Characters in Honkai: Star Rail have various types of abilities. In battle, Basic Attack, Skill, and Ultimate are the most apparent, with Talent and Trace passives being an invisible variable. Meanwhile, outside combat, players can utilize something called techniques. Similar to how players need to use Skill Points to use Skills in battle, outside a fight, using techniques also demands one Technique Point.
This off-battle ability ranges from a simple attack, a stat buff, a shield, or even a game-changing utility. Here are the best character techniques in Honkai: Star Rail that are not a plain attack skill.
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6 Self-Buff
Firefly |
Fire |
Destruction |
5-Star |
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There are many characters that applies a self-buff through their techniques, like Topaz and Jingliu, but Firefly, Boothill, and Imbibitor Lunae arguably has the best utility self-buff among them.
Firefly’s techniques applies Fire weakness to all enemies for two turns at the start of each wave. Other than one-shotting small enemies, this ensure Firefly can always reduce enemy’s Toughness even when she didn’t apply Fire weakness to the enemy using her enhanced Skill.
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Similarly, Boothill’s technique immediately apply Physical weakness to the enemy targeted by his first Skill cast (for two turns). This means you don’t need to use his Ultimate to apply Physical weakness, and Boothill can swiftly stack his Trickshot Talent. Boothill is underwhelming before he has max Trickshot, so his technique is a major help.
Imbibitor Lunae also solve his own weakness through his technique. He gains one stack of Squama Sacrosancta when attacking enemies to enter the battle, which allows him to use one less Skill Point (SP) when casting his first enhanced Basic Attack. Pair this with other Skill-increasing abilities like Passerby of Wandering Cloud Relic Set or Sparkle, and players can fight without suffocating in SP limitation.
5 Tingyun
Tingyun |
Lightning |
Harmony |
4-Star |
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Tingyun has an incredibly useful technique that’s surprisingly unseen in other characters. When using her technique, she immediately gains 50 Energy. You can use this skill multiple times to ensure her Ultimate is ready before she enters battle.
Of course, each use will consume one Technique Point, but considering you only have four characters in a party, you can always use Tingyun’s technique at least twice. This will fill 100 Energy out of the 130 that she needs. It’s worth doing since Tingyun’s Ultimate can grant 50 Energy for an ally, on top of buffing their DMG by up to 56%.
4 Instant Skill Technique
Ruan Mei |
Ice |
Harmony |
5-Star |
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Ensuring a buffing Skill is active before unleashing your best attacks is crucial in Honkai: Star Rail, so characters like Ruan Mei and Fu Xuan who can activate their Skill as soon as the battle start is really handy. Additionally, this also reduce one Skill Point consumption.
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Fu Xuan’s technique activates her Matrix of Prescience for two turns, which has the following utilities:
- Mitigates a portion of damage taken by allies to Fu Xuan
- Increases max HP by up to 6.6%
- Increases Crit Rate by up to 13.2%
- Allows the team to resist Crowd Control (once on every Matrix of Prescience refresh)
Ruan Mei takes her ability to another level. Unlike Fu Xuan whose Matrix of Prescience immediately appears at the start, Ruan Mei casts the Skill herself in the beginning. This means she not only cast her Skill for free, but she also gains Energy from the action.
3 Acheron
Acheron |
Lightning |
Nihility |
5-Star |
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When Acheron was teased in the livestream, she blew everyone’s mind with her technique, which can defeat normal enemies without even entering battle. This saves players a lot of time, especially in the Simulated Universe where using Acheron’s technique will still grant Blessing. Just note that she can’t trigger bonuses that requires entering a fight, like Topaz’s technique in the Simulated Universe.
Other than for an instakill, Acheron’s technique is also influential for her Slashed Dream and Crimson Knot stacks.
2 Feixiao
Feixiao |
Wind |
Hunt |
5-Star |
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It’s hard to think someone can have a better fighting technique than Acheron, but Feixiao definitely did. Unlike Acheron who can torn enemies into oblivion, Feixiao lifts and collects foes in a vortex. Afterward, she can do her attack and enter battle with all the enemies she collected.
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At the start of each wave, she deals large DMG that’s guaranteed to Crit, practically ensuring small enemies fall with no effort. This means, while not as fast as Acheron’s battle-less technique, Feixiao can still smoothly beat enemies with only one Technique Point. Additionally, since her method requires you to enter combat, Feixiao can activate Topaz’s technique effect, which gives you extra Cosmic Fragment and a small chance to get a Curio in the Simulated Universe.
1 Sparkle
Sparkle |
Quantum |
Harmony |
5-Star |
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Sparkle arguably has the best technique in Honkai: Star Rail, especially paired with her ability to increase the team’s maximum Skill Point. Instead of five SP, having Sparkle on the battlefield increases the SP cap to seven. Afterward, each time Sparkle uses her Ultimate, she restores four Skill Points, allowing you to make use of this increased capacity.
If you use Sparkle’s technique before entering battle, you get three SP at the start of the fight. This can be an immense help, especially if your team is SP-hungry.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 83 /100 Critics Rec: 90%
- Released
- April 26, 2023
- ESRB
- Teen / Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes, Simulated Gambling, In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items), Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- HoYoverse (Formerly miHoYo)
- Publisher(s)
- HoYoverse (Formerly miHoYo)
- Engine
- Unity
- Cross-Platform Play
- Limited
- Cross Save
- All platforms
WHERE TO PLAY
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PC, Android, iOS
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Turn-Based RPG
