Dan Heng • Permansor Terrae has been given away for free to all players, and is very much worth building for his strong shields and ATK buffs.
The second half of Honkai: Star Rail Version 3.6 is now here, and with it comes a new 5-star Preservation character: Dan Heng • Permansor Terrae, but we'll call him Dan Heng PT for short since that full name's a handful.
Dan Heng PT wields the Physical element and follows the Path of Preservation, notably being the game's first ATK-scaling Preservation character. He can provide hefty team-wide shields, debuff cleansing, and a significant ATK buff for your party's damage-dealer. What's more, every player can have him for free, giving everyone a versatile option for a sustain character, as the current metagame starts leaning towards more horizontal investment.
So, if you want to slot in Dan Heng PT into your teams, read on as we break down his abilities plus his best Light Cones, relics, and teammates!
Dan Heng • Permansor Terrae build guide in Honkai: Star Rail Version 3.6
Dan Heng PT's kit is built around his skill, Terra Omnibus, and Talent, Of Virtue, Forms Unfold. Using Terra Omnibus lets Dan Heng PT provide a shield to all allies that can absorb DMG equal to 20% of his ATK, plus 400 at max level. This shield effect can stack with those created by Dan Heng PT's skill, Talent, and ultimate, but will not exceed 300% of the shield provided by his skill.
At the same time, Terra Omnibus also allows Dan Heng PT to select one ally and designate them as his “Bondmate”, a mechanic tied into his Talent. Dan Heng PT will summon the “Souldragon” for his Bondmate, with the Souldragon acting as the Bondmate's Summon and having an initial Speed stat of 165. Whenever Souldragon takes action, it will dispel 1 debuff from all allies and provide a shield that can absorb DMG equal to 10% of Dan Heng PT's ATK plus 200 for 3 turns.
Two of Dan Heng PT's major Traces also boost his Talent further, by improving his shield generation and his synergy with his Bondmate. His A2 Trace, Empyreanity, lets Dan Heng PT give an ATK boost to his Bondmate equal to 15% of his ATK. Dan Heng PT's A4 Trace, Sylvanity, advances his action by 40% at the start of battle. In addition, whenever the Bondmate attacks, Dan Heng PT regenerates 6 energy while the Souldragon's next action will be advanced by 15%.
Meanwhile, Dan Heng PT's ultimate, A Dragon's Zenith Knows No Rue, lets him deal Physical DMG equal to 300% of his ATK to all enemies while also creating a shield that can absorb 20% of his ATK plus 400 for all allies that lasts for 3 turns. In addition, Dan Heng PT's ultimate also enhances the Souldragon for 2 actions and lets it launch a follow-up attack whenever it takes action, dealing Physical DMG to all enemies. The Souldragon's follow-up attack has two instances, with the first dealing Physical DMG equal to 30% of Dan Heng PT's ATK while the second is considered Additional DMG corresponding to the Bondmate's element, and is equal to 80% of their ATK.
Dan Heng PT's A6 Trace, Sublimity, improves his ultimate further. It lets the Souldragon create a shield that can absorb DMG equal to 5% of his ATK plus 100 to the ally with the lowest active shield. When the enhanced Souldragon from his ultimate takes action, it will deal one more instance of Additional DMG corresponding to the Bondmate's element and equal to 40% of their ATK to the enemy target with the highest current HP.
Finally, Dan Heng PT's Technique, Earthrend, inflicts the ‘Dazed’ debuff on enemies in the overworld, preventing them from actively attacking the active character for 10 seconds. It will also let Dan Heng PT designate the allied character that initiated the battle as his Bondmate at the start of combat without consuming skill points.
When entering combat, make sure that you use Dan Heng PT's Technique before the character you want to designate as his Bondmate (who will usually be your party's main damage-dealer). Ideally, the Bondmate will initiate combat so that Dan Heng PT doesn't have to use his skill to designate them as the Bondmate on his first turn. However, in cases where another character that you don't want to designate as your Bondmate has to initiate combat, you will have to spend Dan Heng PT's first turn designating your damage-dealer as his Bondmate.
In battle, Dan Heng PT can spend his turns using his basic attack to generate skill points for the team, as the Souldragon can refresh and stack up more shields instead. Feel free to use his skill again during his turn if your shields are running low, or a strong enemy is about to unleash a devastating attack. Dan Heng PT can then use his ultimate at leisure to let the Souldragon deal DMG or as an additional way to generate shields in case of emergency.
When leveling up Dan Heng PT's abilities, you will have to max out his skill, Talent, and ultimate in order to maximise his effectiveness. You don't have to level up his basic attack if you want to save on resources, as he isn't meant to deal much DMG outside of his ultimate and enhanced Souldragon actions.
Dan Heng • Permansor Terrae's best Light Cones, relics, and teammates
Light Cones
Dan Heng PT's best Light Cone is, of course, his signature, Though Worlds Apart. It passively increases his ATK by 64% and, when he uses his ultimate, restores HP to all allies plus an additional heal to the ally with the lowest HP, and grants “Redoubt” to all allies for 3 turns. Allies with “Redoubt” deal 24% increased DMG, which further increases by 12% if the targets have summons.
You don't need to pull for Dan Heng PT's signature Light Cone for him to be effective, although other Preservation Light Cones won't be too effective as alternative options due to his ATK scaling.
The best alternative Preservation Light Cones you can go for will be Gepard's signature, Moment of Victory, and the Battle Pass Light Cone We are Wildfire, as they have the second-highest ATK stats of all Preservation Light Cones at 476 ATK. You can also go for the new Battle Pass Light Cone Journey, Forever Peaceful despite its low ATK stat of 370, as it boosts Dan Heng PT's shield effect by 12% while also increasing the DMG dealt of all shielded allies by 12%.
You can also consider going for off-Path Light Cones purely for their ATK stats, even if you can't take advantage of any of their passive effects. Among 5-star Light Cones, Phainon's signature, Thus Burns the Dawn, has by far the highest ATK stat at 688. After that, the following Light Cones are tied for second with 635 ATK apiece: Brighter Than the Sun (Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae), Along the Passing Shore (Acheron), Flowing Nightglow (Robin), I Venture Forth to Hunt (Feixiao), Into the Unreachable Veil (The Herta), Time Woven Into Gold (Aglaea), Why Does the Ocean Sing (Hysilens), and Epoch Etched in Golden Blood (Cerydra).
Among 4-star Light Cones, the following have the highest ATK stats at 529: We Will Meet Again, Return to Darkness, Nowhere to Run, Today is Another Peaceful Day, Sweat Now, Cry Less, The Flower Remembers, A Trail of Bygone Blood, A Dream Scented in Wheat, Holiday Thermae Escapade, and See You at the End.
Relics
Thankfully, Dan Heng PT's relic options are much more straightforward compared to his Light Cone selection. For Cavern of Corrosion relics, go for the 4-piece Self-Enshrouded Recluse. Its boosts the shield effect provided by its wearer by 22% while also giving a 15% Crit DMG buff to any ally protected by a shield created by its wearer.
As for Dan Heng PT's Planar Ornament relics, your best bet will be Lushaka, the Sunken Seas. It gives him a 5% energy regeneration rate and gives a 12% ATK buff to the first character in your team lineup as long as said character is not Dan Heng PT himself. If your party's main damage-dealer wields the Physical element, you can also go for the Penacony, Land of Dreams set. It still gives him 5% energy regeneration rate but also grants a 10% DMG bonus to all allies that have the same elemental alignment as its wearer.
The main stats you should go for in Dan Heng PT's relics include:
- Body: ATK%
- Feet: Speed
- Planar Sphere: ATK%
- Link Rope: Energy Regeneration Rate
Teammates
As a Preservation character, Dan Heng PT can be slotted into almost any team in need of a sustain. However, the ATK buff he grants to his Bondmate means you can't run him with HP-scaling damage-dealers like Mydei, Jingliu, or Blade.
With that said, the character that Dan Heng PT has the most synergy with is actually Sunday. This is due to the fact that the Souldragon is considered as the Bondmate's Summon, thus giving the Bondmate the full 80% DMG boost from Sunday's skill even if they innately don't have a Summon or Memosprite.
Dan Heng PT also has interesting synergy with Kafka in a damage-over-time (DoT) team due to Kafka's A2 Trace giving all allies a massive 100% ATK buff as long as they have at least 75% Effect Hit Rate. That ATK buff goes a long way in boosting Dan Heng PT's shield strength and the buff he gives to the Bondmate. Dan Heng PT can easily reach the 75% Effect Hit Rate requirement with the Moment of Victory Light Cone and an Effect Hit Rate main stat Body relic.
Another thing to note when running Dan Heng PT in a DoT team is who to designate as his Bondmate. Kafka, when properly built, acts the most out of anyone in a DoT team and will keep the party's shields topped up, although the Bondmate ATK buff isn't as effective on her, as she actually deals the most DMG in this composition.
Instead, Hysilens or Black Swan can make better use of the Bondmate ATK buff, as the majority of the DoT team's overall DMG output comes from them. With that said, they won't act as much as Kafka, so the party's shields won't be stacked as much.
Want to max out Dan Heng Permansor Terrae for your ultimate team, or maybe you just want his Light Cone, but don’t have any more Stellar Jades? Get 10% off your premium currency purchases when you buy direct on Playasia.com until 3 November! In addition, use the code GOSUTOPUP for an additional 3% off. That’s 13% to make sure Dan Heng PT shields your team like the Preservation powerhouse that he is!
