In Honkai: Star Rail, more and more damage dealers have their total damage scaled off maximum health instead of raw attack power. The two most popular of these HP-scaling characters are easily Blade and Arlan. While both deal high damage by consuming their own HP, their core mechanics work differently, which means the best relic choices for each aren’t identical. This guide breaks down the most practical, meta build strategies for both characters.
Core Damage Logic For HP-Scaling Characters
Both Blade and Arlan are self-sacrificial damage dealers whose damage is directly tied to their maximum HP. Their damage gets a full multiplier bonus from HP, which makes their build strategy totally different from traditional damage dealers that stack attack. You can’t just stack attack to get stronger; you need to prioritize balancing HP bonuses with damage stats first.
Still, there are key mechanical differences between the two. Blade gains damage bonuses by consuming his own HP, and his Ultimate damage is directly scaled to his maximum HP. Arlan, on the other hand, deals more damage the lower his current HP is, and stacks maximum HP to raise his overall damage ceiling. These differences mean the optimal build paths for each vary noticeably.
Recommended Relic Choices For Blade
Set Combinations
Blade’s current endgame best-in-slot build is a 2-piece + 2-piece combination: 2 pieces of Champion of Street Boxing (which adds a flat bonus to physical damage) paired with 2 pieces of Undying Sun of the Unconquered Stars (which adds a solid bonus to maximum HP). This combination balances damage output and HP stacking perfectly, matches Blade’s kit exactly, and gives the highest overall damage boost possible.
If you’re a new player still working on leveling Blade and need a temporary transitional set, you can use a 4-piece Musketeer of Wild Wheat set instead. This set is much easier to farm, and the high speed bonus it offers gives great value for new players. You can swap to the 2+2 endgame set later once you acquire better pieces.
Main Stat Priority
Blade’s main stat priority for each relic slot is broken down below: For the Body slot, go with either Crit Rate or Crit Damage, depending on what your current character stats need to hit a healthy balance. For Boots, speed is always the best choice. Higher speed lets Blade take more actions over the course of a fight and charges his Ultimate energy faster. For the Link Rope, energy regeneration rate is the top pick, as it lets Blade use his Ultimate much more often. For the Planar Sphere, you’ll want a physical damage bonus first. If you get a really high-quality maximum HP sphere with great substats, you can swap it in with almost no difference to overall damage.
Recommended Relic Choices For Arlan
Set Combinations
As a lightning-type HP-scaling damage dealer, Arlan’s endgame best-in-slot is also a 2+2 combination: 2 pieces of Hunter of Thundering Fury (which grants a lightning damage bonus) paired with 2 pieces of any maximum HP set. This combination balances damage output and HP stacking perfectly to hit the highest possible damage ceiling.
For transitional builds while you’re still farming endgame pieces, you can use a 4-piece Musketeer set to boost attack frequency, or a full 4-piece lightning damage set to boost consistent damage. Both options work great for early game when you’re low on build resources.
Main Stat Priority
Arlan’s main stat choices are very similar to Blade’s: For the Body slot, you’ll still want to prioritize Crit Rate or Crit Damage. For the Boots slot, speed is still the top pick, since it boosts action frequency and overall damage output. For the Planar Sphere, lightning damage bonus is always preferred. For the Link Rope, you can go with HP percentage if you’re running a single-target sustained damage team, or energy regeneration if you want to charge Arlan’s Ultimate faster. Just adjust this based on how your full team is built.
Common Build Mistakes To Avoid
No matter if you’re building Blade or Arlan, don’t fall into the trap of thinking HP-scaling characters only need to stack HP. Crit Rate and Crit Damage are still critical for boosting your overall damage output. The general stat priority for both characters looks like this: Crit Damage > Crit Rate > Maximum HP Percentage > Speed > Attack Percentage. If you pick substats following this order, you can’t go wrong.
Additionally, both of these characters are damage dealers that need protection from teammates. You don’t need to stack defense to improve survivability. Just stack enough HP, pair them with a shielder or healer, and they’ll be able to output damage consistently without having to sacrifice damage stats for survival.
That covers all the optimal relic choices for these two popular HP-scaling damage dealers, Blade and Arlan. New players don’t need to chase a perfect max-substat endgame build right off the bat. Use usable transitional pieces that match the right stats to get your character going, and slowly farm for better pieces to swap in over time.
