You better duck, because Honkai Star Rail’s Yanqing is cruising on in – surfing on the back of an ice blade? If that isn’t cool enough to get you hooked, this energetic, five-star character is bound to win you over with his optimistic, bright vibes and massive potential to deal heaps of single-target damage. So let’s hop aboard and surf the sword with him, as we take a look at the best HSR Yanqing build.
If you want to brush up on your knowledge of the Astral Express, check out our Honkai Star Rail tier list, Honkai Star Rail next banner, and Honkai Star Rail codes guides. We’ve also got a bunch of other builds just like this one, including our Honkai Star Rail’s March 7th, Honkai Star Rail’s Blade, and Honkai Star Rail’s Silver Wolf guides.
Here’s everything you need to know about Honkai Star Rail’s Yanqing.
What’s the best Honkai Star Rail Yanqing build?
Yanqing is a five-star character who wields the power of ice. He treads the path of The Hunt, meaning he excels at single-target damage and is brilliant in blitz battles. For comparison, other characters who align with The Hunt are Honkai Star Rail’s Dan Heng, Honkai Star Rail’s Seele, and Honkai Star Rail’s Sushang.
Yanqing’s damage scales from his attack stat so we recommend using equipment that buffs his attack, crit rate, and ice damage bonus. You can also consider his crit damage and effect hit bonus to increase the chance of freezing enemies.
What are the best light cones for Honkai Star Rail’s Yanqing?
Yanqing has his own, five-star light cone called Sleep Like the Dead. It’s tailored perfectly to his kit and, as such, is the best choice for his build. However, if you don’t manage to get Sleep Like the Dead, just be sure to equip him with a light cone that aligns with The Hunt path to enable its skills. We currently recommend In the Night or Only Silence Remains as strong alternatives.
| Light cone | Effect | How to obtain |
| Sleep Like the Dead | Increases Yanqing’s crit damage by 32%. When his basic attack or skill does not result in a crit hit, his crit rate increases by 40% for one turn. This effect can only trigger once every three turns | Gacha |
| In the Night | Increases Yanqing’s crit rate by 12%. If his speed is above 100, every additional 15 speed increases his basic attack damage and skill damage by 8%, and increases his ultimate crit damage by 8%. This effect can stack up to six times | Gacha |
| Only Silence remains | Increases Yanqing’s attack. If there are two or fewer enemies on the field, also increases his crit rate | Gacha |
What are the best relics for Honkai Star Rail’s Yanqing?
As we mentioned before, the best build for Yanqing involves buffing his attack, crit rate, and ice damage bonus. Hunter of Glacial Forest is great for this and is suited to a lot of ice-wielding characters, but we’ve included some other options too that might be easier to get.
As a powerful DPS unit, Yanqing’s best planar ornament set is Space Sealing Station. This further buffs his attack, especially if you have other characters or equipment that buff his speed.
| Relic | Effect | How to obtain |
| Hunter of Glacial Forest | Two equipped: increases ice damage by 10% Four equipped: after Yanqing unleashes his ultimate, his crit damage increases by 25% for two turns |
Cavern of Corrosion: Path of Gelid Wind in Herta Space Station’s Storage Zone |
| Musketeer of Wild Wheat | Two equipped: increases attack by 10% Four equipped: increases Yanqing’s speed by 6% and his basic attack damage by 10% |
Cavern of Corrosion: Path of Drifting in Jarilo-VI’s Corridor of Fading Echoes |
Planar ornaments
| Relics | Effect | How to obtain |
| Space Sealing Station | Two equipped: increases Yanqing’s attack by 12%. When his speed reaches 120 or higher, his attack increases by another 12% | Immersion Reward devices in World 3 of the Simulated Universe |
Relic stat recommendations
Main stats:
- Attack
- Crit rate
Sub-stats:
- Ice damage bonus
- Crit damage
- HP
What are Honkai Star Rail Yanqing’s abilities?
Here are all of Yanqing’s attacks and passive skills.
Yanqing’s kit revolves around dealing ice damage to single targets and landing critical hits when possible to trigger follow-up attacks and freeze effects. He can deal a lot of single-target damage if you invest enough into him, especially if you pair him up with a powerful Harmony character such as Honkai Star Rail’s Bronya or Honkai Star Rail’s Tinyun to buff him.
Active skills:
| Skill | Effect |
| Basic attack: Frost Thorn | Deal ice damage equal to 50% of Yanqing’s attack to a single enemy |
| Skill: Darting Ironthorn | Deal ice damage equal to 110% of Yanqing’s attack to one enemy and activate Soulsteel Sync for one turn |
| Ultimate: Amidst the Raining Bliss | Increases Yanqing’s critical rate by 60%. Also increases his critical damage by an extra 30% for one turn when Soulsteel Sync is active before dealing ice damage equal to 210% of his attack |
Talent:
| Skill | Effect |
| One With the Sword | Yanqing is less likely to be targeted when Soulsteel Sync is active. This move increases his critical hit rate and critical damage by 15% each. After Yanqing attacks an enemy, he has a 50% chance to perform a follow-up that deals ice damage equal to 25% of his attack, this has a 65% chance to freeze an enemy for one turn. Frozen targets take damage over time equal to 25% of Yanqing’s attack |
Technique:
| Technique | Effect |
| The One True Sword | After using his technique, at the beginning of the next battle Yanqing deals 30% more damage for two turns to targets whose current HP is equal to or higher than 50% |
Traces:
| Trace | Effect |
| Icing on the Kick | When Yanqing attacks, deals additional ice damage equal to 30% of his attack to targets with ice weakness |
| Frost Favors the Brave | When Soulsteel Sync is active, Yanqing’s effect resistance increases by 20% |
| Gentle Blade | When Yanqing triggers a critical hit, increases his speed by 10% for two turns |
What are Honkai Star Rail Yanqing’s eidolons?
Similar to Genshin Impact’s constellations, eidolons are special buffs that you can unlock when you acquire more than one copy of a character from a warp.
| Eidolon | Description |
| Svelte Saber | Deals additional ice damage equal to 60% of Yanqing’s attack when hitting a frozen enemy |
| Supine Serenade | Increases energy regeneration rate by 10% when Soulsteel Sync is active |
| Sword Savant | Increases skill level by two up to a maximum of level 15. Also increases basic attack level by one up to a maximum of level ten |
| Searing Sting | When Yanqing’s HP is above 80% of his max HP, his ice resistance penetration increases by 12% |
| Surging Strife | Increases ultimate level by two up to a maximum of level 15. Also increases talent level by two up to a maximum of level 15 |
| Swift Swoop | If you defeat an enemy while Yanqing is receiving a buff from his ultimate, the duration of the buff increases by one turn |
What are Honkai Star Rail Yanqing’s ascension materials?
You can use character EXP materials to get Yanqing all the way up to level 80, but you need to provide a set of specific materials at certain level intervals to increase his ascension ranks.
You can get thief’s instinct and its higher level counterparts (usurper’s scheme, and conqueror’s will) by defeating voidranger enemies on Herta Space Station, from Honkai Star Rail Simulated Universe enemies, from assignment rewards, or from the Embers Exchange store. The gelid chitin are drops from the Honkai Star Rail Stagnant Shadow in Xianzhou: The Luofu’s Cloudford.
| Required level | Credits | Materials |
| 20 | 4k | Five thief’s instinct |
| 30 | 8k | Ten thief’s instinct |
| 40 | 16k | Three gelid chitin and six usurper’s scheme |
| 50 | 40k | Seven gelid chitin and nine usurper’s scheme |
| 60 | 80k | 20 gelid chitin and six conqueror’s will |
| 70 | 160k | 35 gelid chitin and nine conqueror’s will |
Who is Honkai Star Rail’s Yanqing?
Making his first appearances on the Honkai Star Rail website and in the final beta trailer during January 2023, Yanqing is a playable character that joined the roster of playable Honkai Star Rail characters in the final beta. He’s affiliated with Xianzhou Luofu, one of the six Flagships of the Xianzhou Alliance founded by the Aeon Lan.
Yanqing’s English voice actor is Amber May, who you may recognize as the voice of Barbie Roberts from Barbie Big City, Big Dreams, or from one of her multiple roles in Genshin, including Sansa, Ms Yu, Hertha, and, of course, Genshin Impact’s Dehya.
On the other hand, Yanqing’s Japanese voice actor is Marna Inoue, who voiced Elysia in Honkai Impact 3rd, the female protagonist in Persona 3 Portable, White Lily Cookie in Cookie Run: Kingdom, and many more amazing characters.
That’s everything you need to know about Honkai Star Rail’s Yanqing. If you’re looking for more Hoyoverse content, check out our Genshin Impact tier list and Genshin Impact codes. We also have build guides like this one for Genshin Impact’s Kaeya, Genshin Impact’s Keqing, and Genshin Impact’s Zhongli.
