Relics in Honkai: Star Rail Explained

Himel Mahmud
By Himel Mahmud
6 Min Read
Credit: HoYoverse

Relics are really important in Honkai: Star Rail for building characters. Here is a guide on understanding how Relics work in Honkai: Star Rail.

Honkai: Star Rail is a role-playing gacha video game developed by miHoYo, published by miHoYo in mainland China and worldwide by Cognosphere. HoYoverse has featured some game mechanics from its popular titles, Genshin Impact and Honkai Impact 3rd, into Star Rail, which players will be already familiar with.

Read More: How Light Cones Work in Honkai: Star Rail?

In Star Rail, players are required to build their characters to make them strong in combat. One of the many aspects of building your characters in Star Rail is Relics. If you are already familiar with Genshin Impact’s artifact system, Relics are almost similar with a few extra things.

But if you are a new player in Honkai: Star Rail and looking for a guide on how relics work in the game, this guide is for you.

Here is a guide on how Relics work on characters in Honkai: Star Rail.

What are Relics in Honkai: Star Rail?

Relics are the other equipment in this game; they work similarly to armor and accessories in a conventional role-playing game. When your character equips relics, they will receive stat boosts, including HP to ATK to Speed.

Relics in Honkai: Star Rail | Credit: Hoyoverse
Relics in Honkai: Star Rail | Credit: Hoyoverse

Relics will provide your characters with the majority of their stat boosts. You can equip a maximum of six relics to any character and get additional bonuses for using multiple of the same set. Players can farm relics from the Cavern of Corrosion in the game.

Relic Types

Relics in Honkai: Star Rail are split into two categories: Cavern and Planar Ornament.
Cavern relics have a 2-piece and 4-piece effect. These relics are Head, Hands, Body, and Feet relics. Planar Ornament relics only have a 2-piece impact, which takes up the Planar Sphere and Link Rope slots.

Relic Main and Sub-Stats

Each relic has one main stat and up to 4 random sub-stats. Below, you will find each Relic type and their possible main and sub-stats.

Relic TypeMain StatsPossible Sub-Stats
HeadFlat HP (Fixed) 
Flat HP
Flat ATK
Flat DEF
HP%
ATK%
DEF%
Crit Rate%
Crit DMG%
Effect Hit Rate%
Effect RES%
Break Effect%
Speed
HandsFlat ATK (Fixed)
BodyHP%
ATK%
DEF%
Crit Rate%
Crit DMG%
Effect Hit Rate%
Outgoing Healing Boost%
FeetSpeed
HP%
DEF%
ATK%
Planar SpherePhysical DMG Boost
Fire DMG Boost
Wind DMG Boost
Lightning DMG Boost
Ice DMG Boost
Imaginary DMG Boost
Quantum DMG Boost
HP%
ATK%
DEF%
Link RopeBreak Effect
Energy Regeneration Rate
HP%
ATK%
DEF%
Main and Sub stats of relics

Read More: What is the Simulated Universe in Honkai: Star Rail?

Relic Rarity and Levels

The main stat bonus of a relic can also be increased by leveling them up, but the sub-stats are fixed once you acquire and enhance the relic. Relics can vary from two to five stars, which determines its maximum level. A relic of higher rarity will have higher stats at base and when upgraded.

Relics of different rarity
Relics of different rarity

Furthermore, the relic acquires a new random sub-stat if it has less than four sub-stats when it is leveled up. When enhanced, one of the sub-stat of the relic will be upgraded after leveling it up and receive more upgrades till it reaches the max level.

This table will show the max levels and rarity of Relics to help you understand.

RarityColorMax LevelBase Number of Sub-StatsNumber of Sub-Stats UnlocksTotal Number of Upgrades
★★Green6020
★★★Blue91-22-30-1
★★★★Purple122-31-22-3
★★★★★Gold153-40-14-5
Relics rarity and max levels

Relic Set Effects

Equipping a character with relics will provide a set effect to your character. If you equip multiple relics from the same set, it will give an additional bonus effect for the character. There are two types of set effect bonuses a character can get from relics:

Every types of relics on a character
Every type of relic on a character
  • Cavern Set Bonus Effects: Cavern relics will provide 2-piece and 4-piece bonus effects. These relics are only equipped on Head, Hands, Armor, and Boots.
  • Planetary Ornaments Sets – Planetary Ornaments will only provide a 2-piece set bonus effect once they are equipped on your character. They can be slotted on the Planar Sphere and Link Rope relics.

It should be mentioned that you can equip any relics of any type on any character and start farming for relics in Honkai: Star Rail as soon as you start playing the game. However, starting farming Relics after reaching Trailblazer Level 40 is recommended because it will unlock the Difficulty 3 stage, where you can get at least one Gold rarity relic on each run.

Read More: How to Unlock the Simulated Universe in Honkai: Star Rail?

By Himel Mahmud Guide Writer
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Himel Mahmud is a Staff Writer and Social Media Manager at GameRiv. A former FIFA Professional, Himel has been playing video games forever. He plays video games passionately, loves football and an avid music listener.