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Ever since the beginning of Amphoreus during the Version 3.0 update inHonkai: Star Rail, Phainon has been the one character who stayed with us as we went on a journey with different Chrysos Heirs. He’s been the face of the region and one of the most anticipated playable characters, especially for Honkai Impact 3rd players.
He’s finally joined the game’s roster as a five-star Physical Destruction unit, and he brings some unique mechanics with him. Phainon is arguably one of the most fun characters to use in HSR, but it’s important to build him with the right gear and team first.
Best Phainon Light Cones
Every gacha game requires you to put on a specific type of gear on each character to make them far stronger, and for Honkai: Star Rail, it’s the light cones. When choosing a light cone for Phainon, it’srecommended to find one from the Destruction pathsince you only apply the passive to him if the path matches.
Thankfully, he has a bunch of good choices, especially if you’ve been playing the game for a bit. Itgoes without saying that Phainon’s best light cone is Thus Burns the Dawn, which is his signature. Here are all the other choices you have:
Synergy With Phainon
Thus Burns the Dawn
This light cone might be niche and not as usable on other characters, but itdoes wonders for Phainon with the 12 SPD and 18 percent DEF ignorethat you get just by putting it on. He also gets a special effect after using his Ultimate.
This effectlets him deal 60 percent more DMGthroughout his Khaslana state.
Something Irreplaceable
If you’ve been pulling for light cones in Honkai: Star Rail, you might already have this light cone, and it serves as the second-best choice for Phainon. It grants you an additional 24 percent ATK simplyby placing it on him.
Once you defeat an enemy or get attacked, this conealso increases his DMG by 24 percent.
On the Fall of an Aeon
You can easily get this light cone tosuperimposition five from the Herta store, andit gives you 16 percent ATK every time you attack an enemy, stacking up to four times.
Since Phainon can easily break the smaller enemies' Weakness,he also gets an additional 24 percent DMG bonusfor two turns after doing that with this light cone.
A Trail of Bygone Blood
This light cone was added to the battle pass on the same update as Phainon, and it gives him12 percent Crit Rate and 24 percent Skill DMGat the first superimposition, making it the best four-star choice.
Dance at Sunset
The reason for a five-star light cone to be below the four-star is that you can only use half of its effect on Phainon. However, the usable halfincreases his chances of getting attacked while giving him 36 percent Crit DMG, which is massive.
Under the Blue Sky
Finally, if you don’t have any of the above light cones, you may use this to give him some ATK alongside some Crit Rate,with the latter buff applying after he defeats an enemy.
Best Phainon Relics And Planar Ornaments
You’ll get most of your damage and additional stats on Phainon from his relics and planar ornaments. However, before you choose the main and sub-stats, it’s important to choose the right sets for him. If you’re caught up with the game, Wavestrider Captain and Arcadia of Woven Dreams will be Phainon’s best relics and planar ornaments, respectively.
However, you have quite a few other choices if you’re in the early game:
1
Wavestrider Captain
This set gives him an additional 16 percent Crit DMG while alsoincreasing his ATK by 48 percentduring the Ultimate state as long as he gets targeted with two ally abilities.
2
Scholar Lost in Erudition
you may also use this set to get some Crit Rate on Phainon and some Skill and Ultimate DMG.After using your Ultimate, your next Skill (the big meteor)can deal even higher damage.
3
Champion of Streetwise Boxing
Finally, you can use this set only if you’re in the early game and can’t farm the above sets. Itgives him some Physical DMG Bonus and ATK.
Arcadia of Woven Dreams
This is undoubtedly the best set for Phainon as it cangive him a direct 12 percent DMG bonusas long as he’s in the Ultimate state.
Rutilant Arena
You can also use this set as a decent substitute as it gives Phainon up toeight percent Crit Rate and 20 percent Basic Attack and Skill DMG.
Sub-Stats
Crit Rate/DMG > SPD > ATK Percent
Crit DMG main stat on the body usually suits Phainon more since he canget a ton of Crit Rate from his teammatesin both the premium and F2P team.
However, you should only useATK Percent on Feet if you have his premium teamand can have a ton of SPD on them.
Phainon F2P Team
Phainon, Tingyun/Lynx, Yukong, Remembrance Trailblazer
As you’re able to see from above, even Phainon’s best team is F2P-friendly sinceRemembrance Trailblazer is free and Bronya can eventually be acquired.If you can go for Sunday, you’ll have his best team without any problems. However, doing a proper rotation with this team can be quite difficult since both Bronya’s and Sunday’s buffs last for a short period of time.
While using this team, you’ll have tofirst apply Remembrance Trailblazer’s buff on Phainon, instantly followed by Sunday,and then Bronya. It’s important to speed-tune these teammates in that order so that you can have the maximum buffs when you trigger Phainon’s Ultimate right after Bronya’s Skill.
Of course, it’s much better if you can also give him theUltimate buffs from Sunday and Bronyaduring this.
It’s also recommended to place Phainon in the first slot in this team since hishigh aggro, being a Destruction character, will attract most attacks to him. You want Phainon to get attacked, but keeping him at the cornerprevents a teammate from taking AoE damagefrom the boss in some instances. Since this is a sustainless team, it’s important to prevent damage wherever possible.
Alternatively, you can also replace one of the supports with Huohuo to bring some healing into the team. This will alsolet Phainon utilize a passive and gain a 45 percent DMG bonus, so you won’t lose a lot of damage when you replace a support. Finally, Yukong is a staple for Phainon in an F2P team, and it can give him some massive boosts to ATK, Crit Rate, and Crit DMG.
However, sinceonly Remembrance Trailblazer can move Phainon’s turn forwardin the F2P team, you’ll need a lot of SPD on him.
It’s also important tomention that while using Yukong, Phainonwill get much harder if you don’t have her on maximum Eidolons. With all her eidolons, you can simply activate her Ultimate right before Phainon’s to get the maximum boosts.
Apocalyptic Shadow Rating
S+ Tier
Being one of the most anticipated characters and Hoyoverse’s favorite from another game,Phainon was bound to make a strong entrance to Honkai: Star Rail,much like Acheron. He deals some of the highest numbers you’ll see during his release, and easily beats all the endgame content without breaking a sweat.
All enemies get Physical Weakness when he enters his Ultimate state, which alsomakes him usable against any enemy as long as they don’t hide their Weakness. At first glance, Phainon’s kit might seem a bit complicated, but it’s very easy in practice. Here’s what you need to know:
Phainon Trace Priority
The Skill and Enhanced Skill in Phainon’s Khaslana state also count as Skill, and as mentioned above, they’re the main source of his damage. Hence,the Skill is his priority for upgrades. After that, you can upgrade his Talent, followed by the Ultimate. You also have to unlock all the bonus abilities and trace nodes whenever possible.
Finally, you can upgrade his Basic Attack last, though it’s still important to upgrade since you use the Basic Attack in his Ultimate form sometimes.
