Roll up, roll up, one and all, come see the amazing Honkai Star Rail Guinaifen! This extravagant and enigmatic gal is a fiery four-star capable of inflicting plenty of red-hot damage through her damage over time, as a follower of the Nihility path. Guinaifen is a street performer at heart and brings this spark and flair into her skills in battle with cool tricks like throwing firecrackers or summoning multiple Ditings.
If you're constantly updating your teams like we are, check out our builds for Honkai Star Rail's Jade, Honkai Star Rail's Firefly, and Honkai Star Rail's Herta. Plus, if you're after some freebies, we have all the latest Honkai Star Rail codes for you, too.
Here's everything in our best Honkai Star Rail Guinaifen build.
What's the best Honkai Star Rail Guinaifen build?
Guinaifen is a four-star fire element character who follows the path of the Nihility. She's a surprisingly strong support character, offering a valuable debuff with permanent up-time, impressive personal damage for a support, and the ability to proc all burn DoT effects on enemies at will.
Here's a brief overview of our best HSR Guinaifen build:
| Best light cone | Good Night and Sleep Well |
| Light cone substitutes | Eyes of the Prey, Patience Is All You need |
| Best relic set | Firesmith of Lava Forging |
| Best planar ornaments | Pan-Galactic Commercial Enterprise |
| Main stats | Body – Effect hit rate Feet – Speed Link rope – Energy recharge Planar sphere – Fire damage bonus |
| Sub stats | Effect hit rate, energy recharge, attack, speed |
Guinaifen's best light cone is Good Night and Sleep Well. Her best relic set is four pieces of Firesmith of Lava Forging, paired up with two pieces of the planar ornament set, Pan-Galactic Commercial Enterprise.
When choosing relics for Guinaifen, we recommend prioritizing effect hit rate, energy recharge, attack, and speed. After that, a little extra HP%, defense%, and break effect is also handy.
In terms of skill priority, we recommend leveling up both her skill and talent first, followed by her ultimate, then her basic attack. Then, when leveling up her major traces, we recommend prioritizing High Poles first, then Walking on Knives, then Bladed Hoop.
How to use Guinaifen
As we mentioned earlier, Guinaifen is surprisingly strong in a support role. Not only does she deal an impressive amount of damage over time (and can apply it to multiple enemies at once), her talent also allows her to inflict enemies with the powerful Firekiss debuff. This increases their total damage taken by up to 7%, and can stack up to three times for a total maximum of 21%.
While she's alive and on the field, there's a 100% chance for her to apply Firekiss to an enemy after they sustain damage from a burn DoT. So it's a good thing that her skill not only deals damage in a blast AoE (up to 120% of her attack to the main target and up to 40% to adjacent enemies), but it also has a 100% base chance to burn all targets hit for two turns. The burn DoT itself deals up to 218% of her attack per tick, while also triggering that delicious Firekiss debuff, making for an incredibly potent cycle of burning and debuffing as long as you continue to use her skill every two turns.
Guinaifen's ultimate is also surprisingly powerful, dealing up to 120% of her attack as damage to all enemies on the field. Additionally, if a target is inflicted with burn, her ultimate immediately deals damage equal to 92% of the burn's original damage. So, in short, her kit is kind of like a budget, burn-focused version of Honkai Star Rail Kafka's.
To make the deal even sweeter, her ultimate only has a 120 energy cost, so it doesn't take too long to charge. Her traces are also super valuable, with her A2 granting her basic attack an 80% base chance to inflict the same burn DoT as her skill, which makes her far more SP-positive than you'd think.
With all that said, Guinaifen's rotation is pretty simple. Use her skill every two turns (or her basic attack, if you've unlocked her A2 talent) to apply burn to her enemies and, in turn, inflict them with Firekiss. Then, when all enemies are inflicted with burn, use her ultimate. Yup, it's that easy – just give them a couple of smacks, then watch them burn away to nothing. Beautiful.
What are the best light cones for Guinaifen?
Guinaifen, as a Nihility unit, benefits greatly from any light cone that helps her apply damage over time, and boosts her effect hit ratio.
If you choose to run Guinaifen in a team with Kafka, or Sampo – or both – then Fermata is a great light cone for her as it doubles down on the damage from Kafka and Sampo's DoT.
Here are the best HSR Guinaifen light cones:
| Good Night and Sleep Well | For every debuff the enemy has, Guinaifen's damage increases by 12%, stacking up to three times. This also applies DoT |
| Patience is All You Need | Increases the damage dealt by Guinaifen by 24%. After every attack she unleashes, her speed increases by 4.8%, stacking up to three times. If she hits an enemy not afflicted by Erode, she has a 100% chance to inflict it. Enemies inflicted with this are also considered to have Shock and receive DoT accordingly |
| Eyes of the Pray | Increases Guinaifen's effect hit rate by 20%, and her damage over time by 24% |
| Solitary Healing | Increases Guinaifen's break effect by 20%. When she uses her ultimate, she increases her DoT by 24%, lasting for two turns. When she defeats a target suffering from her burn DoT, she regenerates four energy |
| Fermata | Increases Guinaifen's break effect by 16%, and increases her damage to enemies affected by shock or wind shear by 16%. This also applies DoT |
| Void | At the start of a battle, Guinaifen's effect hit rate increases by 20% for three turns |
What are the best relics for Guinaifen?
Guinaifen definitely benefits from a little extra fire damage or attack stats, so the Firesmith of Lava-Forging and Musketeer of Wild Wheat relics are good choices.
Here are the best HSR Guinaifen relics:
| Firesmith of Lava -Forging | Two equipped: Increases fire damage Four equipped: Increases Guinaifen's skill damage by 12%. After unleashing her ultimate, her fire damage increases by 12% for the next attack |
| Musketeer of Wild Wheat | Two equipped: Increases attack Four equipped: Guinaifen's speed increases by 6% and her basic attack damage by 10% |
| Messenger Traversing Hackerspace | Two equipped: Increases speed Four equipped: Not recommended |
| Prisoner in Deep Confinement | Two equipped: Increases attack by 12% Four equipped: For every DoT the target enemy has, Guinaifen ignores 6% of their defense when dealing damage. This effect is valid for up to three different DoT states |
Here are Guinaifen's best planar ornaments:
| Pan-Galactic Commercial Enterprise | Two equipped: Increases Guinaifen's effect hit rate by 10%. Meanwhile, her attack increases by 25% of the current effect hit rate |
| Space Sealing Station | Two equipped: Increases Guinaifen's attack by 12%. When her speed reaches 120 or higher, attack increases by a further 12% |
Guinaifen stat recommendations
When you're picking out the best relics for Guinaifen, we recommend prioritizing these stats.
Main stats:
- Body: Effect hit ratio or attack/%
- Feet: Speed
- Planar sphere: Fire damage boost
- Link rope: Energy recharge
Sub-stats:
- Effect hit ratio
- Energy recharge
- Attack/%
- Speed
What are the best Guinaifen team comps?
Due to her universally appreciated debuff and impressive damage, Guinaifen is a flexible support character that can slot into many teams. Naturally, pairing her up with the likes of Kafka is a brilliant idea, allowing you to apply DoTs then simply sit back and watch the fireworks. However, you don't need Kafka to enjoy Guinaifen's powerful kit.
A personal favorite of ours, and a very good team comp, sees Guinaifen pair up in a triple-threat Nihility team with Kafka and Sampo, to really overwhelm any enemies.
Here are some examples of powerful Guinaifen team comps:
 Guinaifen |
 Kafka |
 Sampo |
Flex healer/buffer slot |
| Guinaifen |
Kafka |
 Asta |
 Luocha |
What are Guinaifen's skills?
Here are all of Guinaifen's passive and active skills. These multiplayers are based on Guinaifen's stats at her first level, so remember that they increase in power as you level up her traces.
Active skills:
| Basic attack | Standing Ovation Guinaifen throws a firecracker at one target. After unlocking the trace 'High Poles', Guinaifen's basic attack also has a chance of inflicting burn |
| Skill | Blazing Welcome Guinaifen launches a firecracker at enemies, dealing fire damage equal to 105% of her attack to the main target, and 35% to adjacent enemies. This has a 100% base chance of inflicting burn. This deals fire damage equal to 167% of Guinaifen's attack at the beginning of each turn, lasting two turns |
| Ultimate | Watch This Showstopper Guinaifen deals fire damage equal to 108% of her attack to all enemies. If a target is inflicted with burn, their status immediately produces 87% extra damage |
Passive skill:
| PatrAeon Benefits | When Guinaifen is on the field, there is a 100% base chance to apply Firekiss to an enemy after they take damage from the burn status. While in the Firekiss state, enemies receive 6.2% extra damage, lasting for three turns. This can stack three times |
Technique:
| Skill Showcase | Guinaifen throws a firecracker at an enemy to start a battle, which then does damage to the main target and adjacent enemy |
Major Traces:
| A2: High Poles | Guinaifen's basic attack has an 80% chance to inflict an enemy with burn |
| A4: Bladed Hoop | When the battle begins, Guinaifen's action advances forward by 25%. |
| A6: Walking on Knives | Guinaifen deals 20% more damage to enemies inflicted with burn. |
What are Guinaifen's eidolons?
Like with Genshin Impact's constellations, eidolons are powerful buffs that you can unlock if you end up with more than one copy of Guinaifen. As you continue pulling, you may receive several extra copies of Guinaifen, so if you do, here is what each level of her eidolon unlocks for you.
Here are all of HSR Guinaifen's eidolons:
| E1 | Slurping Noodles During Handstand When Guinaifen uses her skill, there is a 100% base chance to reduce the target enemy's effect resistance by 10% for two turns |
| E2 | Brushing Teeth While Whistling When an enemy target is burning, the damage multiplier of the burn status increases by 40% |
| E3 | Smashing Boulder on Chest Increases Guinaifen's skill level by two, up to a maximum of fifteen. Also increases her basic attack level by one, up to a maximum of ten |
| E4 | Blocking Pike With Neck Every time a burn status inflicted by Guinaifen causes damage, she regenerates two energy |
| E5 | Swallowing Sword to Stomach Increases Guinaifen's skill level by two, up to a maximum of fifteen. Also increases her basic attack level by one, up to a maximum of ten |
| E6 | Catching Bullet with Hands Increases the stackable count of Firekiss by one |
What are Guinaifen's ascension materials?
To get Guinaifen up to level 80 you need to use EXP logs, but specific materials are required at certain levels to bump up her ascension ranks, too.
Here are all of Guinaifen's ascension materials:
| Required level | Credits | Materials |
| 20 | 3.2k | Four artifex's module |
| 30 | 6.4k | Eight artifex's module |
| 40 | 12.8k | Two searing steel blades, five artifex's cogwheel |
| 50 | 32k | Five searing steel blades, eight artifex's cogwheel |
| 60 | 64k | 15 searing steel blades, five artifex's gyreheart |
| 70 | 128k | 28 searing steel blades, seven artifex's gyreheart |
Here's where to get all of HSR Guinaifen's ascension materials:
- Artifex's modules, cogwheels, and gyrehearts – obtain from Mara-struck soldiers, purchase from the Embers Exchange store, purchase from the Xianzhou Luofu world shop, and the synthesizer
- Searing steel blades – drops from the Stagnant Shadow: Shape of Scorch in Jarilo-VI's Great Mine
What are Guinaifen's trace materials?
You can enhance Guinaifen's attack power by upgrading her major and minor traces. To max out all of Guinaifen's traces, you need the following materials:
- 28 artifex's module, 42 artifex's cogwheel, and 42 artifex's gyreheart
- Obtain from Mara-struck soldiers, purchase from the Embers Exchange store, purchase from the Xianzhou Luofu world shop, and the synthesizer
- 12 obsidian of dread, 54 obsidian of desolation, and 105 obsidian of obsession
- Obtain from the Bud of Nihility calyx, purchase from the Embers Exchange store, purchase from Herta's Space Station world shop, and the Jarilo-VI world shop
- 12 Regret of Infinite Ochema
- Obtain from the Phantylia boss fight in the Echo of War at Scalegorge Waterscape
- Five tracks of destiny
- Obtain from events, as rewards in the Simulated Universe, from the Embers exchange, and NaSmeless Honor (battlepass) rewards
- 2,400,000 credits
Skill trace priority:
- Talent > Skill > ultimate > basic attack
Major trace priority:
- High Poles > Bladed Hoop > Walking on Knives
Now that you know how to rule as Guinaifen, get your teeth into our Honkai Star Rail tier list for the lowdown on all the playable characters, plus we have some Genshin Impact codes and Zenless Zone Zero codes for even more Hoyo goodies, plus all the latest Wuthering Waves codes if you're getting your gacha fix elsewhere.