Star Rail – Level list, how to get and upgrade

Light cones are special items that grant heroes Honkai: Star Rail with additional stats and passive effects that can affect one character as well as the entire team. In some ways, Light Cones resemble Genshin Impact’s weapons, enhancing the character’s stats and affecting playstyle. In this guide, we’ll tell you where to find them, how to upgrade, and which cones are best suited for a particular character.

Light cones are a device that increases a character’s stats and also gives them a special passive effect that increases one or more stats.

The passive effect is only activated if the character’s path is the same as the light cone’s path. Otherwise, the game writes the following message:

You can find out what the character’s path is by the icon and the inscription in the top left corner of the loadout screen. Match this icon with the icon in the corner of the light cone. Matching cone icons are also highlighted in green.

Also, many light cones with a rarity of four stars and above usually show the player which character they are best suited to by their depiction, by depicting him in the artwork.

Each cone of light has its own rarity – from three to five stars. The more stars, the stronger the passive effect and increase in stats for the character.

Light cones can be obtained from many different activities:

Some light cones that the player receives in the early stages of the storyline. The main source of these items are natural banners. Most of the 3-star cones will go to your inventory from there. In addition to them, “weapons” for the characters can be found in the places described below.

Pom Pom store – in the Unquenchable Starlight section.

Harta store in exchange for Hertha bonds. They can be obtained by passing through the virtual universe.

Passage of light cones in exchange for Radiant Glimpse. This resource is obtained from the Hall of Oblivion.

Battle pass – To purchase an enhanced version of the Battle Pass, you can choose one of the Light Cones.

Weekly bosses – like a drop from Echoes of War.

As a reward for completing the levels of the Forgotten Hall, you will receive a special currency – shining light. It can be spent on rare four-star light cones:

Of course, the order primarily depends on what you got in Jumps – focus on existing cones that can be strengthened and knock out heroes. But the following Light Cones are the most versatile:

There are two ways to improve light cones – by leveling and by overlapping.

In the first case, you increase the stat bonus that the item gives – the amount of HP, attack power and defense. You can raise the level using different types of ether and by splitting other light cones, even already pumped ones. This is the amount of experience you get for using certain items:

Different types of Aether can be obtained from the Sepals, Open World Gift Shops, and the Pom Pom Shop. It is often found in quest rewards and in the “Briefing” section of the Interastral World Guide, and is also found in Bounties.

The amount of experience you get by splitting an already upgraded light cone depends on the level and rarity type.

Tip: To avoid accidentally splitting the desired cone of light, select the appropriate item and click the lock icon to the right of the level.

As in another studio project, weapons cannot be upgraded without restrictions. Every ten levels, starting at level 20, you must raise a light cone to continue leveling up. Ascension itself also significantly increases the item’s stats.

Ascension of an item requires special materials and a certain level of mastery. For example, the first Ascension requires Mastery (account) level 15, so without uniform leveling of weapons, character and account, it is not possible to create a strong team. You can click on the required materials to see where to get them.

Another way to increase the effectiveness of an item is “Overlay”. If you have multiple duplicates of the Light Cone, you can “merge” these items in a separate tab, improving passive ability.

You can also connect already “merged” cones by making one level 4 cone from two level 2 cones. In this case, the game will first warn you that you are going to use an already improved cone.

This feature is not available if the final fusion level is higher than the maximum level of five. Therefore, you cannot upgrade a light cone with a 4th overlay level with a cone with a 2nd overlay level.

Over time, from twists and turns, and while exploring the world, you will collect a large number of three-star cones. In order not to pollute the inventory, you can use the parse function by clicking on the corresponding button in the inventory.

Light cones disassemble must meet several requirements: it must be a level 1 and 3 rarity, must not be equipped or locked, and must not have overlays. As a result, you receive Discharged Aether, which gives 500 experience points – the same as a disassembled weapon.

Of course, almost all Light Cones, with good pumping, will make the squad stronger. But some, due to passive abilities, will be more useful or suitable in more cases. Below we’ve listed the best skittles in each of the Paths, but we still recommend looking at each character’s build and playstyle.

Characters of the Path of Resolution combine a medium level of defense and high damage, and are also capable of dealing damage to both single and multiple opponents. They care about total damage percentage and attack power, as well as effects that affect HP. The following light cones work best for them:

The characters of the Path of Harmony are aimed at increasing allies’ attributes: energy recovery, attack power increase, and speed increase. The best of the cones for this path can both give extra bonuses to allies and create sub-damagers out of buffers, dealing decent damage to these characters. Here are the best light cones for this purpose:

The path of abundance is chosen by the heroes engaged in the treatment of the squad. It is important that they have a high HP value, because the healing power depends on it in most cases. But at the expense of effective healing, depending on the build, these characters can also restore energy or increase the team’s speed. The best light cones in this direction:

Characters in The Path of Nothingness are focused on weakening opponents. They freeze, reduce the defense, speed and other parameters of enemies. In this category it is especially important to look for a Light Cone for a specific style and character, but in general the following can be considered most effective:

Path of the Hunt reflects characters who deal massive damage to a single target. For them, critical chance and critical damage are especially important. The following cones help to improve these parameters:

The role of the characters on the Way of Preservation is protection. Shielding, increased protection parameter, instant reduction of incoming damage. The following light cones help them to perform their task effectively:

Characters in the Path of Erudite focus on attacking multiple targets. They are not that strong in boss fights, especially when their light cones are activated due to a large number of opponents. But they are still formidable heroes, able to destroy half of weak enemies with one attack. The following light cones complement their style of play: