Foreword
Relic farming in Honkai: Star Rail is an important part of your account progression, and day 1 players will soon reach the point (TL 40) where using their stamina on getting Relics becomes worthwhile.
Still, considering that both in the Cavern of Corrosion and in the Simulated Universe the available Relic Sets are split between various stages (or Worlds in the case of SU) you are forced to choose which ones you want to farm. While all the Relic Sets have their uses and there's no useless one (well...), you have to pick a pair that will help your account the most. And that's what this guide is about - we will review each set and give you suggestion for the best Cavern of Corrosion and Simulated Universe World to farm!
Cavern of Corrosion
Important! Before you start farming Cavern of Corrosion you have to reach TL 40 as this unlocks Difficulty 3 where you can get 1 Gold rarity Relic per run. You will get enough Purple rarity Relics from the story, so farming them is a waste of Stamina.
Also, please keep in mind that the reviews and 'ratings' below take into account the current state of the game - maybe in the future the priority will change and if it will, we will adjust the information below.
| Cavern | Set 1 | Set 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Path of Gelid Wind | (2) Increases Ice DMG by 10%. (4) After the wearer unleashes their Ultimate, their CRIT DMG increases by 25% for 2 turn(s). Currently, the number of Ice element damage dealers in the game is pretty limited - there's only Yanqing who actually doesn't even want to use the 4-piece bonus as he scores higher in our simulations by using 2+2 Relic Sets. Maybe this will change in the future, but now getting this Relic Set feels like you've just wasted the stamina. Farming worth: 2/10 | (2) Increases Wind DMG by 10%. (4) After the wearer uses Ultimate, their action is Advanced Forward by 25%. This set is Best in Slot for Dan Heng and Bronya, but also it can be used by other supports - while they won't benefit from the 2-piece bonus, the 4-piece one actually will help the cycle faster as they're basically gaining a free 1/4 of turn after using their Ultimate. Farming worth: 9/10 |
| Path of Jabbing Punch | (2) Increases Physical DMG by 10%. (4) After the wearer attacks or is hit, their ATK increases by 5% for the rest of the battle. This effect can stack up to 5 time(s). This set is Best in Slot for every Physical damage dealer, but you can also use it on damage dealers from other elements as the 25% ATK bonus will help them out too - sometimes even more than their dedicated elemental set. Farming worth: 9/10 | (2) Increases Break Effect by 16% (4) Increases the wearer's Break Effect by 16%. When the wearer inflicts Weakness Break on an enemy, regenerates 3 Energy. This is very universal set as everyone can benefit from Break Effect, but the issue is that Breaking was nerfed on the release and you need to invest much more resources into this build to make it viable. We need to run more tests to see how Breaking and this set will perform in the endgame content available to use. Farming worth: 4/10 |
| Path of Drifting | (2) Increases Outgoing Healing by 10%. (4) At the beginning of the battle, immediately recovers 1 Skill Point. A Healer dedicated set that sadly is underwhelming - the 10% Outgoing Healing boost is pretty small, and if you build your team right, the 4-piece bonus is wasted on you. Farming worth: 2/10 | (2) ATK increases by 12%. (4) The wearer's SPD increases by 6% and Basic ATK DMG increases by 10%. A very universal set that is Best in Slot for Healers and Supports as it gives them the Speed %. At the same time you can use it on basically anyone - damage dealers, supports, even shielders in the early game. Speed is such great stat, it's worth ignoring the other benefits and just using the set for it. Farming worth: 10/10 |
| Path of Providence | (2) Reduces DMG taken by 8%. (4) At the beginning of the turn, if the wearer's HP is equal to or less than 50% of their Max HP, restores HP equal to 8% of their Max HP and regenerates 5 Energy. Another underwhelming set for the early game where we currently are. Shielders much more prefer the Shield boosting set over this one as the benefits are much more noticeable. Maybe this set will be very important to use in the future, but currently it seems like a waste. Farming worth: 1/10 | (2) Increases Quantum DMG by 10%. (4) When the wearer deals DMG to the target enemy, ignores 10% DEF. If the target enemy has Quantum Weakness, the wearer additionally ignores 10% DEF. Best in Slot for Seele and QQ - the difference between this set and the others is simply massive. Sadly, for anyone else it's pretty much useless. If you're Seele fan, you might consider farming this Path to get the 4-piece set (and the right main stats) and then never coming back here - but doing that in the early game seems like a waste as other Paths offer much more versatile sets. Farming worth: 4/10 |
| Path of Holy Hymn | (2) Increases DEF by 15%. (4) Increases the max DMG that can be absorbed by the shield created by the wearer by 20%. The strongest set for Preservation characters as it not only gives the the DEF they need to make their Shields chunkier, but also the 4-piece bonus acts as a separate modifier that you can't find anywhere else in the game. Farming worth: 10/10 | (2) Increases Lightning DMG by 10%. (4) When the wearer uses Skill, increases the wearer's ATK by 20% for 1 turn(s). Pre-release this set was so good, we used in on every damage dealers in our simulations and it was nerfed on release. Still, despite the nerf it's still Best in Slot for Lightning damage dealers, but also you can safely use it on any other damage dealer thanks to the 4-piece - the 20% ATK bonus will be active all the time, since you will always use the Skill on your carries. Farming worth: 9/10 |
| Path of Conflagration | (2) Increases Fire DMG by 10%. (4) Increases the wearer's Skill DMG by 12%. After unleashing Ultimate, increases the wearer's Fire DMG by 12% for next attack. Best in Slot for Fire damage dealers, but sadly the bonuses aren't generic enough to make it worth using on anyone else. On top of that, even on Hook and Himeko, you often prefer to use 2+2 Relic Sets as this combination has a higher impact on their damage output. Farming worth: 3/10 | (2) Increases Imaginary DMG by 10%. (4) When attacking debuffed enemies, the wearer's CRIT Rate increases by 10%, and their CRIT DMG increases by 20% against Imprisoned enemies. On paper, this set is crazy for Imaginary characters, but the issue is that not only we only have 1 Imaginary character - Welt - but it's better to play him more in the supportive role. Still, the moment an Imaginary damage dealer gets released, this set will become Best in Slot for him (or her). Farming worth: 3/10 |
Summary
Here are the three Paths you may consider farming, but before you invest your stamina into anything make sure that it will benefit your account the best.
- Path of Holy Hymn (19/20) - two Best in Slot sets with one being also very universal. It's pretty easy to find use of most of the Gold pieces you drop here,
- Path of Jabbing Punch (13/20) - the physical set is super universal and the Break Effect set is a bit of a wildcard that currently can be used on anyone (but we need to run more tests to validate its performance in the endgame post nerfs),
- Path of Drifting (12/20) - Musketeer can be used on anyone, depending on the Main stats you roll on the pieces, which is great. Sadly, the healing set will only work well as a rainbow one (so you will use it for the Main stats only).
Simulated Universe
Important! Before you start farming Simulated Universe you have to reach TL 40 as this unlocks higher difficulty in the earlier Worlds which drops Gold gear.
Also, please keep in mind that the reviews and 'ratings' below take into account the current state of the game - maybe in the future the priority will change and if it will, we will adjust the information below.
| World | Set 1 | Set 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | (2) Increases the wearer's ATK by 12%. When the wearer's SPD reaches 120 or higher, the wearer's ATK increases by an extra 12%. A damage dealer set who is Best in Slot for 95% of them. Considering that most damage dealers will use Speed boots, this set gives them 24% ATK which is the highest raw stats you can obtain from any set in SU. Farming worth: 10/10 | (2) Increases the wearer's Max HP by 12%. When the wearer's SPD reaches 120 or higher, all allies' ATK increases by 8%. The most powerful support set available in Simulated Universe. Not only it gives 12% HP to them, which improves their survivability, but the second effect boosts the ATK of other party members. And what's best - the effect stack! So if you equip this set on 3 supports in your team, everyone will get 24% free ATK! Farming worth: 10/10 |
| 4 | (2) Increases the wearer's Break Effect by 16%. When the wearer's SPD reaches 145 or higher, the wearer's Break effect increases by an extra 20%. A Break Effect set that before release was pretty decent, but currently other sets outshine it. Still, we are testing Break Builds and their performance in the endgame, so this set might become good in the future - currently, it's better to avoid using it. Farming worth: 2/10 | (2) Increases the wearer's Energy Regeneration Rate by 5%. When the wearer's SPD reaches 120 or higher, the wearer's action is Advanced Forward by 40% immediately upon entering battle. A support set that's an alternative to the Fleet of the Ageless which allows your Supports to act first. Sadly, the Energy Regeneration bonus currently doesn't impact any supports rotation in a meaningful way, so it feels wasted a bit - but maybe this will change in the future when new characters get released. Farming worth: 5/10 |
| 5 | (2) Increases the wearer's Effect Hit Rate by 10%. Meanwhile, the wearer's ATK increases by an amount that is equal to 25% of the current Effect Hit Rate, up to a maximum of 25%. A Debuffer set that will help them land their Debuffs, but also improve their damage output thanks to the second part of the set. Sadly, currently only Sampo can somewhat make use of both parts, so farming it just for him, seems like a waste. Farming worth: 3/10 | (2) Increases the wearer's CRIT DMG by 16%. When the wearer's current CRIT DMG reaches 120% or higher, after entering battle, the wearer's CRIT Rate increases by 60% until the end of their first attack. While the CRIT DMG bonus is nice, it's inferior to the raw ATK% you can get from Space Sealing Station and also the second part of the set is pretty useless. Not only it has a steep CRIT DMG requirement, but also the Crit Rate bonus will only apply to their first attack in battle. Farming worth: 3/10 |
| 6 | (2) Increases the wearer's DEF by 15%. When the wearer's Effect Hit Rate is 50% or higher, the wearer gains an extra 15% DEF. A powerful set for Preservation characters that will make their Shields even chunkier. While the Effect Hit Rate part will be hard to activate on Fire MC (as you won't build EHR on him), March 7th and Gepard actually prefer that stat and it will be easy to activate it to get the additional 15% DEF bonus. Farming worth: 10/10 | (2) Increases the wearer's CRIT Rate by 8%. When the wearer's current CRIT Rate reaches 50% or higher, the wearer's Ultimate and follow-up attack DMG increases by 15%. More Crit Rate is always nice, but the additional bonuses are actually really strong on characters that use follow-up attacks like Clara or Jing Yuan. We still need to do more testing, but this set might be Best in Slot for those two in certain scenarios. Farming worth: 6/10 |
Summary
Here are the two Worlds you may consider farming, but before you invest your stamina into anything make sure that it will benefit your account the best.
- World 3 (20/20) - the only World that drops Best in Slots sets for damage dealers and supports. You can't go wrong with farming it and also Gepard is much easier boss to kill than the ones you encounter in the later worlds,
- World 6 (16/20) - the best Preservation set is available here, so farming it just to get a few great pieces for your Shielders is worth doing. And the damage dealers set is Best in Slot for some characters too!
Additional information
For an in-depth review of all the sets check Grim's video: