Honkai: Star Rail – Version 3.4 introduced a variety of new content and additions to the game. In addition to the continuation of the main story and new character, Phainon, the game also received a new but exciting feature: the Novaflare character enhancement system.
Four lucky older characters got substantial updates, significantly increasing their combat capabilities. That includes Kafka (Lightning Nihility) and Silver Wolf (Quantum Nihility) as well as Blade (Wind Destruction) and Jingliu (Ice Destruction). Not only that, but you can also lose your 50/50 to Blade, either picking up the character himself or acquiring an Eidolon, and that would be your luckiest loss.
Without further ado, let’s check out what the enhancement means for these two Destruction characters: their power level, gear, teams, and concerns.
Blade – 5-star Wind Destruction
First, in case you have not closely followed the game, here is a quick overview of the buffs Blade received:
- His scaling had been changed to pure HP instead of the lousy original double ATK/HP;
- The Follow-Up Attack triggered by his Talent additionally regenerates Energy;
- Massively increased Taunt value after using Skill;
- Receives increased HP restoration from healing, a portion of the healed amount converted to the Ultimate’s tally of HP lost;
- E1 buff – Enhanced Basic Attack and Ultimate deal additional damage based on the tally of Blade’s HP loss from his Ultimate.
In short, Blade plays basically the same as before, but better: more damage, survivability, consistency in his abilities and performance. If you were playing – or, well, attempting to play – Blade before, using him after buff is an undeniable upgrade.
Whether you are going for the usual hypercarry, the oldschool double DPS with Jingliu, or using him as Castorice’s sub-DPS, the gameplay is simply more coherent, with a clear direction in mind. The increased taunt value, follow-up attack damage and Energy Regen adds to it massively, despite not looking like much on paper.
When it comes to Relics and Planars, things didn’t change much. Blade still prefers the Longevous Disciple 4-piece set with Bone Collection’s Serene Demesne for Planars. The usual preference for Speed, HP% & Crits applies.
Things become more interesting when it comes to the Light Cone. While there had been minor adjustments for Jingliu due to the change in scaling, for the rest they remained completely the same. That is to say nice stat-sticks vs 1/4th of the character kit as the 3.x Light Cones are.
That means that his new best-in-slot would be Mydei’s LC instead of his own signature: it provides more Health and more effects that work with Blade’s new kit. However, the difference is not great enough to bother pulling for it if you already have Blade’s own LC. Personally, I’d rather spend the pulls on Hyacine E1S1 and/or Tribbie E1 first.
As an HP-scaling unit, Blade uses the same setup as others do, namely:
- Blade + Hyacine + Tribbie + Sunday
- Blade + Hyacine + Tribbie + Castorice
You can use the usual for substitutes as well: Cipher, Silver Wolf, RMC, Bronya, Sparkle, and Ruan Mei. And, while Hyacine is uniquely useful for the HP meta, any sustain would do, just without as much synergy.
How does Blade measure up against the 3.x units, in particular Mydei? He is certainly not as powerful, but with E1 he pulls quite close, especially when you consider that he’s an early 1.x unit and can be the result of your 50/50 loss.
The Novaflare enhancement and the wheelchair support combo of Hyacine, Tribbie, and Sunday was enough to give him a second life, even when all he wants is to die.
Jingliu – 5-star Ice Destruction
Among all four buffs, I feel like Jingliu’s will be the most controversial. It addressed certain elements of her design that had previously been rough, such as the uptime of her Spectral Transmigration state (if you have one specific 5-star Light Cone, at least). While she largely plays the same, she now dishes out way more damage and can reliably remain in her buffed state.
So, what’s the catch? The buffed Jingliu is basically a new character that needs new gear and new teammates. But first things first, let’s start with an overview of her buffs:
- Jingliu’s abilities are now scaling with her own Max HP;
- When a teammate’s HP gets reduced, Jingliu’s Crit Damage increases, and she gains “Syzygy”;
- After entering the Spectral Transmigration state, max “Syzygy” increases, additionally gains an extra stack;
- While in Spectral Transmigration state, Effect RES increases by 35%, and Ultimate Damage increases by 20%;
- Additional energy restoration from “Transcendent Flash” and “Moon on Glacial River”;
- When obtaining “Syzygy” at max stacks, Jingliu’s next attack ignores 25% of the target’s DEF;
- E1, E4 & E6 adjustments.
Looks good, doesn’t it? Pretty substantial changes, increasing her power across the board. But that change #1 might have its fair share of disgruntled players. After all, she would no longer benefit to the fullest from Huohuo, Robin and the rest you could have pulled for her as well as the meticulously farmed gear.
Era Nova, New Jingliu, New Me. She still wants the Scholar Lost in Erudition 4-piece set, but with different stats: consider heavily prioritizing HP%, including picking it as the main stat on a few pieces of gear. Jingliu has a variety of ways to receive Crit buffs, but the HP is the more elusive stat for once.
Planar set-wise, it’s time to put the Rutilant Arena down to rest and instead pick up Bone Collection’s Serene Demesne – just like her HP-scaling damage-dealing compatriots, Blade, Mydei and Castorice.
When it comes to Light Cones, there are some changes as well. If you were using Aeon’s (the Herta Store LC), you will have to find an alternative, for example the event LC Ninja Record: Sound Hunt as the last resort. Jingliu’s signature is perfectly usable, but much like Blade’s (which she can also pick up, but watch out for Crit Rate!) loses to Mydei’s. Not only does it have higher base HP, it also provides a number of buffs that Jingliu’s own signature does not.
Jingliu’s problem that Blade does not have is the fact that she has quite a high floor: she provides astonishing buffs to herself, including 50% Crit Rate and a hefty amount of Crit Damage, but the drawback is that these stats quickly become saturated, lose their value, leaving you to seek other ways to improve her damage.
That includes:
- RES PEN, DEF shred/ignore, Vulnerability & True damage buffs
- Speed & Action Advance
- Energy Regen for more frequent Ultimates
- Max HP buff & HP manipulation
And so it happens that her best team would end up being the game’s wheelchair comp: Tribbie, Hyacine and Sunday, especially if you pick up a couple of Eidolons or signature Light Cones along the way. But at the same time, you can just swap Jingliu for any other 3.x damage-dealing unit, even those that don’t scale with HP, and potentially get even greater results.
Alternatively, you can go for the same substitutes as mentioned in Blade’s section: Cipher, Silver Wolf, RMC, Bronya, Sparkle and Ruan Mei. Sure, you will no longer benefit from Attack bonus provided by Bronya or, say, Huohuo, but their other buffs and mechanics still work for Jingliu.
Ironically, her best buff is simply the Hyacine LC. If you by any chance managed to grab a couple, slap one on the RMC and put them in the party with Jingliu, and enjoy her never leaving the Spectral Transmigration state with its hefty Crit buffs. Plus, you can use Jingliu as a sub-DPS in a Castorice team, she’d benefit from anything that Castorice likes as well, and charge up her “Syzygy” when Castorice uses allies’ HP for her attacks.
