Honkai Star Rail: Firefly Cultivation and Equipment Team Formation Guide
Character Overview
Name: Firefly
Element: Fire (Major Fire Element)
Destiny: Destruction (Firefly has innate burning effect)
Positioning: Fire attribute breaker (Super breaker) output character
Character TAG: Break/Break, Weak Point Targeting, AoE Damage, Enhancement Form, Burn/Heal, Negative Status Removal, Energy Return, Damage Reduction
Note: Firefly’s output and characteristics revolve around breaking, which reduces resilience. Break damage refers to the damage caused after breaking the enemy’s weak point, using a proportion of their own attack power plus the breakthrough special attack value. Super breaking occurs when a character breaks the enemy’s weak point; normal damage is then converted to super break damage, which similarly depends on attack power proportion and breakthrough special attack value. (Actual damage also considers factors such as buff boosts and support from teammates.)
Character Skills Overview
Here, you can see that Firefly’s primary means of output is to release a finishing move to enter a fully burning state, thereby gaining early action and some buff bonuses, and then using skills to damage up to three enemies. (Due to Firefly’s innate talent, they can convert their own damage into super break damage.)
Important Notes
Firefly’s trail here provides additional abilities, such as increasing their own breakthrough special attack by a certain proportion when attack exceeds 1800. This lays the foundation for subsequent choices of Firefly’s artifact entries.
Photon Cone Related
Five-Star Photon Cone
Firefly’s five-star photon cone can provide a high amount of breakthrough special attack bonus (increasing damage when breaking the enemy’s weak point), enhance break damage, and also reduce enemy speed. Because there are no attributes related to critical hit damage, critical hit rate entries are not as prioritized for Firefly. Therefore, speed and attack power entries are more suitable for Firefly.
In fact, it has been proven that Firefly indeed needs to stack breakthrough special attack, speed, and attack power. In official trials, Firefly’s breakthrough special attack is 264, meaning it can be higher in the player’s hands, and teammates like Ruan Mei, Harmony Lord can further increase breakthrough special attack, thus achieving higher final attributes. (Moreover, Firefly’s attack power here is not very high, so there is still great room for improvement.)
Additionally, you can choose the five-star Destruction Photon Cone from the Black Tower Shop. This photon cone can increase attack power and damage after breaking weak points. It’s a lower substitute if you haven’t drawn Firefly’s photon cone, with higher value compared to the four-star version. Attack power values here are also what Firefly needs, so choosing this photon cone for use is advisable.
Four-Star Photon Cone
Recommended: “[Memorable Promise]”. This photon cone can provide both breakthrough special attack and critical hit rate enhancements for Firefly.
As for other photon cones, choose according to your own inventory.
Artifact Related
In the 2.3 new version, there are choices suitable for Firefly, such as Iron Knight (four-piece set) + Robbery Fire (two-piece set).
Entry Selection
Since Firefly’s (Sam’s) main source of output is breakthrough damage, priority should be given to effective entries such as breakthrough special attack. Critical hit rate and damage priority is lower. Moreover, due to Firefly’s trail ability to increase breakthrough special attack by a certain proportion when attack exceeds 1800, the demand for attack power is higher. Besides breakthrough special attack and attack power entries, Firefly also needs some speed entries.
Main Entry Selection:
Chest: Attack Power
Shoes: Speed
Dimensional Sphere: Attack Power
Linking Rope: Breakthrough
Secondary Entry Selection:
Speed / Breakthrough Special Attack / Attack Power
Apart from these, the two-piece set can also choose Thief, but this set requires a certain speed to get two upgrades.
For the four-piece set, you can choose 2 + 2, focusing only on breakthrough special attack entries.
By the way, if teammates include Harmony and Ruan Mei, the recommended artifact sets are Clockmaker and Trickster. However, due to Clockmaker’s non-stackable effects, equipping one character with a full Clockmaker set is sufficient.
Teammate Selection
Despite Firefly offering multiple bonuses, selecting teammates is stringent due to the breaking and overbreaking mechanics. Currently, the most suitable teammates for Firefly are Harmony, Ruan Mei, and Gallagher. (This team composition isn’t limited to Firefly and can include other characters because they constitute the breaking/overbreaking mechanism.)
Harmony’s skills enhance our breaking special attack and convert damage to overbreak damage against enemies with weak breaking points. Ruan Mei enhances breaking efficiency, penetration, and breaking special attack, greatly boosting Firefly. Additionally, Firefly inflicts fire elemental weaknesses on enemies, benefiting from buffs by Harmony and Ruan Mei, thereby increasing attributes like attack power and breaking efficiency. Firefly relies on releasing a finisher, immediately acting, and then delivering high breaking output via skills. Gallagher provides additional buffs and, with imprints, heals teammates when attacked. (However, some pioneers note Gallagher’s survival support isn’t the strongest, suggesting other healing characters.)
For teams without Ruan Mei, other supports can be considered, including but not limited to Huahuo, Bronya, Aista, and Tingyun, with Gallagher in the survival role, or other options like Loshad and Huohuo. However, including Harmony is preferable for Firefly, as it enhances Firefly and converts damage to overbreak.
Team Composition: Firefly + Harmony (other support characters) + Huahuo (other support characters) + Gallagher (other healing characters)
If you don’t want to invest in Harmony or use Gallagher, a conventional team setup can be adopted:
Firefly + any support + any support + any survival
The overall output of this team depends on the skill of the pioneers. However, it’s crucial to note that Firefly focuses on breaking as its primary output. Even with high boosts to attack power and critical damage from support, without exploiting enemy weaknesses, output will be significantly reduced. Timing breaking enemy weaknesses minimizes the diminishing returns of these buffs.
Regarding using Firefly as a sub-captain or breaker, no evaluation is provided here.
Star Soul
Compared to my previous forward-looking strategies, Firefly’s star soul effects are now visible. The critical star souls for Firefly are 1, 2, and 6.
Star Soul 1 allows Firefly to use skills in “Full Burn” mode without consuming skill points, fundamentally altering how Firefly teams play. For instance, with Firefly + Harmony + Ruan Mei + Gallagher, Harmony and Ruan Mei frequently use skills to boost Firefly, and this star soul ensures they can assist Firefly more effectively by not depleting skill points.
Star Soul 2 grants Firefly an additional turn after breaking enemy weaknesses or defeating minions, increasing Firefly’s output.
Star Soul 6 significantly enhances Firefly’s breaking efficiency, improving overall output.
Summoning Advice/Priority
Aside from players who simply like Firefly, here are some recommendations for summoning:
Firstly, based on your own character situation and inventory, consider whether you want to summon Firefly. Since Firefly’s team revolves around breaking, having teammates like Harmony and Ruan Mei significantly enhances Firefly’s overall environment and comfort. Thus, if you decide to summon Firefly, prepare to also summon Ruan Mei.
For pioneers who have decided to summon Firefly, maximizing damage means prioritizing 0+1, followed by Firefly’s exclusive weapon. For a more comfortable playstyle without concerns about skill points, consider prioritizing Star Soul 1. Pioneers with extra resources can opt for 0+1, 1+0, 2+0, 2+1, or 6+1, 6+5 (depending on personal needs, economic situation, and inventory).