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Ever since you set foot in the land of Amphoreus inHonkai: Star Rail, you’ve met quite a few Chrysos Heirs, with each one having a huge part to play in the future of the planet. Their role in the story has made the Chrysos Heirs one of the most valuable characters to pull for, and Cipher is no different.
Cipher is a five-star Quantum character following the path of Nihility, but she has a very specific role in the team that is quite rare. Essentially, she can only perform as a sub-DPS because of how her kit works, and you’ll have to build her in the right way to get the most value.
Best Cipher Light Cones
Once you pull for a character in Honkai: Star Rail, the first thing you have to do is head over to their character menu and switch to the light cone screen.You can generally place any light cone on your characters, but you’ll only get the passive effect if it belongs to the same path as Cipher, which is Nihility.
Unfortunately, theNihility path consists of three types of characters: support debuffers, DPS, and DoT units. This leads to the light cone pool being very diluted, with limited choices for her play style. Of course, Cipher’s best weapon is her signature called Lies Dance on the Breeze, and here are all the other choices that you have:
Lies Dance on the Breeze
Five-Star
As Cipher’s signature weapon, Lies Dance on the Breeze largely gives her every stat she needs. It instantlygives her 18 percent SPD after being equipped and up to 24 percent DEF shredon the enemy.
The DEF shred stays at 16 percent unless you have 170 SPD on her. However,one of Cipher’s passive require you to have that amount of SPD, making it a perfect synergy.
Along the Passing Shore
This serves as her second-best weapon since she can get a massive 36 percent Crit DMG boostalong with a 24 percent general DMG and 24 percent Ultimate DMGbonus on the enemies she attacks during her turn.
Since she can attack multiple enemies with every turn, it works out perfectly and sets you up for a high damagewhenever you trigger the Ultimate.
Patience Is All You Need
Kafka’s signature light cone is also a decent choice for Cipher as it gives her a direct 24 percent DMG boost after being equipped. Other than that,it can give her up to 14.4 percent SPD, which is nearly as much as her signature.
Outside of that, the last part of this light cone’s passive isn’t as useful for Cipher.
Incessant Rain
This light cone works surprisingly well with Cipher’s kit as she can use everything it provides. Firstly, theEffect Hit Rate will help her apply the debuffs from her Skilland this light cone with much more regularity.
You can also get a 12 percent Crit Rate bonus and have theenemies take an additional 12 percent increased damage, which stacks with her passive.
Resolution Shines As Pearls of Sweat
Four-Star
This is a great four-star choice for Cipher since she’s a sub-DPS, and the Ensnared effect applied by it helps both her and the main DPS. However,using it will make it much harder to get the right statsfrom your relics.
Boundless Choreo (situational)
Finally, if you have a character that can apply DEF shred on the enemies either through the above light cone ortheir abilities like Pelaor Silver Wolf, you can use this light cone on Cipher to get some decent buffs.
Best Cipher Relics And Planar Ornaments
Outside of the lack of F2P light cones for Cipher, she also doesn’t get a tailor-made relic or planar ornament set for her. Thankfully, there are quite a few decent existing choices:
1
Pioneer Diver of Dead Waters
Much like one of her best teammates, Cipher also works the best with the Pioneer set as she can fully utilize it in the right team. This set lets herdeal 12 percent increased damage to enemies with debuffs.
With four pieces, it also increases yourCrit Rate by four percent and Crit DMG by 24 percentsince she automatically applies a debuff with her Skill.
2
The Wind-Soaring Valorous
This is yet another set that serves as the perfect substitute for Cipher due to its ATK bonus, Crit Rate, and awhopping 36 percent increased Ultimate damage.
3
Genius of Brilliant Stars
Finally, being a Quantum character, this set is a staple for her for early game players as it allows you toignore an additional 20 percent DEF from the enemies, which can stack with her signature light cone.
Firmament Frontline: Glamoth
Since Cipher will already have 170 SPD once you build her, she can fully utilize the12 percent ATK and 18 percent DMG bonusfrom this set.
Izumo Gensei and Takama Divine Realm
This can be a decent substitute for Cipher with its 12 percent ATK and 12 percent Crit Rate. However,you might overcap on Crit Rate with this.
Inert Salsotto
Finally, for early game players, Inert Salsotto can be a great choice as it gives herboth Ultimate and follow-up attack damage, outside of the eight percent Crit Rate.
ATK Percent
Sub-Stats
SPD > Effect Hit Rate > Crit DMG > Crit Rate > ATK Percent
Cipher can get a ton of DMG bonus from her best in slot relics and planar ornaments,which might give you marginally high numberswith an ATK Percent sphere.
Having 170 SPD on Cipher is the highest priority since she can get 50 percent Crit Rate for free with it. Once you achieve that, you may focus onas much Crit DMG and ATK as possiblewhile also getting some Effect Hit Rate rolls.
Cipher F2P Team
Cipher, DPS, Asta/Pela, Gallagher
Unlike the rest of Cipher’s build, at least her team section has a lot more flexibility. Being a sub-DPS, you may use Cipher with almost any team as long as you have a main DPS, a support, and a sustainer outside of her.This generally serves as the template for her F2P team, with the DPS preferably being someone with the highest damage output possible.
Outside of the DPS, you can either use Asta or Pela as the support. Theformer will help you get extra SPD if you can’t quite reach 170 on Cipher, while the latter is the better choice if you can. Pela works especially well with Cipher if you’re using the Boundless Choreo light cone since she has DEF shred for enemies in her kit.
As long as Pela has enough Energy Regeneration,she can keep the DEF shred on the enemiesthroughout the battle.
Once you start getting more five stars, thebest team for Cipher involves Acheron, Aventurine, and Jiaoqiu.Acheron has some of the highest AoE damage in the game without the requirement of specific supports, and she can dish out enough damage for Cipher to get a ton of stacks. Moreover, Jiaoqiu can massively buff both her and Acheron’s Ultimate damage.
Other than that, you’re able to also use Cipher with Feixiao, Robin, and Aventurine if you want to target one enemy at a time. Feixiaoexcels at dealing over 500,000 damage to a single enemyeven with an F2P build. In both of these teams, it’s important to have Aventurine in the middle of the roster so that he can get more stacks, especially against enemies with AoE attacks.
Apocalyptic Shadow Rating
A Tier
For most Honkai: Star Rail players who are pulling Cipher, you’ll likely have one copy of the character with a potential signature light cone. However, with these two things,Cipher doesn’t have the greatest place in the current meta. However, she can still be used in her best team to beat the endgame content quite easily.
Here’s everything you need to know about her kit:
Cipher Trace Priority
As you can see, Cipher does most of her damage through the Ultimate,making it the upgrade priority when you start leveling her up. After that, you can upgrade her Skill followed by the Talent. You can ignore her basic attack and unlock her bonus abilities and side nodesas soon as possible.
