Robin vs Topaz: Who should you pull for in Honkai Star Rail?

Honkai Star Rail version 2.2 is finally here, and Robin and Topaz are the first featured 5-Star banner characters for this update. Robin is an all-new Physical Harmony unit, while Topaz and Numby first debuted during version 1.4.

Robin is one of the most highly-anticipated Penacony characters in Honkai Star Rail because of her musical abilities, but plenty of people are bummed that they missed out on Topaz and Numby‘s initial banner since modes like Pure Fiction have given follow-up attacks a greater purpose in the overall HSR meta. So, if you only have the Stellar Jades for one of them, who should you choose?

Pros and Cons for Robin

Realistically, most people should choose Robin instead of Topaz. She’s a Harmony character who specializes in buffing allies, which is essential for clearing endgame content like Memory of Chaos. She’s also a Physical unit and there aren’t too many great Physical characters in Honkai Star Rail at the moment outside of Clara and Argenti.

She’s also one of the easiest Harmony units to use since her skill just raises the entire team’s attack. She’s also great for Skill Point-hungry teams since she only has to activate her skill once every three turns like Ruan Mei. Her Ultimate causes her to enter the Concerto state, which makes all other allies immediately take action with a huge damage boost. Robin also attacks after every ally on top of that.

Robin is an easy-to-use support unit that can greatly enhance the damage of any team, so she’s a much more versatile pull than Topaz and Numby. Plus, the song from her Ultimate is just so catchy. If you already have a solid roster of Harmony units like Ruan Mei, Tingyun, or Bronya, however, then you can probably skip Robin.

Pros and Cons for Topaz and Numby

Topaz is one of the best follow-up attack units in the entire game thanks to her trusty Trotter, Numby. As a Hunt unit, Topaz specializes in single-target damage. With the help of Numby, she can melt the health bars of bosses and elite enemies with ease.

Since Memory of Chaos and Pure Fiction have both been featuring follow-up attack buffs as of late, you’re probably feeling pressured to pull for Topaz and Numby. While she is a strong follow-up attack unit and one of the best Fire characters in the game, you can safely skip her unless you really, really need another follow-up attack unit.

If you pulled for Aventurine, for example, you can skip Topaz since he fills the follow-up attack niche. Herta also remains one of the best follow-up attackers for modes like Pure Fiction and everybody has her at this point with — most of her Eidolons unlocked to boot. You’ll get more mileage out of Robin unless you really need another follow-up unit and you already have enough Harmony units for endgame content.