Our Honkai Star Rail tier list for the best characters during May 2024 in version 2.2 covers who the best DPS, supports, and healers currently are to help you decide who to use on your teams.
The free characters Honkai: Star Rail provides you with are actually very good for clearing story content, but it's also important to have multiple characters and teams ready to take on different combat scenarios, as even the best characters can't brute force their way through everything.
Below you'll find our Honkai: Star Rail tier list, as of version 2.2 in May 2024.
On this page:
Explainers:
- Honkai Star Rail tier list explained
Tier lists:
- All characters
- SS-tier characters
- S-tier characters
- A-tier characters
- B-tier characters
- C-tier characters
- D-tier characters
For more helpful information, check out our codes, next Banner, and tips and tricks pages.
Honkai Star Rail tier list explained
Understanding how good 5-Star and 4-Star characters can be is useful when deciding which Banner to Warp on, or who to invest your resources into, but keep in mind that having a team of 5-Star characters is not essential to clear content in Star Rail.
It's more important how you build a team around each individual combat scenario than bringing only characters considered S-tier, especially if their abilities don't sync-up, or the enemies aren't weak to their Elemental type.
Our tier list factors in how desirable a character is to have in all combat scenarios, not just their ideal set-ups. This covers fighting through story content, taking on challenging bosses, the Simulated Universe, Swarm, and the Forgotten Hall.
![Honkai Star Rail tier list for best characters in 2.2 May 2024 (1) Honkai Star Rail tier list for best characters in 2.2 May 2024 (1)](https://i0.wp.com/assetsio.gnwcdn.com/How-to-retreat-in-Honkai-Star-Rail-cover.jpg?width=690&quality=75&format=jpg&auto=webp)
Additionally, if there are two characters who perform similar functions, but one does it better, then it's likely they won't be in the same tier - but this doesn't mean you shouldn't use the character in the lower tier!
For example, Huohuo and Bailu are both healers, but we consider Huohuo a better healer because she also recovers Energy for your team, so we've placed Huohuo in a higher tier than Bailu. This doesn't mean you should use Huohuo over Bailu all the time if you have both. You might need Bailu for her Electric attacks instead of Huohuo's Wind attacks, or for her ability to revive a downed ally.
Make sure to read the reasoning for why we've placed a character in a certain tier instead of just basing your decisions of where they rank when making choices on how to build your teams! Often a lower-tier character can clear a lot of content, they just can't do it as well, or as quick, as similar ones we've ranked above them.
![Honkai Star Rail tier list for best characters in 2.2 May 2024 (2) Honkai Star Rail tier list for best characters in 2.2 May 2024 (2)](https://i0.wp.com/assetsio.gnwcdn.com/Honkai-Star-Rail-beta-release-time%2C-dates%2C-and-what-we-know-about-the-final-closed-beta-cover.jpg?width=690&quality=75&format=jpg&auto=webp)
Keep in mind that any tier list is a subjective analysis. Although we've tested the characters and taken into consideration how useful the community finds somebody, there's no right answer when it comes to where one should be placed.
Most importantly, have fun building teams in Honkai: Star Rail! There are some really interesting party compositions to play around with, and there's never just one solution to a combat challenge.
Version 2.2 with Robin and Topaz is here! Phase 2 also brings Boothill and a Fu Xuan rerun. So make sure to redeem those new codes for Stellar Jade if you want them or future characters - and check out our regularly updated tier list. For everything else, we have pages on the next Banner, Ministry of Education quiz answers, and how to get more Star Rail Passes.
Honkai Star Rail tier list in 2.2 May 2024
We have far more details below in each individual tier list that we highly recommend reading before deciding anything on what characters to upgrade, but to give you a general idea of where each character sits during version 2.2 we've abbreviated this information in a simple table below.
![Honkai Star Rail tier list for best characters in 2.2 May 2024 (3) Honkai Star Rail tier list for best characters in 2.2 May 2024 (3)](https://i0.wp.com/assetsio.gnwcdn.com/Honkai-Star-Rail-1.0-Banner-and-event-details-cover.jpg?width=690&quality=75&format=jpg&auto=webp)
At a glance, as of version 2.2 in May 2024, here's our current Honkai Star Rail tier list:
Tier | Characters |
---|---|
SS-tier | Aventurine, Bronya, Fu Xuan, Huohuo, Luocha, Pela, Robin, Ruan Mei, Silver Wolf, Sparkle, Tingyun |
S-tier | Acheron, Gepard, Imbibitor Lunae, Jingliu, Trailblazer (Harmony) |
A-tier | Argenti, Asta, Bailu, Black Swan, Blade, Clara, Dr Ratio, Gallagher, Hanya, Himeko, Jing Yuan, Kafka, Lynx, March 7th, Qingque, Seele, Topaz, Welt, Xueyi, Yukong |
B-tier | Guinaifen, Herta, Luka, Misha, Natasha, Sampo, Serval, Trailblazer (Fire), Yanqing |
C-tier | Sushang |
D-tier | Arlan, Dan Heng, Hook, Trailblazer (Physical) |
We've made some big placement changes to show just how good Acheron, Jingliu and Imbibitor Lunae are. They're not as essential as the support characters in our SS-tier, however, so we had to move a lot of characters down to accommodate for highlighting them.
Keep in mind that even lower-tiered characters can be amazing in their ideal situations, or with a dedicated team built around boosting them.
Divided into their tiers, here's detailed information of what we think of every character in Honkai: Star Rail:
Honkai Star Rail tier list for SS-tier characters
We consider these SS-tier characters to be the best of the best in Star Rail due to their incredible support capabilities, debuffs, or passive and active attacks that add more benefits to your party than just damage potential against enemies weak to their Element.
In alphabetical order, here's our Honkai: Star Rail tier list for every SS-tier character as of version 2.2 in May 2024:
Name | Rarity | Element | Path | Picture | Reasoning |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aventurine | 5-Star | Imaginary | The Preservation | ![]() | With a guaranteed shield for the entire team with his Skill, enhancement to follow-up attacks, Crit Damage, and Effect Resistance, Aventurine is an all-in-one Preservation character with some Harmony path abilities. Add his potential as a damage dealer himself through his Ultimate and follow-up attacks, and he's an excellent pick for your sustain slots, especially if the enemies have an Imaginary weakness, or your main DPSs use follow-up attacks. |
Bronya | 5-Star | Wind | The Harmony | ![]() | Want another turn? Bronya's skill dispels one ally's debuff and lets you advance their turn by 100%, essentially letting you swap to a character who already had a turn. This basically means you can have two goes with a DPS, healing, or support ability. Her Ultimate and Technique will also buff attack and Crit damage for the whole party, making her useful in the majority of parties in Star Rail. |
Fu Xuan | 5-Star | Quantum | The Preservation | ![]() | Invest in Fu Xuan's health stat enough and she's one of the most useful characters in Star Rail, as she acts like a tank for your team. When her Skill is activated, Fu Xuan takes damage meant for other team members, and then when she falls below 50% HP, her talent activates and she heals herself. As long as you're careful with building this talent back up again, Fu Xuan can help keep your team alive for a long, long time! |
Huohuo | 5-Star | Wind | The Abundance | ![]() | Huhuo provides great healing for your team through her Skill, but she's also a secret Harmony character really, as her Ultimate regenerates Energy for everyone on the team but her, and ups their attack stat as well. The gains to Energy and attack that Huohuo provides means that she can replace Harmony or debuffing Nihility characters on some teams, freeing up a slot. Or, she can boost your DPS even further if you pair her with other excellent supports. |
Luocha | 5-Star | Imaginary | The Abundance | ![]() | Luocha is a unique Abundance character as his healing capabilities actually scale off attack. Luocha applies a special Field when he reaches two Abyss Flower stacks which heal allies when they attack. Although he doesn't heal with his Ultimate, it applies Imaginary damage to all enemies and dispels one buff from them, and after investing in his Traces, Luocha is the best passive healer in the game. All you have to do is keep attacking and your party will continue to automatically heal, no Skill Points required. As healers are so important in the hardest battles, Luocha is a fantastic addition to any team in need of one. |
Pela | 4-Star | Ice | The Nihility | ![]() | Pela is a very good pick for almost any team, as she debuffs enemies while gaining Energy with her Skill, which is useful against annoying Elites and bosses. Her Ultimate is also incredibly useful, as it reduces the defence of all enemies while applying a little Ice damage, creating a nice opening for your AOE damage dealers, especially if they're Ice attackers. She's slightly less useful against single target enemies, but only because there are other support characters (like Silver Wolf) who can be more effective in this situation, especially if the target isn't weak to Ice. |
Robin | 5-Star | Physical | The Harmony | ![]() | Robin does a bit of everything! She boosts the party's damage, attack, follow-up attacks, Crit Rate and Crit Damage, and also allows all allies to take immediate action. We'd give her an SS-tier ranking for her singing alone, so we're glad the rest of her incredible kit matches up to her vocal prowess. |
Ruan Mei | 5-Star | Ice | The Harmony | ![]() | Ruan Mei combines the best of other Harmony characters while adding her own unique Break Effect debuff to enemies. Her Skill ups the damage dealt and Weakness Break Efficiency of all allies, and her Ultimate applies a field that increases the party's All-Type Resistance Penetration and applies an effect that delays enemies recovering from when Weakness Broken. All of these benefits - along with her passive Talents that increase your team's Speed, Break Effect, and damage - makes Ruan Mei an amazing Harmony character for buffing your entire team's damage while also delaying enemies' turns. |
Silver Wolf | 5-Star | Quantum | The Nihility | ![]() | Silver Wolf goes the extra mile as a Nihility debuffer and can actually implant a new elemental weakness in enemies! This is particularly good against boss and elite enemies in the Forgotten Hall and Simulated Universe when you don't have a good enough damage-dealer with an element the enemy is weak to. The only downside to Silver Wolf is that the element she implants can't be controlled, it picks randomly from your current party line-up. You might have to repeat battles a few times, but that's a small price to pay when you know any of your damage-dealers can get the job done eventually with Silver Wolf on the team. She's particularly good in teams made up exclusively of Quantum characters. |
Sparkle | 5-Star | Wind | The Harmony | ![]() | While Sparkle isn't essential if you already have good Harmony characters built, she makes almost everything a breeze by providing a huge amount of extra Skill Points while boosting the damage of your team, and advancing turns by 50%. She gets even better in Mono Quantum teams thanks to a bonus Trace. Sparkle also opens up different team lineups so you can pair multiple DPS characters with her, without having to worry about Skill Points. Or, you can get an unbelievable amount of damage from one character by pairing her with other supports and debuffers with a solo DPS. A very useful and versatile character to have, especially if you lack other good Harmony options. |
Tingyun | 4-Star | Lightning | The Harmony | ![]() | Pairing Tingyun with a high DPS character ups both of their attacks when she uses her Skill, and her Ultimate is one of the best in the game, restoring Energy to one ally while increasing their damage. A fantastic 4-Star support who can also apply a little lightning damage when required. |
Honkai Star Rail tier list for S-tier characters
These S-tier characters are incredibly good at what they're designed for, and can be used in a variety of different combat situations past their Elemental type - but they're either not as good as similar functioning characters in the SS-tier, or they have slight limitations that hold them back.
In alphabetical order, here's our Honkai: Star Rail tier list for every S-tier character as of version 2.2 in May 2024:
Honkai Star Rail tier list for A-tier characters
These characters have a lot of potential to excel in their perfect combat scenarios or team comps, but they either have limitations that make them awkward to use, another character does what they do better, or they aren't versatile enough to fit in multiple teams.
In alphabetical order, here's our Honkai: Star Rail tier list for every A-tier character as of version 2.2 in May 2024:
Honkai Star Rail tier list for B-tier characters
Our B-tier characters are very good against their ideal opponents, while also tending to have some sort of special ability that can make them a viable option - though maybe not the best - during other combat scenarios. Keep in mind that increasing the Eidolons of most of these characters can boost their usefulness quite a lot.
In alphabetical order, here's our Honkai: Star Rail tier list for every B-tier character as of version 2.2 in May 2024:
Name | Rarity | Element | Path | Picture | Reasoning |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Guinaifen | 4-Star | Fire | The Nihility | ![]() | If you need Burn DoTs in your team, Guinaifen's your go-to pick. This means she's a fantastic teammate to pair with Kafka. As a bonus, Guinaifen also increases the damage an enemy takes when her Firekiss effect is on them, making her a mini debuffer alongside her strength as a DoT applicator. |
Herta | 4-Star | Ice | The Erudition | ![]() | With the introduction of Pure Fiction, Herta has become an excellent pick for her AOE Ice damage, as if an ally gets an enemy's health under a certain threshold she'll do a follow up attack. Herta's a bit of a one-trick-pony, but the trick is very effective if an enemy is weak to ice, or has a very low health bar like the mobs encountered in Pure Fiction. She can also work well in the Simulated Universe, but you have to get the ideal Blessings and team her with characters like March 7th to progress far. |
Himeko | 5-Star | Fire | The Erudition | ![]() | An AOE damage dealer who launches follow up attacks if allies break enemy weaknesses, Himeko is a great pick when up against multiple enemies weak to fire (like in Pure Fiction), but she actually holds her own in single-target encounters too with a high-damaging Skill. Her Ultimate is a big nuke of Fire damage, but it also regenerates her Energy, meaning she can get it back pretty quickly under the right circ*mstances - especially when you equip the right Relics. Make sure to break enemies' weaknesses often with the rest of your team to activate her follow-up attacks as often as possible. |
Luka | 4-Star | Physical | The Nihility | ![]() | True to Luka's background as a Belobog fighter, he's a great pick for causing bleed damage in single or low target scenarios. Levelled up, he also gets energy back for using Fighting Stacks (which he should be doing regularly), giving him more chances to use his Ultimate which causes big damage and actually debuffs the target too by increasing their damage received. Add on that Luka can dispel one buff by using us Skill on an enemy (after unlocking a passive ability) and he's handy to have in more situations than it might seem like at first. |
Misha | 4-Star | Ice | The Destruction | ![]() | As a solo 4-Star attacker Misha is very underwhelming, but he does work well with other attackers who use a lot of Skill Points, as he outputs more damage the more hit points is Ultimate is charged to. Think of Misha as a secondary DPS on your team who can fill in as a flex slot for teams that use a lot of Skill Points - and he works particularly well in Freeze teams, especially in the Simulated Universe. The main issue with Misha is that putting a Harmony or Nihility character in your flex slot works just as well, and often better. However, if you happen to have a team that uses Skill Points and can provide teamwide energy restoration, then Misha works very well. |
Natasha | 4-Star | Physical | The Abundance | ![]() | As a healer, Natasha is an essential character to build if you don't have other healers - especially at the beginning of the game. Her Skill heals and dispels one debuff from a single ally, while her Ultimate heals the whole party. She may not have any flashy abilities, but healing your team is required to clear a lot of content. |
Sampo | 4-Star | Wind | The Nihility | ![]() | If you need AOE Wind damage and DoT, Sampo's your man. His Technique is also useful for slowing enemies at the start of a fight to give your party more turns as a result. Sampo's AoE Wind damage from his Skill is slightly random though, so it might not hit every enemy. For the most effective Wind damage, you'll want to activate his Ultimate as much as possible. He is particularly good when paired with Kafka. |
Serval | 4-Star | Lightning | The Erudition | ![]() | A very easy character to play, Serval is a great pick if you need AOE Lightning damage for your team. She can shock enemies with her attacks, and when she hits a shocked enemy, Serval will cause more damage. Although she provides nothing else, there are so many enemies weak against Lightning in the main story, especially the early parts, and a lot in the Forgotten Hall and Simulated Universe modes too. It all makes Serval a great 'basic' character, due to her very easy and effective kit. Serval is another character who works best with Kafka. |
Trailblazer | 5-Star | Fire | The Preservation | ![]() | The Fire variation of The Trailblazer is a fantastic tank to have on your team that draws enemy attacks with their Skill. Gaining stacks of Magma Will by attacking or blocking, then unleashing powerful fire damage is also useful when up against tough Elites, particularly if they're weak to fire. You'll have a tougher time taking advantage of the Trailblazer's damage output when up against those not weak to fire, but they can still be effective at baiting attacks. |
Yanqing | 5-Star | Ice | The Hunt | ![]() | Yanqing is good against single-target enemies weak to Ice, but he can double up as a mini support due to his chance to freeze enemies when an Empathic Sword Link is activated by using his Skill. If his freezing and attack buffs were more reliable, we'd place Yanqing higher, due to his usefulness and damage potential against Ice weaknesses, but the random nature and dampened attack potential when compared to other DPS characters means he's can be an unpredictable ally to have. |
Honkai Star Rail tier list for C-tier characters
Our C-tier characters have a place in some specific situations, but offer very little - or no - additional benefits other than their Element type. They're not bad, but they don't have anything special about them either.
In alphabetical order, here's our Honkai: Star Rail tier list for every C-tier character as of version 2.2 in May 2024:
Honkai Star Rail tier list for D-tier characters
Our D-tier characters have one or two functions that they perform well in, like farming for materials, or breaking weakness bars, but they don't offer much past this and won't be as useful as other characters of the same Path or Element.
In alphabetical order, here's our Honkai: Star Rail tier list for every D-tier character as of version 2.2 in May 2024:
Hopefully our Honkai: Star Rail tier list has helped you in deciding what characters to upgrade, but do keep in mind that the game is more about how effectively you build a team, rather than how good one individual character performs in their role.
All the best building your teams!