We’re deep into Honkai: Star Rail (HSR) Version 1.1, with Luocha taking the lead as the featured 5-star character. However, Luocha’s not the only one to look forward to and spend your precious Stellar Jades on. Yukong, the gentle but authoritative leader of the Sky-Faring Commission, is also one of the 4-star characters featured in the banner and is one that you should definitely consider investing in. In this character build guide, we focus on building Yukong and how you can transform her into the perfect support character for your team.
Who is Yukong?
The lightning-fast Yukong, as she was known by the locals of the Xianzhou Luofu back then, was a free-spirited youth who many people regarded as quite a delinquent. However, after being recruited for her daredevil temperament and her lightning-fast reflexes, she acclimated well to her appointment and became a respected member of the Sky-Faring Commission. Eventually, she rose through the ranks and became head of the commission, where she’s in charge of all matters relating to flight, including commerce, traffic management, and the air force.
During the main story, Yukong basically welcomes you to the Xianzhou Luofu after being escorted by Tingyun. This 246-year-old Foxian lady is now known for her firm and authoritative persona, which she uses to maintain order and discipline within the Sky-Faring Commission. She’s also a skilled bow user that can empower allies with her powerful shots and quick reactions.
Yukong’s Abilities and Playstyle
Yukong is a follower of the Harmony path, making her a support unit that can buff allies during her turn. She’s also of the Imaginary element, making her only the third character in the game with this element type other than Luocha and Welt. Now, Yukong’s kit is quite unique and will require a more advanced understanding of character building and turn manipulation during battle. To understand how her skills work, let’s break down all of her abilities:
Arrowslinger (Basic ATK): Yukong uses her bow to fire an arrow at a single target and deal Imaginary DMG.
Emboldening Salvo (Skill): Yukong acquires up to 2 stacks of Roaring Bowstrings that provide a 40%-100% ATK boost to allies. Each ally’s turn end results in the depletion of one stack. However, when Yukong uses her Skill during her turn, it won’t consume a stack of Roaring Bowstring.
Diving Kestrel (Ultimate): When Yukong activates her Ultimate while “Roaring Bowstrings” is active, it boosts the CRIT Rate of all allies by 21%-31.5% and their CRIT DMG by 39% to 78%. Simultaneously, it inflicts Imaginary Damage on a single enemy, equivalent to 228%-456% of Yukong’s ATK.
Seven Layers, One Arrow (Talent): Yukong’s basic ATK also inflicts Imaginary Damage which ranges from 40% to 100% of Yukong’s attack strength. It also doubles the Toughness-Reducing Damage of this attack. This ability can be activated again after one turn.
Chasing the Wind (Technique): Once Yukong activates her special technique, she goes into Sprint mode for a duration of 20 seconds. During this phase, her movement speed rises by 35%. Also, when she initiates combat by attacking her enemies, Yukong earns 2 “Roaring Bowstrings” stacks.
Eidolons and Trace Priority
An E0 Yukong is quite formidable already. But having at least four Eidolons unlocked will take your Yukong to an entirely different level. E1 grants additional speed to the entire team, while her E2 and E4 grant more energy and DMG to her, respectively. If you have some extra stellar jades lying around, make sure to save some for Yukong’s Eidolons.
For Traces, Yukong is quite a well-balanced and flexible unit, so you can pretty much level up any of her Traces. However, if you want to focus on her buffing ability, then you should prioritise her Skill and Ultimate first. Maxing them out first will ensure that Yukong can provide the best possible buffs to the rest of your team, enhancing their performance in battle. Her Basic ATK should be a third priority, while her Talent should be last.
Building Yukong: Light Cones and Relics
Light Cones
Since Yukong functions very similarly to Bronya, her best-in-slot Light Cone would be Bronya’s signature weapon, But the Battle Isn’t Over. This gives her higher stats and also grants the next ally taking action a 30% DMG boost. However, since Yukong’s ultimate is targeted towards an enemy, you can’t really take advantage of the Energy Regen buff and Skill Point buff since it requires the wearer to cast their ultimate on the team. For that reason, the 4-star Battle Pass Light Cone, Carve the Moon, Weave the Clouds would probably be a better option for her if you want to take full advantage of the Light Cones effects.
4-Star Light Cones
- Carve the Moon, Weave the Clouds – Grants either ATK boost, DMG boost, or Energy Regen boost to all allies at the start of your turn.
- Past and Future – Gives the next ally who takes a move a DMG boost when you use your skill.
- Memories of the Past – Boost the wearer’s Break Effect and Energy Regeneration.
- Planetary Rendezvous – Bonus DMG to allies that share the same element as Yukong.
3-Star Light Cones
- Chorus – Teamwide ATK buff.
- Meshing Cogs – More Energy Regeneration for Yukong.
Relics
As you can see, to fully maximise Yukong’s buffs, you need to maintain her stacks of Roaring Bowstrings. This means that your SPD matters a lot during battle as it can influence whether or not you can cast your Skill before your damages. This means that your Yukong should either be the fastest unit in your team with the highest SPD stats or the slowest so she can cast her skill at the end of the turn order and just in time for the next turn of attacks from your DPS units. Yukong is also quite a skill point-hungry unit if you want her buffs to be up all the time.
If you’re building her for a more defensive unit that purely buffs, then prioritising DEF and HP would be your best option. However, for a more offensive build, consider the following stat priority for your Relics:
- Body – CRIT / ATK
- Boots – SPD / ATK
- Sphere – Imaginary Damage Boost / ATK
- Link Rope – Break Effect / ATK
As for Relic sets, you can choose any of these sets as long as you prioritise the right stats and substats:
- ATK/SPD Build = 4-piece Musketeer of Wild Wheat
- ATK/Imaginary DMG Build = 2-piece Musketeer of Wild Wheat + 2-piece Wastelander of Banditry
- Survival Build = 2-piece Guard of Wuthering Snow + 2-piece Knight of Purity Palace
Finally, for your Planar Ornaments, you can go for Inert Salsotto or Space Sealing Station for your offensive build. On the other hand, Fleet of the Ageless would be a great choice for good survivability and some teamwide ATK buffs.
Team Comp Recommendations
Harmony units like Yukong can pretty much fit into any team comp. You just have to consider the elemental coverage and how your other characters complement Yukong’s abilities. A good free-to-play option is a team composed of Dan Heng as the DPS and Natasha as your healer, while Tingyun and Yukong play the role of buffers. This will greatly boost Dan Heng’s damage, and provide survivability and healing support from Natasha.
If you like mono- or duo-element team comps, then a Luocha-Yukong-Welt combo would be a good choice too. Just put Silver Wolf in the mix, and you won’t have to worry about elemental resistances. You can also turn it into a Quantum-Imaginary team and replace Welt with Seele. She’s a good DMG pick since her Resurgence Talent lets her take an extra turn without consuming another stack of Roaring Bowstrings.
You can also pair Yukong with characters who specialise in follow-up attacks, as those will not consume Roaring Bowstring stacks, allowing you to deal more damage while keeping up Yukong’s buffs. This puts Himeko, Herta, and Clara at the top of the list for potential damages.
Yukong is a great support unit, especially for those who are looking to add an Imaginary element character to their team. Her ability to buff allies can be a game-changer in battles, allowing your team to deal more damage or withstand enemy attacks more effectively. However, just like any character in Honkai Star Rail, Yukong’s effectiveness largely depends on how well you build her. This guide should give you a good starting point for understanding how to best utilise Yukong’s abilities and maximise her potential.
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