).

Using Blade’s Technique is a good way to start a battle, but make sure the enemy has Wind Weakness. However, if you have a teammate whose Technique can debuff the opponent, it’s probably better to use this first, then use Blade’s normal attacks after the battle has started.

Blade Traces

• Vita Infinita (bonus ability Ascension 2): When Blade's current HP is at 50% of Max HP or lower, his incoming healing increases by 20%.
• Neverending Deaths (bonus ability Ascension 4): If Blade hits a Weakness Broken enemy after using Forest of Swords, he will restore HP equal to 5% of his Max HP plus 100.
• Cyclone of Destruction (bonus ability Ascension 6): DMG dealt by the Talent's follow-up attack increases by 20%.

Let's start with Blade's bonus abilities as described above; Cyclone of Destruction is by far the best. A finished Blade build will be able to trigger follow-up attacks constantly, making this damage boost extremely welcome. The other two bonus abilities are nice, but you can also get enough HP recovery from a strong healer.

While it's important to upgrade all of Blade's attacks eventually, prioritize his Skill and Basic Attack (this will upgrade his Enhanced Basic Attack too). These are the two attacks you'll rely on the most when using an early-build Blade.

The minor stat bonuses are not too pressing, but it's certainly helpful to upgrade them if you have the materials, as they offer HP (remember; this scales with Blade's attacks), critical rate, and effect resistance.

Blade's Eidolon Levels

While not required to realize a strong Blade build, Eidolon level 2 will be a great help in finding enough critical rate. Eidolon level 1 (increasing his Ultimate damage), Eidolon level 4 (increasing his max HP and thereby his damage potential), and Eidolon Level 6 (more frequent and more powerful follow-up attacks) will improve his role as a main DPS.

That said, you can get enough critical rate from other sources, and Blade will still be a force to be reckoned with even if he doesn't receive any Eidolon upgrades. Instead of trying to get Eidolon level 1, it's better to pull for his best 5-star Light Cone, The Unreachable Side, and improve Blade's critical rate as well as all of his abilities.

Best Blade Build

Blade is an amazing DPS, but his HP-diminishing attacks are quite tricky. Here's an overview of the best Light Cones, Relics, and stats to realize the best Blade build in Honkai: Star Rail.

Best Light Cones

Many Destruction Light Cones offer attack power bonuses, which isn't ideal for Blade as he scales better with HP. They're not necessarily bad, but avoid them if you have any of the suggested Light Cones above.

The 5-star The Unreachable Side is without a sliver of doubt the best Light Cone for Blade. Released alongside Blade's first character banner, this weapon is perfectly catered towards his kit. As Blade will continuously consume his own HP, he has no trouble triggering the damage bonus.

As the best 4-star Light Cone for Blade, A Secret Vow offers a damage boost that isn't based on his attack stat. The only caveat is the extra damage based on your opponent's HP percentage - you'll have to keep Blade's HP low to make full use of this weapon.

The 3-star Mutual Demise is a true blessing for early-game Blade builds that lack critical rate. While it's important to keep Blade's HP low, the 80% HP threshold is easy to maintain - if his HP reaches higher, a single Skill or Ultimate attack will fix that for you.

Best Relics and Ornaments

The HP-boosting Longevous Disciple set is by far the best Relic set for Blade. As long as you keep using HP-consuming abilities, he'll be able to keep up the 16% critical rate increase. If you don't have this Relic set yet, the Eagle of Twilight Light (extra wind damage) or the Musketeer of the Wild Wheat (extra speed) are good substitutes.

Blade's best Planar Ornament set is a bit harder to identify. As he constantly uses his Enhanced Basic Attack (directly following his Skill plus two more rounds), the 20% Basic Attack bonus from the Rutilant Arena set is the best option, but it's a very close call. If you can't reach the 70% critical rate threshold yet, you'll do just fine with the Inert Salsotto's 15% Ultimate and follow-up attack bonus.

Best Stats

• Body: Critical Rate, Critical Damage
• Feet: HP%, Speed
• Planar Sphere: Wind Damage
• Link Rope: HP%
• Sub stats: Critical Rate, Critical Damage, Speed, HP%

This will hardly come as a surprise by now, but yes; Blade needs a very high HP stat since that's what his attacks scale with. Besides HP, it's vital to get a very high critical rate stat - not just to maximize his attack damage, but also to activate the passive effects on his best Planar Ornament sets. Blade's base critical rate, his Trace stat bonuses, the Longevous Disciple set, either recommended Planar Ornament set, and a fully upgraded critical rate Relic (body slot) will bring his critical rate above 70%. If you manage to get enough critical rate from his Light Cone and sub stats, you can swap the critical rate Relic for a critical damage Relic.

As for other stats, extra Speed would be preferable, but make sure you can handle the rate at which Blade consumes his own health. If you have trouble finding the right balance, swap Speed for HP%. Once you've got enough critical rate, critical damage becomes the most desirable sub stat.

Best Teams for Blade

First things first: Blade needs a healer on his best team, or he won't be able to survive. Don't pair him up with a shield provider, as many of his buffs depend on him taking damage. Besides the healer, Blade will greatly benefit from a team buffer. Avoid buffs aimed at attack power though, as Blade's damage scales with his HP.

The final team slot can go to a second DPS, which is especially interesting if you don't have Silver Wolf and aren't able to match all of your opponents' Weaknesses. If you do have Silver Wolf, she'll be able to ensure that the opponents receive Wind Weakness. Plus, she'll be able to cast debuffs on the enemy team.

And with that in mind, these are the best Blade teams.

Blade Hypercarry Team

Blade's best team is centered around him as a main DPS. Silver Wolf will apply Wind Weakness on opponents, Bronya will buff Blade's damage, and Luocha will provide the necessary healing.

However, the term "hypercarry" may not be completely accurate, as all supports are capable of dealing decent damage on their own. That's important, because Silver Wolf will occasionally apply Quantum or Imaginary Weakness on opponents without default Wind Weakness.

Best Free-to-Play Blade Team

Blade's kit goes very well together with the available free-to-play 4-star characters. A double DPS team with Dan Heng would be very strong against enemy teams with Wind Weakness. If not all opponents have Wind Weakness, you can swap Dan Heng for any other DPS of a different Element.

As for the 4-star supports, Natasha will be able to heal Blade while Asta is the best team buff support. Her Speed boost is very helpful, even if her attack power bonus is less suitable for Blade. You can swap Asta for a 4-star debuff support if you prefer.

Need more characters to build the best Blade teams? Take a look at our Honkai: Star Rail Warp guide for more info on the Warp system and the current character banners.