Blade Guide - Honkai: Star Rail Guides (2024)

Updated for Version 1.6

Note that the information given may change if new discoveries are made. More extensive testing is in progress.

Join our Discord to check on and participate in the theorycrafting process.

Introduction

Blade is the first limited 5★ Wind-Type Destruction character in Honkai: Star Rail. Nearing the edge of death, Blade is the first HP-scaling damage dealer to utilize HP consumption and does well in both single-target and AoE content. His kit contains self-sustaining mechanics, helping to balance out both his self-inflicted damage and damage from enemies.

Infographic

Character Overview

Blade’s kit revolves around sacrificing his HP to launch Blast and AoE attacks. His low SP cost allows him to function as a hypercarry with SP-hungry supports such as Bronya, or as a secondary damage dealer. While his abilities scale off of both ATK and Max HP, he scales significantly better off of his Max HP, so ATK is not worth building on him. This also makes him our only current Max HP-scaling damage dealer.

When Blade uses his Skill, he consumes 30% of his Max HP and enters the Hellscape state for the remainder of the current turn as well as the next 3 turns. In the Hellscape state, he gains DMG% and converts his Basic ATK into an Enhanced Basic ATK, dealing significantly more damage and draining 10% of his Max HP per Basic ATK. Every time Blade loses HP, he gains a Talent stack, and upon reaching max stacks, he will launch a powerful AoE follow-up attack against all enemies. His Ultimate additionally sets him to half of his Max HP and deals additional damage based on the HP he has lost since his last Ultimate. Note that while Blade’s attacks do consume his own HP, he does not innately benefit from having low HP, instead relying on actively losing HP for his Talent and Ultimate damage.

Playstyles

Blade only has one playstyle: spam Enhanced Basic ATKs in the Hellscape state, refreshing it as needed with his Skill. His Hellscape state lasts for 3 turns, but the turn it is cast doesn’t count towards the turn duration, so Blade only needs to recast it every 4 turns.

Blade can gain Talent stacks by consuming his own HP or taking damage outside of his turn. Aside from that, his Talent provides him with self-healing, and when combined with his A2 Bonus Ability that increases his Incoming Healing, the increased survivability will allow Blade to last longer in certain scenarios.

Blade’s Ultimate can be used as either another source of HP consumption or as a self-heal. When using it as another source of HP consumption, Blade needs to be above 50% of his Max HP to gain 1 Charge stack. It is recommended to use this when trying to quickly gain Charge stacks or when trying to break the enemy’s Toughness with Blade. As the damage dealt from Blade’s Ultimate partially scales with the damage he receives, using it when he’s above 50% of his Max HP can help to maximize its power, as the HP loss counts toward his Ultimate’s damage. Using his Ultimate when he is below 50% of his Max HP will instead heal him and set his HP to 50% of his Max HP, and functions as another source of self-sustain.

Traces

Note: Trace levels shown are 1/10/12 (Basic ATK 1/6/7).

Trace Priority

It is recommended to level up all of Blade’s Traces. Since his Enhanced Basic ATK contributes most of his damage overall, it is best to prioritize that first. His Ultimate and Talent also deal a good amount of damage, but they aren’t as consistent as his Enhanced Basic ATK. Maximizing the damage of Blade’s Ultimate requires him to lose HP, while his Talent can take time to reach full stacks due to unpredictable enemy targeting. His Skill provides him with a DMG% buff that enables all of his other abilities to deal more damage; however, prioritize it last as said buff is its only utility beyond entering the Hellscape state.

Eidolons

Build

Light Cones

The Unreachable Side	Blade’s undisputed Best-in-Slot. It has the highest Base HP among the Destruction Light Cones and provides a large amount of CRIT Rate that helps trigger Rutilant Arena or Inert Salsotto passives fairly easily while granting a DMG% buff every time Blade loses HP.
A Secret Vow	Blade’s best 4★ Light Cone. Provides a nice boost in DMG% for Blade, but with a strong burst healer such as Luocha, the full effect may not be consistent. It is worth noting that building around maximizing the full effect is not as important or feasible compared to Mutual Demise. At S5, A Secret Vow outperforms I Shall Be My Own Sword in scenarios where the passive of the latter cannot be maximized.
I Shall Be My Own Sword	A good stat stick that provides CRIT DMG% and DMG% for Blade. However, to activate both the DMG buff and the DEF Ignore effect, Blade would normally have to rely on allies getting hit by enemies, which is often counterproductive to gaining stacks for his Talent.
Brighter Than the Sun	Another stat stick that Blade can use if none of the above Light Cones are available. It has a high Base HP and CRIT Rate that also allows him to reach the CRIT Rate threshold for Rutilant Arena or Inert Salsotto. However, the ATK% and ERR% don’t provide much benefit to Blade.
Mutual Demise	A passable F2P option, but care must be taken to ensure that Blade stays below 80% HP to get the full CRIT Rate bonus.

Relics

Relic Sets

4-Pc Longevous Disciple	Providing HP% and CRIT Rate, this set was made for Blade and is generally his Best-in-Slot set. With his HP consumption mechanic, he can easily maximize the 4-Pc Set Effect and be able to maintain it on 100% uptime. It shares a Cavern of Corrosion with Messenger Traversing Hackerspace, which most of Blade’s supports are able to use, and in turn makes Relic farming for his team Fuel-efficient.
2-Pc Combinations	A mix of 2-Pc Relic sets is viable if the substats are substantially better than the substats on your 4-Pc Longevous Disciple. Possible 2-Pc sets include Longevous Disciple, Eagle of Twilight Line, and Messenger Traversing Hackerspace.
4-Pc Genius of Brilliant Stars	This set provides DEF Ignore for Blade and can be a competitive option for his Best-in-Slot when enemies are Quantum Weak and when his team has another source of DEF Shred from teammates such as Pela or Silver Wolf. Without the aforementioned conditions, the set falls behind other options above unless you have noticeably better substats.
4-Pc Eagle of Twilight Line	Usually worse than 4-Pc Longevous Disciple and 2-Pc combinations, but is an option if the set has better substats. Since Blade’s Ultimate requires 130 Energy and he usually is not building Energy Regeneration Rate, triggering the 4-Pc Set Effect would be slow and if Bronya is on the team, said Set Effect becomes redundant.
4-Pc Guard of Wuthering Snow	The extra healing this set provides can be useful for helping Blade stay alive while also providing some Energy. However, Guard is easily replaced by using a healer, and using this set is a significant damage loss compared to a set that improves Blade’s offensive capabilities. This becomes more effective when paired with A Secret Vow in teams that can keep Blade’s HP low, or as a source of healing if Fu Xuan is the sustain unit, but is still worse than other options without significantly better substats. It can be an especially relevant option for Blade solo runs.

Planar Ornaments

Rutilant Arena	Usually his Best-in-Slot Planar before E3, this set gives him CRIT Rate and Basic ATK DMG%. Its CRIT Rate threshold can be easily reached by using both 4-Pc Longevous Disciple and The Unreachable Side. Otherwise, a lot of CRIT Rate substats or a CRIT Rate Body is required. Its Simulated Universe World is also paired with Broken Keel, a supportive Planar set that gives CRIT DMG to all allies and works well with supports that Blade wants to be paired with.
Inert Salsotto	A very good option for Blade since it is very similar to Rutilant Arena; the only difference is that Inert Salsotto gives Ultimate and follow-up attack DMG% instead of Basic ATK DMG%. Salsotto’s lower CRIT Rate threshold is also easier to achieve than Rutilant Arena’s. This Planar can become his Best-in-Slot depending on how frequently his Talent can be triggered, especially with his E1 or E3.
Firmament Frontline: Glamoth	Although the ATK% does not give much value to Blade, the DMG% it gives covers all of Blade’s damaging abilities that makes this Planar set a decent option. To maximize this set, Blade needs to reach 160 SPD, which requires him to be paired with SPD buffers. This set is not generally recommended without SPD buffers, as focusing on SPD substats in Blade’s Relics will hinder his damage. It is also paired with Penacony, Land of the Dreams. As the set gives DMG% if the holder is the same Type as other allies, equipping Bronya with Penacony is highly recommended as she is the only Wind support that Blade can utilize.
Fleet of the Ageless	Not a bad set as it gives HP% and a teamwide ATK boost that enables other party members, such as another damage dealer or Nihility units, to deal a little more damage.

Stats

Body	Boots	Sphere	Rope
CRIT Rate / CRIT DMG	SPD / HP%	Wind DMG% / HP%	HP%

Substats

CRIT > SPD = HP% > Flat HP

SPD vs HP Boots

If you are using Blade with Bronya, you should give Blade whatever Boots have the best substats, and then change your Bronya playstyle accordingly. A Blade with SPD Boots should be played with a Slow Skillspam Bronya, and a Blade with HP Boots should be played with a Fast Skillspam Bronya (if SP is plentiful) or a Fast Alternating Bronya (if SP is needed elsewhere).

If you are using Blade with a character that can provide significant amounts of SPD, like Hanya or Asta, Blade should generally use HP Boots, unless your SPD Boots have significantly better substat rolls.

If you aren’t using any supports that significantly increase the amount of actions Blade takes, he should generally use SPD Boots, unless your HP Boots have significantly better substat rolls.

Wind DMG% vs HP% Sphere

Similar to SPD vs HP% Boots, choosing between these two main stats will depend on the substats.

Wind DMG% Sphere is usually the safe choice. However, an HP% Sphere can be better if Blade has significant DMG% buffs from allies such as Bronya or Ruan Mei, or from Light Cones such as The Unreachable Side or A Secret Vow.

E1 or S1?

It is recommended to acquire The Unreachable Side before going for Blade’s Eidolons. Since this Light Cone provides CRIT Rate, HP, and DMG%, it will buff all of Blade’s damage and will outperform other current Light Cone options for him.

Blade’s Eidolon 1 provides a decent damage increase to his Ultimate and is most efficient when handling single-target enemies. However, it is quite lackluster in multi-enemy scenarios since it only affects the primary target and not the adjacent targets.

Character Comparisons

Arlan

Both Blade and Arlan follow the Path of Destruction and have HP consumption mechanics that increase their damage. However, Blade and Arlan have their own qualities that make them distinct from each other.

Blade’s HP consumption is tied to his Enhanced Basic ATK, Skill, and Ultimate, while Arlan’s Skill is the only thing that consumes his HP. However, Arlan does not need to consume any SP while Blade needs to consume 1 to trigger Hellscape. Arlan can generate SP at will with only some damage loss, while Blade is locked into using his Enhanced Basic ATK when his Skill is triggered. Arlan also wants to be paired with a Preservation unit to mitigate damage while Blade wants an Abundance unit in order to sustain himself and take more damage for his Talent.

Clara

Both Blade and Clara rely on getting hit to deal a portion of their damage output. The difference between the two is that Blade needs to get 5 Talent stacks to trigger his follow-up attack, while Clara only needs to get hit once. Blade’s follow-up attacks are not the majority of his damage output, compared to Clara’s follow-up attacks being her main source of damage.

Jingliu

Jingliu can be compared to Blade in that both units consume HP to increase their damage and use fewer SP. Their low SP usage allows both units to use SP-hungry supports or debuffers, although Jingliu uses more SP to activate her Spectral Transmigration state compared to Blade needing only 1 SP to activate Hellscape. The main difference between them is that Jingliu consumes her allies’ HP while Blade consumes only his own HP.

With Jingliu’s HP consumption tied to all allies’ HP, it synergizes with Blade as well. This will be discussed in the Other Synergies section.

Notable Synergies

Sustain

Lynx	Lynx acts as both a sustain and buffer for Blade with her ability to not only increase his HP and aggro, but also provide healing. Her A2 fits well with Blade since he wants to get hit most of the time, allowing Lynx to regain her Ultimate quicker, which provides a teamwide heal and cleanse. Use her Ultimate only when Blade or an ally is in a pinch as the cleanse removes some DoT that would have added stacks to Blade’s Talent. Do note that if running Slow Skillspam Bronya with Blade and Lynx, her Advance Forward would deplete Lynx’s HP buff faster. This will require Lynx to cast her Skill more often to maintain uptime, which may cause SP management problems, so Fast Skillspam Bronya is recommended with Lynx.
Fu Xuan	Despite being a Preservation unit, Fu Xuan provides a strong buff, a small amount of healing, and Crowd Control Resist that can increase Blade’s damage output. Since she provides a small amount of healing, Blade needs to cast his Ultimate below 50% of his Max HP in order to sustain himself. Since she is a Preservation unit, her base aggro is much higher than Blade’s, so it is not advised to put Fu Xuan on a Light Cone that increases her aggro value such as Landau’s Choice. Placing Blade next to Fu Xuan so that he will be hit by Blast attacks allows him to gain Charge stacks despite Fu Xuan’s higher aggro.
Luocha	Luocha provides a huge amount of sustain with his Skill and Talent’s healing, which allows Blade and the rest of the team to maintain a good amount of HP. Along with this, he also provides a cleanse and a dispel that removes 1 buff from enemies, which lessens their damage and helps deal with certain enemy mechanics. He does not use much SP, meaning other party members can use their Skill more often with proper SP management. However, there are some drawbacks to using him in Blade’s team. Luocha’s Skill normally helps by cleansing debuffs and Crowd Control, but it can actually impede Blade from building his Talent stacks if DoT effects are removed from him. If Blade has A Secret Vow or Mutual Demise equipped, Luocha’s consistent healing can prevent Blade’s HP from getting low enough to trigger their passives, decreasing his potential damage output.

Buffer/Debuffer

Bronya	Bronya is the most suitable buffer for Blade with her ability to provide Action Advance, DMG%, and CRIT DMG% buffs. She has three ways to be played when paired with Blade: – Slow Skillspam Bronya, which doubles Blade’s turns. – Fast Skillspam Bronya, which allows Blade’s SPD to be equal to Bronya’s SPD. – Fast Alternating Bronya, in which she weaves in a Basic ATK after her Skill. Only recommended if SP issues arise. See the Bronya Guide for more details regarding her playstyles. Note that using Blade’s Skill will not consume his current turn, which allows Bronya’s Ultimate buff to be effectively extended by one turn.
Pela	With her potent debuffing ability, Pela remains as one of the most desired units for damage dealers, and that goes for Blade as well. Her AoE DEF Reduction provides a good amount of damage increase to Blade, and her high SP generation enables other party members to cast their Skill more often with proper SP management.
Ruan Mei	Ruan Mei provides an enormous amount of buffs such as DMG%, Weakness Break Efficiency, All-Type RES Pen, and SPD, all of which Blade can utilize to increase his damage. She also does decent damage with her Ultimate and Talent both scaling off her Break Effect, which is the primary stat she focuses on. Since her Skill lasts for 3 of her own turns, she can use Basic ATKs for SP, enabling the team to be SP positive and allowing other party members to cast their Skill.
Silver Wolf	Silver Wolf applies various debuffs to the enemy — a Weakness implant, All-Type RES Pen, DEF Reduction, etc. These debuffs increase Blade’s damage output, especially when the enemy is not weak to Wind, since Silver Wolf can apply Wind Weakness. The chance to apply Wind Weakness can be increased if Silver Wolf and Blade are paired with allies who are the same Type as the enemy’s innate Weaknesses.
Hanya	Hanya’s SP generation from her Burden debuff makes her a decent option for Blade in a team with two damage dealers, since she can provide more SP for both her and the primary damage dealer. Her Talent also increases DMG% for anyone who hits the enemy applied with Burden. She also provides a SPD and ATK buff that will usually be applied to the other damage dealer as Blade does not prioritize those stats.

Other Synergies

Jingliu

Jingliu’s ability to drain her allies’ HP works very well with Blade’s kit, triggering his Talent much faster and providing more Ultimate damage. She also allows Blade to forgo healing from an Abundance unit due to his Talent being triggered more often.

SP-Hungry Damage Dealers

Any unit that wants to use their Skill often can make use of Blade as a secondary damage dealer, since he only needs 1 SP to cast his Skill and does Enhanced Basic ATKs for the next 4 turns. Hunt and Erudition units favor this the most, as they have a low base aggro, meaning Blade can act as a tank for the team and can take more hits due to his high aggro value, which will trigger his Talent more often. Dan Heng • Imbibitor Lunae and Qingque cannot make use of Blade, since they want all 3 of their party members to generate SP.

Notable Anti-Synergies

Shielders

Gepard, March 7th, Fire Trailblazer

It is not recommended to use a Shielder with Blade, since he wants to take damage for his Talent and Ultimate. Gepard, March, and Fire Trailblazer fit this case as all of them have Shields in their kit. In March’s case, she can just Shield a unit other than Blade, compared to Gepard and Fire Trailblazer who apply a teamwide Shield. They can also draw aggro away from Blade, which he does not want.

Units with High Aggro

Preservation

Preservation units have the highest aggro out of all the Paths, making them inadvisable for Blade, since they decrease how often Blade takes damage from the enemy. The ones currently in the game also do not provide healing for Blade to offset his own HP consumption, which can be risky, and he will lose damage on his Ultimate. As mentioned in the Sustain section, only Fu Xuan is an exception for this role with her potent buffs that Blade can utilize. In a scenario where the enemy only does AoE damage, Blade and a Preservation unit can co-exist but is not highly recommended.

Clara

Clara and Blade both want to get hit and thus do not synergize well with each other. Clara’s Ultimate also increases her aggro value, which leads to Blade taking fewer hits and thus gaining fewer Talent stacks. In a scenario where the enemy only does AoE damage, they can co-exist in a team.

Enemy Delays

Welt

Since Blade likes being attacked to do more damage, delaying the enemy’s actions usually translates into less damage. While he is not as dependent on getting hit as Clara, he still appreciates it. Certain sources of delay, like Ruan Mei, have other significant benefits that can supersede this downside. However, other sources of delay, such as Welt, can struggle to provide additional utility or damage that would justify running them on Blade’s teams.

Teams

Hypercarry

Blade primarily uses a hypercarry setup that consists of one Abundance and either two Harmony, two Nihility, or a mix of both. Note that Blade and the Abundance unit need to be placed on the very edge to reduce the damage received by the Harmony or Nihility units when dealing with enemy Blast damage.

Example Teams

Standard

Blade’s standard hypercarry team consists of Lynx for sustain and aggro increase, Bronya for Advance Forward and buffs, and Silver Wolf for consistent debuffs. Blade must be placed in either the 1st or 4th slot with Lynx next to him as both units can tank hits from Blast damage. This team also guarantees that Silver Wolf’s Weakness implant will apply either a Wind or Quantum Weakness to an enemy if it is already Weak to one of those Types. If the enemy is Weak to neither Type, there is a 50:50 chance to apply a Wind or Quantum Weakness.

Dual Harmony

A high-end Blade hypercarry team. With Bronya and Ruan Mei providing a lot of DMG% for Blade, he can run an HP% Sphere to further increase his damage. Since both Ruan Mei and Luocha are SP positive, Bronya can use a Slow Skillspam Playstyle to maximize Blade’s damage output.

Dual Nihility

Pela and Silver Wolf’s potent debuffs help Blade deal solid damage even without a Harmony unit. Note that the amount of DEF Reduction and DEF Ignore caps at 100%, so adding other sources of DEF Reduction and DEF Ignore is not recommended unless Pela’s Ultimate and both Silver Wolf’s Ultimate and Talent are at a low level. It is recommended to have Before the Tutorial Mission Starts equipped on Silver Wolf to give her more Energy to cast her Ultimate faster.

Secondary Damage Dealer

Since Blade spends 1 SP to trigger his Hellscape state and does not require any SP for the following 4 turns, he can serve as a secondary damage dealer in the team. Using any SP-hungry support might impose some problems as Blade does not generate SP when in Hellscape, and the primary damage dealer may either want to spam their Skill or does not generate SP.

Example Teams

Jingliu and Blade

Blade benefits greatly from Jingliu’s team HP drain, giving him more stacks for his Talent without relying on damage from enemies. Since both Jingliu and Blade do not need any SP during their Spectral Transmigration and Hellscape states respectively, Bronya and Fu Xuan can use their Skill more frequently during these turns. This setup may run into one issue; if both Blade and Jingliu do not have their enhanced states activated, they will need to consume SP, which may make the team SP negative for a short period of time, thus requiring careful SP management. To counteract this issue, a Fast Alternating Bronya can provide more SP for the team. Bronya normally uses her Skill on Jingliu in this team, but it is less SP intensive to use it on Blade when the situation calls for it. Blade and Jingliu can also have the same SPD to further enhance the team’s performance with Bronya Advancing their action.

The team is much more comfortable to play with Bronya’s 1st Eidolon and But the Battle Isn’t Over, potentially allowing for a more SP-hungry Bronya variant.

Fu Xuan can be substituted with Luocha, who can provide more SP in order to maintain the rotation.

Mono Quantum

Due to Blade having the highest aggro on this team, which can be increased further by Lynx, enemies will prioritize targeting him. This enables Blade to effectively assume the role of a tank and trigger his Talent more frequently. Additionally, this team composition ensures that Silver Wolf will always implant either a Quantum or Wind Weakness, depending on the enemy’s inherent Weaknesses. However, try to make sure Blade does not get the kills, but instead softens up the targets for Seele to trigger Resurgence off of. This team falls off at higher investments, though, where Seele no longer needs the help, or where Blade starts to steal her kills. An individualized hypercarry team is recommended for Seele at that point.

Xianzhou Luofu

On this team, Blade focuses his damage on a single target , which complements Jing Yuan’s main role in dealing AoE damage. Blade can also help Jing Yuan clear more enemies so Lightning-Lord can deal its damage to a single target. Jing Yuan is able to cast his Skill consistently as both Tingyun and Luocha can act as SP batteries and Blade does not require much SP. Even without additional buffs or debuffs, Blade is capable of dealing considerable damage with proper investment.

Credits

Changelog

• 01 February 2024 – Published for v1.6
• 13 March 2024 – Infographic updated for v2.0