Among the new additions to the cast of Honkai: StarRail with version 1.1 there is also Yukong, an Imaginary element character from the The Harmony class. In this article we will give an overview of the characteristics of this character and which Light Cone, Relic and statistics to choose to create better build.
Yukong is a 4-star character of the Imaginary element belonging to the path "The Harmony", which includes fighters specialized in offering allies buffs of all kinds. However, unlike other units belonging to this class, Yukong also has an offensive potential that should not be overlooked and thanks to the peculiarities of his kit he can empty the " Toughness", or the opponent's resistance bar.
Trace skill and priority overview
NB: whenever we talk about the values and statistics of Skill, Ultimate, Talents and so on we will always refer to those of fully developed Trace without Eidolon bonuses, in order to give an idea of the character's potential at its maximum potential.
Yukong's kit revolves around his Skill. Once performed, the character gains two stacks of "Roaring Bowstrings", a buff that gives an ATK bonus of 80% to the entire team. Unfortunately, its effect does not remain active for long: every time an ally ends a turn, a stack of Roaring Bowstrings is consumed. Furthermore, thanks to the passive "Majestas", the character recovers 2 points of energy every time an ally acts while under the effects of this bonus.
La Ultimate of Yukong deals massive Imaginary element damage to a single target equal to 380% of its ATK and further enhances the effects of the buff we talked about previously. In fact, upon activation, the accumulations of Roaring Bowstrings provide additional bonuses of 28% to the CRIT Rate and 65% to the CRIT DMG until they are exhausted. Also considering the extra ATK, this is a gigantic bonus, which if exploited by a DPS can do significant damage even to the toughest bosses.
The downside, as we have seen previously, is that Yukong's buffs have a very short duration and therefore it becomes essential to be able to manage shift order optimally (also acting on the SPD statistic during the build phase) so that in most cases the characters receiving these buffs are our DPS, rather than those with low offensive potential, such as healers and shielders for example. However, there is an important clarification to be made. Using an Ultimate is not considered a "turn" in itself and therefore does not consume Roaring Bowstrings stacks. This means that a character can still benefit from this buff even if the turn order is unfavorable.
As we have seen, Yukong's Ultimate also deals significant damage, but this is not the only arrow in his bow. Thanks to Talent in fact, basic attacks inflict additional damage, bringing the total to 180% of his ATK, and also reduce the enemy's resistance bar by double the normal amount. Considering that the bonuses granted by Roaring Bowstrings do not scale on any character statistics, it is certainly worth investing in the offensive ones to enhance the character's basic attacks and Ultimate.
I Eidolon bonuses They are useful, but not essential. The most interesting is the level 6 one which restores an accumulation of Roaring Bowstrings upon activation of the Ultimate, which you can therefore use to prolong the effects of the buffs. The level 2 one is also useful: the first time an ally's energy reaches its maximum, Yukong regenerates 5 energy points, with the effect resetting after using Ultimate.
With regard to the Trace priority, clearly Skill and Ultimate are the most important elements to increase the damage inflicted by the whole team, but by virtue of what was said previously it is certainly worth investing also in the Talent and the basic attack to increase the offensive potential of the character. We also point out that the bonus passive skills are all useful and we therefore suggest you unlock them as soon as possible. In addition to Majestas which we talked about previously, "Bowmaster" increases the Imaginary damage of all allies by 12%, while "Archerion" allows you to resist any debuff, with this effect which can be reactivated after two turns.
The best Light Cones for Yukong
As for Light Cones, at the moment the best is the 5-star rarity one "But the Battle Isn't Over", which increases the wearer's energy accumulation speed by 10% and also restores one Skill Point every two activations of the Ultimate. Not only that, when using the Skill, the character who acts next deals 30% more damage for one turn.
Fortunately, there is no shortage of valid alternatives among the 4-star ones, which are certainly easier to obtain. Among those available we suggest the "Memories of the Past", which regenerates the user's energy by 4 points each time they attack and basically increases the Break Effect by 28%. Considering the effects of Yukong's Talent, this bonus allows you to deflate the enemy's stamina bar even more quickly than normal with basic attacks.
Another interesting alternative "Past and Future". Its effect is to increase the damage of the ally who will act immediately after the end of the bearer's turn by 16%. You can also buy it at the Forgotten Hall shop and get it from Echoes of War bosses, which means it's relatively simple to upgrade it to the max, thus doubling its bonus.
In reality, the other 4-star Light Cones are also valid in almost every situation, with the exception of the "Planetary Rendezvous". The latter increases the damage of characters who use the same element as the bearer by 12% and is therefore only useful in teams with two or more units using Imaginary.
The best Relics for Yukong
Considering that Yukong's support skills do not scale on any attribute, in terms of Relic and statistics you are free to pump up his offensive values and/or emphasize even more on enemy resistance-breaking skills by increasing the Break Effect.
In the first case, the Relic set that we suggest is made up of 4 pieces "Musketeer of Wild Wheat", as it gives a 12% bonus to ATK, increases SPD by 6% and basic attack damage by 10%, all effects that are useful for this character. The alternative consists of 4 pieces of "Thief of Shooting Meteor": you will lose the bonuses to ATK and SPD, but you will gain 32% Break Effect and three energy points every time Yukong causes a Weakness Break. If you want, you can also mix two pieces from each of these two sets.
Yukong is first and foremost a support character and for this reason for the Ornaments our choice falls on the "Fleet of the Ageless". This set increases HP by 12% and also gives the team an 8% buff to ATK when the bearer has an SPD stat equal to or greater than 120. The alternative is the "Space Sealing Station": it does not offer bonus to the team, but increases the user's ATK by 12%, which becomes 24% bringing the SPD to at least 120 points.
For statistics the advice is to pump up the SPD as much as possible, as well as ATK%, CRIT Rate / DMG to increase the offensive potential of the character. Depending on which Light Cone you have equipped and whether or not you have unlocked the second Eidolon bonus, it may be necessary to use a Link with Energy Regeneration, given that Yukong's Ultimate requires 130 energy points, one of the highest requirements at the moment Honkai: StarRail. For this reason the main attributes recommended for Relics are:
- Body: Crit Rate / Crit DMG o ATK%
- Feet: SPD
- Sphere: Imaginary DMG o ATK%
- Link: Energy Regen or ATK%, depending on the Light Cone equipped or whether or not you have unlocked the second level Eidolon bonus
The same reasoning applies to secondary statistics, so pump your SPD as hard as you can, followed by ATK and critical attributes. And if we also get a few HP% and Break Effect points, it certainly won't hurt.
Recommended teams
Since we are talking about a The Harmony class character, you can put Yukong on any team and get excellent results. Considering her passive which increases the team's Imaginary damage by 12%, the ideal would be to pair her with characters of this element, although unfortunately at the moment in Honkai: Star Rail the options in this sense are very limited and not very accessible.
Another piece of advice we can give you is to play in a team that includes two DPS (for example one of the class The Hunt and one The Erudition), so as to be sure that at least one of the two benefits from the Roaring Bowstrings bonuses without having to rack your brains too much with turn management.
On our pages you will find Honkai: Star Rail guides dedicated to other characters, including Jing Yuan, the Trailblazer (Preservation), March 7th, Tingyun and Luocha.
