What is the best Honkai Star Rail Kafka build? Honkai Star Rail’s Kafka is an infamous Stellaron Hunter following the Nihility Path and is one of the best characters in the game. This expert fighter is a great addition to many teams, though you will need to have the best Honkai Star Rail Kafka build to make full use of this power. Look no further because this guide will cover the Relics, Light cones, abilities, and more that create the best Kafka build right now.
The stylish and deadly Kafka is just one of characters you can meet in Honkai Star Rail, though you do meet her early on in the adventure. Nevertheless, we’ve got a guide covering all the other Honkai Star Rail characters you can add to your team and a Honkai Star Rail tier list of best characters to see which ones are worth getting next. It’s also worth reading up on the Honkai Star Rail Paths and Honkai Star Rail elements so you understand how each character can fit into a team.
What is the best Honkai Star Rail Kafka build?
The best Honkai Star Rail Kafka build is:
- Relics – Band of Sizzling Thunder (4pc), Space Sealing Station (2pc)
- Light Cone – Patience Is All You Need
- Stats – ATK%, Lightning DMG%, SPD
- Role – Damage dealer and offensive debuffer
- Team – Kafka, Bailu, Sampo, Luka
As a Nihility Path character, Kafka excels debuffing the enemy, though she stands out amongst the other Nihility characters thanks to her great damage output. Kafka is one of the most unique characters so far, completely changing the damage-over-time (DoT) meta with her ability to trigger additional damage procs.
Below you’ll find everything you need to know about the Relic set-piece bonuses, Light Cone alternatives, stat priority and more to make the best Honkai Star Rail builds for Kafka.
Which Relics should I use for Kafka in Honkai Star Rail?
The best Honkai Star Rail Kafka build will make use of two different sets to increase overall damage, though there are several strong alternatives.
| Relic Set | Effect |
| Band of Sizzling Thunder |
Two-piece: Increases Lightning DMG by 10%. Four-piece: When the wearer uses their skill, increase the wearer’s ATK by 25% for one turn. |
| Space Sealing Station | Two-piece: Increases the wearer’s ATK by 12%. When the wearer’s SPD reaches 120 or more, the wearer’s ATK increases by an additional 12%. |
Equipping Kafka with a full four-piece set of Band of Sizzling Thunder and a two-piece set of Space Sealing Station will have the highest overall impact on damage output.
Band of Sizzling Thunder will massively amplify her damage thanks to a flat 10% increase in Lightning DMG and a 25% ATK boost for one turn after using a skill. This will come in very handy when you’re ready to pile on the damage on your enemy.
Continuing this trend, Space Sealing Station will also increase Kafka’s damage output. Since DoT effects scale on ATK, this Planar Ornament set has a huge impact on her overall damage, particularly if you’ve got plenty of SPD substats to reach the 120 bonus requirement.
With that said, there are a few other sets you can use if you’d rather. Firstly, you could swap Space Sealing Station for Fleet of the Ageless, or four-piece Band of Sizzling Thunder for two pieces of Musketeer of Wild Wheat. This is great if you’re lacking solid stats on your items, though they don’t quite reach the heights of the recommended Relics for Kafka.
Which Light Cone should I use for Kafka in Honkai Star Rail?
Kafka’s signature Light Cone, Patience Is All You Need, is best-in-slot Light Cone for the best Honkai Star Rail Kafka build. Keep in mind though, there are plenty of alternatives if you’re free-to-play or don’t own her signature Light Cone.
| Light Cone | Effect |
| Patience Is All You Need (Best) | The wearer deals 16% more damage to enemies inflicted with damage-over-time effects. For every attack, increases the wearer’s SPD by 4%, up to five times. Meanwhile, enemies receiving attacks take 20% more damage-over-time for one turn. |
| In the Name of the World (Alt) | Increases the wearer’s damage against debuffed enemies by 20%. When the wearer uses their skill, the Effect Hit Rate for this attack increases by 20% and ATK increases by 20%. |
| Fermata (Alt) | Increases the Break Effect dealt by the wearer by 16%, and increases their DMG to enemies afflicted with Shock or Wind Shear by 16%. This also applies to DoT. |
Patience Is All You Need is tailor-made for Kafka, centring around damage-over-time (DoT) effects. This will cause Kafka to deal even more damage with her Shock DoT and attacks to enemies she’s Shocked, which builds upon her core mechanic. However, attacking opponents affected by a DoT will also increase her SPD by up to 20% at maximum stacks. With this, the best Kafka build has the potential for an onslaught of Lightning damage in DoTs and empowered attacks.
Another five-star alternative is In the Name of the World. This will substantially increase Kafka’s damage to debuffed enemies, alongside increasing Effect Hit Rate and ATK when using her skill. While this will be outmatched by Kafka’s five-star signature Light Cone, it is a powerful alternative.
In terms of more accessible Light Cones, there are also four-star and three-star alternatives for the best Kafka build in Honkai Star Rail. Eyes of the Prey is a four-star alternative that boosts Effect Hit Rate and DoT damage heavily, effectively empowering the core mechanics of Kafka’s abilities and build. Similarly, Void is a three-star Light Cone that will improve Kafka’s Effect Hit Rate for the first three turns of battle, letting her Shock enemies more consistently to get the ball rolling at the start of battle, though there are much better options.
What do Kafka’s attacks and abilities do in Honkai Star Rail?
| Ability | Effect |
| Midnight Tumult (Basic) | Deals Lightning DMG equal to 50% of Kafka’s ATK to a single enemy. |
| Caressing Moonlight (Skill) | Deals Lightning DMG equal to 70% of Kafka’s ATK to a single enemy and Lightning DMG equal to 25% of Kafka’s ATK to any adjacent enemies. If the main target enemy is currently receiving a damage-over-time, all damage-over-time effects on that enemy will immediately ally damage equal to 100% of their damage multiplier. |
| Twilight Trill (Ultimate) |
Deals Lightning DMG equal to 36% of Kafka’s ATK to all enemies, with a 100% base chance for enemies hit to become Shocked and immediately take damage equal to 80% of the original damage received. Shock lasts for three turns. When Shocked, enemies receive a Lightning damage-over-time equal to 60% of Kafka’s ATK at the beginning of each turn. |
| Gentle but Cruel (Talent) | After an ally uses a basic attack on a Shocked enemy, Kafka immediately deals Lightning DMG equal to 75% of her ATK to that enemy. This effect can only be triggered once per turn. |
| Mercy is Not Forgiveness (Technique) | Immediately attacks the enemy. After entering battle, deals Lightning DMG equal to 50% of Kafka’s ATK to a random enemy. In addition, all enemies have 100% base chance to become Shocked, lasting for three turns. |
| Thorn (Trace Ascension) | When Kafka uses her basic attack on a Shocked enemy, the Shocked state immediately deals damage equal to 40% of the original damage received. |
| Plunder (Trace Ascension) | If an enemy is defeated while Shocked, Kafka additionally regenerates 10 Energy. |
| Fear (Trace Ascension) | Shocked enemies deal 20% less damage to Kafka. |
Kafka’s abilities are designed around dealing damage-over-time and the Shocked effect to deal increased damage and debuff the enemy. The goal is to apply Shocked to the enemies, then condense the damage-over-time effect into a devastating single instance of damage using her skill or basic attack. She excels against groups of enemies and in dealing consistent damage, all while improving her self-sustain through regenerating Energy when defeating Shocked enemies and causing them to deal less damage to her.
Though it’s hard to beat the AoE damage potential of Honkai Star Rail Jing Yuan, Kafka is a very strong unit that gets added value over the competition due to the debuffing nature of the Nihility Path. Overall, Kafka is a great main DPS in several team compositions.
What are Kafka’s Eidolons in Honkai Star Rail?
| Eidolon | Effect |
| Recitativo | When Kafka is attacked, there is a 100% base chance of inflicting Shock on the attacker. This deals 60% of Kafka’s ATK as a Lightning damage-over-time at the beginning of each turn. |
| Leggiero | Kafka’s talent can trigger twice each turn. |
| Fantasia | Skill level +2, up to a maximum of level 15. Basic attack level +1, up to a maximum of level 10. |
| Da Capo | After Kafka uses her ultimate, instead of enemies immediately receiving damage from the Shock state, enemies will now immediately receive damage from all currently applied damage-over-time sources. |
| Doloroso | Ultimate level +2, up to a maximum of level 15. Talent level +2, up to a maximum of level 15. |
| Fortississimo | When Kafka’s talent is triggered for the first time in battle, the damage deal increases by 120% and enemies immediately receive damage from Shock equal to 100% of the original damage-over-time damage multiplier. |
Eidolons are the equivalent of Constellations from Genshin Impact, acting as permanent buffs for characters after each additional copy of the character you receive.
Kafka’s Eidolons will enhance the core mechanics of her kit, largely the Shock and DoT effects. Her first Eidolon is a great initial upgrade, causing her to Shock opponents who attack her. This will consistently apply the effect and therefore give you the opportunity to follow up with an empowered attack on the effected foe. Likewise, her second Eidolon gives her talent two uses per turn, resulting in Kafka dealing significantly more damage in follow-up attacks when an ally uses a basic attack on a Shocked enemy. From here, the upgrades are more marginal or situational, particularly her sixth and final Eidolon.
While no Eidolon is ever necessary, Kafka’s first two Eidolons are substantial upgrades to her kit, letting her Shock more consistently and as a result let her and her allies deal more damage. This pairs well with her passive abilities, like regenerating Energy when defeating Shocked opponents.
How do I get Kafka in Honkai Star Rail?
It’s currently unknown how to get Kafka in Honkai Star Rail, though it’s likely they will be available in a limited Character Event banner in the future.
Being a treasured five-star character, Kafka isn’t always easy to come by. They will no doubt take you a significant number of Warps to get, unless luck is on your side. While it’s yet to be confirmed, it’s highly likely that Blade will have her own limited Character Event Warp banner. Therefore, you should be able to narrow down your search a little better. Read up on the Honkai Star Rail pity system so you have an idea of how many Warps it could take you to get this shockingly good damage dealer.
Who is Honkai Star Rail’s Kafka?
Kafka is a five-star Lightning offensive debuffer belonging to the Nihility Path who will serve as the main DPS character in a team.
Though she’s a mysterious and cryptic character, we know that Kafka is a renowned Stellaron Hunter wanted by the Interastral Peace Corporation. With how little they know about her besides that she likes collecting coats, it’s unlikely they’re going to catch Kafka any time soon. Nevertheless, Kafka is one of Destiny’s Slave Elio’s most trusted members and works to achieve Elio’s envisioned future.
That’s everything you need to know about the best Honkai Star Rail Kafka build, including what Relics and Light Cones to use, her abilities, Eidolons, and more. Once you’ve built this shockingly good Lighting offensive debuffer and put them in the Honkai Star Rail best team comps, take on the Honkai Star Rail Forgotten Hall endgame activity to see how far you get. Good luck, Trailblazer.