Honkai Star Rail tier list – All characters ranked

A good collection to have.

Hook, Serval, Luka, and Pela in Honkai: Star Rail
Image via HoYoverse

Honkai: Star Rail’s primary mechanic involves collecting characters and building them. While you can try and get them all, you will eventually find yourself low on resources, so it’s best to know which characters are the strongest and most worth getting.

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Honkai Star Rail character tier list

Members of the Astral Express walking in Honkai: Star Rail.
From top to bottom. Image via HoYoverse

To help you understand which characters are worth your Stellar Jades, below you can find our list of the best characters in Honkai. We’ve only listed top-tier units, meaning some characters weren’t powerful enough to make the list. 

Here’s our Honkai: Star Rail character tier list.

SS-tier Honkai Star Rail characters

Ruan Mei's splash art in Honkai: Star Rail.
She’s the queen of the hill. Image via HoYoverse
  • Ruan Mei – The best character in Honkai, and a must-have support that buffs the entire team and debuffs opponents.
  • Acheron – The strongest DPS you can get. She deals a ton of damage.
  • Fu Xuan – The best utility support that protects your team and deals AoE damage.
  • Robin – One of the best overall buffers that gives you extra turns. 
  • Aventurine – Useful sustainer that provides the strongest shields, and deals passive AoE damage.

S-tier Honkai Star Rail characters

Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae using his Imaginary powers in Honkai: Star Rail.
One step behind kings, two steps ahead of others. Image via HoYoverse
  • Bronya – The best five-star from Standard Banner, and one of the best supports overall.
  • Sparkle – A powerful Harmony support that buffs CRIT DMG and restores skill points.
  • Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae – The strongest Imaginary hypercarry that deals good single-target and AoE damage.
  • Jingliu – One of the best damage dealers and very skill point positive.
  • Luocha – Powerful heals, dispels, and cleanses make him one of the most valuable units in Honkai.
  • Huohuo – She offers good healing, cleanse, Energy Regeneration, and attack buff.
  • Blade – Tanky Wind DPS that excels in dealing AoE damage and follow-up attacks.
  • Pela – One of the best four-star units, and a powerful Ice debuffer.
  • Tingyun – A valuable four-star Harmony support that buffs attack and restores energy.
  • Boothill – He’s the strongest Hunt DPS that deals Physical single-target damage.
  • Silver Wolf – Although she’s one of the first characters, she’s still strong thanks to her debuffs and Quantum damage she deals.
  • Black Swan – A Nihility sub-DPS that deals Wind damage over time, and applies debuffs.
  • Kafka – She’s a Lightning DPS who pairs well with Black Swan to deal massive damage over time.
  • Gallagher – A new four-star sustainer that excels in Break Effect teams, and provides big heals.

A-tier Honkai Star Rail characters

Jing Yuan smiling in Honkai: Star Rail.
Some of them are better than ever. Image via HoYoverse
  • Jing Yuan – While not as powerful as other DPS, he deals decent AoE Lightning damage, and excels in follow-up attack teams.
  • Topaz and Numby – A strong Fire Hunt sub-DPS that deals damage and buffs all follow-up attacks.
  • Dr. Ratio – A free five-star Imaginary Hunt DPS who deals single-target damage, and is a good match for Topaz and Numby.
  • Welt – An Imaginary sub-DPS that applies slow debuffs to opponents, giving you more turns.
  • Clara – Deals big single-target Physical damage, but is lackluster in AoE.
  • Harmony Trailblazer – A new version of Trailblazer that focuses on buffing Break Effect.
  • Himeko – Deals massive AoE Fire damage, but she’s only good in Pure Fiction.
  • Lynx – A decent four-star healer and cleanser that you can use unless you have Luocha or HuoHuo.
  • Herta – An Ice sub-DPS that deals big AoE follow-up attacks, and performs the best in Pure Fiction.

B-tier Honkai Star Rail characters

Argenti standing in the spotlight in Honkai: Star Rail.
The bottom of the ladder but still usable. Image via HoYoverse
  • Argenti – A premium five-star that’s only good in Pure Fiction with his AoE damage.
  • Sampo – Performs best in damage over time teams, but needs Eidolons to be good.
  • Seele – Decent single-target Quantum damage, but very situational DPS that relies on resets.
  • Asta – She’s a good starting Harmony support until you get someone better.
  • Qingque – Needs Eidolons to deal decent single-target Quantum damage.
  • Luka – A Nihility sub-DPS that deals average Break Effect damage.
  • Gepard – A five-star shielder from the Standard Banner that you should build only if you don’t have better sustainers.
  • Bailu – Another Standard five-star that only provides random heals.
  • Guinaifen – Deals good Fire damage and applies debuffs, but only viable in damage over time teams.
  • Xueyi – A Destruction Quantum four-star DPS who mostly deals single-target damage but is only good with Eidolons.
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Lazar Pavlovic
Freelance News and SEO Writer for Dot Esports, covering games like Genshin Impact, VALORANT, World of Warcraft and League of Legends to new releases. When he's not writing, you can find him grinding dungeons and raids in World of Warcraft.