To help you understand more about Honkai Star Rail, I decided to give a general breakdown of each path and their roles in battle. While each character in these groups differs in abilities, some general core ideas carry on between each of. So, use this as a base idea to understand their functions. There is also some very important information about team building and the Preservation section, so be sure to not miss that.

Hunt

We will begin with my personal favorite path: the Hunt.

The Hunt tends to focus on heavy single target burst units who can wipe out health bars in a few strikes. Notable features for these units are their very high base speed stats, which results in them usually taking the first turn but tend to be on the lower end for health. So, expect them to explode at times.

Their Light Cones tend to focus primarily on boosting either their critical rate or damage, which are the ones I generally prefer. But there are also some that will boost their base attack and speed as well. I generally recommend one to two in most team compositions. But they can struggle in certain fights where enemies bring in additional fodder.

Erudition

Next, we are on the Erudition.

The Erudition, generally speaking, excel in a massive mob clearing. Imagine playing chess against one of these characters and they will just flip the board over on you and say that they’ve won.

Notable features with these units are their ability to hit anywhere from three to five enemies with their skills and ultimates. Not to mention some of these units also have a special trait known as a follow-up attack.

These attacks will trigger based on certain conditions, such as being below a certain health breaking enemy or a Susano just deciding it wants to play ball.

Their Light Cones tend to focus on boosting their attack and follow-up attack damage or focus on boosting their ultimate and helping spam them. I would generally recommend zero to two depending on how many enemies appear.

Abundance

Do you feel that? The springtime of youth is here alongside the Abundance.

The Abundance, otherwise known as walking bandaids, are your healers. Notable features being their lack of units because Hoyoverse hates them Qiqi and their high HP stats because HP scaling is the best.

Their Light Cones tend to focus around boosting their healing capabilities alongside their health. However, there is one that boosts their turn speed can’t wait for some unit to break this. General recommendations here are zero to one, stopping a baby and just die like the rest of us.

Destruction

Welcome to oddball city, otherwise known as the Destruction.

The Destruction units are generally speaking very unique and can do some absurd things, such as solo carry depending on certain conditions, but can also sell harder than Vegeta versus any main villain in Dragon Ball.

Notable features are that units tend to take a mixture of class abilities and turn it into their own destructive power, such as self-healing and AOE damage or sometimes strong single target hits.

Their Light Cones also tend to be the most character specific in which they will really focus on one character's expertise and then enhance it. No general recommendations here since these units are very unique and will take match-up knowledge to fully utilize.

Harmony

Then, let’s talk about the Harmony.

The Harmony is the wrong name because it should be called the Timeless since these units will probably end up staying relevant longer than that smell in your room.

Notable features here is their ability to do negative damage on their ultimate, but somehow have your fight end faster since they give buffs that are well, let’s say “Fair and Balanced” for a lack of better terms.

Alongside their Light Cones, that tend to boost their ability to spam these ultimates or just give flat boosts to all allies on the team or just do everything with a bit of RNG mixed in.

General recommendations here are zero to three. The fun fact is that there are only three, even with just a break build looking at Asta, they are so dumb.

Nihility

Next, welcome to Nihility.

The Nihility is the enemies you don’t want to fight debuff spammers who can also remove buffs. It’s a nightmare from any turn-based gamer. Luckily, they are on your side for now.

Notable feature here is praying the enemy doesn’t resist your debuff, so be sure to check before entering the battle.

Their Light Cones tend to center around enemies being in a debuffed state, which can make some matchup rather hard.

General recommendations here are zero to one unless they can bend gravity.

Also Read: Honkai Star Rail: Thoughts And Exploration Of New Character Jing Yuan

Preservation

Finally, we have the Preservation. This section is important for team building, so do not skip!

The Ppreservation’s goal here is to be your walking meat shield. One important tip with these units is that you want them to be placed in either slot 1 or 4 and next to your highest HP unit.

The reason for this is that each path in this game has their own taunt amount, which increases their likelihood of being attacked and some enemies can target up to three allies. So, having them in one or four allows you to save a unit from being targeted.

Their Light Cones also enhance this ability, so pay attention when building your team. Don’t put squishy units next to them.

General recommendations here are zero to one depending on how hard the enemies can hit since some fights can easily one shot your DPS units.

Hope this guide can help you a lot! By the way, if you want to get 5-Star characters, Light Cones, weapons or something like this easily, getting Honkai Star Rail Accounts directly will be a good choice.