The Version 1.1 update of Honkai: Star Rail brought two new five-star recruits for players to add to their roster. One of them is Luocha, a character who walks the Abundance path and possesses the Imaginary element. Luocha packs a powerful healing skillset, so players hoping to use him on their team will need to learn how he functions to craft the best build possible for him.
Luocha is a rather unique character who carries a massive coffin with him wherever he goes. Shortly after players first meet him when they’re playing as Dan Heng, they also come to learn that the coffin does have someone inside it. But so far, they don’t know who which makes the Imaginary character quite an enigma.
All Trailblazers do know is that Luocha is on a mission to deliver the coffin to the Luofu. Considering the mysterious coffin is incorporated into Luocha’s official art and skillset, it’s probably safe to assume he’s never going to be completely rid of it since it is such a key part of his abilities.
If you’re planning on pulling for Luocha and adding him to your team or already recruited him, you’ll need a powerful build to support his abilities. There’s a lot to unpack with his skillset, so Trailblazers will need to analyze him carefully to craft the best build possible for him.
Luocha’s skills in Honkai: Star Rail
The most important part of building and using a character is learning how their skills work. If you don’t fully understand all aspects of a character’s skillset, it will be impossible to use their abilities in the best way possible, so studying their capabilities carefully is crucial to success.
All characters’ skills raise in power over time, so Luocha’s skillset is discussed at the lowest and highest possible levels so players have an idea of how his abilities scale over time. Luocha’s skills also scale off of attack, so players will want to ensure he has Relics with powerful attack statistics to increase his healing capacity.
Luocha has five different abilities players can use.
- “Thorns of the Abyss” basic attack: Deals 50 percent to 130 percent of Luocha’s attack as Imaginary damage against a single targeted foe.
- “Prayer of Abyss Flower” skill: Upon casting his skill, Luocha instantly restores the chosen ally’s health points by 40 percent to 70 percent of his total attack plus an additional 200 to 1,025. Luocha also gains one stack of Abyss Flower. When any of his allies drop to 50 percent or lower health points, an effect that is equal to his “Prayer of Abyss Flower” skill will activate and apply to the ally without consuming skill points. This effect can be activated again after two turns have passed.
- “Death Wish” Ultimate: Luocha removes one buff from all foes and deals Imaginary damage equal to 120 percent to 240 percent of Luocha’s attack against all enemies. Additionally, Luocha also gains one stack of Abyss Flower.
- “Cycle of Life” talent: When two stacks of Abyss Flower are present, Luocha then consumed both to cast a field against the enemy. Once the foe within the field is attacked by an ally, Luocha then regenerates health points equal to 12 percent to 21 percent of Luocha’s attack plus an additional 60 to 307.5. This field will be active for two turns or until Luocha is vanquished, whichever of the two happens first.
- “Mercy of a Fool” technique: After using this ability, Luocha’s talent will immediately be activated upon entering a battle.
Luocha’s Ascension materials in Honkai: Star Rail
Ascending all Honkai: Star Rail recruits will raise their general statistics and make them more powerful in battle. Ascension is a costly endeavor, but it is always well worth the investment and is generally something players should be working on over time rather than all at once.
To fully raise Luocha to the highest possible level, players will need to gather:
- 308,000 Credits
- 15 Artifex’s Module
- 15 Artifex’s Cogwheel
- 15 Artifex’s Gyreheart
- 65 Golden Crown of the Past Shadow
Related: Best Light Cones for each character in Honkai: Star Rail
Luocha’s Trace materials in Honkai: Star Rail
All Honkai: Star Rail characters have unlockable Traces players can raise over time to increase the character’s various skills and add additional bonuses like attack or defense boosts. This system functions like a skill tree that Trailblazers can work their way through over time.
To fully upgrade all of Luocha’s Traces, players will need to obtain:
- 3,000,000 Credits
- 18 Seed of Abundance
- 69 Sprout of Life
- 139 Flower of Eternity
- 41 Artifex’s Module
- 56 Artifex’s Cogwheel
- 15 Artifex’s Gyreheart
- Eight Tracks of Destiny
- 12 Guardian’s Lament
Luocha’s best build in Honkai: Star Rail
Because Luocha is a healing-focused character, players should focus on his capabilities within this role when building him. He’ll never function as a super impressive damage dealer since his skills aren’t suited for this, so players will want to look for healing and support buffs when building him.
Best Light Cones for Luocha in Honkai: Star Rail
Overall, players will want Light Cones that build Luocha’s healing and support abilities. There are quite a few solid options for players to choose from and more are sure to arrive in the future as the game receives updates.
All Light Cones are discussed at the lowest possible level, so players will see their statistics increase as they are leveled up.
- Echoes of the Coffin
- Rarity: Five-star
- Path: The Abundance
- “Thorns” Ability: Raises the wearer’s attack by 20 percent. After the equipping character has used their Ultimate ability, all allies then gain 16 speed for the next turn. This Light Cone also grants five energy to the equipping character for each foe they attack up to three times.
- Time Waits for No One
- Rarity: Five-star
- Path: The Abundance
- “Morn, Noon, Dusk, and Night” Ability: Raises the equipping character’s maximum health points by 18 percent and their outgoing healing by 12 percent. When the equipping character heals allies, this Light Cone records the outgoing healing to then grant a 36 percent damage increase based on the outgoing healing when the ally launches an attack. This damage is dealt against a random foe at the same time the character launches an attack.
- Shared Feeling
- Rarity: Four-star
- Path: The Abundance
- “Cure and Repair” Ability: Raises the equipping character’s outgoing healing by 10 percent. After the wearer uses a skill, they then restore two energy to all allies.
- Perfect Timing
- Rarity: Four-star
- Path: The Abundance
- “Refraction of Sightline” Ability: Raises the equipping character’s effect resistance by 16 percent and raises outgoing healing by 33 percent of effect resistance. Luocha’s outgoing healing can be raised by up to 15 percent through the effects of this Light Cone.
- Cornucopia
- Rarity: Three-star
- Path: The Abundance
- “Prosperity” Ability: After the equipping character uses their Ultimate or skill, they then raise the effects of their outgoing healing by 12 percent.
- Fine Fruit
- Rarity: Three-star
- Path: The Abundance
- “Savor” Ability: At the beginning of the battle, this Light Cone generates six energy for all allies.
- Multiplication
- Rarity: Three-star
- Path: The Abundance
- “Denizens of Abundance” Ability: After the wearer strikes with their basic attack, their next action is then advanced forward by 12 percent.
Best Relics for Luocha in Honkai: Star Rail
Players will need to find a balance between attack and healing increases with Luocha’s skillset. If he didn’t scale off of attack, then building him would be much easier since players could solely focus on his healing capacity. But Luocha does need a solid amount of attack to raise his healing abilities, so players need to choose his artifacts carefully.
- Passerby of Wandering Cloud
- Rarity: Two-star, three-star, four-star, or five-star
- Two-piece effect: Raises outgoing healing by 10 percent.
- Four-piece effect: At the start of a battle, this set immediately generates one skill point.
- Wastelander of Banditry Desert
- Rarity: Two-star, three-star, four-star, or five-star
- Two-piece effect: Raises Imaginary damage by 10 percent.
- Four-piece effect: When striking debuffed foes, the equipping character’s critical rate is raised by 10 percent. If the targeted foe is imprisoned, then critical damage is raised by 20 percent.
- Fleet of the Ageless
- Rarity: Two-star, three-star, four-star, or five-star
- Two-piece effect: Raises the wearer’s maximum health points by 12 percent. Once the equipping character’s speed reaches 120 or higher, they then raise their allies’ attack by eight percent.
- Space Sealing Station
- Rarity: Two-star, three-star, four-star, or five-star
- Two-piece effect: Raises the equipping character’s attack by 12 percent. Once the equipping recruit’s speed reaches 120 or higher, their attack is then raised by another 12 percent.
Luocha’s debut banner will run for the entire second half of the Version 1.1 update. He will be available for players to recruit from June 28 to July 18 when his first banner run will then be replaced by the first banner in the Version 1.2 update.
Since Luocha is only the third featured character to debut since the game launched on April 26, many players might be struggling to decide whether he is worth pulling for. Honkai: Star Rail is still a very new game with lots of already leaked playable recruits arriving in the future, so players will need to weigh this decision carefully.
Based on my experience with miHoYo’s other similar game Genshin Impact, it is likely that all featured five-star characters will return for rerun banners so players can recruit them in the future. But it will likely be quite a while before they do, probably around six months at least, so if you are hoping to recruit Luocha then you’ll want to pull for his banner while you can.
We gathered this information by playing Honkai Star Rail Version 1.1 “Galactic Roaming” on PC.
