Honkai Star Rail’s Ruan Mei is the latest Harmony character to board the Astral Express. Boasting top-tier supportive buffs, Ruan Mei is one of the best characters in the game right now, especially for PS5 players who have a more limited roster right now. So, get grinding for Stellar Jade, as the HSR 1.6 banners are stacked with incredibly powerful and popular units that you’ll want to pick up if you want the best Honkai Star Rail team you can get.
Honkai Star Rail’s eclectic roster is always growing, though not every new addition is a worthwhile one if you’re focused on the meta in one of the best RPG games. Luckily, you won’t be wasting any precious Stellar Jade or Special Passes pulling for Ruan Mei, who’s headlining one of the best Honkai Star Rail banner schedule lineups so far, with PS5 players being particularly fortunate with a go at Blade for the first time and a free Dr. Ratio in HSR 1.6.
As a five-star Ice Harmony character, Ruan Mei has a lot of competition when it comes to being the best support unit; Bronya and Tingyun are powerhouses in the meta right now, with the latter even being a four-star character. However, Ruan Mei is here to prove that you can never have too many support characters. In fact, with a stacked list of buffs, Ruan Mei could just be the best yet.
Firstly, Ruan Mei’s skill increases the DMG bonus of allies by up to 32%, while also increasing their weakness break efficiency by a staggering 50%, both lasting three turns. So, not only does she provide a very welcome DPS boost but she does so without eating your skill points. It doesn’t end there though, as her talent can increase the damage buff based on her excess break effect stat which, with the optimal build, should be an additional 60-70%.
Next, her ultimate grants allies increased resistance penetration by 25% for two turns, further increasing the damage dealt by your whole team. That’s not all though, as allies who attack an enemy during this effect will apply rebloom, which is triggered when the enemy recovers to break them again for bonus damage. To put this in perspective, meta healer Luocha has an E6 passive that grants 20% increased resistance penetration, which was already deemed broken. Now, Ruan Mei brings an even bigger buff to the table through a simple-to-use ultimate ability.
As for her passive abilities, Ruan Mei can also buff the speed of allies by 10%, break effect by 20%, and grant herself ultimate energy at the start of her turn. In other words, Ruan Mei does it all.
While Ruan Mei is a great pickup for every player, HSR PS5 players will want to pay even more attention to this absurd unit. With the game having launched later on Sony’s console, PS5 players are yet to have access to meta characters like Luocha, and, so far, only one chance at other units like Blade and Silver Wolf, meaning the roster is a little slim right now on this platform. With fewer characters to choose from, and powerful abilities and buffs therefore unavailable to PlayStation players, Ruan Mei’s stellar set of buffs is a must-pull in the Honkai Star Rail 1.6 banners to fill in the blanks while gaining one of the best all-round characters yet. It helps that Ruan Mei’s banner is stellar in general, especially for latecomers on PS5 that are likely lacking in Eidolons for March 7th and Tingyun.
In terms of the best Honkai Star Rail Ruan Mei build, take a look at the setup below:
- Relics: Messenger Traversing Hackerspace (four-piece) or Thief of Shooting Meteor (four-piece)
- Ornament: Talia Kingdom of Beauty or Penacony Land of the Dreams
- Light Cone: Past Self in Mirror (premium), Memories of the Past (F2P)
- Team 1: Ruan Mei, Jingliu, Blade, and Luocha
- Team 2: Ruan Mei, Jingliu, Silver Wolf, Fu Xuan
No doubt Honkai Star Rail’s Ruan Mei will take a top spot in the HSR tier list with her already slotting into some of the best Honkai Star Rail team comps in endgame activities like Simulated Universe. If you’re looking to pick her up, check out all the currently active Honkai Star Rail codes you can use to get some free Stellar Jade. Thankfully, however, HoYoverse is currently running yet another free Special Pass log-in event, Gift of Odyssey, which rewards up to ten premium tickets that you could put towards Ruan Mei.