The best Honkai Star Rail Tingyun build, Relics, and Light Cone

The best Honkai: Star Rail Tingyun build gives your party a formidable supporter who harries foes and keeps energy topped up.

Tingyun is one of the best support characters – we even put her in the S class – of our Star Rail tier list – who shines even without an optimized build.

She’s also not a free character, so your chances of recruiting Tingyun depend on which banner is running at the time.

Honkai Star Rail Tingyun build

What is the best Honkai Star Rail Tingyun build?

Tingyun buffs your party based on her attack and keeps everyone’s energy topped up. Increasing her own attack should be your first priority, followed by raising her own energy recharge or speed to help make the most of her ultimate.

Best Tingyun Light Cone – But the Battle Isn’t Over

But the Battle Isn’t Over is practically designed for Tingyun. Its base effect increases the user’s energy recharge by an amount that goes up when you ascend the Light Cone, and it replenishes one skill point when the equipping character uses their ultimate on an ally. Its second skill provides a strong attack buff to an ally when the equipping character uses their skill on that party member.

Tingyun’s skill already raises an ally’s attack anyway, so this Light Cone is an excellent way to set your strongest party member – an Erudition or Hunt character, ideally – up to deal some heavy damage.

As a 5-star Light Cone, it’s also not likely something you’ll have easy access to early in the game. The 4-star Carve the Moon, Weave the Clouds cone is a good second choice. Like The Widsith in Genshin Impact, this Light Cone grants a different effect at the start of a battle, including party-wide attack and critical hit buffs and energy restoration.

Two of the 3-star Harmony Light Cones would work well with Tingyun. Chorus grants the entire party an attack buff at the start of a fight, and Meshing Cogs increases energy recharge after the equipping character deals damage or gets hit.

Best Tingyun Relics – Cavern Relics

The Relic sets in Honkai Star Rail’s launch version don’t quite fit Tingyun’s skill setup, so instead of a full four-piece set, we recommend mixing two two-piece effects.

• Band of Sizzling Thunder – Lightning damage +15 percent
• Musketeer of Wild Wheat – Attack +10 percent

Sizzling Thunder’s four-piece effect raises attack, but only after the user activates their skill. Tingyun’s skill raises an ally’s attack based on her own, so having the Relic’s attack buff come after her skill is pretty much pointless.

Wild Wheat raises speed by a small amount and basic attack damage by a larger amount. It technically works for Tingyun, but it’s not ideal. Focus on attack, speed, and energy regeneration for your Relic substats.

Best Tingyun Relics – Planetar Ornaments

As of version 1.0, Tingyun has two choices for her Planetar Ornaments.

• Space Sealing Station – Raises attack by 12 percent. After the user’s speed reaches 120, raises attack by a further 12 percent.
• Sprightly Vonwacq – Increases energy restoration by five percent. When the user’s speed reaches 145 or higher, their action is advance forwarded by 50 percent at the start of battle.

I’m more partial to Space Sealing Station at present. A five percent speed buff isn’t spectacular, though acting sooner once a battle starts does mean you have a chance to set up stronger attacks more quickly. If you have both Ornaments, tinker with them to see what you think fits your style best.

Is Tingyun good?

Tingyun might just be a 4-star character, but she’s quickly working her way up in the Star Rail meta following the RPG’s launch. It’s not hard to see why, either. Her skill grants an attack buff that lasts for three turns and triggers a follow-up Lightning attack when the targeted ally lands a hit on an enemy. Her talent causes another Lightning follow-up from an ally when enemies attack her.

Tingyun’s ultimate restores 50 energy to a chosen ally and buffs their damage by 20 percent.

She’s an excellent support character even without an optimized build, and if you end up with her first and fourth Eidolons, her skill can raise an ally’s speed and add an extra 20 percent attack buff, respectively.

Despite being an Erudition character, Tingyun can deal a respectable amount of damage with her basic attacks and even more so if you buff her attack as we recommended. Her basic attacks deal Lightning damage too. She’s a handy way to wear down an enemy’s break meter, though she’s not strong enough to be your main Lightning damage dealer.

Should I pull for Tingyun?

If Tingyun shows up in a featured banner, she’s definitely worth trying to recruit. As of Star Rail’s launch version, the only way to recruit Tingyun is having her show up as a random character in a standard or featured banner pull. The odds of that happening are pretty low, though, so you might want to hold off trying until she’s featured.

If you're just getting started with the Astral Express crew, check out our Honkai Star Rail beginner guides, and take a gander at the active Honkai Star Rail codes to grab some free Stellar Jade.