Unleash the power of Black Swan, the newest 5-star character in Honkai: Star Rail, with this comprehensive Black Swan build guide!
This Black Swan build guide will help you unlock her full potential by equipping her with the best Light Cones, Relics, Traces, Eidolons and Team Composition in Honkai: Star Rail.
Best Black Swan Build in Honkai: Star Rail
Black Swan is a 5-star Nihility Wind character who is best fitted as a Main DPS in a team. She is able to apply Damage over Time (DoT) to enemies, similar to Sampo, and is able to weaken the enemy. She applies stacks of Arcana over time, which increases the DoT damage received.
In this guide, we will explore the different Light Cones, Relics, Traces, and Eidolons which would enhance Black Swan’s performance. This would also help you in building the best team composition with her in the party.
Best Light Cones for Black Swan
Black Swan is a Nihility Wind DPS character, so it’s best to optimize her with the best damage she can deal. There are 5-star and 4-star Light Cones which we’ll be recommending:
Best 5-Star Light Cones
Reforged Remembrance
The best Light Cone for Black Swan would be the 5-Star “Reforged Remembrance,” which comes along with her warp. This Light Cone increases her Effect Hit Rate and would also stack Prophet. It should be noted that only 1 stack of Prophet can be granted per type of DoT. Each Prophet increases the ATK and DoT would ignore a percentage of the target’s DEF.
Solitary Healing
If the signature Light Cone isn’t available, Trailblazers may opt to use “Solitary Healing”. This increases Black Swan’s Break Effect. It also increases the DoT dealt whenever she uses her Ultimate which lasts for 2 turns. It would also regenerate Energy for Black Swan whenever an enemy suffers from her DoT damage.
Best 4-Star Light Cones
Eyes of the Prey
The best 4-Star Light Cone that Black Swan could use is “Eyes of the Prey”. This increases her Effect Hit Rate as well as her DoT.
Good Night and Sleep Well
Another 4-Star Light Cone option is “Good Night and Sleep Well” which increases the DMG dealt by Black Swan for every debuff the enemy has. This can stack up to 3 times. It is overall a great DMG booster.
Resolution Shines As Pearls of Sweat
The last 4-Star Light Cone that we will recommend is the “Resolution Shines As Pearls of Sweat”. It has a chance to Ensnare an enemy if they aren’t already. The Ensnared targets have their DEF decreased by a percentage in 1 turn.
Best Relics for Black Swan
The most optimal combination of relics and planar ornaments for Black Swan is the “Prisoner in Deep Confinement” 4 piece set partnered with the “Pan-Cosmic Commercial Enterprise” 2 piece set.
The “Prisoner in Deep Confinement” set increases Black Swan’s ATK by 12%. This also allows her to ignore 6% of the target’s DEF when dealing DMG for every DoT they are afflicted with. It should be noted that this only applies to a maximum of 3 DoTs. The “Pan-Cosmic Commercial Enterprise” set increases her Effect Hit Rate by 10%. It also increases her ATK.
An alternative to this is by using “Prisoner in Deep Confinement” 2 piece set and “Pioneer Diver of Dead Waters” 2 piece set. This would increase Black Swan’s ATK by 12% and also increases the DMG dealt to enemies with debuff by 12%.
Trailblazers may opt to use either the “Firmament Frontline: Glamoth” or the “Space Sealing Station” 2 piece planar ornaments. The “Firmament Frontline: Glamoth” will give Black Swan an ATK increase of 12%, and when her SPD is equal or higher than 135/160, she’ll deal 12%/18% more DMG. The “Space Sealing Station” also increases her ATK by 12%, and ATK increases by another 12% if her SPD reaches 120 or higher.
These are the ideal main stats:
| Relics | Main Stat |
| Body | ATK / Effect Hit Rate |
| Feet | SPD / ATK |
| Planar Sphere | Wind DMG Boost |
| Link Rope | ATK / Energy Regeneration Rate |
For Black Swan’s sub-stats, you should focus on getting Effect Hit Rate, then ATK%, SPD, and lastly HP%. This allows her to deal good damage as well as DoT damage.
Optimal Trace Levels for Black Swan
Trailblazers should have the Trace Level for Black Swan’s Talent, Ultimate, and Skill at Level 8. Meanwhile, her Basic ATK Trace Level should be at Level 6.
Best Eidolons for Black Swan
As for Black Swan’s Eidolons, given that Trailblazers are able to acquire them, are as follows:
E1 – A must have Eidolon for Black Swan, even more of a priority than her signature Light Cone. Enemies affected by DoT will have 25% Elemental RES reduced.
E2 – Defeating an Arcana-affected enemy has a chance of inflicting 6 Arcana stacks to adjacent enemies.
E6 – When Black Swan’s allies attack enemies, there’s a 65% Base Chance of inflicting Arcana. When Black Swan inflicts Arcana on an enemy, there is a 50% Fixed Chance of increasing Arcana stacks afflicted that time by 1.
Best Team Compositions for Black Swan
Black Swan is played as a DPS character, and it would be optimal to let her be the main damage dealer of the party. The majority of her attacks are AoE which is great in different combat circumstances.
Black Swan + Kafka DoT Team
| Character | Role |
| Kafka | DoT Applier |
| Ruan Mei / Silver Wolf | Support |
| Huohuo / Luocha / Fu Xuan | Sustain |
Black Swan + Casual DoT Team
| Character | Role |
| Sampo / Guinaifen / Luka | DoT Applier |
| Bronya / Asta / Tingyun | Support |
| Gepart / Bailu / Lynx / Natasha | Sustain |
These are currently the best teammates for Black Swan since the 2.0 update. She’ll definitely benefit from the additional DoT which her teammate would apply, which helps in stacking Black Swan’s Arcana. Sampo is one of the best alternatives if Trailblazers don’t have a Kafka. This is especially true when battling against enemies that are weak to Wind damage. As for going against enemies weak against Physical and Fire, Luka and Guinaifen are good in their respective areas.
There are a lot of choices for support and sustain characters, but it would be best to use Ruan Mei and Huohuo if you have them. Ruan Mei is ideal due to her team-wide buffs and break extensions. Huohuo is able to heal three characters at a time and also provides attack buffs. Of course, there are other honorable mentions on the list which you can trade in their places if you don’t have them.
Black Swan is a great addition to the team due to her DoT and overall damage. Choosing the best Light Cones and Relics would make her a force to be reckoned with. You should definitely consider her as one of your newest DPS character.