Honkai: Star Rail – Sushang build and ascension guide

Let the phoenix rise with the best Honkai: Star Rail Sushang build and crush your enemies under the weight of a giant chicken. Yes, you read that correctly. It’ll make sense, we promise. Sushang is a character following the Path of The Hunt and dealing Physical DMG.

Sushang’s Skill, Cloudfencer Art: Mountainfall, deals Physical DMG based on her ATK to a single target that has a 33% chance of triggering Sword Stance on the final hit, which deals additional Physical DMG based on her ATK. Sword Stance is guaranteed to activate if the opponent suffers from Weakness Break.

She benefits from Weakness Break thanks to her Talent, Dancing Blade, as well: Whenever there is an enemy inflicted with Weakness Break on the field, her SPD gets boosted for two turns.

Her Ultimate, Shape of Taixu: Dawn Herald, summons a giant chicken to assault a single enemy, dealing Physical DMG based on ATK and advancing Sushang’s next action by 100%. Sushang increases her ATK for the next two turns as well. Her Skill has two additional chances to trigger Sword Stance in the same time window, though they deal a little less damage.

Eidolon levels, which are obtainable by getting duplicates of a character, can upgrade Sushang’s power further. Level 1 allows her to restore a Skill Point for the team by using her Skill against an opponent with Weakness Break. Level 2 enhances her own durability by boosting her damage resistance for a turn after triggering Sword Stance. Level 4 increases her Break Effect and Level 6 makes her Talent’s SPD buff stackable up to two times. In addition, one stack is applied immediately after entering combat.

Honkai: Star Rail – Sushang: best Light Cones

Seele’s signature Light Cone, In the Night, is a fantastic option for Sushang, since her Talent allows her to build up SPD and therefore make use of the Light Cone’s full effects. In the Night provides its wearer with an increased CRIT Rate, Basic Attack and Skill DMG, the latter two buffs being based on every ten points of SPD exceeding the threshold of 100 SPD. On top of that, the Ultimate’s CRIT DMG is getting a boost.

Alternatively, Sushang can take the lead in a Break DMG-focused team, in which case Boothill’s Sailing Towards a Second Life is her prime choice.

Best Light Cones for Sushang in HSR:

• In the Night (5-Star)
• Cruising the Stellar Sea (5-Star)
• Sleep Like the Dead (5-Star)
• Swordplay (4-Star)
• Subscribe for More! (4-Star)
• River Flows in Spring (4-Star)
• [Break] Sailing Towards a Second Life (5-Star)
• [Break] Shadowed by Night (4-Star)

Honkai: Star Rail – Sushang: best Relics

Playing Sushang as a traditional Main DPS, you’ll want to focus on increasing her CRIT DMG, CRIT Rate, ATK %, and SPD as much as you can.

If you’re looking to play her as part of a Break DMG team, then Break Effect will prove to be a more valuable investment than CRIT DMG and CRIT Rate.

Best Relic Sets for Sushang in HSR:

• Scholar Lost in Erudition (4) – +8% CRIT Rate, +20% Skill and Ultimate DMG, +25% Skill DMG for the wearer’s next Skill use after they used their Ultimate.
• Champion of Streetwise Boxing (4) – +10% Physical DMG, +5% ATK for the rest of the battle whenever the wearer attacks or is hit (stacks up to five times).
• [Break] Iron Cavalry Against the Scourge (4) – +16% Break Effect, Break DMG dealt by the wearer ignores 10% of enemy DEF if the wearer’s Break Effect is 150% or higher, Super Break DMG dealt by the wearer ignores 15% of enemy DEF if the wearer’s Break Effect is 200% or higher.

Best Planar Ornaments for Sushang in HSR:

• Firmament Frontline: Glamoth (2) – +12% ATK, +12%/18% more damage if the wearer’s SPD is 136/160 or higher.
• [Break] Talia: Kingdom of Banditry (2) – +16% Break Effect, +20% Break Effect if the wearer’s SPD is 145 or higher.

Best stats for Sushang in HSR:

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

For Sushang’s [Break] team, replace ATK % on the Link Rope with Break Effect and try to get Break Effect as a sub stat on all of the remaining pieces, replacing one of the CRIT attributes.

Honkai: Star Rail – Sushang: best teams

Sushang obviously can’t compete with the grand 5-Star damage dealers, but is a fun unit to play around with in battle — especially because she fits two completely different team archetypes.

• Sushang (Main DPS), Fugue (Support), Ruan Mei (Support), Lingsha (Support)

This example of a Break DMG team will afford Sushang many opportunities to benefit from the parts of her kit that boost her performance against Weakness Broken enemies. Ruan Mei buffs the team’s Weakness Break Efficiency and Break Effect, keeping foes Weakness Broken for a longer period of time, while Fugue allows Sushang to inflict Weakness Break regardless of the enemy’s Weakness Type. Finally, Lingsha keeps the team healthy and functions as the team’s secondary damage dealer thanks to her own substantial Break Effect.

• Sushang (Main DPS), Sparkle (Support), Bronya (Support), Huohuo (Support)

This team focuses all of its attention on Sushang, providing her with offensive buffs and letting her take several consecutive actions thanks to the turn manipulation skills brought to the table by Bronya and Sparkle. Huohuo keeps the team alive, provides ATK buffs, and restores the team’s Energy.

Honkai: Star Rail – Sushang: ascension materials

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

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

• Credits x246,000
• Artifex’s Module x12
• Artifex’s Cogwheel x13
• Artifex’s Gyreheart x12
• Broken Teeth of Iron Wolf x50

You can farm the Artifex’s Modules, Cogwheels, and Gyrehearts from Entranced Ingenia and other enemies in Stargazer Navalia as well as the Simulated Universe. You can create or exchange them through the Omni-Synthesizer on the Astral Express, too. Artifex’s Modules are one of the base materials you can easily generate through the Daily Assignments to your characters, making for a steady income of the material. 

Broken Teeth of Iron Wolf are dropped by the Stagnant Shadow (Great Mine) or gained through the exchange of similarly rare materials. The best source of Credits are the Golden Calyxes found across the cosmos.

Sushang requires the following materials to upgrade her combat abilities and Traces:

• Credits x2,400,000
• Artifex’s Module x28
• Artifex’s Cogwheel x42
• Artifex’s Gyreheart x42
• Arrow of the Beast Hunter x12
• Arrow of the Demon Slayer x54
• Arrow of the Starchaser x105
• Guardian’s Lament x12
• Tracks of Destiny x5

For the materials already mentioned, check above. Arrow of the Beast Hunter, Arrow of the Demon Slayer, and Arrow of the Starchaser are available from the Crimson Calyx (Outlying Snow Plains). As usual, you can create the high-level materials by using lower-level materials in the Omni-Synthesizer on the Astral Express.

Guardian’s Lament is a rarer resource only gained from the Echo of War (Everwinter Hill) 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.