Honkai: Star Rail HSR Tier List

Every placement comes from endgame performance in the three modes that actually gate progress: Memory of Chaos, Pure Fiction and Apocalyptic Shadow. Characters are judged at E0 with relics a normal account can farm, not at E6 with a signature light cone. A unit that needs heavy investment to function ranks below one that performs the day you pull it.

Every patch, on the day it lands. Version 4.4 is live now and the rankings below reflect it. New characters are placed at release rather than a week later, and any tier movement is logged with a date and a reason in the changelog.

Most differences come down to investment assumptions. Lists that assume eidolons and signature light cones rank whales' characters higher; lists built around a single mode overrate specialists. This tier list weights consistency across all three endgame modes at E0, so flexible units rank above narrow ones even when the narrow unit posts a bigger damage number in its best matchup.

Evanescia is the best character in HSR 4.4. Released in 4.2, she is still the strongest and most consistent DPS in the game: top-rated in Memory of Chaos, Pure Fiction, and Apocalyptic Shadow simultaneously, with a very high floor and competitive damage in both AoE and single-target. Himeko • Nova and Silver Wolf LV.999 share the SS tier with her, but Evanescia's consistency across all three modes keeps her at number one.

The best overall team in 4.4 is Evanescia + Yao Guang + Trailblazer (Elation) + Huohuo, the premier mono-Elation composition. Archer + Rin Tohsaka + Sparkle + Huohuo competes at the very top since Rin's release, and the Himeko • Nova Verdict team (Nova + Sunday + Sparkle + Dan Heng • Permansor Terrae) is the strongest new single-target lineup of 4.4.

Yes. Firefly is S+ tier and received a direct Novaflare buff in Version 4.2, alongside Huohuo, Seele, and Welt. Her Super Break team with Fugue, Ruan Mei, and Gallagher still clears all endgame content comfortably. The Elation roster has passed her at the very top, but S+ means exactly what it says: excellent.

Claim before you pull: the Fate Contract: Renewal event gives every account a free 5-star, Gilgamesh or Archer, so do that first. The headline banner is Himeko • Nova, which runs the full version until August 25, so there is no urgency to decide. Phase 2 (August 5 to 25) reruns Cerydra (S+), Anaxa (S+), and Aventurine (S): all solid, none mandatory. And if you own Archer, Rin Tohsaka is the strongest targeted pull in the game right now, with no scheduled end date on her collab banner.

The best MoC team is Evanescia + Yao Guang + Trailblazer (Elation) + Huohuo. Archer + Rin Tohsaka + Sparkle + Huohuo and the Himeko • Nova Verdict team (Nova + Sunday + Sparkle + Dan Heng • Permansor Terrae) are equally competitive alternatives depending on your roster.

Pure Fiction rewards AoE damage, and the newest arrivals are built for it. Evanescia's Elation team is top-rated in PF as well as MoC. Himeko • Nova excels in her Decimation (AoE) setup with Welt, Mortenax Blade, and Huohuo. The Herta + Himeko + Robin + sustain remains a reliable roster-friendly option, and Kafka + Black Swan DoT still performs.

Apocalyptic Shadow rewards heavy single-target damage and Toughness reduction. Evanescia's Elation team and the Archer + Rin Tohsaka duo both clear comfortably, and Himeko • Nova ignores Weakness Types for Toughness reduction, which makes her unusually flexible against AS bosses. Firefly Super Break remains a strong option for accounts built around Break.

Yes. Acheron is S+ tier and still one of the most complete DPS kits in the game. What changed is her best team: Mortenax Blade is now her strongest Nihility partner by far, because his Zone re-applies debuffs off every ally attack and feeds her stacks constantly. Acheron + Mortenax Blade + Welt + Dan Heng • Permansor Terrae is her ceiling in 4.4.

They are no longer interchangeable. Huohuo is SS tier and the safest pick: her percentage-based energy refund is enormous for high-cost carries, and Evanescia's 480-energy pool gets 96 energy back per cast. Lingsha (S+) is the pick for Break-adjacent teams. Aventurine (S) is still excellent for FuA and shield-hungry teams, and he reruns in 4.4 Phase 2 if you need him.

Blade is S tier: his original kit was buffed through the Novaflare enhancement program and still works in a Bronya or Sunday hypercarry shell. Separately, Blade now has an entirely new playable form, Mortenax Blade (Fire / Nihility), an SS-tier HP-scaling debuffer released in 4.3 with his own kit, banner, and page. The two are ranked as separate characters.

Right now the best free characters are Trailblazer (Elation), an S+ Elation support unlocked through the 4.2 main story, and your free Fate collab 5-star: the Fate Contract: Renewal event lets any account at Trailblaze Level 3 or above claim Gilgamesh or Archer at no cost, with leveling materials included. Beyond those, Trailblazer (Imaginary) is an S-tier Harmony support, Gallagher is the best budget sustain, and Pela's DEF shred is still unmatched at her accessibility.

Yes, and it's easier in 4.4 than it has ever been. Trailblazer (Elation) is a free S+ support, the Fate event hands every account a free 5-star (Gilgamesh or Archer), Gallagher is preferred over 5-star healers in Break teams, and Pela provides DEF shred with no 4-star replacement. A well-built F2P account clears MoC, PF, and AS; it requires more rotational precision than a whale account, but the content is clearable. See the F2P guide above for specific team recommendations.

Significant but not critical for most characters. A signature light cone typically adds a 15–25% damage increase over the best accessible alternative. That's meaningful, but not enough to change a tier placement on its own. Most S-tier and above characters function fully at their rated ceiling with a strong 4-star or craftable light cone. The exceptions are characters like Acheron and Feixiao, whose signatures enable mechanics not easily replicated. Those cases are noted in individual character write-ups.

Every major version patch, approximately every 6 weeks. We also push mid-patch adjustments when significant meta discoveries emerge (new synergies, community-discovered rotations, unexpected balance changes). The version number and update date are always displayed prominently so you know exactly how current the rankings are. We update on patch day, not two weeks after it.

For the standard banner, target Bronya: she's still the best standard-pool support, though she is S tier in 4.4 rather than the near-limited value she once represented, so don't reroll-loop if you land her. Clara is the best reroll for FuA-focused players; Gepard for sustain-first accounts. The biggest new-account boost right now is free anyway: claim Gilgamesh or Archer from the Fate Contract: Renewal event before agonizing over reroll targets. For limited banners, the highest-value target in 4.4 is Himeko • Nova (SS), on banner the entire version. Full breakdown in the reroll section above.

Story mode doesn't need a meta team. A practical and entirely free starter composition: Trailblazer (Imaginary) + March 7th (Hunt) + Pela + Natasha. All four are free or standard pool, handle every story chapter through the main Trailblaze MSQ, and Pela's DEF shred carries relevance into mid-game endgame. Don't build around tier list rankings until Memory of Chaos is unlocked. You'll waste resources optimizing before the optimization phase actually begins.

Start with the freebies: Trailblazer (Elation), an S+ support form unlocked through the 4.2 main story, and a free Fate collab 5-star, Gilgamesh or Archer, from the Fate Contract: Renewal event, claimable from Trailblaze Level 3. The best limited target for a new account is Himeko • Nova, whose banner runs the entire version. On the standard banner, Bronya (S tier) remains the correct first target: she supports every DPS archetype from early game through endgame.