While there are heaps of awesome characters in Honkai Star Rail, Blade truly stands out. From his striking, vampiric attire, to his badass ultimate animation, and even his mysterious past, he looks as though he could easily take the role of a protagonist for Netflix’s next big vampire anime hit. Luckily, we don’t have to wait for Netflix to fund this one – as we can see HSR Blade in action right here.
In this guide, we go over what we know about him, his skills and eidolons, and what the best build is. You can always count on the guy with the cool hair and an enigmatic past to help you out as you attempt to get a stellaron out of your tummy, right? If you’re hoping to find out more about the friendly (and not-so-friendly) faces you can meet on your adventure aboard the Astral Express, check out our Honkai Star Rail tier list and Honkai Star Rail codes guides.
Here’s everything in our best Honkai Star Rail Blade build:
What’s the best Honkai Star Rail Blade build?
| Best light cone | The Unreachable Side |
| Light cone substitutes |
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| Best relic set | Longevous Disciple |
| Best planar ornament set | Rutilent Arena |
| Main stats |
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| Sub-stats |
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Blade is a five-star wind DPS who treads the path of the Destruction. His best light cone is his signature five-star, The Unreachable Side, and his best relic set is Longevous Disciple. Blade’s best planar ornament set is Rutilent Arena.
When picking relics for Blade, you should aim to get his speed to around 121-136 first (if you’re pairing him up with Bronya, you need to get his speed to at least two points higher than hers), then focus on crit rate and damage, followed by HP%.
In terms of skill priorities, you should level up his basic attack first. Then you should level his talent and skill equally, followed by his ultimate. As for traces, his A6 (Cyclone of Destruction) is your main priority, followed by his A4 (Neverending Deaths), and his A2 (Vita Infinita).
How to use Blade
Blade is a high-impact wind damage dealer who teeters on the edge of the blade (pun intended), dealing damage based on his max HP and how much damage he takes. He also sacrifices portions of his HP in order to dish out even more damage. As such, we recommend focusing on increasing his max HP, attack, and wind damage.
Blade’s core gameplay revolves heavily around his talent, which sees him gain stacks whenever he takes damage or consumes his own HP. At five stacks, he consumes all stacks to launch a follow-up attack on all enemies, while also healing a chunk of his own HP.
As such, he’s relatively self-sufficient, and actually appreciates being hit – though, thanks to the HP drain of his skill and ultimate, he doesn’t need to receive enemy damage in order to gain stacks.
Speaking of which, Blade’s skill is another key component in his damage. It enhances his normal attack, turning it into a blast AoE that can deal up to 40% of his attack plus 100% of his max HP against his primary target, as well as 16% of his attack plus 40% of his max HP to ajacent enemies. Note that his enhanced basic attacks don’t generate skill points, but they also don’t consume any additional skill points, making him pretty cost-efficient.
On the other hand, while Blade’s ultimate does dish out a decent amount of damage, he’s not reliant on it at all, as the majority of his damage comes from his talent and skill.
Due to Blade consistently sacrificing his health in exchange for damage, we found that Honkai Star Rail’s Luocha synergizes well with him, as Luocha’s passive and skill has him immediately heal an ally’s health when it drops below a certain threshold.
Additionally, if you have Blade’s second eidolon, ‘Missed Dreams and Countless Regrets’, we believe Luocha’s passive healing is capable of triggering the damage increase stacks, as well. However, we’re unsure if being healed affects Blade’s passive stacks, so we’ll be sure to update this guide once we’ve had the chance to test this further.
What’s the best Honkai Star Rail Blade light cone?
Blade’s five-star signature light cone, The Unreachable Side, is his best-in-slot, giving him a hefty boost to his crit rate and max HP, and boosting his damage whenever his HP drops. This is super easy to trigger considering Blade’s kit revolves around him sacrificing HP, so he can consistently reap the benefits of that additional damage boost.
Blade’s second-best light cone is A Secret Vow, and is a strong choice regardless of what superimpose level you’ve got it to. It offers an unconditional 20% damage bonus even at S1, and can achieve 50% uptime on the additional damage bonus for a total of 60% damage bonus at S5. Just keep in mind that it’s harder to maintain up-time if you have Luocha on your team with Blade, due to his passive heals. Regardless, it’s still an impressive and easy-to-obtain option.
Alternatively, you can go with Mutual Demise for the crit rate boost, or On the Fall of an Aeon for the stacking attack buff. However, these aren’t as good as The Unreachable Side or A Secret Vow.
| Light cone | Effect | How to obtain |
| The Unreachable Side | Increases Blade’s crit rate by 18% and his max HP by 18%. When an enemy attacks Blade or her consumes his own HP, his damage increases by 24%. This effect expires after Blade unleashes an attack | Gacha |
| A Secret Vow | Increases Blade’s damage by 20%. Blade also deals an extra 20% of his damage to enemies with a higher HP percentage than him | Gacha |
| Mutual Demise | If Blade’s current HP is lower than 80%, his crit rate increases by 12% | Gacha |
| On the Fall of an Aeon | Whenever Blade attacks, his attack in this battle increases by 8%, up to four times. Additionally, when he inflicts weakness break on enemies, his damage increases by 12% for two turns | Purchase from Herta’s Store |
What are the best Honkai Star Rail Blade relics?
Longevous Disciple is the relic set for Blade. The two-piece bonus is handy as Blade scales off max HP, and the four-piece bonus compliments the HP sacrifice mechanic baked into his kit, making it easy for him to obtain that stackable crit bonus.
Alternatively, you can mix two pieces of of Longevous Disciple with two pieces of Eagle of Twilight Line, which boosts his wind damage, or Messenger Traversing Hackerspace, which boosts his speed. You can also mix two pieces of Eagle of Twilight Line with two pieces of Messenger Traversing Hackerspace instead, though we recommend investing into pieces with some HP if you go for this option.
In terms of Planar Ornaments, Rutilent Arena is the best set for Blade, boosting his basic attack and skill damage. Alternatively, Inert Salsotto is a strong option, boosting his crit, ultimate, and follow-up attack damage.
| Relic | Effect | How to obtain |
| Longevous Disciple | Two equipped: increases max HP Four equipped: when an enemy hits Blade, or an ally (including Blade) consumes his HP, his crit rate increases for a certain number of turns. This effect can stack |
Cavern of Corrosion opening in version 1.2 |
| Eagle of Twilight Line | Two equipped: increases wind damage by 10% |
Cavern of Corrosion: Path of Gelid Wind in Herta Space Station’s Storage Zone |
| Messenger Traversing Hackerspace | Two equipped: increases speed by 6% | Cavern of Corrosion: Path of Elixir Seekers in The Xianzhou Luofu’s Alchemy Commission |
Planar Ornaments
| Relic | Effect | How to obtain |
| Rutilent Arena | Two equipped: increases Blade’s crit rate by 8%. When his crit rate reaches 50% or higher, Blade’s basic attack and skill damage increases by 15% | Immersion Reward devices in World 7 of the Simulated Universe |
| Inert Salsotto | Two equipped: increases Blade’s crit rate by 8%. When his current crit rate reaches 50% or higher, Blade’s ultimate and follow-up attack damage increases by 15% | Immersion Reward devices in World 6 of the Simulated Universe |
Relic stat recommendations
When choosing relics for Blade, we recommend focusing on the following stats.
Main stats:
- Body – crit rate/damage
- Feet: speed or HP%
- Planar sphere: wind damage bonus or HP%
- Link rope: HP%
Sub-stats:
- Crit rate/damage
- Speed
- HP%
Remember, if you’re using Inert Salsotto or Rutilent Arena, you should aim to get his crit rate to at least 50%.
What are Honkai Star Rail’s Blade’s attacks?
Active:
| Skill | Effect |
| Basic attack: Shard Sword | Deal 60% of Blade’s attack as wind damage to a target enemy |
| Enhanced basic attack: Forest of Swords | Consume 10% of Blade’s max HP and deal wind damage to a single enemy equal to the sum of 20% of his attack and 50% of his max HP. In addition, deals wind damage equal to the sum of 8% of Blade’s attack and 20% of his max HP to adjacent targets. Using Forest of Swords when Blade’s HP is insufficient reduces his HP to one. This attack cannot regenerate skill points |
| Skill: Hellscape | Consumes HP equal to 30% of Blade’s max HP to enter the Hellscape state. When Hellscape is active, his cannot use his skill, his damage dealt increases by 12%, and his basic attack Shard Sword is enhanced to Forest of Swords for three turns. If Blade’s current HP is insufficient, his HP is reduced to one when he uses his skill. This skill does not regenerate energy. Using this skill does not end the current turn |
| Ultimate: Death Sentence | Sets Blade’s current HP to 50% of his max HP and deals wind damage equal to the sum of 24% of his attack, 60% of his max HP, and 60% of the total HP he has lost in the current battle to a single enemy. At the same time, deals wind damage to adjacent targets equal to the sum of 9.6% of his attack, 24% of his max HP, and 24% of the total HP he has lost in the current battle. The total HP Blade has lost in the current battle is capped at 90% of his max HP. This value resets and re-accumulates after he uses his ultimate |
Passive:
| Skill | Effect |
| Talent: Shuhu’s Gift | When Blade sustains damage or consumes his HP, he gains one stack of Charge, stacking up to five times. He can gain a max of one Charge stack every time an enemy attacks him. When Charge stack reaches the maximum, immediately launches a follow-up attack on all enemies, dealing wind damage equal to 22% of Blade’s attack plus 55% of his max HP. At the same time, restores Blade’s HP by 25% of his max HP. After the follow-up attack, Blade consumes all Charges |
Technique:
| Skill | Effect |
| Karma Wind | Immediately attacks the enemy. After entering combat, consumes 20% of Blade’s max HP while dealing wind damage equal to 40% of his max HP to all enemies. If Blade’s current HP is insufficient, using his Technique reduces his HP to one |
Traces:
| Trace | Effect |
| Vita Infinita | When Blade’s current HP is at 50% of max HP or lower, incoming healing increases by 20% |
| Neverending Deaths | If Blade hits a weakness-broken enemy after using Forest of Swords, he will restore HP equal to 5% of his max HP plus 100 |
| Cyclone of Destruction | Blade’s talent follow-up damage increases by 20% |
What are Honkai Star Rail Blade’s eidolons?
Like Genshin Impact’s constellations, Honkai Star Rail eidolons are special bonuses you get by pulling more than one copy of a character. Here are all of Blade’s eidolons.
| Eidolon | Effect |
| E1: Blade Cuts the Deepest in Hell | Blade’s ultimate deals additionally increased damage to a single enemy target, with the increased amount equal to 150% of Blade’s total HP loss in the current battle. The total HP Blade has lost in the current battle is capped at 90% of his max HP. This value resets and reaccumulates after he uses his ultimate |
| E2: Ten Thousand Sorrows From One Broken Dream | When Blade is in the Hellscape state, his crit rate increases by 15% |
| E3: Hardened Blade Bleeds Coldest Shade | Increases Blade’s ultimate level by thwo, to a maximum of 15. Also increases the level of his talent by two, up to a maximum of level 15 |
| E4: Rejected by Death, Infected With Life | When Blade’s current HP drops to 50% or lower of his max HP, increases his max HP by 20%. Stacks up to two times |
| E5: Death By Ten Lords’ Gaze | Increases Blade’s skill level by two, up to a maximum of 15. Also increases the level of his basic attack by one, to a maximum of ten |
| E6: Reborn Into an Empty Husk | The maximum number of Charge stacks is reduced to four. The damage of the follow-up attack triggered by Blade’s talent additionally increases by 50% of his max HP |
What are Honkai Star Rail Blade’s ascension materials?
You can get Honkai Star Rail’s Blade all the way up to level 80, but you need to use a set of specific materials at set intervals to ascend him and raise his level cap.
| Required level | Credits | Ascension materials |
| 20 | 4k | Five immortal scionette |
| 30 | 8k | Ten immortal scionette |
| 40 | 16k | Six immortal aeroblossom andthree ascendant debris |
| 50 | 40k | Nine immortal aeroblossom and seven ascendant debris |
| 60 | 80k | Six immortal lumintwig and 20 ascendant debris |
| 70 | 160k | Nine immortal lumintwig and 35 ascendant debris |
Who is Honkai Star Rail’s Yingxing?
During the main story quest in the 1.2 Honkai Star Rail update, we discover that Yinxing is actually Blade’s real name. This information crops up towards the end of the 1.2 Trailblaze mission, when you walk towards the great dragon. Interact with the ethereal characters to uncover memories, including one where you can hear Blade’s voice talking to a High Elder who calls him Yingxing.
That’s everything we know about Honkai Star Rail’s Blade at the moment. While we wait for version 1.2 to drop, check out our Genshin Impact content like our Genshin Impact codes guide and Genshin Impact tier list. We also have build guides for characters like Genshin Impact’s Xingqiu, Genshin Impact’s Chongyun, and Genshin Impact’s Keqing.