Honkai Star Rail’s Ruan Mei is an elegant and sweet-natured woman, known for her position as member 81 of the Genius Society and co-creation of the Simulated Universe. As a dedicated scientist, she’s fairly mysterious, so we’re here to share her best build, including light codes and relics, with you.
Ruan Mei is just one of many unique and powerful Honkai Star Rail characters available in this sci-fi universe. It can be hard to know who to choose for your team, so we’ve ranked them all in our Honkai Star Rail tier list. If you need some more stellar jade, check out our Honkai Star Rail codes guide for some freebies. Take a look at our Honkai Star Rail Firefly and Honkai Star Rail Black Swan guides next.
Let’s dive into the genius mind of Honkai Star Rail’s Ruan Mei.
What’s the best Honkai Star Rail Ruan Mei build?
| Best light cone | Past Self in Mirror |
| Light cone alternatives | Memories of the Past |
| Best relic set | Watchmaker, Master of Dream Machinations |
| Best planar ornament set | Penacony, Land of the Dreams (ice teams) or Sprightly Vonwacq |
| Main stats |
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| Sub-stats |
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Ruan Mei’s best light cone is Past Self in Mirror, which massively buffs her break effect while increasing the whole team’s damage output. Her best relic set is Watchmaker, Master of Dream Machinations with plenty of break effect, speed, HP%, and defense% stats.
Penacony Land of the Dreams and Sprightly Vonwacq are both great fits for boosting Ruan Mei’s energy regeneration rate. Penacony is harder to get, but offers additional damage buffs to other ice types on your team
How should I use Ruan Mei?
Ruan Mei is a wonderful support character and currently the only unit in the game that can increase your team’s weakness break efficiency while buffing everyone’s attack. She takes a lot of investment, but she’s definitely worth it
What are the best light cones for Ruan Mei?
Unsurprisingly, Ruan Mei’s best light cone is her signature cone, Past Self in Mirror. It fits perfectly with her break effect-centric kit and further buffs the whole team’s damage while her ultimate’s field is active.
Of course, limited five-star cones are hard to come by, so Memories of the Past is a great alternative. It also buffs Ruan Mei’s break effect, though admittedly not as much, and can top up her energy after each attack. If you can pair this with her Days Wane, Thoughts Wax trace, she’ll be much easier to power up in combat.
| Light Cone | Effect | How to obtain |
| Past Self in Mirror (five-star) | Increases Ruan Meri’s break effect by 60%. When she uses her ultimate, increases all allies’ damage by 24%, lasting for three turns. Should the break effect exceed or equal 150%, recover one skill point. During the start of every wave, all allies regenerate ten energy. Effects of the same type cannot stack |
Light cone event warp |
| Memories of the Past (four-star) | Increases Ruan Mei’s break effect by 28%. When she attacks, she regenerates four energy. This can trigger once per turn | All banners |
| Meshing Cogs (three-star) | After Ruan Mei uses attacks or gets hit, additionally regenerates four energy. This effect can only be triggered one time per turn | All banners |
What are the best relics for Ruan Mei?
Since arriving in Penacony we’ve determined that Watchmaker, Master of Dream Machinations is Ruan Mei’s best four-piece set. Compared to our previous pick, Thief of Shooting Meteor, Watchmaker can buff both Ruan Mei’s own break effect and the whole team’s break effect whenever she uses her ultimate. That being said, Thief is still the best set to aim for in the early game.
Both of these sets have the same two-piece bonus, so they’re interchangeable in mixed builds depending on what you have access to. You can also pair two Thief or Watchmaker with two pieces of Messenger Traversing Hackerspace for additional speed or two pieces of Longevous Disciple for increased max HP and survivability.
Ruan Mei has quite a few options for planar ornaments. Penacony, Land of Dreams is a powerful option that can grant her three-turn ultimates and buff attackers on your ice-heavy team, but it’s a lot harder to farm. Sprightly Vonwacq offers similar regen buffs and is much easier to acquire, but doesn’t come with the damage buff.
Fleet of the Ageless can help with her survivability and grants the team additional attack buffs if her speed is high enough. Broken Keel buffs her effect resistance so she’s less likely to fall victim to debuffs.
| Relic set | Effect | How to obtain |
| Watchmaker, Master of Dream Machinations | Two pieces equipped: increases break effect by 16% Four pieces equipped: when Ruan Mei uses her ultimate on an ally, break effect for all allies increases by 30% for two turns. This effect cannot stack |
Cavern of Corrosion: Path of Dreamdive in The Reverie (Dreamscape), Penacony |
| Thief of Shooting Meteor | Two pieces equipped: increases break effect by 16% Four pieces equipped: increases Ruan Mei’s break effect by 16%. She regenerates three energy when she inflicts weakness break on an enemy |
Cavern of Corrosion: Path of Jabbing Punch in Jarilo-VI’s Silvermane Guard Restricted Zone |
| Messenger Traversing Hackerspace | Two pieces equipped: increases speed by 6% Four pieces equipped: when Ruan Mei uses her ultimate on any ally (including herself), speed for all allies increases by 12% for one turn. This effect cannot stack |
Cavern of Corrosion: Path of Elixir Seekers in The Xianzhou Luofu’s Alchemy Commission |
| Longevous Disciple | Two pieces equipped: increases max HP by 12% Four pieces equipped: when an enemy hits Ruan Mei or an ally (including herself) consumes Ruan Mei’s HP, her crit rate increases by 8% for two turns. This effect can stack two times |
Cavern of Corrosion: Path of Elixir Seekers in The Xianzhou Luofu’s Alchemy Commission |
Planar ornaments
| Planar ornament set | Effect | How to obtain |
| Fleet of the Ageless | Two pieces equipped: increases Ruan Mei’s max HP by 12%. When Ruan Mei’s speed reaches 120 or higher, all allies’ attack increases by 8% | Immersion Reward devices in World 3 of the Simulated Universe, or from Divergent Universe: Untoppled Walls |
| Broken Keel | Two pieces equipped: increases Ruan Mei’s effect resistance by 10%. When Ruan Mei’s effect resistance is at 30% or higher, all allies’ crit damage increases by 10% | Immersion Reward devices in World 7 of the Simulated Universe, or from Divergent Universe: Fruit of Evil |
| Penacony, Land of the Dreams | Two pieces equipped: increases Ruan Mei’s energy regeneration rate by 5%. Increases damage for all other allies with the same damage type as her by 10% | Immersion Reward devices in World 8 of the Simulated Universe, or from Divergent Universe: Pouring Blades |
| Sprightly Vonwacq | Two pieces equipped: increases Ruan Mei’s energy regeneration rate by 5%. When her speed reaches 120 or higher, her action is advanced forward by 40% immediately upon entering battle | Immersion Reward devices in World 4 of the Simulated Universe, or from Divergent Universe: Smelted Heart |
Relic stat recommendations
Main stats:
- Body: HP% or defense%
- Feet: speed
- Planar sphere: HP% or defense%
- Link rope: energy regeneration rate or break effect
Sub-stats:
- Break effect
- Speed
- HP%
- Defense%
What are the best Ruan Mei team comps?
Ruan Mei is a versatile support unit that can offer buffs to your team’s weakness break efficiency and overall damage output. With help from your other favorite supports and healers, she can slot into almost any generalist DPS team comp out there. We recommend pairing her with a strong ice-type DPS like Honkai Star Rail’s Jingliu if you’re also running Penacony Land of the Dreams.
Here are some examples of strong Ruan Mei team comps:
 Jingliu |
 Ruan Mei |
 Bronya |
 Huohuo |
 Firefly |
Ruan Mei |
 Trailblazer (Harmony) |
 Gallagher |
 Kafka |
Ruan Mei |
 Black Swan |
Huohuo |
What are Ruan Mei’s abilities?
Active skills:
| Skill | Effect |
| Basic attack: Threading Fragrance | Deals ice damage equal to 50% of Ruan Mei’s attack to a single target |
| Skill: String Sings Slow Swirls | After using her skill, Ruan Mei gains Overtone, lasting for three turns. When Ruan Mei has Overtone, all allies’ damage increases by 16% and weakness break efficiency increases by 50% |
| Ultimate: Petals to Stream, Repose in Dream | Creates a field for two turns that increases all-type resistance penetration by 15% for all allies. Allies’ attacks apply Thanatoplum Rebloom to enemies. When marked enemies attempt to recover from weakness break, Thanatoplum Rebloom triggers, extending the duration of their weakness break, delaying their action by 20% of Ruan Mei’s break effect plus 10%, and dealing break damage equal to 30% of Ruan Mei’s ice break damage. |
Passive skill:
| Skill | Effect |
| Talent: Somatotypical Helix | Increases speed by 8% for all allies excluding Ruan Mei. When allies break an enemy target’s weakness, Ruan Mei deals break damage equal to 60% of her ice break damage to this enemy |
Technique:
| Technique | Effect |
| Silken Serenade | After using the technique, at the start of the next battle, Ruan Mei automatically uses her skill without consuming skill points. In Simulated Universe when Ruan Mei has Silken Serenade, the team member actively attacking enemies will always trigger enemy weakness regardless of their type and reduce all enemies’ toughness. When breaking weakness, triggers weakness break effect corresponding to the attacker’s type. For every blessing in possession (up to a max of 20), the toughness-reducing damage of this attack increases by 100%. After breaking an enemy target’s weakness, additionally deals break damage equal to 100% of Ruan Mei’s ice break damage to the enemy |
Traces:
| Trace | Effect |
| Candle Lights on Still Waters | In battle, for every 10% of Ruan Mei’s break effect that exceeds 120%, her skill additionally increases allies’ damage by 6%, up to a maximum of 36% |
| Days Wane, Thoughts Wax | Ruan Mei regenerates five energy at the start of her turn |
| Inert Respiration | Increases break effect by 20% for all allies |
What are Ruan Mei’s eidolons?
Eidolons are bonus abilities that you unlock when you pull multiple copies of a character. If you’re lucky enough to pull multiple Ruan Meis, here are her eidolons:
| Eidolon | Effect |
| Neuronic Embroidery | While her ultimate’s field is deployed, all allies’ damage dealt ignores 20% of the target enemy’s defense |
| Reedside Promenade | With Ruan Mei on the field, all allies increase their attack by 40% when dealing damage to enemies with weakness break |
| Viridescent Pirouette | Increases Ruan Mei’s ultimate level by two, up to a max of 15, and her talent level by two, up to a max of 15 |
| Chatoyant Éclat | When an enemy target’s weakness is broken, Ruan Mei’s break effect increases by 100% for three turns |
| Languid Barrette | Increases Ruan Mei’s skill level by two, up to a max of 15, and her basic attack level by one, up to a max of ten |
| Sash Cascade | Extends the Petals to Stream, Repose in Dream field’s duration by one turn. Somatotypical Helix’s break damage multiplier increases by 200% |
What are Ruan Mei’s ascension materials?
To ascend Ruan Mei to her highest level, you’ll need to pass some checkpoints along the way.
Here are all of the materials you need to fully ascend Ruan Mei:
| Required level | Credits | Ascension materials |
| 20 | 4k | Five immortal scionettes |
| 30 | 8k | Ten immortal scionettes |
| 40 | 16k | Three gelid chitins and six immortal aeroblossoms |
| 50 | 40k | Seven gelid chitins and nine immortal aeroblossoms |
| 60 | 80k | 20 gelid chitins and six immortal lumintwigs |
| 70 | 160k | 35 gelid chitins and nine immortal lumintwigs |
Here’s where to get all of Ruan Mei’s ascension materials:
- Immortal scionette, aeroblossom, and limuntwig – mara-struck enemies in the Xianzhou Luofu or the Honkai Star Rail simulated universe, made via synthesis, from assignment rewards, or the embers exchange store
- Gelid chitin – drops from the Stagnant Shadow: Shape of Icicle in the Xianzhou Luofu’s Cloudfort
What are Ruan Mei’s trace materials?
You need trace materials to fully power up all of Ruan Mei’s attacks and bonus abilities. Here are all of Ruan Mei’s trace materials:
- 41 immortal scionettes, 56 immortal aeroblossoms, and 58 immortal lumintwigs
- Obtain from mara-struck enemies in the Xianzhou Luofu or the Honkai Star Rail simulated universe, made via synthesis, from assignment rewards, or the embers exchange store
- 15 harmonic tunes, 72 ancestral hymns, and 139 stellaris symphonies
- Obtain from the Bud of Harmony crimson calyx in the Jarilo-VI robot settlement, synthesis, and the embers exchange
- 12 past evils of the borehole planet disaster – rewards from the Echo of War: Borehole Planet’s Old Crater
- 11 tracks of destiny
- Three million credits
Skill trace priority:
- Ultimate > Skill > Talent > Basic attack
Major trace priority:
- Candle Lights on Still Waters > Inert Respiration > Days Wane, Thoughts Wax
That’s everything we know so far about Honkai Star Rail’s Ruan Mei. If you fancy checking out Hoyoverse’s open-world RPG, make sure to visit our Genshin Impact tier list, Genshin Impact codes, and Genshin Impact events guides. We also have builds for characters like Genshin Impact’s Furina and Genshin Impact’s Venti.