The Elation meta in Honkai: Star Rail is here, and Yao Guang has been set up as the premier support for this new team archetype.
Honkai: Star Rail Version 4.0 is finally here, and as the Astral Express arrives at its new destination at Planarcadia, players now have a new Path added to their arsenal: the Path of Elation. If you want to get into the new Elation meta, then Yao Guang is looking like a must-pull character.
The Arbiter-General of the Xianzhou Yuque has been set up to be the premier support pick for Elation teams, thanks to her ability to boost the Path of Elation's combat mechanics and even allow non-Elation characters to work in this new team composition. So, if you want to slot in Yao Guang into your teams, read on as we break down her abilities, plus her best Light Cones, relics, and teammates!
How does the Path of Elation work?
Before we break down how Yao Guang's kit works, let's first look at how the Path of Elation actually works in combat. The Path of Elation is all about having Elation characters try to amuse the Aeon of Elation Aha through their attacks and, if they prove entertaining enough, gain the assistance of the Aeon in battle.
When Elation characters are on the field, or when fighting special enemies, you will obtain "Punchlines." As Punchlines accumulate and Aha's interest peaks, Aha will personally take the stage to initiate an "Aha Instant."
During this phase, Aha will lead the Elation characters in the team to unleash Elation Skills in turn. These Elation skills get stronger the more Punchlines are gathered. After the Aha Instant concludes, all characters on the Path of Elation will gain their own unique "Certified Banger" buffs. The Aha Instant appears in the action order just like any other combatant and the frequency of Aha Instants scale off the Speed of Elation characters present in the party.
The damage dealt by Elation skills and certain attacks by Elation characters are considered Elation DMG, which is now its own stat. Elation skills can crit but, since it relies on its own scaling, ignores standard ATK% or DMG% buffs.
Yao Guang build guide in Honkai: Star Rail Version 4.0
Yao Guang gains Punchlines by using her basic attack, skill, and ultimate. Her basic attack is her primary way of gaining energy, as it regenerates 30 energy with every use while also being a blast-type attack. But things get exciting (or should we say elating instead?) once we get to her skill, ultimate, and talent.
Yao Guang's skill, Decalight Unveils All, deploys a Zone for 3 turns that increases the Elation of all allies by an amount equal to Yao Guang's own Elation stat. This ability is what allows Yao Guang to enable non-Elation characters to take advantage of the Elation combat mechanics, which is especially useful this early into the Version 4.x cycle, with only Yao Guang and (later in Version 4.0's second half) Sparxie, being the only Elation characters available.
Yao Guang's ultimate, Hexagram of Feathered Fortune, immediately causes an extra Aha Instant that consumes a fixed amount of Punchlines without affecting the regular Aha Instants. In addition, this ability also boosts the All-Type RES PEN of all allies to boost their damage output during the extra Aha Instant.
Speaking of Aha Instants, Yao Guang's Elation skill, Let Thy Fortune Burst in Flames, inflicts the “Woe's Whisper" debuff on all enemies for 3 turns. Enemies with the Woe's Whisper debuff take increased DMG. In addition, this ability deals Elation DMG to all enemies, then deals additional instances of Elation DMG to one random enemy.
Yao Guang's talent, Behold Wherever Light Unfolds, activates whenever she has the Certified Banger buff after an Aha Instant. Whenever an ally attacks, they trigger the “Great Boon” effect and deal one additional instance of Elation DMG to one random enemy target hit. If the attack consumes skill points, Great Boon triggers an additional time. If the ally triggering the Great Boon effect has an Elation stat lower than Yao Guang's, then that attack will instead use Yao Guang's Elation stat in the damage calculation.
Meanwhile, Yao Guang's major Traces further boost her ability to empower an Elation team, as well as her own considerable damage output. Her A2 Trace, Amaze-In Grace, boosts her Elation stat by 30% as long as her Speed stat is at 120 or higher. And for every one Speed she has over 120, she will gain 1% additional Elation up to a max of 200 excess Speed.
Yao Guang's A4 Trace, Poised and Sated, increases her Crit DMG by 60% and recovers one skill point for the team after she uses an Elation skill. Finally, her A6 Trace, Felicity Ensemble, extends the duration of her Certified Banger state by one turn, essentially ensuring that her talent's effects are always active.
Yao Guang's combat rotation is simple yet powerful. Only use her skill to make sure the Zone is always active, as her basic attacks regenerate the same amount of energy while also ensuring your team has enough skill points to use. Activate her ultimate whenever it's available to immediately trigger an Aha Instant. Then do it all over again for maximum Elation until your enemies die of laughter.
When leveling up Yao Guang's abilities, make sure to have her skill, ultimate, and talent maxed out. You can ignore leveling up her basic attacks to save up on resources, as its primary function is to help her regenerate energy, and is not where her damage output comes from.
Yao Guang's best Light Cones, relics, and teammates
Light Cones
Yao Guang's best Light Cone is, of course, her signature: When She Decided to See. This Light Cone passively increases her Speed by 18% and grants her the “Great Fortune” buff for three turns after she enters combat or uses her ultimate. When the Great Fortune buff is active, Yao Guang gains a 12% bonus to her Energy Regeneration Rate, while all allies receive 10% Crit Rate and 30% Crit DMG. In addition, this Light Cone also regenerates a fixed amount of 15 energy for Yao Guang at the start of each wave.
Since the Path of Elation has only been just added to the game, Yao Guang only has three other Elation Light Cones, aside from her signature, available to her. Among these, the best alternative to her signature is the 4-star Light Cone Mushy Shroomy's Adventures. At base Superimposition level, this Light Cone increases Yao Guang's Elation stat by 12% and increases the Elation DMG taken by enemies by 6% for 2 turns after she uses her Elation skill. At max Superimposition level, it grants Yao Guang a 20% Elation bonus and increases the Elation DMG taken by enemies by 10%.
Relics
For Yao Guang's Cavern of Corrosion relics, your go-to should be the 4-piece Diviner of Distant Reach set. It increases her Speed by 6% and increases her Crit Rate by 10%/18% when her Speed stat reaches 120/160. In addition, it increases the Elation stat of all allies by 10% after Yao Guang uses her Elation skill for the first time in a battle, though this effect cannot stack.
As for Yao Guang's Planar Ornament relics, your best bet will be the ever-reliable Lushaka, the Sunken Seas set. It increases her Energy Regeneration Rate by 5% and increases the ATK of the first character in the team lineup by 12% as long as Yao Guang herself isn't in that first slot.
If you want Yao Guang to always act first in battle (in cases where you don't have her Speed high enough while you're still farming for optimal relics), then you can consider going for ther Sprightly Vonwacq set as an alternative. It also gives her a 5% Energy Regeneration Rate bonus and advances her action forward by 40% at the start of battle as long as she has at least 120 Speed.
The main stats you should go for in Yao Guang's relics are as follows:
- Body: Crit Rate/Crit DMG–Crits are your primary way of boosting Yao Guang's Elation DMG output
- Feet: Speed–Needs little explanation, more Speed is always better for supports
- Planar Sphere: HP%/DEF%–Since Elation DMG doesn't scale with ATK% or DMG% buffs, you're better off using this slot for defensive stats to boost Yao Guang's survivability
- Link Rope: Energy Regeneration Rate–Yao Guang's ultimate is a key part of her kit, so you should prioritise being able to use it as much as possible in battle
Yao Guang's stat goals pretty much boil down to getting as much Speed and Crit stats as possible. You want to have at least 160 Speed, though 200 Speed is a sweet spot you can go for if your substat rolls are good. As for her Crit stats, aim to have at least a 1:2 Crit Rate/DMG ratio. A 1:3 ratio is a fairly attainable optimal line, though you don't need to wear yourself out grinding for it.
Teammates
In Version 4.0, Yao Guang won’t have that many options for teammates since the only other Elation character will be Sparxie, who will only be released in the second half of the update. So the core of your early Elation team will be Yao Guang and Sparxie.
Sparkle will be your best non-Elation support pick for this core, since Sparxie consumes a lot of skill points. With that said, supports with DMG boosting abilities that don't scale off ATK% or DMG% like Tribbie and Cipher are good alternatives.
As for the sustain, you can go with whichever healer or shielder you want. But your best bet will be Dan Heng Permansor Terrae for his reliable shielding and debuff removal, as well as the fact that he's a free character.
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