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Want to find the best Kafka builds and Light Cones in Honkai Star Rail? Kafka is a five-star Lightning character on the path of Nihility, meaning she’s an expert at causing damage-over-time effects (DoTs). Even though she is a five-star character, she is extremely easy for you to build and perform well, especially for those of you who are F2P.
Kafka has been a must-pull for many Honkai fans since the start of the game. To say she was one of the most anticipated characters is an understatement, and now she’s finally here you should get building her as soon as possible. She’s great at dealing AoE damage and inflicting powerful DoTs, making her an excellent addition to any team as a strong DPS.
Make sure you check out our page about the upcoming Honkai Star Rail 1.3 release, as well as how to get Relics in Honkai Star Rail. Now, on to the builds to make your Kafka the best DPS out there.
Best Light Cones for Kafka
As a path of Nihility character, Kafka has a lot of excellent options for her Light Cone. As you might be able to guess, the Light Cone banner that features the five-star Light Cone Patience is All You Need is Kafka’s best-in-slot without much competition. For those of us who don’t have Patience is All You Need, fret not! There are several options for Kafka that do just as well.
Why is Patience is All You Need so good?
It is Kafka’s signature light cone, which means it is made for her and specifically those on the path of Nihility. It increases DMG dealt by the wearer by 24%. After every attack unleashed by the wearer, the wearer’s SPD increases by 4.8%. This effect stacks, which leads to impressive results.
Outside of the Patience is All You Need Light Cone, three four-star Light Cones are considered excellent for Kafka, and these are Good Night and Sleep Well, Eyes of Prey, and Fermata. Use this table we’ve put together to see the best Light Cones for Kafka.
| Light Cone | Effect |
|---|---|
| Patience is All You Need (5*) | Increases DMG dealt by the wearer by 24%. After every attack unleashed by the wearer, the wearer’s SPD increases by 4.8%, stacking up to 3 times. If the wearer hits an enemy target that is not afflicted by Erode, there is a 100% base chance to inflict Erode on the target. Enemies afflicted with Erode are also considered to be Shocked and will receive Lightning DoT at the start of each turn equal to 60% of the wearer’s ATK, lasting for 1 turn. |
| In the Name of the World (5*) | Increases the wearer’s DMG to debuffed enemies by 24%. When the wearer uses their Skill, the Effect Hit Rate for this attack increases by 18%, and ATK increases by 24%. |
| Good Night and Sleep Well (4*) | For every debuff the target enemy has, the DMG dealt by the wearer increases by 12%, stacking up to 3 times. This effect also applies to DoT. |
| Eyes of the Prey (4*) | Increases the wearer’s Effect Hit Rate by 20% and increases DoT by 24%. |
| Fermata (4*) | Increases the Break Effect dealt by the wearer by 16%, and increases their DMG to enemies afflicted with Shock or Wind Shear by 16%. This also applies to DoT. |
These Light Cones work best when you build Kafka to be a DoT DPS character. This is her natural slot in the team and each of these Light Cones enhances her natural abilities to inflict incredible single-target damage, AoE damage, and DoT damage to any foe.
Best Relics and Planar Ornaments for Kafka
When it comes to Relics and Planar Ornaments on Kafka, you don’t need anything too complicated. Give Kafka the four-piece Band of Sizzling Thunder Relic Set and two-piece Space-Sealing Station. Due to DoTs in Honkai Star Rail being unable to trigger critical hits, you don’t need any heavy Crit DMG or Rate investment for Kafka, which is what makes her so easy to build.
Damage-over-time ticks all scale off of the character’s ATK stat, which means pumping everything you have into ATK will see your DoTs tear through enemies. If you happen to get Crit Rate/DMG on your substats, that won’t hurt at all and gives Kafka a chance to do more damage with her Normal Attack, Skill, Passive, and Ultimate.
| Type | Set | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Relic: | Four-piece Band of Sizzling Thunder | This set will be the best-in-slot for Kafka nine times out of ten. The full four-piece bonus will increase Kafka’s Lightning DMG by 10%, along with a 20% increase to Kafka’s ATK when you use her Skill. |
| Relic: | Two-piece Band of Sizzling Thunder Two-piece Messenger Traversing Hackerspace | You could use this mismatched set to get the 10% boost to Lightning DMG from the Band of Sizzling Thunder, and a 6% increase to Speed with the two-piece Messenger Traversing Hackerspace set. This will give you more uptime for Kafka, since her turn will come around faster. |
| Planar Ornaments: | Two-piece Space-Sealing Station | This Planar Ornament is the default for most of your attackers and that remains true for Kafka. Wearing two pieces from this set gives you an ATK increase, which will bolster Kafka’s DoT damage further. |
What about Effect Hit Rate sets?
When it comes to Planar Ornaments, there is no point at all to use any of set. You might be tempted to invest in a set that focus on Effect Hit Rate, to ensure Kafka’s DoTs land on the enemies, but this is a waste. When you level Kafka up and unlock her Traces, one of her abilities will increase her Effect Hit Rate naturally enough to mean you never need any more to let her DoTs land.
In terms of main stats and substats for Kafka’s Relics and Planar Ornaments, you should have an extremely easy time getting the right Main Stats for Kafka. As mentioned earlier, you don’t need to worry about Crit Rate/DMG Main Stat Relics.
| Piece | Main Stat |
|---|---|
| Chest | ATK% |
| Feet | Speed |
| Link Rope | Lightning DMG Bonus |
| Planar Sphere | ATK% |
As you can see from the table above, you want to focus entirely on ATK%, Speed, and Lightning DMG Boost. Since you aren’t prioritising Crit, you should look for them in the substats, since they will help Kafka’s personal damage.
Kafka Traces priority
As with all characters in Honkai Star Rail, Kafka’s Traces need to be upgraded to increase her stats, Normal Attack, Skill, Ultimate, Passive, and Talent. All of these are unlocked on the Traces tree, but there are some important passive abilities you can get for Kafka to increase her overall kit.
| Trace | Effect |
|---|---|
| Basic ATK | Midnight Tumult: Deals Lightning DMG equal to 50% of Kafka’s ATK to a single enemy. |
| Skill | Caressing Moonlight: Deals Lightning DMG equal to 80% of Kafka’s ATK to a target enemy and Lightning DMG equal to 30% of Kafkais ATK to enemies adjacent to it. If the target enemy is currently receiving DoT, all DoTs currently placed on that enemy immediately produce DMG equal to 60% of their original DMG. |
| Ultimate | Twilight Trill: Deals Lightning DMG equal to 48% of Kafka’s ATK to all enemies, with a 100% base chance for enemies hit to become Shocked and immediately take DMG from their current Shock state, equal to 80% of its original DMG. Shock lasts for 2 turns. While Shocked, enemies receive Lightning DOT equal to 116% of Kafka’s ATK at the beginning of each turn. |
| Talent | Gentle but Cruel: After an ally of Kafka’s uses Basic ATK on an enemy target, Kafka immediately launches 1 follow-up attack and deals Lightning DMG equal to 42% of her ATK to that target, with a 100% base chance to inflict Shock equivalent to that applied by her Ultimate to the attacked enemy target for 2 turns. This effect can only be triggered 1 time per turn. |
| Technique | Mercy Is Not Forgiveness: Immediately attacks all enemies within a set range. After entering battle, deals Lightning DMG equal to 50% of Kafka’s ATK to all enemies, with a 100% base chance to inflict Shock equivalent to that applied by her Ultimate on every enemy target for 2 turns. |
| Bonus Ability 1 | Torture: When the Ultimate is used, enemy targets will now receive DMG immediately from all currently applied DoT sources instead of just receiving DMG immediately from the currently applied Shock state. |
| Bonus Ability 2 | Plunder: If an enemy is defeated while Shocked, Kafka additionally regenerates 5 Energy. |
| Bonus Ability 3 | Thorns: The base chance for target enemies to get Shocked by the Ultimate, the Technique, or the Talent-triggered follow-up attack increases by 30%. |
When it comes to Trace priority, you want to level Kafka’s Traces in the following order: Skill > Ultimate > Talent. All of these help Kafka deal damage and inflict DoTs, which are the main source of her damage. When you have some spare Trace materials, you could level her Normal ATK, but it’s not a huge priority.
Kafka Eidolons
As one of the more popular five-star characters in Honkai Star Rail, Kafka’s Eidolons go a long way in pushing her into the realm of being truly broken. Granted, she’s already fairly close to that threshold even without her Eidolons.
- Da Capo – When Kafka’s Talent triggers a follow-up attack, there is a 100% base chance to increase the DoT received by the target by 30% for 2 turns.
- Fortississimo – While Kafka is on the field, DoT dealt by all allies increases by 25%.
- Capriccio – Increases the level of Kafka’s Skill by two, with a maximum upgrade Level of 15, and increases her Basic attack by one with a maximum upgrade Level of 10.
- Recitativo – When an enemy target takes damage from the Shock status inflicted by Kafka, Kafka additionally regenerates two Energy.
- Doloroso – Increases the level of Kafka’s Ultimate and Talent by two. Both have a maximum upgrade level of 15.
- Leggiero – The Shock inflicted on the enemy by Kafka’s Ultimate, Technique, or the Talent-triggered follow-up attack has its damage multiplied by 156& and extends the duration of Shock by one turn.
That’s everything you need to know when it comes to building Kafka as a truly strong DPS character in Honkai Star Rail. Want to know more about Honkai Star Rail Relics? We’ve got a guide for that.
