Many of us Trailblazers focus only on character tier lists, which makes sense. In the end, even if you have the items, the Light Cones, and the relics, they aren’t good if you don’t have that one powerful party member. Yet, once the gacha Gods bless you with your husbando or waifu, what then? Well, it’s time to get the right Light Cone for them. Since so many of them are a bit situational, it is difficult to pick just one. Also, most of the best ones are locked behind a banner, which makes obtaining them even harder. That’s why we’ve made a list of the best Light Cones in Honkai: Star Rail, so you can pick the right one for the job.
Explaining Our Tier List
[Updated on August 29, 2024 – Updated information, links, and images]
Frankly, making this tier list was a bit challenging due to how situational Light Cones are. For instance, Acheron’s Light Cone is great for her but might not be the best for Kafka. The same applies to Firefly and Yunli. Even if Light Cones belong to one Path, that doesn’t mean all of them work in all situations. Still, that doesn’t mean we can’t rank them based on their utility for a specific character or for a whole Path.
| Rank | Abundance | Destruction | Erudition | Harmony |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | Night of Fright Time Waits for No One Post-Op Conversation Echoes in the Coffin | I Shall Be My Own Sword Whereabouts Should Dreams Rest Dance At Sunset | Before Dawn An Instant Before a Gaze Night on the Milky Way | But the Battle Isn’t Over Earthly Escapade Flowing Nightglow Memories of the Past |
| A | Hey, Over Here Shared Feeling Warmth Shortens Cold Nights | Brighter Than the Sun The Unreachable Side On The Fall of an Aeon Something Irreplaceable Nowhere to Run Under the Blue Sky | Eternal Calculus Yet Hope Is Priceless Today is Another Peaceful Day The Seriousness of Breakfast The Birth of the Self Make the World Clamor | Meshing Cogs Dance! Dance! Dance! Past Self in Mirror Poised to Bloom Carve the Moon, Weave the Clouds Past and Future |
| B | Shared Feeling Perfect Timing | A Secret Vow The Moles Welcome You Indelible Promise Woof! Walk Time! Flames Afar | The Day the Cosmos Fell Geniuses’ Repose Sagacity | Dreamville Adventure For Tomorrow’s Journey Planetary Rendezvous |
| C | Cornucopia What is Real Multiplication Fine Fruit | Collapsing Sky Mutual Demise Shattered Home | Data Bank After the Charmony Fall Passkey | Chorus Mediation |
Best Light Cones (Cont.)
| Rank | Hunt | Nihility | Preservation |
|---|---|---|---|
| S | In The Night Baptism of Pure Thought Cruising the Stellar Sea | Along the Passing Shore Patience is All You Need Incessant Rain Those Many Springs Reforged Remembrance Before the Tutorial Mission Starts | Moment of Victory She Already Shut Her Eyes |
| A | Worrisome, Blissful Sleep Like the Dead Sailing Towards a Second Life Final Victor Swordplay | Good Night and Sleep Well In the Name of the World Boundless Choreo | Inherently Unjust Destiny Landau’s Choice Texture of Memories Day One of my New Life This is Me! |
| B | Only Silence Remains Return to Darkness Subscribe for More! | Resolution Shines as Pearls of Sweat We Will Meet Again It’s Showtime Fermata Eyes of the Prey | Concert for Two Amber Destiny’s Threads Forewoven Trend of the Universal Market We Are Wildfire |
| C | River Flows in Spring Darting Arrow Adversarial Arrows | Void Loop Hidden Shadow | Defense Pioneering |
Since going over every single one of the best Light Cones in Honkai: Star Rail would turn this tier list into an encyclopedia, let us offer a few tips instead. First, the general consensus is that a 5-star character needs their premium Light Cone. For instance, Acheron needs her Light Cone to perform well because, without it, you’ll see a huge DPS decrease. Second, even if a Light Cone is at S-rank, that doesn’t mean it will do well. For instance, I Shall By My Own Sword won’t work well, and neither will Yunli’s Light Cone work with Jingliu. So, always be mindful of that.
If you’re a new player, you can use Light Cones from the A and B ranks as they are easy to get, level up, and tend to fit most characters. Still, we recommend pulling for 5-star LCs whenever you are aiming for a specific premium character.
So, there you have it. This tier list should give you an idea of which are the best Light Cones in Honkai: Star Rail. If you have any of them, you can check your character’s build and see if that LC fits them. If not, you can bench it for a while until you get a better option.
