The Dahlia has arrived to bring the Super Break archetype back to the top of the Honkai: Star Rail metagame.
Honkai: Star Rail Version 3.8 is finally here, and with it comes the last 5-star character to be released in the game's Version 3.x cycle: the Dahlia. The Dahlia wields the Fire element and follows the Path of Nihility, boasting a powerful support kit designed to bring the Super Break archetype back to the top of the metagame.
The Dahlia can buff the Weakness Break Efficiency and Break Effect of the entire party, increase the Speed of certain allies, and reduce the DEF of all enemies. But her most powerful ability allows your team to deal Super Break DMG even when the enemy isn't Weakness Broken yet, massively boosting the power of Super Break teams regardless of the state of the battle.
So, if you want to slot in the Dahlia into your teams, read on as we break down her abilities plus her best Light Cones, relics, and teammates!
The Dahlia build guide in Honkai: Star Rail Version 3.8
The Dahlia's kit is built around her skill, Lick… Enkindled Betrayal, and Talent, Who's Afraid of Constance?. Her skill is by far the strongest part of her kit, as it lets her deploy a Zone for 3 turns that, while active, increases all allies' Weakness Break Efficiency by 50% and converts any Toughness Reduction taken by enemies who aren't Weakness Broken into Super Break DMG. Using the Dahlia's skill also deals Fire DMG based on her ATK to a designated target and any adjacent enemies upon using the skill, with the Zone's duration decreasing by 1 at the start of her turn.
Meanwhile, the Dahlia's Talent allows her to regenerate 35 energy and designate the ally that initiated combat as her “Dance Partner”, letting their attacks deal 1 instance of Super Break DMG. After her Dance Partner attacks, the Dahlia launches a follow-up ATK that deals 5 instances of Fire DMG based on her ATK to one random enemy. The follow-up ATK can deal Super Break DMG, triggers once per turn, and is launched at a random enemy if the target of the Dance Partner's attack is defeated before it can be launched.
The Dahlia's ultimate, Wallow… Entombed Ash, then lets her deal Fire DMG to all enemies while also inflicting the “Wilt” debuff on them. Enemies with the Wilt debuff have reduced DEF, and are inflicted with elemental weaknesses depending on the elemental alignments of Dahlia and her Dance Partner.
The Dahlia's major Trace lets her provide even more utility in Super Break teams. Her A2 Trace, Yet Another Funeral, lets her increase other characters' Break Effect equal to 24% of her own Break Effect plus 50% for 1 turn after entering combat. This effect triggers again and lasts for 3 turns when the Dahlia receives healing or a shield from a teammate, but cannot be triggered repeatedly within a single turn.
Her A4 Trace, Lament, Lost Soul, lets her generate 1 skill point after launching her Talent's follow-up ATK, with the effect getting triggered once for every 2 follow-up ATKs. Meanwhile, the Dahlia's A6 Trace, Outgrow the Old, Espouse the New, gives an ally a 30% Speed buff for 2 turns whenever they implant an elemental weakness to enemy targets. If an ally Fire character implants a Weakness when using an attack, this Trace also inflicts a 20 fixed amount of Fire Toughness Reduction after the attack for every target with Weakness implanted, while also regenerating 10% energy for them up to 50% of their maximum energy.
Finally, the Dahlia's Technique, The Heart Makes the Finest Tomb, lets her create a Special Dimension that lasts for 20 seconds in the overworld. Enemies within the Special Dimension will not actively attack the active character. When entering battle against enemies within the Special Dimension, the Dahlia immediately uses her skill and converts the combat-triggering attack's Toughness Reduction into Super Break DMG.
When entering combat, make sure to use the Dahlia's Technique first and then use your party's main damage-dealer to initiate combat to designate them as the Dance Partner. Make sure that the field from her skill is always active to let your party deal Super Break DMG, regardless of whether the enemy is Weakness Broken or not. Use the Dahlia's ultimate whenever it is available, and remember that her follow-up ATKs can generate skill points that you can then consume to use her skill as much as possible for faster energy generation.
When leveling up the Dahlia's abilities, prioritise her Talent and ultimate and max them out as soon as possible. You can skip leveling up her skill, as its levels only increase the amount of DMG it deals. The same applies to her basic attacks.
The Dahlia's best Light Cones, relics, and teammates
Light Cones
The Dahlia's best Light Cone is, of course, her signature: Never Forget Her Flame. This Light Cone passively increases her Break Effect by 60% and, when entering combat, increases the Break DMG dealt by the Dahlia and her teammate who triggered combat by 32%. If there is no teammate who triggered combat, then the Light Cone applies this effect to the Dahlia and the teammate with the highest Break Effect instead. Effects of the same type cannot be stacked.
Finally, when the Dahlia inflicts an elemental weakness to an enemy target, this Light Cone also generates 1 skill point. This effect can only trigger once, and trigger count resets when using Ultimate.
It's a no-brainer why the Dahlia's signature Light Cone is her best, as it provides a hefty Break Effect bonus to help her reach her stat goals on top of the Break DMG buffs to the Dahlia and her Dance Partner. The bonus skill point generated whenever she uses her ultimate is just the cherry on top.
If you can't get the Dahlia's signature Light Cone, don't fret as she plenty of strong alternatives. Among the limited 5-star Light Cones, you can also go for Fugue's signature, Long Road Leads Home, and Cipher's signature, Lies Dance on the Breeze.
For 4-star options, you can go for the ever-reliable Resolution Shines as Pearls of Sweat or Before the Tutorial Mission Starts. The former lets you further reduce enemy DEF, but requires you to build a good amount of Effect Hit Rate to reliably trigger, while the latter helps the Dahlia regenerate energy faster.
Relics
For the Dahlia's Cavern of Corrosion relics, the 4-piece Iron Cavalry Against the Scourge set should be your go-to. It passively increases her Break Effect by 16%, and lets her Break DMG and Super Break DMG ignore up to 25% of the enemy's DEF, as long as she has at least 250% Break Effect.
If you're having issues regenerating energy quickly enough, then you can consider going for the 4-piece Thief of Shooting Meteor set. It grants the Dahlia a 32% Break Effect bonus, and regenerates 3 energy for her whenever she inflicts Weakness Break on an enemy. And, of course, the 4-piece Eagle of Twilight Line set is also viable if you want to min-max for a zero-cycle run. With that said, the Iron Cavalry set still works the best for the Dahlia in almost every scenario.
As for the Dahlia's Planar Ornament relics, your best bet will be the 2-piece Forge of the Kalpagni Lantern set. It increases her Speed by 6%, and gives her a 40% Break Effect buff for one turn after attacking an enemy with Fire Weakness.
The main stats you should go for in the Dahlia's relics are as follows:
- Body: ATK% or HP%/DEF% - ATK% lets her deal more personal DMG, but defensive stats are more important especially in sustainless compositions that have the highest DMG potential among Super Break teams
- Feet: Speed - Needs little explanation, more Speed is always better for supports
- Planar Sphere: ATK% or HP%/DEF% - Same logic as main stat choice for Body slot
- Link Rope: Break Effect or Energy Regeneration Rate - If your build lets the Dahlia reliably use her ultimate every 2 or 3 turns, go for Break Effect for more team DMG. Otherwise, go for Energy Regeneration Rate
The Dahlia doesn't have stringent stat requirements like some other characters, but her ideal stat goals are as follows:
- 150-200% Break Effect
- 145-160+ Speed
Teammates
As the new premier support character for Super Break teams, the Dahlia is best paired with the three classic Super Break damage-dealers: Firefly, Boothill, and Rappa. The Dahlia notably has great synergy with Firefly in particular, as the Dahlia's A6 Trace lets Firefly reliably regenerate enough energy while in her Complete Combustion state that, upon exiting it, she only needs to use her skill once to enter Complete Combustion again.
With the Dahlia and one of the three Super Break damage-dealers mentioned above taking up two slots in your team, let's go over how to best utilise the two remaining spots. The third spot should always go to an additional Break support, either Fugue, the Harmony Trailblazer, or Ruan Mei. If you have Fugue, then the third slot in your team should always go to her.
That leaves the fourth and final slot, which can go to another Break support or a sustain. The Dahlia lets you go in either direction without having to sacrifice too much in the way of damage or survivability.
The Dahlia's A2 Trace grants a teamwide Break Effect buff whenever she receives healing or a shield, letting you mitigate the loss in team DMG from having to run a sustain character. While the Dahlia's A2 Trace also activates when she receives a shield, you should still go for healing from either Lingsha or Gallagher.
With that said, Break teams are unique in that it is the only team archetype in the game so far that can be reliably run without a sustain. So going for the Harmony Trailblazer or Ruan Mei in the fourth slot will let your team reach its highest DMG potential.
Do you still need Stellar Jade to get The Dahlia and her signature Light Cone in Honkai: Star Rail Version 3.8? Get a discount off your premium currency purchases when you buy direct on Playasia.com! In addition, use the code GOSUTOPUP for an additional 3% off. The Dahlia is Honkai: Star Rail's final Version 3.x 5-Star character, so make those pulls count!
