Honkai: Star Rail – Phainon build and ascension guide

Live up to the Deliverer’s title with the best Honkai: Star Rail Phainon build and defy fate. A 5-Star character following The Destruction and dealing Physical DMG, Phainon has a kit that truly reflects the journey he takes throughout his story.

Phainon’s Skill, Let There Be Light, deals Physical DMG based on his ATK to a primary target and adjacent foes and generates two Coreflames for Phainon.

Coreflames replace Energy as a resource for Phainon and he can have a maximum of 15 at the same time. Aside from his Skill, Phainon gains a Coreflame whenever he’s targeted by anyone’s ability, friend or enemy. If an ally targets him with an ability, he additionally gains CRIT DMG for three turns. One of his Traces additionally grants him Coreflames at the start of battle and when his Ultimate ends. Another Trace grants him a Coreflame whenever he’s targeted by an allied ability that would otherwise regenerate Energy for him. The same Trace gives him a DMG buff for four turns when he’s targeted by a heal or shield.

He can activate his Ultimate, He Who Bears the World Must Burn, when he has 12 Coreflames. The Ultimate transforms Phainon to Khaslana and deploys a special Territory, causing all of his team mates to temporarily depart the battlefield and implanting Physical Weakness on all foes. He can spend up to eight turns in this state, after which he’ll make a final attack dealing Physical DMG based on his ATK. The transformation also creates four stacks of Scourge (stacks up to seven times).

Khaslana's abilities

Khaslana has access to three new abilities — one Enhanced Basic Attack and two Enhanced Skills. His ATK and Max HP are greatly increased at this time and Khaslana heals himself whenever he hits an enemy. He also survives a killing blow, ending the transformation with its final attack instead of being eliminated entirely. After the transformation ends, he increases the entire team’s SPD for a turn.

Khaslana’s Enhanced Basic Attack, Creation: Bloodthorn Ferry, creates two stacks of Scourge and deals Physical DMG based on his ATK to a primary target and adjacent enemies.

The Enhanced Skill, Calamity: Soulscorch Edict, creates as much Scourge as there are foes on the battlefield as well as one stack of Soulscorch, causing all enemies to take action right away. When he’s got Soulscorch, incoming damage is greatly reduced and Khaslana gains additional Soulscorch when enemies take action. He then launches a counterattack that deals Physical DMG based on his ATK to all enemies, consuming all Soulscorch for extra damage. This counter counts as a Follow-Up Attack.

The other Enhanced Skill, Foundation: Stardeath Verdict, dispels all debuffs on Khaslana and deals Physical DMG based on his ATK, consuming Scourge. The more Scourge he has, the more instances of Physical DMG are dealt to random enemies.

Obtaining duplicates of Phainon increases his Eidolon Level, unlocking power-ups:

Honkai: Star Rail – Phainon: best Light Cones

Though his kit might be a little unusual, Phainon’s desired stats are not, as they are fairly typical for damage dealers. His signature Light Cone, Thus Burns the Dawn, provides additional SPD as well as the ability to partially ignore enemy DEF when attacking. Furthermore, the wearer will gain the Blazing Sun effect for one turn after using their Ultimate, increasing all damage dealt.

Best Light Cones for Phainon in HSR:

• Thus Burns the Dawn (5-Star)
• On the Fall of an Aeon (5-Star)
• Brighter Than the Sun (5-Star)
• Something Irreplaceable (5-Star)
• A Trail of Bygone Blood (4-Star)
• Nowhere to Run (4-Star)
• Under the Blue Sky (4-Star)

Honkai: Star Rail – Phainon: best Relics

ATK, SPD, CRIT DMG, and CRIT Rate are Phainon’s bread and butter, as they are for so many other Main DPS characters. Phainon is pretty much the archetypical hyper carry, so you can get the full benefits of the Wavestrider Captain set without any issues. Since his Ultimate temporarily deletes all of his allies from the battlefield, he can also take full advantage of Arcadia of Woven Dreams, giving him massive stat boosts.

Best Relic Sets for Phainon in HSR:

• Wavestrider Captain (4) – +16% CRIT DMG, gain one stack of Help when targeted by an ally’s ability (can have up to two stacks); if there are two stacks of Help, the next Ultimate consumes them to give the wearer +48% ATK for one turn.
• Scholar Lost in Erudition (4) – +8% CRIT Rate, +20% Skill and Ultimate DMG; +25% Skill DMG for the next Skill use after casting an Ultimate.

Best Planar Ornaments for Phainon in HSR:

• Arcadia of Woven Dreams (2) – +9%/12% DMG for the wearer and their Memosprite (stacking up to 4/3 times) for each additional/missing target, if there are currently more or less than four ally targets in battle.

Best stats for Phainon in HSR:

• Head – HP (Primary), ATK %, CRIT DMG, CRIT Rate, SPD
• Hands – ATK (Primary), ATK %, CRIT DMG, CRIT Rate, SPD
• Body – CRIT DMG or CRIT Rate (Primary), ATK %, CRIT Rate or CRIT DMG, SPD, ATK
• Feet – SPD (Primary), ATK %, CRIT DMG, CRIT Rate, ATK
• Planar Sphere – Physical DMG (Primary), ATK %, CRIT DMG, CRIT Rate, SPD
• Link Rope – ATK % (Primary), CRIT DMG, CRIT Rate, SPD, ATK

Honkai: Star Rail – Phainon: best teams

Phainon does not share the spotlight with anyone, so his best teams consist of characters with abilities that focus on supporting him.

• Phainon (Main DPS), Sunday (Support), Robin (Support), Hyacine (Support)

Phainon soaks up whichever buffs he can soak up to quickly transform into Khaslana and wreak havoc. Generally, any characters with abilities that target allies are useful to him, though siblings Sunday and Robin stand at the top of the pecking order thanks to their powerful buffs. Hyacine brings a good amount of synergy to the table as well, delivering healing and a Max HP boost, while in turn benefiting from the SPD boost Phainon provides following his Ultimate.

Trailblazer (Remembrance), Aventurine, Huohuo, Bronya, Sparkle, Ruan Mei, Fugue, Asta, Tingyun, and Hanya are all possible options for Phainon’s team.

Honkai: Star Rail – Phainon: ascension materials

Here’s everything you need to know to get Phainon ascended to the maximum level and upgrade all of his Traces.

Phainon requires the following ascension materials to get to level 80 in addition to the necessary XP:

• Credits x308,000
• Ethereal Omen x15
• Echoing Wail x15
• Eternal Lament x15
• Invasive Clot x65

You can collect Ethereal Omen, Echoing Wail, and Eternal Lament from enemies on Amphoreus as well as the Simulated Universe. You can also create or exchange them through the Omni-Synthesizer on the Astral Express. They are one of the materials you can easily farm through the Daily Assignments to your characters, making for a steady income of the material. Invasive Clots are dropped by the Stagnant Shadow (Styxia, Dragonbone City). The best source of Credits are the Golden Calyxes found all around the universe.

Phainon requires the following materials to upgrade his combat abilities and Traces:

• Credits x3,000,000
• Ethereal Omen x41
• Echoing Wail x56
• Eternal Lament x58
• Borisin Teeth x18
• Lupitoxin Sawteeth x69
• Moon Rage Fang x139
• Daythunder Anamnesis x12
• Tracks of Destiny x8

For the materials already mentioned, check above. Borisin Teeth, Lupitoxin Sawteeth, and Moon Rage Fang can be farmed in the Crimson Calyx (Scalegorge Waterscape) on Penacony. As usual, you can create the high-level materials by using up lower-level materials in the Omni-Synthesizer on the Astral Express.

Daythunder Anamnesis is a rarer material only gained from the Echo of War (Eye of Twilight, Fortress of Dome) 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.