Honkai: Star Rail – March 7th (Preservation) build and ascension guide

Wish your enemies an “ice” day with the best Honkai: Star Rail March 7th (Preservation) build and keep your allies safe. March 7th may be a free starter character in the game, but that doesn’t mean that she’s on the bottom of the pecking order. March follows the Path of The Preservation and deals Ice DMG, being a very useful shielder to keep you safe early on.

Her Skill, The Power of Cuteness, creates a shield around an ally for three turns, which is based on March’s DEF. If that ally has more than 30% of their HP, this shield will taunt enemies and increase the odds of that character being attacked, so it’s a useful control mechanism. March’s Talent, Girl Power, allows her to make Follow-Up Attacks up to twice per turn against opponents that attacked a shielded ally. March 7th’s shield also dispels a debuff on the target once she’s unlocked the corresponding Trace, which is a welcome addition to her kit.

Looking for a different form of this character? Try our March 7th (Hunt) guide.

March 7th’s Ultimate, Glacial Cascade, deals Ice DMG based on her ATK to all enemies and has a 50% chance of applying Freeze to them.

March’s Eidolon levels, which you can increase by pulling duplicates of her, are quite useful, too. Level 1 enables a third Follow-Up Attack per turn and adds some extra damage to these moves based on her DEF. Level 2 allows her to regenerate Energy by freezing a target with her Ultimate. Level 4 automatically grants March and the ally with the lowest percentage of their Max HP a shield at the start of combat. Level 6 makes March into a bit of a healer, granting allies that are protected by her shield some HP regeneration.

Honkai: Star Rail – March 7th (Preservation): best Light Cones

March 7th benefits from any Light Cone that increases her DEF, since this stat is relevant for her shields. Moment of Victory, the signature Light Cone of Gepard, is the best choice due to this. It increases the wearer’s DEF and Effect Hit Rate, which has the added advantage of making her Ultimate a more reliable source of Freeze — this, in turn, prevents allies from being attacked, so it very much reinforces March’s role. DEF will be boosted even more, if the wearer is attacked.

Best Light Cones for March 7th (Preservation) in HSR:

• Moment of Victory (5-Star)
• Day One of My New Life (4-Star)
• This Is Me! (4-Star)
• Landau’s Choice (4-Star)

Honkai: Star Rail – March 7th (Preservation): best Relics

March 7th is all about DEF, so it’s not surprising that you should be focusing your Relics on boosting this stat. Throw some SPD and Energy Regeneration in there as well to raise her Ultimate uptime and be competitive in the turn order. You’ll want some Effect Hit Rate to make full use of her Planar Ornaments set and get more consistent Freezes off, too.

Best Relic Sets for March 7th (Preservation) in HSR:

• Knight of Purity Palace (4) – +12% DEF, +20% damage absorption for shields created by the wearer.

Best Planar Ornaments for March 7th (Preservation) in HSR:

• Belobog of the Architects (2) – +15% DEF, another +15% DEF when the wearer’s Effect Hit Rate is 50% or higher.

Best stats for March 7th (Preservation) in HSR:

• Head – HP (Primary), DEF %, SPD, Effect Hit Rate, DEF
• Hands – ATK (Primary), DEF %, SPD, Effect Hit Rate, DEF
• Body – DEF % (Primary), SPD, Effect Hit Rate, DEF, ATK %
• Feet – SPD (Primary), DEF %, Effect Hit Rate, DEF, ATK %
• Planar Sphere – DEF % (Primary), SPD, Effect Hit Rate, DEF, ATK %
• Link Rope – Energy Regeneration (Primary), DEF %, SPD, Effect Hit Rate, DEF

Honkai: Star Rail – March 7th (Preservation): best teams

March 7th (Preservation) is useful on any team in need of a shielder, but she’s particularly great in combination with Clara.

• Clara (Main DPS), Topaz (Sub DPS), March 7th (Preservation) (Support), Huohuo (Support)

Clara’s damage output goes up when she’s attacked, as this will allow Mr. Svarog to retaliate. Since March 7th’s shield can act as a taunt, this’ll not only protect Clara from harm, but actually help her fulfill her role. You’ll still need a healer in this composition to withstand any sort of area attacks, as March can only keep one two people safe at the same time. Huohuo is an excellent candidate for the job, providing ATK buffs and Energy restoration on top of her healing services. Topaz is a great Sub DPS to Clara, being able to buff the effectiveness of the team’s Follow-Up Attacks. 

Robin and Lingsha are strong options for this composition as well.

Honkai: Star Rail – March 7th (Preservation): ascension materials

Here’s everything you need to know to get March 7th ascended to the maximum level and upgrade all of her talents.

March 7th requires the following ascension materials to get to level 80 in addition to the necessary XP:

• Credits x246,000
• Thief’s Instinct x12
• Usurper’s Scheme x13
• Conqueror's Will x12
• Horn of Snow x50

You can collect Thief’s Instinct, Usurper’s Scheme, and Conqueror’s Will from enemies in Herta Space Station’s Storage and Supply Zones as well as the Simulated Universe. You can create or exchange them through the Omni-Synthesizer on the Astral Express, too. Thief’s Instinct is one of the base materials you can easily farm through the Daily Assignments to your characters, making for a steady income of the material. Horn of Snow is dropped by the Stagnant Shadow (Corridor of Fading Echoes) or gained through exchange. The best source of Credits are the Golden Calyxes strewn around the universe.

March 7th requires the following materials to upgrade her combat abilities and Traces:

• Credits x2,400,000
• Thief’s Instinct x28
• Usurper’s Scheme x42
• Conqueror's Will x42
• Endurance of Bronze x12
• Oath of Steel x54
• Safeguard of Amber x105
• Destroyer’s Final Road x12
• Tracks of Destiny x8

For the materials already mentioned, check above. Endurance of Bronze, Oath of Steel, and Safeguard of Amber are available from the Crimson Calyx (Supply Zone). As usual, you can create the high-level materials by investing lower-level materials in the Omni-Synthesizer on the Astral Express.

Destroyer’s Final Road is a boss material only obtainable from the Echo of War (Supply Zone) domain, while Tracks of Destiny can be obtained during time-limited events, the Embers Exchange, the Nameless Honor, or as a Simulated Universe Points Reward.