Honkai: Star Rail Tier List

Phainon is the best DPS in Version 4.1. His E0 output with a standard relic setup is best-in-slot for single-target content across Memory of Chaos and Apocalyptic Shadow. Castorice competes for the absolute ceiling inside a full Remembrance team, but Phainon's universality and lower team investment keep him at number one for most accounts.

Depends on your roster. If you lack a top carry, pull Phainon. He stays relevant for multiple patches and doesn't require Sunday to function, just performs better with him. If you already have Firefly, Feixiao, or Acheron built and your clears aren't landing, pull Sunday. His value multiplies with every DPS on your account and raises the floor more than a redundant carry would.

Yes. Firefly is S+ tier and has not fallen off. Fugue's addition made Super Break more consistent, not less. Firefly + Fugue + Ruan Mei + Gallagher is still a top-four team in 4.1 and clears all endgame content comfortably. She's not being displaced. She's sharing the top tier with more company.

The best MoC team is Phainon + Sunday + Ruan Mei + Huohuo. This handles virtually any modifier due to its raw damage and flexible rotation. Equally competitive: Feixiao + Robin + Topaz + Aventurine (unchanged from 2.x, still top-3 MoC) and Firefly + Fugue + Ruan Mei + Gallagher. If you have any of these three compositions, you're not missing MoC stars.

Pure Fiction rewards AoE damage. The best teams use: The Herta + Himeko + Robin + sustain (current standard), Kafka + Black Swan + Sampo + Huohuo (DoT dominance), or the Castorice Remembrance team for multi-target. Avoid single-target hypercarry teams like Phainon in PF, as his strength doesn't translate to this mode.

Apocalyptic Shadow rewards heavy single-target DPS with Break efficiency. Phainon hypercarry and Firefly Super Break are both built for this mode specifically, and both clear comfortably. Feixiao FuA is also competitive here. The key distinction from MoC: AS rewards high Toughness reduction, which gives Break teams a specific edge on its boss-modifier stages. Any of the top three compositions will clear.

Yes. Acheron is S+ tier and one of the most complete DPS kits in the game. Her Nihility team with Jiaoqiu and Black Swan is clean, her damage is consistent across modes, and her E0 value is excellent. If she comes around on rerun and you don't have her, pull. The one caveat: she needs specific Nihility supports to reach her ceiling, so factor that team cost into the decision.

Aventurine for FuA teams and any team that doesn't need mass energy restoration: his shields and damage contribution are unmatched. Huohuo when your DPS needs constant energy to fuel rotations (e.g., Sunday-anchored teams where every Ultimate cycle matters). Lingsha for Break-adjacent teams where her Nihility path enables unique synergies. All three are S+, so you won't go wrong with any of them. Only pull a second sustain if your team specifically needs what the others provide.

Blade is A-tier in 4.1, playable and respectable, but not a current meta choice. His HP-scaling kit was innovative at release but the damage ceiling hasn't kept pace with newer carries. He works in a Bronya + Pela hypercarry shell and his natural sustain makes him durable. If you have him built, he'll clear content. Don't invest heavily in him as a new account's first limited DPS pull in 4.1.

Yes, with the right investments. HSR is genuinely F2P-friendly for endgame viability. Trailblazer (Imaginary) is S-tier. Gallagher is preferred over 5-star healers in Break teams. Pela provides DEF shred that has 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 the best standard-pool support in the game and works with every DPS archetype without needing limited pulls to realize her value. Clara is the next-best reroll for FuA-focused players; Gepard for accounts that want early-game survivability. For limited banners, the highest-value targets in 4.1 are Phainon (best carry), Sunday (best support if you have a carry), and Aventurine (most plug-and-play sustain). 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.

The best limited characters to target as a new player are Phainon if you lack a top DPS, or Sunday if you already have a strong carry. The best free-to-obtain character is Trailblazer (Imaginary), an S-tier support acquired through story missions at zero cost. On the standard banner, Bronya is the correct first target: she supports every DPS archetype and holds value from early game through high-end endgame without a single limited pull spent.