Unlocking the full potential of combat in Honkai Star Rail involves mastering the game’s seven elemental types: Physical, Fire, Imaginary, Ice, Lightning, Wind, and Quantum. Each enemy has specific elemental weaknesses, allowing you to deal heightened damage and apply strategic debuffs. However, newcomers often struggle to grasp these mechanics. This guide will cover everything you need to know about the elements and their effects.
All Honkai Star Rail Elements and Effects
| Element | Debuff | Effects |
|---|---|---|
 Physical |
Bleed | Deals Physical damage. Bleed causes damage over time based on max HP for 2 turns. |
 Fire |
Burn | Deals Fire damage. Burn inflicts consistent damage over time for 2 turns. |
 Imaginary |
Imprisonment | Deals Imaginary damage. Imprisonment delays enemy actions based on Break Effect stat, reducing enemy’s speed by 10% for 1 turn. |
 Ice |
Freeze | Deals Ice damage. Freezes the enemy for 1 turn; once unfrozen, they skip their turn with a 50% action advancement. |
 Lightning |
Shock | Deals Lightning damage. Shock inflicts consistent damage over time for 2 turns. |
 Wind |
Wind Shear | Deals Wind damage. Wind Shear causes consistent damage over time for 2 turns, stacking up to 5 times. |
 Quantum |
Entanglement | Deals Quantum damage. Entanglement delays enemy actions based on Break Effect stat, stacking up to 5 times for additional Quantum damage at the start of the enemy’s next turn. |
HSR Weakness Break and Break Effect Explained
In Honkai Star Rail, each enemy possesses certain Elemental Weaknesses along with a Toughness bar displayed above their health. The Toughness bar, indicated by a white bar, depletes when you attack them using their elemental weaknesses.
Once the Toughness bar hits zero, a Weakness Break occurs, inflicting a debuff based on the element used. Alongside the debuff, the enemy takes extra damage, known as Break Damage. This damage and the debuff’s effectiveness are influenced by the character’s ‘Break Effect’ stat. Higher Break Effect results in greater Break Damage and stronger debuffs.
How to View Enemy Weakness Before Battle
You can check enemy weaknesses before engaging in battle to prepare your team accordingly. Here’s how:
- In the overworld, elemental weaknesses are displayed above enemies’ heads, providing the chance to initiate the fight effectively.
- In other game modes, you can view common elemental weaknesses in the team selection area.
How to Apply Elemental Weakness in HSR
Every enemy has predefined elemental weaknesses. While most characters adhere to these, certain exceptional characters can apply new Elemental Weaknesses. For instance, Silver Wolf and Anaxa can introduce extra weaknesses, with Anaxa capable of applying all seven types in a single turn.
In addition, characters like Firefly can apply Fire weakness for two turns, while Phainon guarantees Physical weakness across all enemies. Characters such as Acheron can deal Toughness damage independent of elemental weaknesses.
How to Increase Break Damage
Break damage is the additional damage dealt when the Toughness bar reaches zero and is influenced by the character’s Break Effect stat. Higher Break Effect results in stronger Break Damage.
Besides Break Effect, factors like Defense reduction and Resistance reduction can further enhance Break Damage. Keep in mind, however, that Break Damage does not benefit from critical hits, meaning Crit Rate has no effect.
There are various methods to amplify Break Damage. Boosting the Break Effect stat is the simplest, but there are also support characters like Ruan Mei and Fugue Lingsha that excel in this area.
All Honkai Star Rail Characters for Every Element
All Physical Characters in Honkai Star Rail
- Argenti
- Boothill
- Clara
- Hanya
- Hysilens
- Luka
- Natasha
- Phainon
- Robin
- Sushang
- Destruction Trailblazer
- Yunli
All Fire Characters in Honkai Star Rail
- Asta
- Firefly
- Fugue
- Gallagher
- Guinaifen
- Himeko
- Hook
- Jiaoqiu
- Lingsha
- Topaz & Numby
- Preservation Trailblazer
All Imaginary Characters in Honkai Star Rail
- Aventurine
- Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae
- Dr. Ratio
- Luocha
- Hunt March 7th
- Mydei
- Rappa
- Sunday
- Harmony Trailblazer
- Welt
- Yukong
All Ice Characters in Honkai Star Rail
- Geopard
- Herta
- The Herta
- Jingliu
- Preservation March 7th
- Misha
- Pela
- Ruan Mei
- Remembrance Trailblazer
- Yanqing
All Lightning Characters in Honkai Star Rail
- Acheron
- Aglaea
- Arlan
- Bailu
- Jing Yuan
- Kafka
- Moze
- Serval
- Tingyun
All Wind Characters in Honkai Star Rail
- Anaxa
- Black Swan
- Blade
- Bronya
- Cerydra
- Dan Heng
- Feixiao
- Huohuo
- Hyacine
- Saber
- Sampo
All Quantum Characters in Honkai Star Rail
- Archer
- Castorice
- Cipher
- Fu Xuan
- Jade
- Lynx
- Qingque
- Seele
- Silver Wolf
- Sparkle
- Tribbie
- Xueyi
Now that you’re equipped with the knowledge about Honkai Star Rail’s elements and weaknesses, dive in and explore the depths of combat strategy. If you have further questions or insights, feel free to share in the comments below. Don’t forget to check out more content on Moyens I/O.