Foreword
Since you can only get 1 Light Cone per Battle Pass, the choice you do is a pretty important one. Also, considering the fact that it will take 5 months to actually superimpose the Light Cone to maximum level, you should consider picking multiple base versions first - as this will allow you to actually make use of them earlier.
Abundance
Warmth Shortens Cold Nights
Increases the wearer's Max HP by 16/20/24/28/32%. When using Basic ATK or Skill, restores all allies' HP by an amount equal to 2/2.5/3/3.5/4% of their respective Max HP.
- Nameless Glory
The Abundance Light Cones can be split into two categories:
- Healing focused - they buff the healing output,
- Support focused - they help the Healer's allies in various ways.
While there are a few Light Cones that are hybrids, majority of them fits into one of the two categories.
Warmth Shortens Cold Nights is a Light Cone belonging to first category. It increases the Max HP of the Healer, which translates to increased survivability but also increased Healing (since it's based on their max HP), but on top of that, every time the Healer uses their Basic ATK, all allies will be healed based on their Max HP.
Sadly, while the healing on Basic ATK looks great on paper, as you want your Healers to actually use their Basic ATK a lot, there's one huge issue with it. Overall since you often run a Shielder in the team together with the Healer, only the strongest boss attacks will go through the shield and affect the HP of your team. This means you will lose quite a lot of HP in one strike. And often you want to heal it back up instantly, so you can avoid being killed with the next boss attack - and the Warmth Shortens Cold Nights cone will even at highest superimposition will only heal each ally for 4% of their Max HP.
This makes this cone an inferior option compared to other Cones that provide either more Healing or more utility. Still, maybe in the future this Cone will actually be really strong, but in the early game where we are at, it's hard to make use of it.
Hunt
Return to Darkness
Increases the wearer's CRIT Rate by 12/15/18/21/24%. After a CRIT Hit, there is a 16/20/24/28/32% fixed chance to dispel 1 buff on the target enemy. This effect can only trigger once per attack.
- Nameless Glory
The Return to Darkness Light Cone is an interesting one among the currently available Hunt Light Cones, because it exchanges the raw damage boost for utility. There aren't that many sources of dispel in the game (dispel = removing buffs from the enemy) and Return to Darkness gives you the ability to do that. But at a cost, obviously.
While in the majority of battles, you will prefer to use Light Cones that improve your character damage output, there may be a time when dispel is what you will need - and this Cone gives you an easy access to it.
Check the comparison below to see the difference in the damage based on Dan Heng simulation (same rules as in our DPS Ranking):
Hunt Cones damage comparison
In the Night (S1)
Sleep Like the Dead (S1)
Swordplay (S1)
Cruising in the Stellar Sea (S5)
River Flows in Spring (S5)
Only Silence Remains (S1)
Return to Darkness (S1)
Preservation
This Is Me!
Increases the wearer's DEF by 16/20/24/28/32%. Increases the DMG of the wearer when they use their Ultimate by 60/75/90/105/120% of the wearer's DEF. This effect only apply 1 time per enemy target.
- Nameless Glory
The This is Me! Light Cone stands out from the other Preservation ones. While they are mostly focusing on either Shielding or Control, This is Me instead improves the character's damage.
The Light Cone basically adds a new instance of damage that is based on the character's DEF, but keep in mind that Ultimates that affect allies (like Gepard's Ultimate), won't benefit from it. Though it would be funny if it did - Gepard the team killer. But kidding aside, even if March 7th and Fire MC can benefit from the Light Cone, the other options available to them are simply much stronger - even if the Cone also gives some DEF%.
Maybe in the future there will be a Preservation character released that focuses mostly on doing damage, but till then it's hard to make use of this Light Cone.
Harmony
Carve the Moon, Weave the Clouds
At the start of the battle and whenever the wearer's turn begins, one of the following effects is applied randomly: All allies' ATK increases by 10/12.5/15/17.5/20%, all allies' CRIT DMG increases by 12/15/18/21/24%, or all allies' Energy Regeneration Rate increases by 6/7.5/9/10.5/12%. The applied effect cannot be identical to the last effect applied, and will replace the previous effect. The applied effect will be removed when the wearer has been knocked down. Effects of the similar type cannot be stacked.
- Nameless Glory
Carve the Moon, Weave the Clouds Light Cone gives a random buff each time the wearer turns start - while 2 of the buff are offensive, one of utility based. Overall while the offensive buffs are decent and everyone can benefit from them, the utility one - which gives Energy Regen - requires a lot of investment to affect a character's rotations and the value available on the cone isn't big enough to do it by itself.
Also, both Bronya and Asta really want Light Cones that fix their Energy issues and by doing so drastically reduce the time needed to recharge their ultimates, so this Light Cone won't really work on them. This leaves Tingyun who doesn't really have energy issues, and she can actually use Light Cones that further benefit the team. Still, her best Light Cone is Dance! Dance! Dance! and while this one is a good alternative, it's still a lot weaker.
Nihility
We Will Meet Again
After the wearer uses Basic ATK or Skill, the wearer deals 48/60/72/84/96% of ATK as additional DMG to a random enemy that is attacked by abilities.
- Nameless Glory
The We Will Meet Again Light Cone is true wildcard. It can either be really strong or straight up terrible. We will need test it more to fully understand it.
Still, the currently available Nihility characters don't really want to use their Basic ATK at all (and their Skill often is also used once every few turns), so they won't benefit from the Cone that much. But this can change in the future! We are pretty sure that once a character is released that actually can benefit from it, this Light Cone will become broken.
Destruction
Nowhere to Run
Increases the wearer's ATK by 24/30/36/42/48%. Whenever the wearer defeats an enemy, they restore HP equal to 12/15/18/21/24% of their ATK.
- Nameless Glory
The Nowhere to Run Light Cone on top of giving a decent ATK boost also has some utility attached to it in the form of self-healing triggered on kill - which also scales of the character ATK. Overall, since we're talking about Destruction Light Cones here, the best way to compare them is by checking how much they affect the damage output.
Check the comparison below to see the difference in the damage based on Clara simulation (same rules as in our DPS Ranking):
Destruction Cones damage comparison
Something Irreplaceable (S1)
On the Fall of an Aeon (S5)
Nowhere to Run (S1)
A Secret Vow (S1)
Under the Blue Sky (S1)
Erudition
Today Is Another Peaceful Day
After entering battle, increases the wearer's DMG based on their Max Energy. DMG increases by 0.2/0.25/0.3/0.35/0.4% per point of Energy, up to 160 Energy.
- Nameless Glory
The Today Is Another Peaceful Day Light Cone is a pretty unique one as it increases the damage the character deals based on their max Energy - which is equal to their Ultimate cost. The higher the cost, the bigger the benefit. Overall, since we're talking about Erudition Light Cones here, the best way to compare them is by checking how much they affect the damage output.
Check the comparison below to see the difference in the damage based on Jing Yuan simulation (same rules as in our DPS Ranking):
Important! The simulation is ran against a single enemy, which means that you get only 1 ATK stack from Night on the Milky Way Light Cone. Against multiple enemies, the Light Cone will score much better and shoot up higher in the ranking.
Erudition Cones damage comparison
Before Dawn (S1)
Today Is Another Peaceful Day (S5)
Today Is Another Peaceful Day (S1)
The Birth of the Self (S1)
The Seriousness of Breakfast (S5)
Night on the Milky Way (S1)
Geniuses' Repose (S1)
Which Light Cone to pick?
Overall from the seven available Cones, there are three that stand out and that you can use straight away to make your team stronger. Those 3 Light Cones are:
- Return to Darkness (Hunt) - the dispel utility it provides will be really important against some of the bosses in either Simulated Universe or Forgotten Hall, so having the Cone as an option when you will need it is great,
- Carve the Moon, Weave the Clouds (Harmony) - while it isn't the best Harmony Light Cone out there, in Forgotten Hall you will often build teams with multiple Harmony characters (since the hypercarry comp is really strong there), which means you will for sure make use of it,
- Today Is Another Peaceful Day (Erudition) - this Light Cone is one of the strongest in the Erudition category, so if you use the characters from this path, you will for sure not regret picking it.
Special mention go to:
- This is Me! (Preservation) - Fire MC is already one of the strongest characters in the game and this Light Cone can be really strong on them when you will want to push their damage output to the limit (and it will also help them with their shields),
- We Will Meet Again (Nihility) - has the potential to be either godlike or terrible. We don't know it yet, but we will test it for sure!
Additional information
For an in-depth review of the available Light Cones, check Grim's video: