Best Sampo build and skills in Honkai: Star Rail

Sampo Koski is a four-star character hailing from Jarilo-VI’s Underworld in Honkai: Star Rail. The mercenary is the only multi-target damage dealer in the Wind element. As the follower of the Nihility path, Sampo excels in dealing damage over time (DoT) to enemies.

Sampo’s skills in Honkai: Star Rail

While Dan Heng and Bronya excel in their respective roles, they have always lacked the ability to quickly clear multiple enemies with Wind weakness. This is where Sampo shines, but you must equip him with certain Light Cones, Relics, and other items to get the best out of him.

All of the stats mentioned below are from a level one Sampo. They might increase as you upgrade his Traces and Eidolons.

Basic attack: Sampo deals Wind damage equal to 50 percent of his ATK to a single enemy.
Skill: Sampo deals Wind damage equal to 28 percent of his ATK to a single enemy. He further deals damage four extra times, each time dealing Wind damage equal to 28 percent of his ATK to a random enemy.
Ultimate: Sampo’s Ultimate deals Wind damage equal to 96 percent of his ATK to all enemies. It also has a 100 percent base chance to increase the targets’ DoT taken by 20 percent for two turns.
Talent: Sampo’s attacks have a 65 percent base chance to inflict Wind Shear for three turns. Enemies inflicted with this ability will take Wind DoT equal to 20 percent of his ATK at the start of each turn. Wind Shear can stack up to five times.
Technique: After Sampo uses his Technique, enemies in a set area are inflicted with Blind for 10 seconds. Blinded enemies cannot detect your team. When initiating combat against a Blinded enemy, there is a 100 percent fixed chance to delay all enemies’ action by 25 percent.

As you can see, Sampo’s Wind Shear ability chips off the shield and health bars of multiple enemies. To make him stronger, you will also need to upgrade his Traces when he reaches higher levels. You will be able to unlock them as your own Equilibrium Level increases.

Trap (Ascension Two): It extends the duration of Wind Shear by one turn.
Defensive Position (Ascension Four): Sampo’s Ultimate regenerates an additional 10 energy.
Spice Up (Ascension Six): Enemies affected by Wind Shear deal 15 percent less damage to Sampo.

If you get duplicate Sampos from the Warp pulls, you can use them to unlock his Eidolon Resonance skills.

Rising Love: Sampo uses his skill, his throwing dagger gains one more bounce attack.
Infectious Enthusiasm: When you defeat an enemy with Wind Shear, there is a 100 percent base chance to impose one stack of Wind Shear on all enemies.
Big Damage!: Increases the levels of Sampo’s skill and basic attack by +2 and +1 with a maximum possible increase limit of level 15 and level 10 respectively.
The Deeper the Love, the Stronger the Hate: When Sampo’s skill hits an enemy with five or more Wind Shear stacks, the current Wind Shear immediately deals 8 percent of his current damage.
Huge Damage!: Increases the levels of Sampo ultimate and talent by +2 each with a maximum possible increase limit of level 15.
Increased Spending: Increases the Wind Shear damage dealt by Sampo’s talent by 15 percent.

Sampo’s best build for Honkai: Star Rail

Light Cones

You can equip Sampo with his signature four-star Light Cone, Eyes of the Prey, as it fits perfectly into his kit. If you do not get this Light Cone from Warp pulls, you can try out other options like Fermata, Good Night and Sleep Well, and We Will Meet Again.

Since Wind Shear ability and DoT are Sampo’s main source of damage, you should focus on prioritizing those Light Cones that can increase the damage of these abilities.

Eyes of the Prey

Rarity: Four Star
Path: Nihility
Ability: Increases the wearer’s Effect Hit Rate by 20 percent and also increases their DoT by 24 percent.

Fermata

Rarity: Four Star
Path: Nihility
Ability: Increases the break effect dealt by the wearer by 16 percent. It also increases their damage to enemies afflicted with Shock or Wind Shear by 16%. This effect also applies to DoT abilities.

Good Night and Sleep Well

Rarity: Four Star
Path: Nihility
Ability: For every debuff the target enemy has, the damage dealt by the wearer increases by 12 percent. It stacks up to three times. This effect also applies to DoT abilities.

We Will Meet Again

Rarity: Four Star
Path: Nihility
Ability: After the wearer uses a basic attack or skill, they deal additional damage equal to 48 percent of their ATK to a random enemy that has been attacked.

Relics

In Honkai: Star Rail, there are only two Relic Sets that suit Sampo’s repertoire currently. They are the Eagle of the Twilight Line and Muskeeter of Wild Wheat. There is also a possibility of wearing two items from each to get the Two-piece set bonus of both sets. For his Planar Sphere and Link Rope, Herta’s Space Station and Herta’s Wandering Trek are suitable options that can be equipped.

Eagle of the Twilight Line

Two-piece set bonus: Increases Wind damage by 10 percent.
Four-piece set bonus: After the wearer uses their Ultimate, their action is advanced forward by 25 percent.
Cavern: Cavern of Corrosion: Path of Gelid Wind
Location: Storage Zone, Herta Space Station

Muskeeter of Wild Wheat

Two-piece set bonus: Increase the wearer’s attack by 12 percent
Four-piece set bonus: The wearer’s speed increases by six percent and basic attack damage increases by ten percent.
Cavern: Cavern of Corrosion, Path of Drifting
Location: Corridor of Fading Echoes, Jarilo VI

Space Sealing Station

Two-piece set bonus: Increases the wearer’s attack by 12 percent. When the wearer’s speed reaches 120 or higher, increases the wearer’s attack by an extra 12 percent.
Location: Simulated Universe, Herta’s Office, Herta Space Station.

Despite being good at dealing multi-target damage, you should not have Sampo as the sole damage output in your team. You should pair him up with high-damage-dealing five-star characters like Yanqing and Seele (single-target) or Himeko and Clara (AoE). The last two spots can be taken by a healer and a tank or buff character.

You can also check out our guides for other useful four-star characters like Asta and Serval in Honkai: Star Rail.