What are some of the most powerful characters in Honkai Impact 3rd?

If you like gachas, you have already heard about Mihoyo, now known as HoyoVerse, and their game Honkai Impact 3rd.

With its anime-like graphics, this free-to-play action game captivates with its lore. Additionally, the characters have good backstories and diverse gameplays, adding fun to the game.

So if you want to start playing right, let me tell you the top 10 powerful characters.

10. Pardofelis - Reverist Calico

A great free to play option for ice support.

Pardofelis’s battlesuit, Reverist Calico, is an Imaginary SP Ice Support introduced on patch 5.6. As an SP battlesuit, you can farm her from rank A to SSS without spending any money on the game. Her gameplay is different due to the new weapon, chakram, which was brought with her.

What makes Reverist Calico great

• Can also be a DPS: If you have Haxxor Bunny and Azure Empyrea, she can be a good DPS against some Abyss bosses.  
• The new Ice Support: Reverist Calico beats Azure Empyrea for Ice comps. Breaking Azure Empyrea’s long reign over all elemental teams.
• SP restoration: Her ultimate recovers team SP.
• Freeze: Her ultimate and weapon skill freezes enemies.
• Fun gameplay: Even though she is supposed to be a support, using her on modes such as Elysian Realm showcases her fun and agile gameplay.

Pick Reservist Calico if

• You can get her signature weapon
• You need Support for your Ice-focused team
• You don’t have Azure Empyrea
• You have, or can, farm the Margrave set if you can’t get the Bastet set

 

9. Griseo - Starry Impression

A new physical support that will make your game more beautiful.

Recently released in patch 5.8, Griseo’s battlesuit, Starry Impression, is a Psychic SP Physical Support. Being an SP battlesuit like Pardofelis, she is farmable. With a colorful playstyle, Griseo inflicts bleeding on enemies and provides lots of buffs for the team, making her one of the most chosen supports for physical teams.

What makes Starry Impression great

• Bleed: She can deal bleed damage and also make the team deal bleed damage. 
• Cheap Full Gear: Griseo's gear banner has a 30-pull guarantee, providing a guarantee of 120 pulls for the three stigmata and her signature weapon. 
• Lead skill: Her lead skill provides a huge initial SP bonus, letting her use ultimate at the start of a battle.
• Just need to be on the team: You probably won’t need to use Griseo on the field very often. Usingher ultimate and switching to the other support and then to the DPS character will be enough to deal high damage.
• Paint: Griseo has unique painting-style gameplay, where she can use red, blue, and yellow paint on enemies. Each color has its effect.
• Ultimate: Only costing 75 Sp and lasting 18 seconds, her ultimate slows time for 2.5 and inflicts bleeding to enemies. Seconds before her ultimate ends, she deals 500% physical damage to all bleeding enemies, with a multiplier of up to 2000%.

Pick Starry Impression if

• You need additional support for your physical DPS
• You need more SP
• You are F2P

 

8. Fu Hua - Azure Empyrea

The most elegant Fu Hua battlesuit remains the best elemental support.

Marking Fu Hua’s ascent from a Phoenix to a Celestial, Azure Empyrea was released in patch 3.7 and remained the best elemental support. Most elemental damage dealers need Azure Empyrea on the team to shine their brightest, making her one of the most powerful characters.

What makes Azure Empyrea great

• Elemental Breach: For a long time, she was the only character able to provide an elemental breach bonus for your team, reducing the enemy’s elemental resistance. 
• Relevancy: With her ultimate skill providing elemental breach and elemental damage bonus, AE is the only available character who can fit in lightning, ice, or fire comps.
• Dynamic gameplay: With 4 long combos, her gameplay differs from other battlesuits. The Hex of Crucibles and Drowning combo makes the enemy take more fire and ice damage. The three different combos can restore SP, heal your team and apply up to a 20% total damage multiplier. 
• Farmable ideal stigmata: Azure Empyrea’s signature stigmata set is available on the game’s foundry.You can farm it instead of spending crystals on banners.
• Ultimate: AE’s ultimate pull enemies, deal 1800% of Fire damage, and immobilize them for 8 seconds. Additionally, her ultimate gives your team 14-16% elemental breach and increases all elemental damage by 30% for 15 seconds.

Pick Azure Empyrea if

• You struggle against IMG-type bosses such as Nihilus
• You need a support for your elemental team
• You have an elemental DPS in need of buffs

 

7. Vill-V - Helical Contraption

A DPS character that offers an unique gameplay style.

Released in patch 5.9, Helical Contraption is an S-Rank Quantum Fire-type DPS. While she presents one of a kind game style, many players decided to not roll for her due to an awaited upcoming update. Since she can get another banner later on, there is a chance she will shine and be picked up by those who skipped her.

What makes Helical Contraption great

• Neutral type: Since she is a QUA-type, she receives and deals damage to Mecha, Bio, and Psy types without any multiplier. 
• Heal & restore SP: When entering Excited mode, she restores SP and heals her own HP.
• Investment-worth: If you can invest in her banner to get her ideal gear, Helical Contraption can deliver flexible gameplay and quick fire damage.
• Additional damage against QUA-types: Her passive skill allows her to deal 18% extra fire damage against quantum-type enemies. Also, if her shield is hit by quantum-type, the enemy will enter a collapsed state. 
• Memorial arena boss KOSMA: With a new QUA-type damage dealer came a new QUA-type boss. Able to deal damage quickly, she excels in Kosma’s second phase, where being fast is essential. 
• Different gameplay: This battlesuit is definitely one of a kind. In battle, she summons two turrets and can only attack when mounted on one of them, differing from the typical DPS characters available.

Pick Helical Contraption if

• You don’t have a Fire DPS
• You need a Quantum DPS
• You want a change from the usual damage dealer gameplay

 

6. Bronya - Silverwing: N-EX

This character has a fun gameplay style for your ice damage team.

Released in patch 5.4, Silverwing: N-Ex is an S-Rank Bio Ice damage dealer and the first APHO S-rank character available in the game. She makes even annoying boss fights easier when you can shoot on the ground or in the air.

What makes Silverwing: N-EX great

• The bonus offer: Her banner came with an offer that made her rank up and a complete gear set guaranteed in 150 pulls. The number looks like a lot, but getting the character, three stigmata, and signature weapon can take more than that for unlucky players.
• Simple gameplay: Silverwing: N-EX gameplay is simple and doesn’t need additional reading or even tutorials for you to get a grasp. It’s just… spamming the basic attack and using ultimate when available.
• Timer: Her ultimate can pause the timer of stages. While it may sound like a regular thing, not all ultimate animations can pause the timer in Honkai.
• Better than the rest: She can do all the things previous top-tier Ice damage dealers can’t. Able to do the ranged weather in Ex Abyss, pausing the timer, and not necessarily needing SP or her ultimate to deal real damage.

Pick Silverwing: N-EX if

• You struggle against IMG-type bosses such as Nihilus
• You need a DPS for your ICE team
• You currently struggle against Elysia, Ranged Assaka, or Benares in EX Abyss
• You need an easier way to beat SSS Husk in Memorial Arena

 

5. Mei - Herrscher of Thunder

The lightning DPS that solved the mysteries of the Elysian Realm.

Released in version 4.1, Herrscher of Thunder was brought back to meta with the climax of the 13th Flame Chasers arc. With her new signature weapon, Seven Thunders of Retribution, it can be said that she was given a rework. Being Raiden Mei’s Herrscher form, she is currently the most used S-Rank battlesuit.

What makes Herrscher of Thunder great

• Best in Memorial Arena: Being the only top-tier PSY-type Lightning DPS, she excels against Mecha bosses.
• New gameplay: Her new weapon changes her ultimate and even gives her new animations.
• Farmable stigmata: The current best stigmata for Herrscher of Thunder is the Handel set, which can be forged in the foundry.
• Buffed: Usually, characters in Honkai are power crept and then forgotten, like what happened with Herrscher of the Void and Herrscher of Reason. With the new weapon, Seven Thunders of Retribution, Herrscher of Thunder was brought back to the game and picked by those who had given up on using her.

Pick Herrscher of Thunder if

• You will invest in getting her newest weapon 
• You need a DPS for your Lightning team
• You have Azure Empyrea

 

4. Mobius - Infinite Ouroboros

Turn your enemies into lab rats with Infinite Ouroboros.

Released in patch 5.2, Infinite Ouroboros is an S-Rank Mecha Lightning DPS. With a lot of green and black effects, Mobius deals a lot of AOE damage, being highly effective against a high number of mobs, like in the Elysian Realm mode.

What makes Infinite Ouroboros great

• Memorial Arena: As a DPS, Mobius can quickly finish many bosses in the Memorial Arena mode, especially those weaker to Mecha Types and Lighting damage.
• Easy: It’s easy to deal damage with Mobius, her combo is also simple and doesn’t need much to comprehend. 
• On-demand Time Fracture: Mobius’s evasion can activate time-fracture without evading an enemy attack, entering submerged mode and dealing massive damage.
• Queen of Elysian Realm: Although she is quite a hassle to build right, Mobius is powerful in the Elysian realm mode.
• Timer stop: Her ultimate animation stops all timers.

Pick Infinite Ouroboros if

• You need a DPS for your Lightning team
• You have the ELF Klein
• You have Azure Empyrea
• You don’t have her signature weapon but have Oath of Judah

 

3. Kiana - Herrscher of Flamescion

A battlesuit to experience the power of the game’s main character.

Released in patch 5.0, Herrscher of Flamescion is an S-Rank Psychic Fire DPS and Kiana's sixth battlesuit. First shown in a meaningful arc of the game’s main story, Herrscher of Flamescion contrasts a lot with Kiana’s previous Herrscher form, Herrscher of the Void.

What makes Herrscher of Flamescion great

• Relevancy: She has been the best fire DPS since release.
• Multiple stats: She can to activate time-fracture on demand, heal, and gather enemies. She can also attack enemies mid-air, being one of the nine battlesuits able to do so.
• Aerial combat: She introduced aerial attacks to the game, giving players a new combat style.
• Many free options: Many farmable stigmata sets work well with Flamescion.
• Elysian realm: She is still one of the best picks in Elysian Realm, even after all the changes made in the mode since her release.

Pick Herrscher of Flamescion if

• You need someone to use in Elysian Realm
• You need a DPS for your Fire team
• You don’t mind farming for stigmatas
• You struggle against the Mecha EX Abyss bosses.

 

2. Durandal - Palatinus Equinox

A great DPS battlesuit that offers some fun gameplay mechanics with its horse.

Released in patch 5.5, Equinox Palatinus is the first S-Rank Imaginary DPS and Durandal's fourth battlesuit. As a loved character to the game developers, Equinox Palatinus is currently the top-tier character for physical teams. 

What makes Palatinus Equinox great

• Neutral type: Since she is an IMG-type, she receives and deals damage to Mecha, Bio, and Psy types without any multiplier, meaning you can go against any boss without suffering too much.
• Relevancy: As the only IMG-type DPS, she will stay relevant for some updates.
• On-demand Time Fracture: In knight form, she can activate time fracture without the need of actually evading an enemy skill. In Guardian form, her evade is a shield dash, activating a time fracture if hitting an enemy. 
• Best DPS against IMG-types: Her ultimate applies additional damage against IMG-type enemies, making her the best choice against Nihilus.
• Different gameplay: She can be used for a long combo sequence or just ult and switch out.

Pick Palatinus Equinox if

• You struggle against IMG-type bosses such as Nihilus
• You need a DPS for your physical team
• You have Herrscher of Sentience
• You have the means to get her signature weapon

 

1. Fu Hua - Herrscher of Sentience

Doesn’t matter if you use her as a DPS or a support, she will reverse all creations.

Introduced in patch 4.6, the Herrscher of Sentience is an S-Rank Bio Physical DPS and Support. Winner of the global server's popularity pool, she is powerful in lore and gameplay-wise.

What makes Herrscher of Sentience great

• Multiple stats: She can impair and gather enemies.
• Taunt: Her dodge skill forms an illusion of herself, attracting enemies and then exploding.
• Team heal: Additionally, her illusion explosion drops a feather that heals any team member who picks it.
• Shield: Conjures a team shield equal to 30% of her max HP after a combo attack. Shield also provides a critical damage buff.
• Elysian realm: She is one of the best picks to use in the Elysian realm mode.
• Ultimate: She attacks with her weapon case, dealing damage to all enemies. For 15 seconds, she gets bonus critical damage, impairs all enemies, reduces their damage, and lowers their defenses. 
• Timer: She was the first character to have an ultimate animation able to stop all timers.
• Different gameplay: Able to switch between three otherweapons plus another one in her ultimate, she provides unique gameplay.

Pick Herrscher of Sentience if

• You need a Support that impairs, gathers, lower enemy defenses and grants shield for your Physical team
• You need a DPS for a F2P physical team
• You would like to surf around in the open-world mode with her sword-riding skill
• You are new to the game and can get her through the beginner banner

 

There are also other characters in Honkai that are powerful, but as they are very specific to one boss or another, it wouldn’t make sense for the top 10.

With a pool of 76 available battlesuits, Honkai has many options. Most team comps you make will work. The need for full ideal gear is only really relevant for when you reach the end game, where seconds lost can significantly lower your score. Moreover, you can choose to not enter the end game and stay at level 80 until you have the ideal gear!

While having powerful characters is good, if you have fun with a specific comp keep playing with the battlesuits you like and enjoy the game.

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