Best Archer Honkai Star Rail build: Relics, Light Cones & team comp

Published: Jul 07, 2025, 20:12

HoYo

Archer is a free 5-star Quantum Hunt DPS unit debuting in Honkai Star Rail’s Fate crossover event on July 11, 2025, along with Saber.

He’s not here to take turns; he’s here to take them over. Archer burns through Skill Points to front-load massive single-target damage, chaining up to five Skills in a single action if properly supported.

He’s best paired with SP-positive supports and off-turn Ultimates that let him spam his way to victory. So, if you’re building Archer in Honkai Star Rail, here’s everything you need to know about his best Light Cones, Relics, stats, and team comps.

Archer build overview

Light Cone	Relic Set	Ornament Set	Main Stats	Team Comp
The Hell Where Ideals Burn	Genius of Brilliant Stars	Rutilant Arena	Body: Crit Rate / Crit DMG Feet: SPD Orb: Quantum DMG Rope: ATK%	Archer, Sparkle, Cypher, Aventurine

Best Light Cones for Archer

The Hell Where Ideals Burn

This Light Cone increases the Crit Rate by 16% and grants a massive ATK boost if your team’s SP cap is 6 or more. Using Skills stacks up to +40% more ATK. It’s tailor-made for Archer’s high-SP burst style.

F2P & Alt options

Cruising in the Stellar Sea: Top F2P option. Offers high Crit Rate uptime and ATK boost on kill.
In the Night: Scales with SPD, giving Skill and Ultimate more punch.
Sleep Like the Dead: Tons of Crit DMG with a fallback Crit Rate boost if you whiff.
See You at the End: Budget-friendly boost to Skill and follow-up damage.

Best Relic and Ornament Sets

Relics

Genius of Brilliant Stars: +10% Quantum DMG (2pc) and +20% DEF Ignore (4pc) if the enemy has Quantum Weakness. BiS for most Archer teams.
Alternative: Scholar Lost in Erudition: +8% Crit Rate and big Skill/Ultimate buffs. Easier to farm and performs well.

Ornaments

Rutilant Arena: +8% Crit Rate and +20% Skill/Basic DMG if Crit Rate is 70%+. Archer thrives with this.
Space Sealing Station: +24% ATK if SPD is 120+. Easy to activate.
Inert Salsotto: Boosts Ultimate and follow-up damage. Viable if you lean into Charges.
Celestial Differentiator: Good for one-shot builds. Less value in long fights.

Archer relic stats

Body: Crit Rate or Crit DMG depending on your balance
Feet: SPD (aim for 120–134)
Orb: Quantum DMG or ATK%, depending on substats
Rope: ATK%, unless Energy Regen is required

Priority substats

Speed (for timing and tuning)
Crit Rate (hit 70%+ for Rutilant Arena)
Crit DMG
ATK%

Best team comp for Archer

Archer (DPS)
Sparkle (SP cap increase / Crit Rate support)
Cypher (True DMG, debuffs, minimal SP use)
Aventurine (Sustain + Crit DMG support)

Archer thrives in setups that feed him SP and let him go all in on one big turn. Sparkle enables extended spam by raising the SP cap and fueling the Crit Rate. Cypher shreds defenses without burning SP. Aventurine buffs Crit DMG and keeps the team alive.

Archer Abilities

Basic Attack

ABILITY	DESCRIPTION
Kanshou and Bakuya	Deals Quantum DMG equal to 50% of Archer’s ATK to one designated enemy.

Skill

ABILITY	DESCRIPTION
Caladbolg II: Fake Spiral Sword	Enters the “Circuit Connection” state. Deals Quantum DMG equal to 180% of Archer’s ATK to one designated enemy. After using Skill in the “Circuit Connection” state, the current turn does not end, and the DMG dealt by Archer’s Skill increases by 60%. This effect can stack up to 2 times, lasting until he exits the state. After actively using Skill 5 times or when Skill Points are insufficient to continue, exits the state. Defeating all enemies in a wave also ends the state.

ABILITY

DESCRIPTION

Caladbolg II: Fake Spiral Sword

Enters the “Circuit Connection” state. Deals Quantum DMG equal to 180% of Archer’s ATK to one designated enemy. After using Skill in the “Circuit Connection” state, the current turn does not end, and the DMG dealt by Archer’s Skill increases by 60%. This effect can stack up to 2 times, lasting until he exits the state. After actively using Skill 5 times or when Skill Points are insufficient to continue, exits the state. Defeating all enemies in a wave also ends the state.

Ultimate

ABILITY	DESCRIPTION
Unlimited Blade Works	Deals Quantum DMG equal to 600% of Archer’s ATK to one designated enemy and gains 2 Charges, up to 4 total.

Talent

ABILITY	DESCRIPTION
Mind’s Eye	After teammates attack, Archer consumes 1 Charge to launch a follow-up that deals Quantum DMG equal to 100% of ATK and restores 1 SP. If the target dies before the follow-up, it redirects to a random enemy.

Technique

ABILITY	DESCRIPTION
Clairvoyance	Immediately attacks all enemies before combat. Deals Quantum DMG equal to 200% of Archer’s ATK and gains 1 Charge.

Archer Eidolons

LEVEL	EIDOLON	DESCRIPTION
E1	The Unreached Dream	After using Skill 3 times in one turn, recovers 2 Skill Points for allies.
E2	The Unfulfilled Happiness	Using Ultimate reduces enemy Quantum RES by 20% and applies Quantum Weakness for 2 turns.
E3	The Untamed Will	Skill Lv. +2 (max Lv. 15), Basic ATK Lv. +1 (max Lv. 10).
E4	The Unsung Life	Increases Ultimate DMG by 150%.
E5	The Nameless Watch	Ultimate Lv. +2 (max Lv. 15), Talent Lv. +2 (max Lv. 15).
E6	The Endless Pilgrimage	At turn start, recovers 1 Skill Point for allies. Increases Skill DMG stacking cap by 1 and makes Skill DMG ignore 20% DEF.

Archer trailer

In June 2025, HoYoverse released the official trailer for Archer on their YouTube channel. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the Honkai Star Rail channel for a preview of his animations and gameplay.

If you want to learn about the game, check out our guides for codes, Twitch drops, and voice actors.