You better duck, because Honkai Star Rail’s Yanqing is cruising on in – surfing on the back of an ice blade? This energetic, five-star ice Hunt character is capable of dishing out heaps of damage in a DPS role. So let’s sword-surf into our best HSR Yanqing build.
If you want to brush up on your knowledge of the Astral Express, check out our Honkai Star Rail tier list, Honkai Star Rail next banner, and Honkai Star Rail codes guides. We’ve also got a bunch of other builds just like this one, including our Honkai Star Rail’s Black Swan, Honkai Star Rail’s Huohuo, and Honkai Star Rail’s Gallagher guides.
Here’s everything in our Honkai Star Rail’s Yanqing build:
What’s the best Honkai Star Rail Yanqing build?
Yanqing is a five-star ice character who treads the path of the Hunt. His kit focuses on dishing out plenty of single target damage, meaning he’s best suited to a main or sub-DPS role. However, he also relies on having an ally who can shield him or taunt enemies for you to make the most of him.
Here’s a brief overview of our best HSR Yanqing build:
| Best light cone | In the Night |
| Light cone substitute |
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| Best relic set | Pioneer Diver of Dead Waters |
| Best planar ornament set | Firmament Frontline: Glamoth |
| Main stats |
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| Sub-stats |
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Yanqing’s best light cone is In the Night, and his best relic set is Pioneer Diver of Dead Waters. The best planar ornament set for Yanqing is Firmament Frontline: Glamoth.
When building Yanqing, crit damage is his most important stat. You should also aim to boost his crit rate to 20%, then go for attack% and speed.
He can deal a lot of single-target damage if you invest enough into him, especially if you pair him up with a powerful Harmony character such as Honkai Star Rail’s Bronya or Honkai Star Rail’s Tinyun to buff him.
How should I use Yanqing?
Yanqing has a pretty simple kit that’s easy to get the hang of. You should aim to use his skill whenever it’s his turn, then use his ultimate when Soulsteel Sync is active. These two are his main source of damage, so it’s important to line up any buffs from his allies and ensure you have enough skill points for Yanqing to use his skill regularly if you want to make the most of his kit.
Both Soulsteel Sync and Yanqing’s ultimate provide him with crit buffs, which are very valuable to him. The Soulsteel Sync state also provides him with the chance to trigger follow-up attacks, which don’t deal a lot of damage, but do regenerate energy for him and can freeze enemies.
However, keeping Soulsteel Sync active relies on Yanqing not receiving damage. Therefore you should always aim to have a tank and/or a character with a strong taunt on his team to avoid enemies attacking him – and it’s a good idea to keep a healer or buffer around to cleanse any debuffs if he does get hit.
What are the best light cones for Yanqing?
Yanquing’s best light cone is the five-star In the Night, which provides a variety of useful buffs that scale off his speed. Alternatively, Swordplay is a strong option, as gives him a massive boost to his damage – though it does rely on him attacking the same enemy repeatedly, meaning its benefits fall off a little in multi-target situations where you swap enemies often.
Yanqing’s signature five-star light cone, Sleep Like the Dead, is also a good choice, giving him a substantial crit damage boost and offering him a reliable damage boost when the buffs from his ultimate aren’t active.
| Light cone | Effect | How to obtain |
| In the Night | Increases Yanqing’s crit rate by 12%. If his speed is above 100, every additional 15 speed increases his basic attack damage and skill damage by 8%, and increases his ultimate crit damage by 8%. This effect can stack up to six times | Gacha |
| Swordplay | Each time Yanqing hits the same target, his damage dealt increases by 8%, stacking up to five times. This effect dispells if Yanqing changes targets | Gacha |
| Sleep Like the Dead | Increases Yanqing’s crit damage by 32%. When his basic attack or skill does not result in a crit hit, his crit rate increases by 40% for one turn. This effect can only trigger once every three turns | Gacha or purchase from the Starlight Shop |
What are the best relics for Yanqing?
As we mentioned before, the best build for Yanqing involves buffing his attack, crit rate, and ice damage bonus. Therefore, Pioneer Diver of Dead Waters is Yanqing’s best relic set thanks to its massive crit rate and crit damage buffs, and its debuffing synergy. You may not think that Yanqing counts as a debuffer, but simply freezing the enemy counts as debuffing them, so he benefits hugely from this set, especially on a debuff-heavy team. Alternatively, Hunter of Glacial Forest is great for buffing his key stats and it’s suited to a lot of ice-wielding characters in general.
Yanqing’s best planar ornament set is Firmament Frontline: Glamoth, which offers him a strong boost to both his attack and his damage. However, this set is tied to World 8 of the Simulated Universe. If you haven’t made it that far through yet, you can go for Space Sealing Station instead, which also gives him a healthy attack boost.
| Relic | Effect | How to obtain |
| Pioneer Diver of Dead Waters | Two equipped: increases damage dealt to enemies with debuff by 12% Four equipped: increases crit rate by 4%. Yanqing deals 8%/12% increased crit damage to enemies with at least two/three debuffs. After Yanqing inflicts a debuff on enemy targets, the aforementioned effects increase by 100%, lasting for one turn |
Cavern of Corrosion: Path of Dreamdive in Penacony’s The Reverie (Dreamscape) |
| Hunter of Glacial Forest | Two equipped: increases ice damage by 10% Four equipped: after Yanqing unleashes his ultimate, his crit damage increases by 25% for two turns |
Cavern of Corrosion: Path of Gelid Wind in Herta Space Station’s Storage Zone |
| Musketeer of Wild Wheat | Two equipped: increases attack by 10% Four equipped: increases Yanqing’s speed by 6% and his basic attack damage by 10% |
Cavern of Corrosion: Path of Drifting in Jarilo-VI’s Corridor of Fading Echoes |
Planar ornaments
| Relics | Effect | How to obtain |
| Firmament Frontline: Glamoth | Two equipped: increases Yanqing’s attack by 12%. When Yanqing’s speed is equal to or higher than 135/160, he deals 12%/18% more damage | Immersion Reward devices in World 8 of the Simulated Universe |
| Space Sealing Station | Two equipped: increases Yanqing’s attack by 12%. When his speed reaches 120 or higher, his attack increases by another 12% | Immersion Reward devices in World 3 of the Simulated Universe |
Relic stat recommendations
Main stats:
- Body: crit damage
- Feet: attack% or speed
- Planar sphere: ice damage
- Link rope: attack%
Sub-stats:
What’s the best Yanqing team comp?
Yanqing is a great main DPS who benefits from attack and crit buffs, so he pairs well with a lot of different support and sub-DPS units. Make sure you leave room for a decent tank or healer though!
Here are a couple of examples of strong Yanqing team comps:
| Main DPS | Support | Support | Tank |
 Yanqing |
 Bronya |
 Tingyun |
 Gepard |
| Main DPS | Support | Support | Tank |
Yanqing |
 Ruan Mei |
 Sparkle |
Gepard |
What are Yanqing’s abilities?
Here are all of Yanqing’s attacks and passive skills.
Active skills:
| Skill | Effect |
| Basic attack: Frost Thorn | Deal ice damage equal to 50% of Yanqing’s attack to a single enemy |
| Skill: Darting Ironthorn | Deal ice damage equal to 110% of Yanqing’s attack to one enemy and activate Soulsteel Sync for one turn |
| Ultimate: Amidst the Raining Bliss | Increases Yanqing’s critical rate by 60%. Also increases his critical damage by an extra 30% for one turn when Soulsteel Sync is active before dealing ice damage equal to 210% of his attack |
Passive skills:
| Skill | Effect |
| Talent: One With the Sword | When Soulsteel Sync is active: Yanqing is less likely to be targeted. It also increases his crit rate by 15% and his crit damage by 15%. When Yanqing attacks an enemy, there’s a 55% fixed chance to perform a follow-up attack, dealing ice damage equal to 25% of his attack to the enemy, which has a 65% base chance to freeze the enemy for one turn. The frozen target can’t take action and receives additional ice damage equal to 25% of his attack at the beginning of each turn. When Yanqing receives damage, the Soulsteel Sync effect disappears |
Technique:
| Technique | Effect |
| The One True Sword | After using his technique, at the beginning of the next battle Yanqing deals 30% more damage for two turns to targets whose current HP is equal to or higher than 50% |
Traces:
| Trace | Effect |
| Icing on the Kick | When Yanqing attacks, deals additional ice damage equal to 30% of his attack to targets with ice weakness |
| Frost Favors the Brave | When Soulsteel Sync is active, Yanqing’s effect resistance increases by 20% |
| Gentle Blade | When Yanqing triggers a critical hit, increases his speed by 10% for two turns |
What are Yanqing’s eidolons?
Similar to Genshin Impact’s constellations, eidolons are special buffs that you can unlock when you acquire more than one copy of a character from a warp.
Here are all of Yanqing’s eidolons:
| Eidolon | Description |
| Svelte Saber | Deals additional ice damage equal to 60% of Yanqing’s attack when hitting a frozen enemy |
| Supine Serenade | Increases energy regeneration rate by 10% when Soulsteel Sync is active |
| Sword Savant | Increases skill level by two up to a maximum of level 15. Also increases basic attack level by one up to a maximum of level ten |
| Searing Sting | When Yanqing’s HP is above 80% of his max HP, his ice resistance penetration increases by 12% |
| Surging Strife | Increases ultimate level by two up to a maximum of level 15. Also increases talent level by two up to a maximum of level 15 |
| Swift Swoop | If you defeat an enemy while Yanqing is receiving a buff from his ultimate, the duration of the buff increases by one turn |
What are Yanqing’s ascension materials?
You can use character EXP materials to get Yanqing all the way up to level 80, but you need to provide a set of specific materials at certain level intervals to increase his ascension ranks.
Here are all of Yanqing’s ascension materials:
| Required level | Credits | Materials |
| 20 | 4k | Five thief’s instinct |
| 30 | 8k | Ten thief’s instinct |
| 40 | 16k | Three gelid chitin and six usurper’s scheme |
| 50 | 40k | Seven gelid chitin and nine usurper’s scheme |
| 60 | 80k | 20 gelid chitin and six conqueror’s will |
| 70 | 160k | 35 gelid chitin and nine conqueror’s will |
Here’s where to get each of Yanqing’s ascension materials:
- Thief’s instinct / usurper’s scheme / conqueror’s will – drops from voidranger enemies on Herta Space Station, from Honkai Star Rail Simulated Universe enemies, from assignment rewards, or from the Embers Exchange store
- Gelid chitin – drops from the Honkai Star Rail Stagnant Shadow in Xianzhou: The Luofu’s Cloudford
What are Yanqing’s trace materials?
Traces are bonus abilities that boost a character’s basic attack and skills. To max out all of Yanqing’s traces, you’ll need the following materials:
- 41 thief’s instincts, 56 usurper’s schemes, and 58 conqueror’s wills
- Obtain from voidranger enemies on Herta Space Station, from Honkai Star Rail Simulated Universe enemies, from assignment rewards, or from the Embers Exchange store
- 15 arrows of the beast hunter, 72 arrows of the demon slayer, and 139 arrows of the starchaser
- Obtain from the Bud of the Hunt crimson calyx in the outlying snow plains, synthesis, and the embers exchange
- 12 guardian’s laments – rewards from the Echo of War: End of the Eternal Freeze
- 11 tracks of destiny
- Three million credits
Trace level priority
In terms of Yanqing’s traces, you should prioritize leveling up his ultimate first, above all. Here’s Yanqing’s trace level priority:
- Ultimate > Talent > Skill > Basic attack
That’s everything you need to know about Honkai Star Rail’s Yanqing. If you’re looking for more Hoyoverse content, check out our Genshin Impact tier list and Genshin Impact codes. We also have build guides like this one for Genshin Impact’s Bennett, Genshin Impact’s Xiangling, and Genshin Impact’s Venti.