Light Cones are a must-have for any player that wants to go far in Honkai: Star Rail.
You can boost your character’s stats in Honkai: Star Rail in many ways. Each character in your Honkai: Star Rail account has their own weapon automatically equipped right from the get-go, and within it, there’s a weapon system known as Light Cones. Compared to Genshin Impact’s weapon system, Star Rail doesn’t limit the weapon types characters can use. You can treat Light Cones as a medium to improve their abilities.
Throughout your adventure, you’ll come across dozens of Light Cones. It’s easy to brush them off at the start, but you’ll notice later on how much you’ll need them to get the most out of your characters. In this guide, we’ll be sharing all our secrets on how to bring Light Cones, which ones you should be looking out for, and why you should have them in your repertoire.
The Gacha System is the Easiest and Hardest Way to Get Light Cones
If you want to obtain characters and Light Ones in Honkai: Star Rail, you have no choice but to use the game’s gacha system. Light Cones ranging from 3-star to 4-star can be received from the standard and limited banners, but if you’re gunning for the 5-star Light Cones, they’re exclusive to the limited-time Light Cone and standard banner.
The limited-time Light Cone banner gives you the highest chance to get 5-star weapons for your account. Granted, the reward pool doesn’t include characters, but it’s still useful for those aiming for a character’s signature Light Cones. For example, if you’re looking for Seele’s iconic 5-star weapon, the limited-time Light Cone banner gives you a high chance of getting it.
Speak to Pom Pom to Get Your Level Rewards
You don’t always need to spend money or do complex challenges to get high-tier items like 4-star Light Cones. Sometimes, it’s as easy as visiting Pom Pom on the Astral Express. Honkai: Star Rail is fortunately generous with its level rewards. From Credits to materials and even Light Cones, you can quickly redeem all these goodies through Pom Pom at the Parlor Car. As you progress through the game, you can also gain EXP points, which you’ll need a lot of if you want to continue the game’s main story.
If You’re Already Doing Pulls, Visit the Starlight Exchange Store
If you’re already using your warps in any of the gacha banners to have a chance to get those rare 5-star characters or Light Cones, you might as well take a look at the Starlight Exchange Store. As you do more pulls, you’ll accumulate Starlight currency; this currency can be used in the Starlight Exchange Store. You can access this store via the Store section in your menu.
At first glance, the Starlight Exchange store offers many items, such as 4-star characters like Arlan. Among these items, you can get seven 5-star banner weapons for 600 Undying Starlight a pop. The rotation of banner weapons includes Moment of Victory, Night on the Milky Way, In the Name of the World, and many more. We understand they’re expensive, but this method would be a great alternative if you have some unspent Undying Starlight. Best of all, you don’t have to grind for it!
What Are the Best Light Cones?
Considering there’s a plethora of Light Cones to choose from, it can be daunting to work out which is the cream of the crop. For starters, a Light Cones that works best with one character doesn’t mean it’ll fit perfectly for someone who belongs in the Path of Erudition. With that in mind, we’ve compiled this Light Cone tier list for each Path in Honkai: Star Rail. That way, you can determine which Light Cones are worth grinding for a specific character.
Path of Nihility (Sampo, Pela, Welt)
- S-tier: Eyes of the Prey, In the Name of the World, Good Night and Sleep Well
- A-tier: Resolution Shines As Pearls of Sweat, We Will Meet Again
- B-tier: Void, Fermata
- C-tier: Hidden Shadow, Loop
Path of Destruction (Hook, Physical Trailblazer, Clara)
- S-tier: On the Fall of the Aeon, Something Irreplaceable
- A-tier: Woof! Walk Time!, Under the Blue Sky, Nowhere to Run, The Moles Welcome You
- B-tier: Collapsing Sky, A Secret Vow
- C-tier: Shattered Home, Mutual Demise
Path of Preservation (March 7th, Gepard, Fire Trailblazer)
- S-tier: Texture of Memories, Moment of Victory
- A-tier: This is Me!, Day One of My New Life
- B-tier: Amber, Landau’s Choice
- C-tier: Defense, Pioneering
Path of Harmony (Asta, Bronya, Tingyun)
- S-tier: The Battle Isn’t Over
- A-tier: Memories of the Past, Past, and Future, Carve the Moon Weave the Clouds
- B-tier: Planetary Rendezvous, Dance Dance Dance!
- C-tier: Chorus, Meshing Cogs, Mediation
Path of The Hunt (Dan Heng, Seele, Yanqing, Sushang)
- S-tier: In the Night, Cruising in the Stellar Sea
- A-tier: Only Silence Remains, Sleep Like the Dead, Swordplay
- B-tier: Rivers Flow in Spring, Return to Darkness, Darting Arrow
- C-tier: Adversarial, Arrows
Path of Erudition (Serval, Herta, Himeko, Qingque)
- S-tier: Before Dawn, Night on the Milky Way
- A-tier: The Birth of the Self, The Seriousness of Breakfast
- B-tier: Today is Another Peaceful Day, Make the World Clamor
- C-tier: Sagacity, Data Bank, Passkey
Path of Abundance (Natasha)
- S-tier: Post-Op Conversation, Time Waits for No One, Shared Feeling
- A-tier: Quid Pro Quo, Warmth Shortens Cold Nights
- B-tier: Cornucopia, Perfect Timing
- C-tier: Fine Fruit
Why You Should Use Light Cones
Light Cones are more than just card-like weapons you can slot into your character. They provide stat buffs, and when you pair one with a character on the same path, you’ll unlock more powerful abilities. It’s an excellent way to make the 5-star characters in your Honkai: Star Rail become a more tempting offer.
You can also upgrade your Light Cones by fusing two of the same. Thanks to Superimposition, you’ll immediately know how many Light Cones you fused. At the start of Honkai: Star Rail, you won’t see the need to do this, but once you’re at that point when you’re struggling to increase your Trailblaze level and the monsters are more formidable, it will become a necessity.
