 Ruan Mei |  Ice |  Harmony |  5-Star |
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Joining the Honkai: Star Rail roster in the version 1.6 update, Ruan Mei emerges as a highly anticipated character and a key figure in the Simulated Universe storyline as a member of the Genius Society. True to her narrative involvement, she proves to be an exceptional support unit capable of providing party-wide buffs through both her Skill and Ultimate. These buffs include increased DMG, and Ruan Mei's unique buff, Weakness Break Efficiency increase, along with added benefits such as delaying enemies' actions and providing all Elemental RES PEN to all allies.
Honkai: Star Rail – All 5-Star Characters, Ranked
5-Star Characters in Honkai: Star Rail are in high demand due to their unique abilities, but some are stronger and more versatile than others.
Notably, Ruan Mei is one of the few characters that significantly benefit from the Break Effect. This means that while there are ideal stats to aim for, players won't necessarily need to min-max too many stats. If players have farmed specific sets, they may already have access to quite suitable pieces. Here's how to best build Ruan Mei to enhance her utility even further.
Best Ruan Mei Build In Honkai: Star Rail
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Planar Ornaments
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Best Ruan Mei Relics In Honkai: Star Rail
Given that Ruan Mei benefits most from Break Effect, Speed, and high Energy Regeneration to maintain her Ultimate every 3 turns, it's recommended that players focus on selecting Relic and Planar Ornament sets based on these aspects. The choice between sets can depend on substats and light cones, playing a crucial role in optimizing her performance. For instance, if players struggle to achieve a high Break Effect through other means, utilizing a 4-piece Thief of Shooting Meteor or Talia: Kingdom of Banditry can be effective to ensure the desired Break Effect. Alternatively, a mix of Thief of Shooting Meteor with Messenger Traversing Hackerspace is an ideal option to simultaneously increase her Break Effect and Speed.
In terms of Planar Ornaments, both Penacony Land of Dreams and Sprightly Vonwacq can further boost energy regeneration. However, their secondary conditional effects may not suit every team composition, especially with Penacony Land of Dreams being best suited for teams with other Ice characters like Jingliu or Yanqing. This Planar Ornament is highly recommended when pairing Ruan Mei with these characters; otherwise, its utility may be less. Regardless, both of these Planar Ornaments provide the advantage of enabling the Ultimate slightly faster compared to when Talia: Kingdom of Banditry is equipped.
For the main stats, the crucial aspect for Ruan Mei is to equip her with an Energy Regeneration Link Rope. Without it, maintaining a 3-turn Ultimate will become challenging. Additionally, she benefits the most from Speed boots. When it comes to the Body and Planar Sphere, players have more flexibility, and they can opt for either DEF or HP% stats, depending on what is available and has more suitable substats. As a support character, it's important to prioritize defensive stats over offensive ones to ensure she can sustain herself without being knocked down.
The same principle applies to sub-stats, where players should prioritize Break Effect, SPD, HP%, and DEF% stats. It's crucial to note that Crit stats do not have any effect on the damage she can provide, as her damage is fully dependent on the Weakness Break.
Best Ruan Mei Light Cones In Honkai: Star Rail
Ruan Mei has access to a variety of light cones, but players may notice that the options are somewhat more limited compared to other paths. This is because there hasn't been a new addition to the Harmony light cone list since the launch of the game, except for the recently added signature light cone specifically designed for Ruan Mei.
- Past Self in Mirror: As Ruan Mei's signature light cone, it offers a substantial Break Effect buff, Skill Point generation each time she uses her Ultimate (unlike "But the Battle Isn't Over," which provides once every 2 Ultimate uses), and a damage increase for all allies. Additionally, it provides 10 Energy to all allies for each wave, which proves useful when farming content with multiple waves, such as Calyx or, to some extent, Forgotten Hall.
- Memories of the Past: As a 4-star option, Memories of the Past stands out as the best choice after her signature light cone, especially if players have it max refined. This light cone provides a similar Break Effect increase to Past Self in Mirror at Refinement 5 and further regenerates Energy each time Ruan Mei attacks, albeit limited to one time per turn.
- But the Battle Isn't Over: This lightcone provides additional Energy Regeneration to enhance Ruan Mei's Ultimate consistency. It also grants a Skill Point once every 2 Ultimates and boosts the damage of the ally that acts after her. If players can manipulate the action order effectively, this lightcone can offer additional benefits.
- Dance! Dance! Dance!: Each time Ruan Mei uses her Ultimate, all allies' actions are advanced forward. Coupled with her talent that provides a speed increase to allies (excluding herself), this can enable team members to perform multiple actions in the same turn. This capability proves quite useful in challenging end-game content, allowing teams to finish battles in fewer turns.
- Carve the Moon, Weave the Clouds: Players seeking to provide additional benefits to team members, such as ATK, Crit DMG, or Energy Regeneration, can find this lightcone to bring extra utility. Although Ruan Mei herself can only benefit from the added Energy Regeneration, many DPS characters in the game can effectively utilize the other stats. As the effect is random, however, players will potentially notice a consistency drop between turns.
- Meshing Cogs: As a 3-star option, Meshing Cogs is also a worthy selection since it can help Ruan Mei generate more energy per turn each time she attacks or gets hit.
Ruan Mei Trace Priority In Honkai: Star Rail
Generally speaking, upgrading all of Ruan Mei's traces, except for her basic attack, is beneficial as they provide the team with useful buffs. With that being the case, Ruan Mei's trace priority is:
- Skill=Ultimate
- Talent
- Basic attack
