Honkai: Star Rail Tier list (June 2025)

Categories

• DPS - Characters that mainly focus on dealing damage and being the main source of it in the team they are placed in,
• Support DPS - Characters that fall within this category are very rarely played as the primary or sole damage dealer of the team and instead almost always play alongside another character that fills that role instead. Support DPS are still built with the intention to deal damage themselves but also have a kit containing buffs/debuffs to bolster their team's performance and/or have abilities that are directly dependent on others in order to function.
• Amplifier - Characters that do not focus on dealing damage but instead amplify the damage other teammates deal by granting allies buffs or debuffing enemies,
• Sustain - Characters who are capable of keeping the team alive with their abilities.

Special tags

Tags are split into 3 categories: Pros, Cons and Archetype which represent the most defining features of a character's kit and the current meta archetypes they fit into. Archetype tags indicate a connection between characters with that tag e.g. Acheron requires debuffs to work and Silver Wolf applies them. Here is a full list of all current tags and what they mean:

• Break - the character belongs to the Break archetype focusing on Break Effect and Break Efficiency,
• Debuff - the character belongs to the Debuff archetype applying one or many debuffs or has a kit that directly relies on them to function,
• DoT - the character belongs to the Damage-over-Time archetype specializing in applying and/or amplifying DoT effects,
• FuA - the character belongs to the Follow-up Attack archetype benefitting from, buffing or delivering powerful Follow-Up Attacks.,
• Summon - the character fights alongside summons or other entities,
• Advance - the character can manipulate the turn order by either action advancing their allies or themselves,
• Buff - the character can apply various Buffs to help their teammates,
• Delay - the character can delay enemies and hinder their actions in battle,
• Energy - the character can recover the teammates energy,
• SP-Friendly - the character is substantially more skill point friendly than other characters in their role.
• SP-Unfriendly - the character is substantially more skill point un-friendly than other characters in their role.
• Partner - the character is incredibly reliant on being partnered with one specific character in order to function at the highest level. Characters marked with this tag will perform one (but sometimes even more) tiers lower than their listed position on the tier list without those characters alongside them.

Meta Lines

Meta Lines categorize each section of the tier list into a power bracket. Here are the four brackets:

• Apex Characters (T0 & T0.5) - characters in this bracket are the cream of the crop. They can do outrageous amount of damage, provide massive buffs (or debuffs) or keep the team alive no matter what the enemy throws at them. They simply can achieve the best, most consistent and accessible results in their best teams, allowing you to easily clear the content,
• Meta Characters (T1, T1.5, T2) - characters in this bracket make clearing the content a breeze, but compared to the Apex characters they require more work from your side. Either their team options are more restrictive, they require bigger Relic investment or they possess a notable weakness or downside. Still, they are all great and won't disappoint you if you give them what they need to shine,
• Niche Characters (T3 & T4) - characters in this bracket are lacking in one or many fields of their role. These characters still possess the ability to clear all content with the right build, endgame blessing, team or enemy line-up but have much lower play rates and success rates than Meta and Apex characters,
• The Forgotten Ones (T5) - characters in this bracket struggle. A lot. Either their kits simply don't work in the mode or they require a ton of investment and love to be able to work. Just avoid them unless your husbando or waifu landed here and you believe in the power of love.

Half tiers

To further define the tier list and correctly represent the power level of each character in relation to each other we have added half tiers to the higher tier brackets. Under our previous system a tier rating jump of 1 tier rating made it difficult to position characters accurately, often leading to multiple characters ending up in the same tier despite a clear power and utility difference.

Criteria

• Manual play,
• Using optimal team composition/support characters,
• Character level 80,
• All Major Traces unlocked and skills upgraded to level 10,
• Character equipped with level 80 non-limited 4★ or 5★ Light Cone (including the 'standard' Light Cones),
• Battle Pass Light Cones aren't taken into account because you can't obtain them without spending,
• Character equipped with 5★ upgraded gear with optimal Main Stats and Sub Stats (with 24 desired sub stats out of a possible 54),
• Eidolon level 0 for 5★ characters,
• Eidolon level 0/6 for 4★ characters.

Roles

We compare characters within their role - so DPS are compared to other DPS and the ratings are adjusted based on their performance within the role. Don't try to compare characters between roles (for example an Amplifier with a DPS), because their ratings mean different things.

• DPS - Rating is heavily influenced based on the characters ability to deal enough damage to achieve the 3-star objective, the easier and more quickly achieved the higher the rating,
• Support DPS - Rating is heavily influenced based on the damage they provide, the buffs and debuffs or efficiency boost these characters create or the utility they provide against certain encounters,
• Amplifier - Rating is influenced based on the damage amplification abilities of the character and the utility they provide to the team,
• Sustain - Rating is influenced based on the characters ability to keep the team alive and the utility they provide. The more utility and higher the safety, the higher the rating.

Other criteria affecting the ratings

Each tier list rates characters based on their average value in the specific game mode it represents. The higher a character is rated on the tier list the greater their power and more widely they can be used effectively in the mode, helping the players in getting all rewards every cycle. We aren't looking at 0-cycle potential. We consider:

• Flexibility - how the characters kit functions against various enemy types, amounts of enemies and their ability to perform when not fighting against enemies vulnerable to their element,
• Investment - some characters require specific limited 5★ units, heavy investment in certain relic sets or an abundance of sub-stats in order to function at the highest level. Each of these points impacts the rating in a negative way. - the more the character requires to perform well, the bigger the impact,
• Utility - recently released characters possess abilities that lie beyond their defined role, for example Amplifiers/Sustains that can deal decent damage. The more a character helps the team outside of their role, the bigger positive impact on their rating it has.

11/06/2025

We have added

As for Cipher's rating, please keep in mind that she's most likely the character that has biggest performance difference between playing on manual and playing on auto - while the tier list is focused on manual play, we still feel it's important that people are aware of this. We have also watchlisted her for PF - we've placed her in T1 initially but may update her placement based on her results in a few days.

21/05/2025

In this update we’re adding

Hyacine and Little Ica enter the fray this update and are well positioned to shine in their specialist teams alongside the likes of

One of the bigger benefactors of Hyacine is

In our previous MoC update we placed a number of watch lists on characters to move up/down. Here are the results:

• 
  Luocha - With the release of Hyacine, Luocha has had one of his unique niches diminished. We wont be changing his tier for now, but are making other adjustments to the sustain category so his position in the meta is more accurately portrayed.
• 
  Aventurine - We’re following through on our watchlist from last time and moving Aventurine down a tier. Many of the top DPS right now prefer other sustains over him and the release of Hyacine has introduced even more competition.
• 
  Argenti &
  
  Jade - Argenti and Jade both displayed strong scores this phase albeit with a lesser play rate than Anaxa - still, they will remain in T0.5 for now. Anaxa will continue to find himself in between tiers for now being stronger than T0.5 but not as universal as Tribbie.
• 
  Boothill - Boothill didn’t have the greatest time this phase meaning he hasn’t done enough to follow through on our previous intention to raise him. We’re keeping him in T1 for now.

Additional Changes:

• 
  Fu Xuan - Similar to Aventurine, Fu Xuan while certainly usable in the meta isn’t currently a first - or in a lot of cases even second or third best option - for many of the best DPS in the game right now. We feel Luocha has the edge over her at present and as a result are lowering her ranking for now.
• 
  Bailu &
  
  Gepard - With Fu Xuan moving down we’re also moving down Bailu and Gepard. Fu Xuan has significantly more meta relevance than both of them.

06/05/2025

This update contains our routine Pure Fiction updates but also an update to

Anaxa changes:

• PF: As mentioned in our previous update this Pure Fiction phase is extremely tailored toward Anaxa’s kit, making his strong initial performance an unreliable assessment of his true performance in the mode. With that said, if Anaxa can continue to perform without a buff so deliberately aimed toward his kit, his position in both DPS and Support Damage categories will improve. For this reason we’re watchlisting him for both roles.
• MoC (DPS): With the data in, Anaxa has proven himself to be a stronger DPS contender in MoC than expected. We’re raising his rating from T1 to T0.5 to reflect this performance.
• MoC (Support): Even with the data in and Anaxa holding an edge against competition, we're not quite ready to draw a hard line between Anaxa, Argenti and Jade for The Herta teams. In this update we’re watch listing Argenti and Jade. If Anaxa retains his edge in the next phase or extends it, we’ll adjust the ranking of the other two as well as any characters below them to accommodate the change.
• AS (DPS): Similar to MoC hypercarry Anaxa has exceeded expectations in the mode despite it being his secondary role. We’re raising his rating from T0.5 to T0 to reflect this.

PF Specific Changes:

• 
  Rappa wachlist removed. We’re removing the watchlist placed on Rappa in our last update. When played with her standard best team involving a sustain Rappa produces serviceable results, but when played within her top sustainless team (one of the safer sustainless teams possible in the mode) she excels. As one of the few comfortable characters to play in this style in the mode, placing Rappa accurately is a challenge. Currently we feel all things considered she has enough accessible options in phases to remain in T0.5 for now.
• 
  Aglaea wachlist added. Aglaea hasn’t achieved the results we expected from her this phase when compared to the other Lightning characters that share her tier. Based on this performance and the fact Acheron now shares a tier with her, we're watch listing her to move down (pending next phases performance).
• 
  Acheron T0.5 T1. Acheron hasn’t been the most consistent character over the past three phases - sometimes overperforming for a phase, sometimes underperforming and sometimes doing a bit of both in the same phase depending on the player you ask. Despite these highs and lows Acheron’s average performance has definitely been trending downward with more people struggling to achieve results with her than those dominating the mode with her. Based on this we’re following through on our previous watch list and adjusting her rating down a tier.
• 
  Jiaoqiu T0.5 T1. Jiaoqiu’s strongest partner and the primary reason for his placement so high and for so long in the Amplifier category is Acheron. With Acheron moving down a tier, we’re adjusting Jiaoqiu’s rating as well. Should Acheron’s consistency return you can expect the chef to return alongside her.
• 
  Tingyun &
  
  Pela T1 T1.5. Based on Jiaoqiu moving down we’re adjusting Tingyun and Pela’s rating accordingly. We feel both these characters are closer in meta relevance to Sparkle and Trailblazer Harmony than to Jiaoqiu.
• 
  Blade &
  
  Mydei T3 T2. After the release of Castorice both Blade and Mydei have seen a boost to their viability when played alongside her in the mode. We’re raising their rankings for now based on this and their higher average performance.

30/04/2025

As per usual with every new release, we do a small update to our tier list to accommodate them.

• MoC (Support DMG): As a support damage dealer Anaxa is without a doubt powerful, especially alongside The Herta, but doesn’t quite have the meta impact a character like Tribbie does. On the other side of the spectrum we want to see how much of a gap emerges between teams with The Herta and Anaxa vs teams with Argenti or Jade before drawing a line between them. This leaves Anaxa’s MoC Support DMG ranking a little up in the air initially, but we’ll make any required adjustments once we have more information.
• PF (DPS + Support DMG): Despite being an Erudition character Anaxa isn’t that strong in AoE encounters as his primary source of damage - his skill - is a 5 times bounce ability that splits its damage between all targets. This skill does gain a token DMG% increase the more enemies Anaxa is fighting against, but it’s far from enough from allowing him to keep up with true Erudition characters like Jade or either of the Herta’s. With that said, the first PF phase of Anaxa’s release contains a buff tailor made for him, we expect him to do well initially, but have lower scores after the Hoyo’s favoritism stops.
• AS (DPS + Support Dmg): Apocalyptic Shadow is one of Anaxa’s strongest modes owing to the fact he can allow the entire team to deal Toughness damage to the enemy regardless of their weaknesses. This is great for brute forcing off element fights if necessary, and in most scenarios will allow you to access AS’s huge team wide bonus upon breaking enemies far more quickly.

25/04/2025

In recent updates we hinted that this Apocalyptic Shadow update would be a major one with a focus on re-assessing the power level of the highest rated characters on the tier list. With that said, with the inclusion of the current phase (one with quite a few divisive bosses like Hoolay isolation mechanic and double Lightning Resistance) in our data, our assessment and potential planned changes for some characters have changed.

When possible we prefer to avoid moving characters down the tier list unless there is notable cause to do so and we know most people share that sentiment. As a result in this update we’re only moving characters that have under/over performed compared to their ranking in one or multiple of the past three phases and will delay drawing a line between the top characters until that line is clear.

• 
  Castorice T0.5 T0. Castorice was placed conservatively in Apocalyptic Shadow due to her unique kit and the potency of the buffs available to her on release. It’s clear now though after entering the hands of the community and receiving far more testing from accounts of all levels, that she definitely has what it takes to stand alongside the best in the mode - buffs or not.
• 
  Seele T3 T2. Somehow Seele has pulled off convincing scores in another phase of AS! As per our criteria, we’re raising her out of Tier 3 and into Tier 2 following through on our watch list of her.
• 
  Firefly T0 T0.5. Firefly has been struggling in MoC and PF as of late and based on her results over the past three phases of AS, she’s struggling here as well for a lot of the same reasons. Enemies either aren’t Fire weak, are extremely AoE focused or conveniently dodge the Fire implant from her Technique in some form or another. We’re lowering her to T0.5 this update but recognize that her scores are toward the bottom of this tier (0.5) as well. Because of this we’re also watchlisting her to potentially move again.
• 
  Rappa T0 T0.5. Despite Break falling behind the power curve a bit Rappa isn’t really “struggling”, she’s more just performing more in line with characters in T0.5 compared to characters in T0. For this reason we’re adjusting her rating for now.
• 
  Jing Yuan T0.5 T1. As a Lightning DPS Jing Yuan has 2 direct competitors he’s often compared to these days - Aglaea and Acheron - both of which have held a slight lead over him in terms of results. This phase that slight lead became noticeably larger as both of them performed despite both bosses possessing Lightning resistance while Jing Yuan struggled. While the gap between the three isn’t massive, it’s enough that we’re moving Jing Yuan down a tier for now.
• 
  Yunli &
  
  Himeko T1 T1.5. As a result of a character as powerful as Jing Yuan moving into Tier 1, both Yunli and Himeko, who aren’t his equal, have had their ratings adjusted.
• 
  Tingyun • Fugue T0 T0.5 &
  
  Trailblazer • Harmony T0.5 T1. The break archetype has begun to fall behind the power curve in many modes and AS is no exception - Firefly is suffering and Rappa isn’t dominating the mode quite as convincingly as in the past. While Ruan Mei still has her niche as a character able to accelerate your team's progression toward breaking the boss and thus accessing AS’s powerful mode bonuses, Fugue and Trailblazer Harmony aren’t quite as immune and are losing a bit of their edge as the meta has started to shift. Based on these facts, we’re moving both Fugue and Harmony Trailblazer down the tier list one placement for now.
• 
  Dan Heng • Imbibitor Lunae
  
  Jingliu
  
  Dr. Ratio
  
  Guinaifen T2 T3. These characters are currently not performing at a level we can consider “Meta” for AS as such we’re moving them below the “Meta Characters” Meta Line and into T3 for the time being. As a result of these and other characters moving down the list we’re also adjusting the ratings of some other characters already in the Niche Tiers to keep ratings accurate, these characters include; Qingque, Luka, Welt, Sampo and Hanya. We’ll be re-assessing all legacy characters as Hoyo buffs them in upcoming patches and expect a lot of them to receive a new lease on life and make their way back up the tier list!
• 
  Black Swan &
  
  Kafka T1.5 T2. The same story continues and DoT continues their downward trend. Fingers crossed for a resurgence when Kafka receives her much anticipated buff.
• 
  Topaz & Numby T0.5 T1 &
  
  Moze T1 T1.5. Based on our previous watch list of Topaz we’re following through with moving her down a tier. We’re also moving Moze down a tier as a result, as we feel he doesn’t measure up to what Topaz brings to the table.

09/04/2025

In this update we’ll be tackling the release of

• 
  Castorice - Based on our initial testing, we have decided to place Castorice in T0 for MoC and T0.5 for AS and PF. It’s worth noting that Castorice can absolutely put up T0 performances in AS and PF at the time of her release, but the buffs and encounters of both modes at the time (or shortly after she drops) heavily favor her. For this reason, until we see additional phases from her, we’re not granting her the top spot in those modes and taking it slow (just like we did with The Herta).
• Castorice uses Bailu LC's for the purpose of the tier list rating. The calculations on the profile != tier list criteria.
• 
  Trailblazer • Remembrance - RMC has been strong since their release and every new top tier character that drops seems to have a place for them in their team - Castorice is no exception and RMC is one of her best teammates. Castorice’s arrival marks a tipping point and we’re raising their rating to be T0 in all three modes.
• 
  Luocha - Similar to RMC, Luocha’s meta relevance has been on the rise as of late and he has gotten another boost from Castorice’s release - which when combined with his spot alongside Mydei, gives him two top meta teams to play within. With that said, his rise on the tier list wont be quite as decisive as he has direct competition in his role alongside Castorice from the incredibly flexibly Gallagher, who works not only with Castorice, but many other teams and archetypes as well. We’re raising Luocha in PF and watchlisting him to move up in MoC pending next phase results.

Moving onto MoC, we've seen there the introduction of the Flame Reaver boss which adds another AoE-themed fight to the mode and the debut of the new enemies: Noontide Gryphon (Elite that summons hoards of adds) and Moonlit Pegasus - both boasting tremendous HP pools, sitting at roughly 60% of the boss of side 2 (Kafka). On top of new enemies, the HP and difficulty increased again in MoC. The result of those factors is the continual domination of characters with access to potent AoE kits and - in the case of the new elites - exceptional blast damage. At the same time, most 1.x and 2.x characters continue to decline (with a few exceptions). Because of that, we had to make some adjustments to the ratings:

• 
  Firefly T0.5 T1. Since the arrival and shift toward AoE in MoC, Firefly (at E0) has been unable to dominate quite like she used to, losing out to characters with AoE-themed kits. Firefly also continues to suffer at the hands of new bosses that dodge her Technique like Flame Reaver, forcing her to rely on natural Fire Weakness (absent on a lot of recent encounters) or having to implant pesky adds one by one! This MoC phase sadly continues the downward trend and Firefly isn’t quite keeping up with her competition in the Apex tiers at the moment, so we’re lowering her rating for now.
• 
  Feixiao T0.5 T1. Similar to Firefly, Feixiao is also suffering in the post 3.0 world. The constant AoE encounters and unbelievably tanky elite enemies she has to take out individually, mean Feixiao isn't clearing as fast as characters with AoE based kits or absurdly strong Blast attacks (Mydei or Aglaea) that have the elemental advantage over her.
• With Feixiao moving down for the time being, we’re also adjusting the rating of her partners - March 7th (Hunt), Topaz and Moze - who see the most use by her side.
• 
  Kafka &
  
  Black Swan T1.5 T2. Do we need to say anything? DoT is on the decline and slowly we're losing hope that the archetype will ever recover.
• 
  Blade T3 T2. HP meta is on the raise and Blade benefits from it enough to raise him back into the Meta section on the tier list.
• 
  Argenti T1 T0.5 &
  
  Herta T1.5 T1. Some characters that are played alongside the meta power house The Herta - like Argenti and Herta (Small edition) - are performing above their current placements on the tier list. Based on this, we’re raising their ratings for now, but may reassess their position after the release of Anaxa who promises to be a potent “3.0 powered” Erudition partner for The Herta.
• 
  Ruan Mei T0 T0.5. Ruan Mei isn’t currently utilized as a first choice for any of the new overlords of MoC - Mydei, Castorice, The Herta or Aglaea. While she’s still incredibly generic and can actually be used as a 2nd or 3rd choice for each of them (as well as many other high rated characters), we feel it isn’t enough at this point in time to hold onto her T0 position, especially with Firefly moving down the list.
• 
  Huohuo T0.5 T0. Huohuo is commonly used with the two powerhouses - The Herta and Aglaea - where her energy regeneration is incredibly impactful. Because of that, her performance in the recent phases drastically improved, even overtaking Aventurine and Lingsha whose main archetypes are on the decline. For these reasons we’re raising her up a tier.
• 
  Aventurine added to watchlist. Aventurine’s constant shielding and comfortable SP-positive playstyle remains a mainstay for many players' rosters, making him an ever popular choice. With that said he has a distinct disadvantage compared to some of his peers. The shields that make him so comfortable also mean he can’t be run with the self sacrificial obsessed Castorice or Mydei, who are two of the strongest damaging characters in MoC right now. He can be run alongside The Herta and Aglaea but each of them have other sustains they might prefer more instead. Aventurine still has his top place alongside other high tier units, but with many of them experiencing a drop off and without a best in slot foothold alongside the Tier 0 DPS threats that continue to crop up, we’re watchlisting him to potentially move down next update.
• 
  Boothill added to watchlist. While Firefly performance is dropping, Boothill showcased the opposite behavior. Despite low playrate, his performance in the last 2 phases of MoC was quite good and we're considering raising him back to Apex tier - pending next phase results.

Our next update will be after the next phase of Apocalyptic Shadow (so next week) and will involve a major restructure of the top tiers of the mode (as things are getting too crowded there).