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Published Feb 12, 2026, 11:01 PM EST
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Optimizing Yao Guang’s build in Honkai: Star Rail should be one of your main priorities if you obtain her and intend to use her in your team comps moving forward, especially during the year set in Planarcadia. Yao Guang is a 5-star Physical character on the Path of the Elation, making her the first unit on the new playable Path. She is also the first new character introduced with the release of Honkai: Star Rail 4.0.
Yao Guang’s main specialty is to provide support for her teammates, being capable of providing an All-Type RES PEN buff to allies, somewhat like Ruan Mei in Honkai: Star Rail, while also dealing extra damage to opponents. Yao Guang, however, is mostly tailored toward buffing Elation characters in the game. It’s unclear what the release schedule for the turn-based RPG looks like this upcoming year, but she’ll likely be one of the best supports for Elation teams.
Best Light Cones For Yao Guang
There Are Currently Few Options For The Character
The first thing you’ll want to do when building Yao Guang is to provide her with the best Light Cone at your disposal. The best Light Cone for Yao Guang is the 5-star When She Decided To See, her signature weapon. When She Decided To See increases the user’s SPD, which is the only relevant stat for Yao Guang. Additionally, when the user activates their Ultimate, they gain Great Fortune for three turns.
The table below lists the best builds for Yao Guang:
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Light Cone |
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Relic & Ornament Set |
Relics:
Ornaments:
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Stat Priority |
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Skill Priority |
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While Great Fortune is active, all allies gain a CRIT Rate and CRIT DMG bonus, while the user gains an Energy Regeneration Rate buff. Additionally, the user regains 15 Energy at the start of each wave. This will see Yao Guang using her Ultimate more often, and providing extra offensive buffs for her team.
If you don’t have When She Decided To See, Mushy Shroomy’s Adventures is the best 4-star Light Cone option for Yao Guang, and the best part is that it is a F2P option since you can grab it from the Light Cone Manifest store. This Light Cone boosts the user’s Elation value, which is ideal for Yao Guang.
Alternatively, you can also use the 4-star Today's Good Luck, though this one is locked behind the Battle Pass. Today's Good Luck improves the user’s CRIT Rate and allows them to gain extra Elation, but this will be a better option for Elation DPS characters in Honkai: Star Rail.
Best Light Relics, Ornaments, & Stats For Yao Guang
Farm The Proper Gear For The Elation Character
Another thing to be mindful of when building Yao Guang is choosing the right combination of Relics and Ornaments, while also boosting the correct stats. The best Relic set for Yao Guang is Diviner of Distant Reach. With the two-piece bonus, the user’s SPD is boosted by 6%. With all four pieces, before entering combat, if the user’s SPD is 120/160 or greater, they gain 10%/18% CRIT Rate.
Furthermore, when the user activates their Elation Skill for the first time in combat, all allies’ Elation value is increased. This set helps Yao Guang lean further into her role as a support for Elation teams.
The best Ornament set for Yao Guang is Lushaka, the Sunken Seas. Its two-piece bonus grants a 5% Energy Recharge Rate buff. Additionally, if the user isn’t the first character in the lineup, it boosts the first character’s ATK by 12%. There’s a chance that a better Ornament set for Yao Guang will be released in the future, but for now, this is the one you should go for.
When farming these gear pieces, focus on getting Yao Guang’s SPD over 160, since this will activate the final part of her Relic set’s bonuses. Additionally, try to improve Yao Guang’s CRIT Rate and CRIT DMG to have her contribute more to the team’s damage, followed by a bit more Energy Recharge Rate for her Ultimates. Lastly, focus on some HP and DEF to improve her survivability.
Best Team Comps For Yao Guang
Use Her With Elation Characters In Honkai: Star Rail
In terms of team comps, Yao Guang is at her best when aiding Elation characters, which makes her perfect for characters like Sparxie in Honkai: Star Rail, as well as any future Elation characters who would benefit from her Punchlines boost.
The table below highlights a few team comp suggestions for Yao Guang:
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Elation Support Team |
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Budget-Friendly (F2P) Team Comp |
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If you’re not using Sparxie or another Elation character, you can use Yao Guang as a generalist support, aiding other types of DPS that use Skill Points, such as Archer in Honkai: Star Rail. Even so, I do recommend using her with Elation characters for the best performance.
Skill (Trace) Priority For Yao Guang
The 5-Star Elation Character Has Several Priorities
Lastly, when building Yao Guang, you may be faced with the need to prioritize a specific Trace upgrade before another. Yao Guang is a bit more complicated in this aspect, as her Skill and Ultimate have the same level of high priority, shared with all three of her bonus Traces. This is followed by her Elation Skill, Talent, and, lastly, her Basic Attack.
If you want to stay up-to-date with the meta, especially in 2026, Yao Guang may prove to be an indispensable character, since the bonuses she provides to Elation are remarkable. It may be a bit troublesome to fully optimize her build because of the lack of more Light Cone options, for instance, but Yao Guang is an important new playable character in Honkai: Star Rail.
Systems
Released April 26, 2023
ESRB Teen / Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes, Simulated Gambling, In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items), Users Interact
Developer(s) HoYoverse (Formerly miHoYo)
Publisher(s) HoYoverse (Formerly miHoYo)
Engine Unity
English (US) ·