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Coming to the first half of Honkai Star Rail version 1.2 “Even Immortality Ends” is Blade, a mysterious swordsman with a dark past.
Blade is a Stellaron Hunter who wields an ancient sword riddled with cracks and will come to the game alongside his signature Light Cone, The Unreachable Side.
New feature: Join the discussion on the GamerBraves Discord Server, and meet other Blade Wanters and even the occasional Blade-Haver.
Character Preview
Blade is a 5★ Wind-Type character who walks the Path of Destruction. He possesses abilities that consume his own health in exchange for greater power and can heal himself. Blade primarily scales with Max HP and the higher it is, the greater his DMG.
The breakdown of his kit is as follows:
- Shard Sword (Basic ATK) – Deals Wind DMG to single target.
- Hellscape (Skill) – Consumes Blade’s HP to enter Hellscape state, immediately advances forward. When Hellscape is active, it increases damage and enhances Blade’s basic attack to “Forest of Swords” for a few turns. Does not regenerate Energy or end the current turn when used.
- Forest of Swords (Enhanced Basic ATK) – An enhanced Basic ATK gained from using “Hellscape”. Using it will consume Blade’s HP, dealing Wind DMG to a single enemy and its adjacent targets based on his attack and Max HP. Does not regenerate Skill Points when used.
- Death Sentence (Ultimate) – When used, Blade will set his current HP to 50% of his Max HP and deal Wind DMG to a single enemy and adjacent targets based on his ATK plus Max HP and total HP lost in the battle. The total HP Blade can lose in the current battle is capped at 90% of his Max HP and the value will be reset and re-accumulated after his Ultimate has been used.
- Shuhu’s Gift (Talent) – Every time Blade sustains any HP loss, he gains 1 stack of Charge, lasting for a few turns. A maximum of 1 Charge stack can be obtained every time he is attacked. When the maximum Charge stacks is reached, Blade immediately initiates a follow-up attack on all enemies, dealing Blade’s ATK plus percentage of HP loss while stacking Charges as Wind DMG. After the follow-up attack, all Charge stacks will be consumed and Blade’s HP will be restored by a certain amount.
- Karma Wind (Technique) – When used, immediately attacks the enemy and enters the battle. After entering the battle, consumes 20% of Blade’s Max HP and deals 40% of Blade’s Max HP as Wind DMG to all enemies.
- If Blade’s current health is insufficient while casting Hellscape or Forest of Swords, his HP will be reduced to 1.
- While Forest of Swords is active, Hellscape cannot be used.
Based on his kit stated above, Blade is a character that relies on losing health to empower his damage output. As such, to reliably utilize Blade’s abilities means he always wants to be damaged.
Due to his high-risk high-reward playstyle, Blade may not appeal to defense-oriented players. That being said, while Blade does not offer any utilities, he excels greatly at dealing damage to either single target or groups of enemies.
Suggested Relic Set
The new Longevous Disciple revealed during the version 1.2 livestream seems to be tailor-made for Blade, and will probably be his best Relic choice.
The Longevous Disciple Relic set effect is as follows:
- 2 pieces: Increases Max HP.
- 4 pieces: Grants the wearer a CRIT Rate increase for a number of turns when they loses HP.
As described, the Relic set not only provides Blade with his main scaling stat – HP, but also has a secondary effect that synergizes with his health consuming abilities.
For Planar Ornaments, the new Rutilant Arena set is a great choice and its effect is as follows:
- 2 pieces: Increases CRIT Rate.
- 4 pieces: When current CRIT Rate reaches certain percentages, increases Basic ATK and Skill DMG as well.
This particular set also synergizes with the aforementioned Longevous Disciple Relic set as it increases CRIT Rate to trigger Rutilant Arena’s secondary effect.
As Blade scales with both Max HP and ATK, players will have to build him with both stats in mind. For stats, aim to get HP% to amplify Blade’s damage output and balances the CRIT stats for reliable critical hits.
Suggested Light Cones
Blade’s signature 5★ Light Cone “The Unreachable Side” would be his best-in-slot. The Light Cone increases Blade’s CRIT Rate and MAX HP greatly. Furthermore, it also grants an effect whereby if Blade sustains any damage, his damage is increased further.
While the effect is dispelled after Blade attacks, his on-demand health reduction abilities will trigger the Light Cone’s effects regularly.
Other great alternatives are:
- A Secret Vow (4★)
- Increases Blade’s damage greatly if enemies have higher HP than Blade. Effect is very achievable with Blade’s health manipulation abilities.
- Something Irreplaceable (5★)
- Clara’ signature Light Cone is also a great choice as it increases Blade’s ATK every time he is hit or has defeated an enemy, while also provide healing to sustain him at the same time.
Final Thoughts
Blade can be a force to be reckoned with, given the right setups and matchups. While he may not offers any synergies with the rest of your lineup, Blade does what he excels best and that is dealing damage. As Destruction character, Blade has access to both single target and AoE damage, making him extremely versatile when it comes to pure offense.
Blade is also a Skill Point efficient character, where one Hellscape cast will last for 3 turns of basic attacks. This pairs him well with other characters that require high Skill Point consumption like Seele or Yukong.
Since Blade wants to be the target of enemy attacks, Preservation characters are bad teammates to be paired with him. Preservation characters generally have high taunt values that draw enemy attacks and has incoming damage reduction mechanics. This causes anti-synergy with Blade’s kit.
On the other hand, Abundance characters are practically must-haves for Blade as they can keep him well sustained. A recommended ally for Blade would be Luocha as he can automatically heal Blade whenever his health drops to 50%.
Despite possessing some form of self-healing, some players may still feel uncomfortable using Blade. This form of gameplay can be unappealing to some, but the risk comes great rewards and some players may enjoy that.
What do you think of Blade’s kit? Join the discussion on the GamerBraves Discord server and share your thoughts on the Stellaron Hunters’ brooding bishie.
