Your favourite 4-star DPS character, Dan Heng, gets a brand new and powerful form through Imbibitor Lunae, a 5-star Destruction character capable of harnessing the power of draconic attacks, dealing tremendous damage to his enemies. After the massive success of Kafka’s character banner, the Honkai: Star Rail story continues again featuring Dan Heng’s Imbibitor Lunae (IL) form and the rest of the Astral Express crew. Now, how is the Imbibitor Lunae different from Dan Heng’s original form? Is he another DPS powerhouse like Blade and Kafka? How can you effectively use his abilities in battle? Let’s dive right into it.
Who is the Imbibitor Lunae?
The name “Imbibitor Lunae” is the title granted by the Vidyadhara to the High Elder of their race that resides in the Xianzhou Luofu. This was the identity of Dan Heng in his previous life. For those unfamiliar with the Vidyadhara, they are a race of powerful humanoid beings with draconic features and are mostly immortal. When a Vidyadhara has lived long enough, they are then reborn from pearl-like eggs, and all memories of their previous life are completely wiped from their minds. In Dan Heng’s previous life, he was known as Dan Feng, the Imbibitor Lunae tasked with watching the Ambrosial Arbor. However, his past self seems to have committed a grave sin against the Luofu, which led to his banishment.
At the start of the game, Dan Heng is shown to have quite a mysterious past that he wants to run away from. That past has finally caught up with him during the climax of the Astral Express crew’s adventure in the Xianzhou Luofu. Dan Heng is forced to confront his past and embrace his true identity as the Imbibitor Lunae, which grants him mastery over cloudhymn magic, allowing him to manipulate a fearsome water dragon to destroy his enemies.
Imbibitor Lunae’s Abilities and Playstyle
Dan Heng’s Imbibitor Lunae form is a 5-star character that follows the path of Destruction, making him a formidable single and multi-target damage dealer. He uses Imaginary attacks to enhance his damage and destroy an opponent’s Toughness. His playstyle differs significantly from his 4-star form, which is more focused on single-target attacks. Imbibitor Lunae’s kit can be quite devastating to opponents, but it comes with a price: his overconsumption of Skill Points (SP). To better utilise his kit, let’s break down Imbibitor Lunae’s abilities:
Beneficent Lotus (Basic ATK): Dan Heng: IL deals Imaginary DMG with a 2-hit attack to a single enemy target.
- Transcendence (Level 1 Enhanced Basic ATK): Deal a 3-hit attack that deals Imaginary DMG to a single enemy target.
- Divine Spear (Level 2 Enhanced Basic ATK): Imbibitor Lunae unleashes a 5-hit attack on a single enemy target, dealing Imaginary DMG to the main target. Starting from the fourth hit, he also inflicts Imaginary DMG equal to 30%—66% of his ATK on adjacent targets as well.
- Fulgurant Leap (Level 3 Enhanced Basic ATK): Imbibitor Lunae unleashes a 7-hit attack that deals Imaginary DMG equivalent to 250%–550% of his ATK to a single enemy target. Starting from the fourth hit, he concurrently inflicts Imaginary DMG equal to 90%–198% of ATK on adjacent targets, too.
Dracore Libre (Skill): Instead of an offensive skill, Dan Heng: IL enhances his next Basic ATK up to three times. He consumes SP for every use of this Skill:
Use once to transform Beneficent Lotus to Transcendence.
Use twice to transform Beneficent Lotus to Divine Spear.
Use thrice to transform Beneficent Lotus to Fulgurant Leap.
Dan Heng: IL also gains one stack of Outroar before every hit when using Divine Spear or Fulgurant Leap, starting from the fourth hit. Each stack of Outroar boosts his CRIT DMG by 6%–13.2% for a maximum of 4 stacks. These stacks remain until the end of his turn.
Azure’s Aqua Ablutes All (Ultimate): Imbibitor Lunae strikes a single enemy target with a 3-hit attack, dealing Imaginary DMG equivalent to 180%–324% of his ATK. He also inflicts Imaginary DMG of 84%–151.2% of her ATK on adjacent targets. After that, he acquires 2 Squama Sacrosancta.
You can accumulate up to 3 Squama Sacrosancta, using them to offset Dan Heng: IL’s SP consumption. Each consumed Squama Sacrosancta is equal to a consumed skill point.
Righteous Heart (Talent): Dan Heng: IL receives 1 stack of Righteous Heart after each hit he makes during an attack. This increases his DMG by 5%–11%, and the effect can stack up to 6 times, remaining until the end of her turn.
Heaven-Quelling Prismadrakon (Technique): Dan Heng: IL enters the Leaping Dragon state for 20 seconds after using his Technique. While in the Leaping Dragon state, he can move forward quickly for a specific distance by using his attack, hitting all enemies in his path, and blocking all incoming attacks.
After entering combat by attacking enemies in the Leaping Dragon state, Dan Heng inflicts Imaginary DMG equivalent to 120% of his ATK to all enemies. He also gains 1 Squama Sacrosancta.
What Makes Imbibitor Lunae Unique?
Imbibitor Lunae’s kit is quite different from past Destruction characters. He almost acts like a Harmony character who can provide buffs, but can only grant those buffs to himself at the cost of your Skill Points. This makes him quite an SP-hungry character, as you’ll need to constantly activate his skills to maximise his potential.
Dan Heng: IL is also the first-ever character in Honkai: Star Rail to receive an alternate form, which is essentially the same character but with a slightly different look, abilities, and playstyle. This alternate form is called Imbibitor Lunae. While this feature isn’t completely new by HoYoverse’s standards, it’s definitely a first for this game. Hopefully, we get to see more characters receive alternate forms in the future.
Eidolons and Trace Priority
For Imbibitor Lunae’s traces, he relies almost exclusively on his Basic ATK, so it’s best to put all your resources into maxing it out first. Whether it’s just a normal or Enhanced Basic ATK, they all benefit from this particular Trace ability, so it should be at the top of your list. After that, you can focus on upgrading his Skill and Ultimate, followed by the rest of his Traces.
Looking at his Eidolons, an E2 Imbibitor Lunae isn’t exactly a requirement, but it puts him on an entirely different level. It gives him an additional Squama Sacrosancta when using his Ultimate, putting it to a total of 3 Squama Sacrosancta, which pretty much is all you need to achieve a Level 3 Enhanced Basic ATK without consuming SP. E2 also advances his action by 100% after using his Ultimate, similar to Sushang, which is an invaluable ability that lets you take action again and deal more damage consecutively. After that, it’s up to you and the amount of resources you have to take him all the way to E6, which unleashes even more potential for Imbibitor Lunae.
Building Imbibitor Lunae: Light Cones and Relics
Light Cones
Imbibitor Lunae’s signature Light Cone is called “Brighter Than the Sun”, which gives him a significant boost in Crit Rate and ATK. It also gives him a pretty handy Energy Regeneration Rate stat boost, which helps a lot since his Ultimate requires 140 energy to cast. This Light Cone is a must-have for Imbibitor Lunae, as it greatly enhances his damage output and energy sustainability.
On the Fall of an Aeon is another 5-star Light Cone that you can use and is your second-best choice for Dan Heng: IL. It also gives a huge ATK boost and a bonus DMG boost. However, you need to be able to Break your enemies for the latter to take effect. Still, it’s a good option, especially for F2P players, since you can easily buy it and its upgrades from Herta’s Shop. Other options include:
4-Star Light Cones
- A Secret Vow – Grants an ATK boost whenever the user performs a Basic ATK, Skill, or Ultimate
- Under the Blue Sky – Grants 20% DMG boost and another 20% if the enemy has an HP equal to or more than the user’s HP
- The Moles Welcome You – Good ATK and Crit Rate bonus
Relics
Imbibitor Lunae is already quite a hard-hitting unit, but building some offensive stats like Crit Rate and ATK can make him an even more devastating DPS. Prioritise those two stats with SPD as a conditional priority. If you want your Dan Heng: IL to ATK faster and generate energy a lot quicker, then go for SPD boots. However, you may have to adjust your team with SP-positive units since you’ll be eating up more Skill Points at a faster rate. If you want Dan Heng: IL to hit harder while taking fewer turns, then go for ATK boots. You can then get your SPD from substats or other teammates like Bronya.
- Body – Crit Rate
- Boots – ATK/SPD
- Sphere – Imaginary Damage Boost / ATK
- Link Rope – ATK
For Relic sets, Imbibitor Lunae is quite a flexible unit, so you don’t have to worry about specific relic sets. You’re free to mix and match, just make sure you prioritise the right stats. Consider the following:
- ATK/Crit DMG Build = 4-piece Wastelander of Banditry
- ATK/SPD Build = 4-piece Musketeer of Wild Wheat
- Mixed Build = 2-piece Wastelander of Banditry + 2-piece Musketeer of Wild Wheat or 2-piece Messenger Traversing Hackerspace
When it comes to Planar Ornaments, Rutilant Arena is your best option if you’re building more Crit Rate for Dan Heng: IL. If you’re going for a more SPD-oriented build or you have at least 120 SPD from substats, then equipping the Space Healing Station is the way to go.
Team Comp Recommendations
Imbibitor Lunae poses a few problems for players building a team around him. He’s quite an SP-hungry unit that has a really high energy requirement, so you need to have a reliable energy support unit that’s SP-positive or neutral, at least. Luckily, Tingyun solves both issues. She can give an Energy boost to Imbibitor Lunae with her Ultimate, and she only needs to use her Skill every three turns, making her a perfect choice for a support unit. So, consider bringing her along with Dan Heng: IL, for a solid team comp.
Other support units to consider include Bronya and Asta for more SPD or Pela for debuffing enemies. Yukong is also a good Harmony character to pair with Dan Heng: IL because of her Crit buffs. However, she does use up a lot of SP to use those buffs. Having said that, you can still use her for a Mono-Imaginary team consisting of Yukong, Dan Heng: IL, Luocha, and Welt or Silver Wolf. Just make sure you speed-tune Yukong and make her always faster than Dan Heng: IL so he can benefit from her buffs.
Luocha is also perfectly matched with Dan Heng: IL since he has healing capabilities that don’t require using any SP. Through his Skill and Talent, he can automatically heal Dan Heng: IL and your entire team without using a single SP, provided you meet the requirements to trigger those effects.
Generally, just pick out characters that don’t require SP use or only need to use them once every few turns, and prioritise characters that can provide energy support or SPD buffs.
HoYoverse has surprised us once again with a unique character like Imbibitor Lunae. His abilities and playstyle make him a force to be reckoned with in battle. However, his reliance on Skill Points can be a double-edged sword. If you’re looking for a character that can deal massive damage and destroy an opponent’s Toughness, then Imbibitor Lunae is definitely worth saving your Stellar Jades for.
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