Honkai: Star Rail 2.5 – Who Should You Pull For In Phase 1? (Feixiao, Robin, Kafka or Black Swan)

Characters in Honkai: Star Rail are unique and can offer a different approach to combat. Their diversity opens a wide range of opportunities for players who seek to build teams in Honkai: Star Rail. So, knowing who the next characters are in line is always important for team-building.

In Honkai: Star Rail 2.5, players get the rare opportunity to pull on four different limited banners at the same time. Three of the four feature damage dealers, namely Kafka, Black Swan, and a new character, Feixiao. Meanwhile, the last unit is a support who debuted in the Penacony arc, Robin. With four banners available, it may be tough for players to decide who they should pull for in HSR 2.5. For that, this article will list the character’s strengths and weaknesses, and when Trailblazers should get them.

Feixiao (S-Tier)

Feixiao is a Honkai: Star Rail Hunt character who specializes in one-shotting enemies if she has the right team for it. Not only is she good at taking on single-target enemies, but she’s also able to effectively deplete their Toughness Bar, which is very useful for her and her team.

While Feixiao is good kit-wise, she suffers from multiple shortcomings that can be adjusted if players put in the time and effort. First, as a Hunt unit, her single-target hit falls behind most AoE DPS that can fight multiple enemies at once. Feixiao also deals an underwhelming DMG if her team doesn’t have at least another unit that triggers Follow-up attacks. Additionally, not all Support units in Honkai: Star Rail can effectively buff her DMG. If you fix these issues, Feixiao can easily become one of the best DPS in HSR.

You should pull for Feixiao if you:

Need a Follow-up DPS
Have a team of Follow-up attackers ready for Feixiao, or are willing to build one. This includes characters like Moze, Topaz, and Aventurine
Have a Light Cone for her, such as her BiS, Worrisome, Blissful, or Baptism of Pure Thought
Have Robin or are willing to pull for her

Robin (S-Tier)

Robin is a Harmony unit in Honkai: Star Rail who boosts many characters. Her buff consists of increasing her allies’ DMG%, ATK%, and Crit DMG. Robin also advances her entire team’s action when she casts her Ultimate and attacks with them with a fixed Crit value. You’ll have to build her with a full ATK% build to maximize her ATK% buff and take full advantage of her Ultimate passive attacks.

While most of her buffs are general for any character who scales with ATK%, one of Robin’s ascension passives increases Follow-up Crit DMG, which immediately makes her one of the best Supports for Follow-up DPS units, like Feixiao. In fact, Robin is Feixiao’s best Support, and they’re both on the same limited banner in Phase 1 of Honkai: Star Rail 2.5.

You should pull for Robin if you:

Have a Follow-up team that synergizes with Robin
Don’t have many Harmony units
Plan to get Feixiao

Black Swan (A-Tier)

Having DoT DPS units in turn-based combat games like Honkai: Star Rail is always nice. Black Swan excels in that field and delivers one of the hardest-hitting DoT DMG in combat. Her kit is almost perfect, with no negatives or any shortcomings.

To summarize, Black Swan’s Skill shreds enemies’ DEF, Ultimate increases DoT DMG while preserving debuffs from running out, and her ascension passives all work together to maximize her DMG. She operates perfectly as a support for DPS units that need a debuffer like Dr. Ratio or Acheron while being able to pull her weight by being a decent DPS in Honkai: Star Rail.

You should pull for Black Swan if you:

Have a DoT team or are willing to build one
Needs a 5-star debuffer
Have or plan to get Kafka

Kafka (A-Tier)

Kafka is a pure DoT DPS whose entire kit revolves around it. On her own, Kafka can inflict Shock on enemies but she still suffers DPS-wise, as she scales with how many DoTs on enemies. For that, she needs to be matched with other DoT DPS or Supports who can elevate her DMG.

Kafka synergizes well with Nihility characters like Sampo, Jiaoqiu, or Guinaifen. However, there’s nobody as good as Black Swan with Kafka in Honkai: Star Rail. Both units perform exceptionally well considering how many DoT Black Swan can inflict on targets just for Kafka to Burst them all with her attacks. Luckily, both units are featured on the limited banner in Phase 1 of Honkai: Star Rail 2.5.

You should pull for Kafka if you: