As Honkai: Star Rail continues to roll out new limited characters, many players have started wondering if the hugely popular day-one characters Seele and Jing Yuan have already fallen behind the meta and gotten power crept early. As two of the most high-profile limited 5-star characters that launched with the game, how do these two fan favorites hold up in the current meta? This analysis breaks down Seele and Jing Yuan’s actual power levels and current team roles to answer the question everyone’s asking.
Seele: Quantum Speed Core Still Remains Meta-Relevant
Recap of Seele’s Core Role
Seele is a Hunt path damage dealer with the Quantum element, and her entire core kit is built around gaining an extra action after breaking an enemy’s toughness bar. She specializes in high-speed single-target burst damage and quick consecutive wave clear, with a flexible kit and straightforward burst output that has made her the core anchor of all Quantum teams since the game launched.
Has Seele fallen out of the current meta?
The short answer is absolutely not. Seele’s biggest advantage comes from the incredibly smooth combat flow her kit creates. As long as you are fighting enemies that have a Quantum weakness, her back-to-back attack combo still feels far more satisfying and effective than most newer damage dealers. Even when fighting enemies that do not have a Quantum weakness, Seele’s base damage multipliers and high mobility still keep her firmly in the top tier of damage dealers in the current game.
Of course, Seele is not without her flaws. As a Hunt character, she is inherently built for single-target fights, so her area-of-effect damage output is never going to be outstanding. If you already have another fully built Quantum single-target damage dealer, Seele’s priority for new investment will not be as high as it was at launch. But that does not make her a useless bench warmer — pair her with the right teammates, and she can still clear all high-difficulty content like Memory of Chaos and Apocalyptic Shadow with ease.
Jing Yuan: Lightning AoE Damage King Still Has Not Been Dethroned
Recap of Jing Yuan’s Core Role
Jing Yuan is an Erudite path damage dealer with the Lightning element, and his main source of damage comes from his summoned companion, the Lightning Lord. He is built for high-multiplier area-of-effect damage, and once he is fully built and invested in, he also puts out solid single-target burst damage. His kit relies on delayed burst damage, and he needs teammates to supply energy regeneration and damage buffs to reach his maximum damage potential.
Has Jing Yuan fallen out of the current meta?
A lot of players claim Jing Yuan gets easily countered by newer gameplay mechanics, and that his Lightning Lord often misses out on critical timed damage buffs, leading them to write him off as obsolete. But this take is simply incorrect. As new support characters keep getting added to the game, full-team buffer supports like Ruan Mei have actually fixed the biggest damage gaps in Jing Yuan’s kit. Today, a fully built Jing Yuan still ranks among the very best area-of-effect damage dealers in the entire game.
Jing Yuan’s original flaws still exist, of course. His kit is not as flexible as newer options, so he is less smooth to play in fights that require quick target swaps, and his damage output against single-target bosses is not as efficient as purpose-built single-target damage dealers. But any time you are facing multiple enemies spawning at once, Jing Yuan’s unrivaled damage pressure still cannot be matched by newer characters — he is nowhere close to being pushed out of the meta.
Conclusion: These Classic Top-Tier Characters Are Still Worth Building
Overall, neither Seele nor Jing Yuan has been pushed out of the meta by recent game updates. As 5-star characters that launched with the game, both have incredibly well-designed, complete kits that hold up extremely well even today. New characters only add more options for different team roles and playstyles — they have not outright power crept these two original top-tier units.
If you are a new player and one of these two characters comes up for a rerun banner, and you are missing a damage dealer of their respective element, you can absolutely pull for them without any regret. If you are a veteran player who already has them fully built, you do not need to second-guess keeping them as the core of your main active teams.
