The Combat System in Honkai Star Rail: A Guide to Elements and Vulnerabilities

Combat system in Honkai Star Rail is based on turn-based battles, where each enemy needs an individual approach depending on the elements and vulnerabilities. An important role is played by who initiates the battle - this will give certain advantages to the team, or vice versa, a debuff if the enemy attacks first. During the battle, characters and opponents alternately make moves: they use ultimate abilities, skills (attacking/defensive and buffs/debuffs) or regular attacks to accumulate energy.

In this guide, we will go into detail about all the features of turn-based battles and the combat system in Honkai Star Rail. We will give recommendations on how to engage in battle and explain the importance of vulnerabilities.

Elements and breaches in Honkai Star Rail

Each opponent has an individual set of vulnerabilities. If you pick up an attack with the right type of vulnerability, then the enemy will quickly break through the resistance (armor), and it will also be possible to impose a negative status on him. In total, Honkai Star Rail has seven penetrations of vulnerability.

Penetration effect

Penetration only triggers when the stamina - the white bar above the enemy creature's health bar - drops to zero. After that, a penetration effect will be applied to the enemy, corresponding to the type of attack that broke through durability. After a while, the white scale of the enemy will be restored and you will have to break through the vulnerability again.

Exploiting enemy vulnerabilities will greatly facilitate the battle:

1. Above the head of the enemy there is a white scale with stamina, above which colored symbols indicate types of vulnerabilities.
2. To use the vulnerability, pay attention to the icon next to the character's skill, which means type of attack.
3. An opponent with no stamina left can be inflicted with a negative status thanks to penetration of vulnerability.

You can use the right attacks against the vulnerability of the enemy in exploration stages: indicators will be placed under the name of the enemy unit.

In a separate guide you can find best squad builds in Honkai Star Rail.

Guide for turn-based battles in Honkai Star Rail

It should be explained how the battles with enemies in Honkai Star Rail take place. There are two main stages for interacting with the enemy, which are familiar to all fans of games in the JRPG genre:

• exploration stage - the moment when the character can freely explore the location and run into the enemy.
• Combat stage - directly the turn-based battle with a detachment of enemy creatures.

exploration stage

During the reconnaissance phase, it is possible to initiate an attack on the enemy and activate the “Vulnerabilities”, thanks to which the right of the first move will be with the player, and the enemies will start the battle with negative effects. Activate mode "Vulnerability» can be used both with a basic attack and with a skill «Technique":

1. Carefully study the types of damage to which the enemy is vulnerable ( with multi-colored symbols).
2. If the chosen character's attack type matches the enemy's vulnerability, then boldly attack.
3. If the selected hero has a different type of attack, then look for a character with suitable damage in your squad.

TalentsTechnique"can strengthen allied characters, as well as weaken the enemy squad before the start of turn-based battles. Using these abilities consumes a special resource, so it is better to use these skills before the battle with a strong squad of enemy creatures.

If an enemy creature independently attacks the Pathfinder in the exploration phase, then the “Ambush". In this case, the opponent has the right of first move, however, if the character has a high characteristic "Speed”, then he will start the battle first, even though the enemy has activated “ambush».

Combat stage

As soon as the battle stage begins, it is important to immediately pay attention to the character icons in the upper left corner. This presents sequencing, on which the of the squad and creatures of the enemy will walk. This is the most basic feature of turn-based battles: it is important to carefully analyze the sequence, and then draw the right conclusions and build a battle strategy based on them.

In addition to the order of moves of creatures, it is important to monitor other indicators that are reflected in the game interface.

1. Indicators with buffs (positive effects) and debuffs (negative effects) that can be applied to the enemy.
2. The scale of health (red), the scale of resistance (white) and the vulnerability of the enemy.
3. The health of the characters of the allied squad (the applied shield, buffs and debuffs are also reflected here).
4. Skill points that are spent on using an additional ability (key "E"") - this resource is common to the entire squad.

Control of these indicators will help to avoid accidental loss of the character and quickly finish the enemy.

Using skills

The whole point of turn-based combat in Honkai Star Rail comes down to two main actions: target selection и application of skills. The effectiveness of the detachment and the outcome of the battle will depend on how competently these decisions are applied.

Target selection

If it is an allied character's turn, then the Pathfinder will need to choose a target to attack (depending on the type of skill, several enemies can be selected at once). You can visit the enemy both manually and using the keys. For abilities that can be applied to of your squad, you can select an allied target in a similar way.

Possible actions

In the battle stage Three basic skills can be applied:

1. Basic Attack - the simplest attack, the use of which accumulates skill points.
2. Additional Skill - a special skill that consumes skill points (a resource common to the entire squad).
3. Superpower - is the strongest skill that can be used after the ult is fully charged, used both on your turn and on the opponent's turn (using on your turn does not take away the ability to additionally use another skill).

Energy for ultimate ability accumulated through basic attacks, casting skills, killing opponents, auxiliary effects of symbols and light cones.

Exploration stage You can use only two skills:

1. Basic Attack - exactly the same attack as in turn-based combat.
2. Technique - a special ability that is used in the open world and at the same time consumes special resource points.

The effect of the abilityTechnique» can have a negative effect on the enemy unit or positively affect the allied unit.

Bonus attacks

Bonus attacks are additional actions of allied characters that, after certain conditions are met, inflict damage on the enemy, while not spending action points on it. An example of a bonus attack is a talent Himeko «Victory Rush", as well as the talent of Hertha "Let me try."

How to view information about opponents and your characters

During the combat stage, you can open an additional menu that displays a lot of auxiliary information:

1. Enemy information.
2. Information about the allied detachment.

This additional information can be especially useful during boss fights.

The informative menu can provide the following information about the enemy unit:

1. Switch to information about the Pathfinder squad.
2. Icons of of the enemy squad.
3. Plot information about the creature.
4. Health, durability and vulnerability of the enemy.
5. Active buffs and debuffs.
6. Switch to the list of enemy skills.

This menu can be opened at any convenient time during turn-based combat.

You can also learn a lot of useful information about the allied squad:

1. Switching between characters.
2. List of characteristics including all active buffs and debuffs.
3. Switch to skill list or equipped light cone.
4. Data on the amount of life, shield and energy of the character.
5. Active status effects.

This menu will help at any time of the battle to analyze the effectiveness of the squad and draw the right conclusions for future battles.

We hope that with the help of the guide we managed to understand the turn-based battles in Honkai Star Rail. If you have any questions, please leave comments... Read game guides in the relevant section of our website.