Honkai Star Rail Yunli guide: Best builds, Light Cones, Relics, teams, and more

Yunli is a stylish damage dealer, although she truly shines in manual play. In this Honkai Star Rail Yunli guide, let me show you if she’s worth pulling for, her best builds, teams, Light Cones, Relics, and more.

Should you pull for Yunli in Honkai Star Rail?

Yunli is a fantastic DPS character, but she has mechanics you should know about. You need to master Yunli’s counterattacks for her to truly shine. This quirk means Yunli demands a hands-on approach to important battles if you want to get the most out of her.

The damage output is worth the micromanagement, but Yunli’s play style won’t be for everyone. I’m a sucker for new characters, so she’s worth a pull for me, but you may want to hold off if you detest her counter mechanic.

Yunli kit and abilities in Honkai Star Rail

Now you know Yunli is a counterattack specialist, let’s see how that play style weaves into her kit:

Talent: Flashforge

I love Yunli’s Flashforge Talent, as it provides multiple bonuses. Yunli gains Energy when she’s attacked and strikes her attacker with a Counter. The Counter is deadly, as it hits with the same potency as her Bladeborne Quake skill, which we’ll cover in a moment.

Yunli’s Counter targets the opponent who hit her but also hits adjacent targets for half of that Counter attack’s damage. Flashforge is a superb Talent, and the Energy gains are a welcome bonus.

Skill: Bladeborne Quake

Bladeborne Quake strikes targets just as hard as Flashforge, with the added benefit of HP restoration. Like Flashforge, the Skill hits multiple targets, and the HP bonuses increase Yunli’s sustain. You can use Bladeborne Quake frequently, and it’s a great panic button if Yunli’s HP drops below comfortable levels.

Ultimate: Earthbind, Etherbreak

Earthbind, Etherbreak is the most important part of Yunli’s kit. The in-game description for the Ultimate is pretty wordy, so let me explain how it works. Yunli gains “Parry” and Taunts all enemies. This state change means enemies should prioritize attacking Yunli over anyone else.

Yunli also gains a massive Crit damage bonus for her next Counterattack, but the Ultimate ability only lasts until the end of the next enemy or ally turn.

Here’s where the Earthbind, Etherbreak Ultimate gets a little complicated. If Yunli is attacked while in her Parry state, she unleashes Intuit: Cull, which deals a ton of damage and delivers an additional six hits to a random single enemy. Ideally, we want to see Intuit: Cull as much as possible.

If Yunli is ignored during her Parry state, she uses Intuit: Slash instead of Cull. The attack still hits hard, but you miss out on the additional six hits, leaving valuable damage on the table.

A quick word on Energy Consumption

While it’s not technically an ability, it’s worth knowing that Yunli’s Ultimate only costs 120 Energy. As Yunli’s Max Energy pool is 240, this means you can use back-to-back Ultimates if required.

If you’re a new or returning player, you need all the freebies you can get, so make sure you’re up to date with any codes.

Best Light Cones for Yunli

Yunli’s Signature Light Cone, Dance at Sunset, is hands down the “best in slot” option. We know Yunli likes to be attacked to trigger her Parry shenanigans, and Dance at Sunset dramatically increases the chance of Yunli being targeted. The wearer also gains bonus Crit damage, further boosting Yunli’s DPS output.

Dance at Sunset also provides a stack of “Firedance” after each Ultimate attack which increases follow-up Attack Damage.

As expected of a Signature item, Dance at Sunset is made for Yunli, making it far easier to trigger her Counter attacks and Parries.

Best F2P Yunli Light Cones

Dance at Sunset is a phenomenal Light Cone for Yunli, but On the Fall of an Aeon is a respectable F2P option. On the Fall of an Aeon increases the wearer’s damage whenever they attack, up to four times. As Yunli attacks so often, it’s easy to get a ton of value from the Light Cone.

You also gain an extra damage bonus when the wearer inflicts a Weakness Break on a target, which should happen pretty frequently. You can snag On the Fall of an Aeon from Herta’s shop if you’ve not done so already.

Best Relics for Yunli in Honkai Star Rail

As Yunli is a Counter-hit specialist, we only have a few Relic sets to pick from that synergize with her kit:

The Ashblazing Grand Duke Set

The Ashblazing Grand Duke set is a no-brainer, increasing our follow-up attack damage by 20% as its 2PC bonus. The complete 4PC set increases the wearer’s ATK damage by 6% per follow-up attack, and the buff lasts for 3 turns. These gains are capped to 8 follow-ups (48%), but it’s free damage for Yunli.

The Windsoaring Valorous Set

Yunli gets a ton of value from the Windsoaring Valorous set. The 2PC set grants a 12% ATK bonus, which is nothing to scoff at. If you’re wearing the 4PC set, the wearer deals 36% more damage with their Ultimate whenever they use a follow-up attack. Naturally, this bonus should trigger often with Yunli’s kit. You also gain a straight 6% Crit rate buff for good measure.

Yunli Stat Priority

Here’s Yunli’s Stat Priorities ordered from highest to lowest:

• Ultimate
• Talent
• Skill
• Basic

It may seem a little unbalanced to invest so heavily into Yunli’s Earthbind, Etherbreak. That said, Yunli enjoys a ton of Ultimate uptime thanks to the low energy cost and regeneration from her Talent. As Yunli is a primary damage dealer, and her ultimate is the best source of damage, this is the right call.

Flashforge is also worth some love, as it’s a wonderful Talent. Yunli’s Basic attack should always take the lowest priority, as it’s rarely used.

Relic Stats

Stats on Relics are arguably more important than the set bonuses. Here’s what I recommend chasing for each piece:

• Body – Crit Rate
• Sphere – Physical Attack
• Rope – Attack
• Boots – Attack

As for sub-stats, Crit Rate and Crit DMG are worth shooting for, followed by regular ATK. If you notice Yunli is dying in tough battles, you can prioritize DEF and RES instead.

Best team compositions for Yunli in Honkai Star Rail

Yunli synergizes with plenty of units and works nicely in an F2P comp too. I’ve not marked positions in the team comps below, but I recommend placing Yunli in one of the two middle slots to increase the likelihood of getting hit.

Solo DPS Yunli comp.

• Yunli
• Robin
• Tingyun
• Huohuo

This team is arguably a “Meta” comp with Yunli as our primary damage dealer. Robin can boost Yunli’s Crit rate and DMG and is one of the strongest units in the game at the time of writing. Tingyun has been around forever but remains a solid buffer for Yunli. Huohuo is an extraordinary support unit that provides everything from Energy to Healing.

The squad has it all, with Yunli leading the charge.

Duo DPS comp

• Yunli
• Robin
• Topaz and Numby
• Huohuo

If you don’t feel comfortable with a solo DPS team, you can swap Tingyun in our first build for Topaz and Numby.

Topaz and Numby synergize well with Yunli’s follow-ups, increasing the damage enemies take from those attacks. Robin provides the same fantastic Crit and ATK bonuses and Huohuo offers a toolkit of buffs to keep your team alive against the toughest content in the game.

Best F2P Yunli team composition

• Yunli
• March 7th (The Hunt)
• Tingyun
• Lynx

Yunli’s F2P team is nothing to sneeze at as there are plenty of powerful free units on the roster. This time around, we use March 7th and rock a double DPS comp. Tingyun is F2P friendly and is in all of our team compositions as she’s a stellar buffer. Finally, Lynx is a decent Sustain/Healer unit if you don’t have Huohuo.

If you’re trying to build Yunli, why not take her for a spin in the Apocalyptic Shadow event?

How to farm Yunli materials in Honkai Star Rail

Getting lucky with the gatcha system is only half the battle in Honkai Star Rail. You’ll need to Ascend and level up Yunli’s Traces to max out her stats. Here’s everything you’ll need for her Traces, and their locations:

• 652,500 Credits
• 2 Tracks of Destiny
• 3 Borisin Teeth (Calyx – Scalegorge Waterscape)
• 3 Regret of Infinite Ochema (Echo of War – Scalegorge Waterscape)
• 7 Artifex’s Gyrehearts (Divergent/Simulated Universe enemies – Equilibrium LV4 Entranced Ingenia )
• 9 Artifex’s Modules (Divergent/Simulated Universe enemies)
• 13 Artifex’s Cogwheels (Divergent/Simulated Universe enemies)
• 15 Lupitoxin Sawteeth (Calyx – Scalegorge Waterscape)
• 30 Moon Rage Fangs (Calyx – Scalegorge Waterscape)

If you’re lucky enough to pull Yunli, it’s worth investing in her Traces to make her ridiculously oversized sword even more deadly!

Honkai Star Rail can be brutal to get into for a new player. I urge you to stick with it as everything you learn with HSR will be useful in other Hoyoverse games, too.