Upon the release ofHonkai: Star Rail, Imaginary has been the least accessible element, with the only available option being Welt, a5-star character obtainable through the game’s gacha systemor limited-time character event banners. Fortunately, with the second half of the version 1.1 update, players are introduced to two new Imaginary characters, Luocha and Yukong, with many others to come. Yukong, in particular, will also became freely available to all players in version 1.2, increasing accessibility to this element. The presence of challenging content, including difficult bosses like Kafka, weak to Imaginary, makes having access to this element highly beneficial for overcoming such challenges.
Similar to the Quantum element inHonkai: Star Rail, theweakness break effectof the Imaginary Element is highly beneficial to teams as it triggers an Imprisonment effect, delaying the enemies' actions and dealing additional damage. This advantage in the action order allows players to attack more frequently than their enemies each turn, making the Imaginary element a valuable choice against enemies that are weak to this element. Neverthless, it’s important to note that each character within the Imaginary roster has unique advantages and disadvantages based on their respective paths, making it challenging to effectively rank them.
Updated on 18th January 2024, by Elara Leclair:The Imaginary element initially had the least number of users at the release of the game, with only Welt being introduced. Fortunately, this has changed with further additions like Yukong and Luocha not long after, and more characters have been added to the roster since then. As of now, Imaginary is one of the elements that can effectively have mono-element synergy, where all characters can synergize well with each other. This is combined with exceptionally strong DPS characters like Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae and Dr. Ratio. Furthermore, Imaginary is also the only element where players have been given a free 5-star limited character, Dr. Ratio, allowing them to build strong and optimal teams for this element without needing to invest too many Stellar Jades.
Path:Harmony
Rarity:4-star
Currently the only 4-star Imaginary character, Yukong can be an excellent addition to many team compositions, especially for players seeking an Imaginary-type character without access to any 5-star options. As a Harmony path character, Yukong primarily serves as a versatileoffensive support unit. Her Ultimate skill boosts the Crit Rate and Crit DMG of her allies while dealing powerful Imaginary DMG to a single enemy. Additionally, her Skill increases the ATK of her allies, providing a wide range of buffs. Similar to Asta, Yukong can also buff Elemental DMG, (in her case Imaginary DMG) and assist in weakness breaking, making her a valuable asset in mono-Imaginary teams.
Yukong’s buffs are strong, and she is relatively easy to build due to her buff values being based on her Trace levels rather than her own stats. However, it’s important to note that her buffs typically last for a short whiland may require careful management of skill points, especially without access to her Eidolons. Her buffs last for 2 character Turns, necessitating strategic speed and action order management to fully benefit from them. For example, arranging the action order to ensure she is faster than the primary DPS unit. This may pose challenges when pairing her with high base Speed value characters like Seele, unless their action orders are aligned by relying on specific mechanics. Additionally, some of her buffs are not entirely unique, as other characters like Tingyun and Asta can already increase ATK values, andBronya can boost Crit DMG.
Path:Nihility
Rarity:5-star
As a Nihility character, Welt is exceptionally strong in providing an advantage to the party byreducing the enemies' speed. Additionally, he can serve as a sub-DPS with well-scaling damage modifiers. With Welt in the team, players can always ensure they have the attack priority, causing enemies to wait for several turns while the team performs multiple actions. This is particularly effective whencombined with another character like Asta, who increases the team’s Speed value. By following an offensive approach, players can defeat or weakness-break tough enemies before they can execute their strong attacks, potentially saving team members from being knocked down.
The main drawback of Welt is that maximizing his stats to make him an effective sub-DPS can be challenging. Players need to focus on various stats including Effect Hit Rate, ATK, and Crit Stats. Additionally, while speed-reducing debuffs are currently relatively niche, they may become more common as the character roster expands, potentially making Welt less future-proof. Nevertheless, he remains a formidable ally on whom players can rely for a long time.
Path:The Hunt
Joining the roster as the second DPS-oriented character for the Imaginary path, Dr. Ratio’s primary strength lies in single-target DPS. He is also capable of debuffing enemies and launching follow-up attacks on them. Despite being a single-target character, Dr. Ratio can efficiently defeat even strong opponents within a minimal number of turns. Additionally, as a limited character, Dr. Ratio is given as a gratitude gift to all players during his debut, providing everyone access to a powerful Imaginary DPS character, especially for those who have not previously pulled for Imbibitor Lunae. Given these considerations, it is highly recommended for players to focus on building this character to tackle content that benefits from a single-target DPS or Imaginary element in particular.
Path:Destruction
Dan Heng - Imbibitor Lunae is the first character to join the roster as an ascended form of an already existing character - in this case, Dan Heng. This introduces the potential for other characters to have different forms, offering possibilities for characters such as March 7th and beyond. Beyond this unique aspect, from a gameplay perspective, he was also the first Imaginary DPS character to be released. This has been particularly beneficial for tackling challenging content such as Simulated Universe - Swarm Disaster. Even with the current shift in the meta favoring some other characters, especially in Pure Fiction, Dan Heng - Imbibitor Lunae still remains one of the strongest DPS characters, worthy of consideration for a wide variety of content, especially for dealing AoE damage.
Path:Abundance
At the launch ofHonkai: Star Rail, the game lacked Abundance path characters, with only Natasha and Bailu as available options. This made challenging content like thelater stages of Forgotten Hallinaccessible to many players, as they typically require two healers. Fortunately, the addition of Luocha provides players with another healer option, especially for those who have not obtained Bailu and do not want to wait for future character releases that may offer more healer choices. Even with further release of characters like Fu Xuan, or Huohuo, Luocha still remains a formidable healer option, especially with the synergy he posesses with characters like Blade.
What sets Luocha apart and makes him sought after is not only his exceptional healing capabilities but also the additional utility he brings to the team through his kit. Similar to Natasha, Luocha can dispel debuffs from allies and, uniquely, he can also dispel buffs from enemy targets, making him quite convenient. Furthermore, he can buff the team with his first Eidolon, which grants him abilities reminiscent of Harmony characters. Unlike Bailu and Natasha, Luocha scales with ATK, allowing him to deliver strong attacks in addition to healing. However, despite Luocha’s strengths, players should be aware of some of his limitations. His healing is more focused on single targets with his Skill, and he requires management of a stack that deploys a field, providing passive healing to characters when they attack enemies. Sustaining the field consistently in certain situations may be challenging. Additionally, Luocha is more susceptible to being knocked down due to his lower base HP compared to HP-scaling healers, making him less resilient.
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