Unleashing the Ultimate Power: Ascension 6 Traces in Honkai: Star Rail - A Definitive Ranking

Traces in Honkai Star Rail serve as the Skill Tree for the Characters. They provide a menu for players to enhance their character's stats and acquire new passive/active abilities. The important Traces that unlock these abilities are typically gated behind various Ascension Levels.

Now, let's examine the Traces that Honkai: Star Rail players can unlock once they reach Ascension 6 with a character (at minimum Trailblaze Level 60). This will help determine which ones are the most beneficial to prioritize grinding for.

11 Sushang

Sushang's entire arsenal revolves around her Sword Stance, maximizing its activation frequency through either applying her Skill to induce Weakness Break or employing her Ultimate to heighten the probability of triggering it for the subsequent two turns.

So, Sushang intends to maximize her usage of both Sword Stance and her Ascension 4 Trace, Riposte. Apart from her usual combo sequence of Skill, Ultimate, and Skill again, she can now extend it further by incorporating a Basic Attack or Skill usage at the beginning, allowing for increased duration and effectiveness.

10 Asta

Asta, also known as the Harmony character, is already an amazing support character in the game Honkai: Star Rail. Players find her Charging mechanic easy to build up and keep track of, making it convenient to use. Additionally, it provides a nice little attack buff that enhances the performance of any team composition. The only area where Asta falls slightly short is in terms of survivability. However, this drawback can be mitigated with the help of the Constellation Trace, which can boost her Defense by up to 30 percent in total. This enhancement allows players to focus on maximizing her buffs instead of worrying too much about her survivability.

9 Welt

Welt possesses a dual nature within the realm of HSR characters. While his damage output is not substantial enough to qualify him as a dedicated DPS, his ability to administer Slows and occasional Imprisonment falls short of classifying him as a support character. This incongruity places him in the highly sought-after category of Nihility characters, yet it also imparts a sense of unease when utilizing his skills. Nevertheless, with the aid of Punishment Trace, Welt significantly augments his overall damage potential. Since his primary focus revolves around inflicting Slows upon adversaries rather than instigating Weakness Break, he can frequently capitalize on the benefits derived from this effect.

8 Seele

As if Seele needed any further enhancements to bolster her strength, she continues to dominate the ranks in Honkai: Star Rail, securing the top spot on all tier lists even in Version 1.2. Nonetheless, this achievement is solely accomplished with the optimum build and becomes utterly absurd when Seele enters a flow state with her status enhanced. Should players encounter difficulties in maintaining their enhanced status, the utilization of the Rippling Waves Trace enables Seele to vanquish an almost-defeated opponent with a Basic Attack, triggering her enhanced state. Subsequently, the Advancement forward ability usually grants her the opportunity to unleash her Skill before the enemies can even react, perfectly aligning with the expected playstyle of a Hunt Path character.

7 Dan Heng

Most players in HSR prioritize leveling and investing resources in Dan Heng, as he is the only viable Wind-damage DPS in the game. Consequently, he is not often chosen as a party member based solely on popularity, and he does not frequently receive the first pick for Skill Points.

Fortunately, this Trace allows him to inflict significant damage even with his Basic Attack. It is especially effective when paired with characters like Welt or the upcoming characters that possess the ability to Slow enemies.

6 March 7th

March 7th, the final member of the Astral Express' trio, has a remarkable ability to freeze enemies with her Glacial Cascade Ultimate. This skill is so potent that those who have March 7th on their team are well aware of the freezing power she brings to each battle. To further enhance this ability, it is highly recommended to acquire the Trace that boosts the base chance of freezing enemies by a significant 15 percent. This investment of resources will undoubtedly prove beneficial in combat situations.

5 Preservation Trailblazer (Fire)

It could be argued that the Fire/Preservation Trailblazer stands as the top tank currently available in the game. Moreover, it is undeniably the most readily attainable option, with the other two primary choices, Gepard and Clara, requiring players to acquire them through the 5-Stars roll mechanic.

4 Bailu

Furthermore, numerous instances will arise during the course of the game when the Trailblazer commences with an active shield, particularly if a player simultaneously employs March 7th or Gepard (although that may be excessive), resulting in their Action Beats Overthinking Trace essentially operating as a direct augmentation of 15 percent to their offensive capabilities.

Bailu's primary role as a healer revolves around her Invigoration buff, which she applies to allies. This buff allows allies to recover a portion of their lost health after being attacked, often surpassing the amount of health lost. In challenging endgame content like HSR, it can be particularly difficult to sustain the team's health, even with the addition of the most recent character, Luocha, to the team composition.

Moreover, Bailu's Aquatic Benediction Trace provides the entire team with a 10 percent damage reduction buff. Since she consistently maintains this buff, it is an easily accessible and valuable Trace to prioritize as soon as it becomes available.

3 Gepard

If we were to describe the three main tanks in HSR in just one word, Clara's tank would be known for its 'Counters', the Trailblazer's tank would excel in 'Taunts', and Gepard's tank would be recognized for its strong 'Shields'. However, when considering overall damage output, Gepard's tank performs less effectively compared to the other two. This is precisely why the introduction of his Fighting Spirit Trace ability will have a significant impact.

Not only that, but it scales off his defense stat, which means the tankier Gepard is, the more damage he does, and that's just every tank's dream.

2 Clara

1 Bronya

Clara and Svarog comprise the final duo of tanks. Despite being aligned with the Destruction Path rather than Preservation, Clara undeniably fulfills the role of a tank. With a well-constructed build, Clara's ability to withstand heavy damage and deal significant damage herself is truly astounding. Community members have shared videos of Clara defeating bosses single-handedly, disregarding the presence of Svarog. Hence, it is an obvious decision to acquire a Trace that specifically enhances her primary source of damage, namely Svarog's Mark of Counter follow-up attacks. Investing in such a Trace is a no-brainer.

The final Trace available here, while not as impressive as the others in terms of visual effects, proves to be highly practical. Bronya's Military Might Ascension 6 Trace grants a valuable 10 percent damage boost to all team members while she is actively participating.

By combining this with the additional 33 percent damage increase when using her skill on an ally, as well as an extra 33 percent increase if she immediately follows up with her powerful Belobog March Ultimate (which also enhances critical damage), Bronya can significantly enhance a teammate's attack by a remarkable 76 percent for a single turn.

Honkai: Star Rail is available now for PC and mobile devices with a PS5 version releasing in Q4 2023.