LINGSHA GUIDE: How to Play, Best Relic & Light Cone Builds, Team Comps | Honkai: Star Rail 2.5

Hey everyone, welcome to our free-to-play guide for the upcoming Fire Abundance five-star character, Lingsha. She's set to be released in patch 2.5, and she's bringing a blend of healing, damage, and break support to Honkai Star Rail. Something that only matches the four star character Gallagher and can effectively be a replacement for him even at Lingsha’s Eidolon Zero. Lingsha is really efficient for free-to-play players to build because of her versatile kit that scales with Break Effect. This allows her to contribute to both offense and defense on your team. Since Lingsha is an abundance character, she can be used on every team, thus making her universal.

Let's dive into Lingsha's kit. Her basic attack, Votive Incense, deals Fire damage to a single target based on her attack.

Her skill, Smoke and Splendor, is where things get interesting. It deals A.O.E. Fire damage equal to 80% of Lingsha’s attack; healing all allies equal to 14% of her attack plus 420; and action advances her summon, Fuyuan, by 20%.

Lingsha's Ultimate, Dripping Mistscape, is a game-changer. It inflicts Befog on all enemies, increasing the Break damage they take by 25% for 2 turns. It also deals A.O.E. Fire damage equal to 150% of Lingsha’s attack, heals allies equal to 12% of her attack plus 360, and fully advances Fuyuan's action.

The real star of the show is Lingsha's talent, Mistdance Manifest. It summons Fuyuan when Lingsha uses her skill, who can act up to 5 times before disappearing. Fuyuan has an initial speed of 80 and an initial action count of 3. During each action, Fuyuan attacks all enemies by launching a follow-up attack dealing fire damage equal to 90% of Lingsha’s Attack, heals allies equal to 12% of her attack plus 360, and removes 1 debuff from all allies. Fuyuan disappears when its action count is 0 or when Lingsha is downed. When Fuyuan is on the battlefield, using Lingsha’s skill increases its action count by 3. Lingsha is an excellent fit for teams that need consistent healing and damage support, like the Break Effect team. She could also be used in follow up attack teams because of Fuyuan.

Lingsha's technique, Wisps of Aurora, summons Fuyuan at the start of the next battle and inflicts Befog on all enemies for 2 turns, giving her team an immediate advantage.

Lingsha’s ability leveling priority is talent, then either skill or ultimate, and lastly basic attack.

Let's break down Lingsha's major traces: Ember's Echo allows Fuyuan to trigger an extra follow-up attack when allies are low on H.P., without consuming an action. This provides additional healing and damage when your team needs it most. Sylvan Smoke regenerates 10 Energy when Lingsha uses her Basic Attack, helping with Ultimate uptime. Vermilion Waft increases Lingsha's attack and Outgoing Healing based on 20% of her Break Effect for her attack and 8% of her Break Effect for her outgoing healing, up to a maximum of 50% attack and 20% Healing boost. This trace significantly enhances both her damage and healing capabilities.

The major trace priority order is: Vermilion Waft first, then Ember's Echo, and lastly Sylvan Smoke. Focus on maxing Vermilion Waft first to get the most out of Lingsha's kit.

For those aiming to maximize Lingsha's potential, here are the recommended endgame stats you should aim for: H.P.: four thousand five hundred; Attack: two thousand four hundred; Defense: eight hundred; Speed: one hundred thirty four; and Break Effect: 250% to completely maximize Vermilion Waft.

Let's break down Lingsha's eidolons for you whales out there: Eidolon 1, Bloom on Vileward Bouquet, boosts Lingsha's Weakness Break Efficiency by 50% and reduces enemy defense by 20% when their weakness is broken. This makes Lingsha an even more potent support for break-focused teams. Eidolon 2, Leisure in Carmine Smokeveil, increases all allies' Break Effect by 40% for 3 turns when Lingsha uses her Ultimate. This further cements her role as a break support. Eidolon 3 and Eidolon 5 boost her ability levels, with Eidolon 3 focusing on her Ultimate and Talent, while Eidolon 5 improves her Skill and Basic Attack. Eidolon 4, Redolence from Canopied Banquet, adds extra healing during Fuyuan's actions, restoring H.P. to the ally with the lowest H.P. percentage, equal to 40% of Lingsha’s attack. This further improves Lingsha's sustain capabilities. Finally, Eidolon 6, Arcadia Under Deep Seclusion, is a massive power spike. It reduces all enemies' all-type resistance by 20% while Fuyuan is on the field and adds 3 extra hits to Fuyuan's attacks, with each hit dealing fire damage equal to 50% of Lingsha’s attack and 5 toughness reduction. This significantly boosts team damage and break potential. While these eidolons are powerful, remember that Lingsha is still highly effective at Eidolon 0 for free-to-play players. Each eidolon is a nice bonus, but it is not necessary for Lingsha to perform well on your team.

For Lingsha's build, we're looking at maximizing her Break Effect and attack. Her traces provide a solid 37.3% Break Effect and 10% attack, which is a great start.

So, Lingsha’s relic substat priority should be break effect or attack percent, then H.P. or speed.

As for main stats, prioritize outgoing healing boost on the Body piece, speed on the Feet, attack percent on the Planar Sphere, and Energy Recharge Rate on the Link Rope. This build will help Lingsha heal more effectively while also contributing to damage and break support.

For relic sets, consider using a 4-piece Iron Cavalry Against the Scourge for increased break effect and ignoring enemies’ defense or a 4-piece Passerby of Wandering Cloud for increased healing and the regeneration of a skill point. A two-piece relic combination of Thief of Shooting Meteor and Messenger Traversing Hackerspace can also work. The combination of these two effects increases speed and break effect.

For the planar set, Fleet of the Ageless is a solid choice to boost Lingsha’s H.P. and team attack. However, the optimal planar set for Lingsha is Forge of the Kalpagni Lantern. This set's 2-piece effect is incredibly powerful for Lingsha. First, it increases her Speed by 6%, which helps her act more frequently and cycle through her abilities faster. But the real power comes from the second part of the effect. When Lingsha hits an enemy with Fire Weakness, her Break Effect increases by a whopping 40% for 1 turn. This synergizes perfectly with Lingsha's kit, which scales heavily with Break Effect. Remember, Lingsha's Vermilion Waft trace increases her attack and Outgoing Healing based on her Break Effect. So, this planar set not only boosts her break capabilities but also indirectly enhances her damage and healing output. While this set is most effective against enemies with Fire Weakness, the Speed boost is always useful, making it a solid choice in most situations. In teams focused on breaking enemy weaknesses, this set will allow Lingsha to truly shine as a support powerhouse.

When it comes to light cones, Lingsha's signature 5-star light cone, Scent Alone Stays True, is obviously her best. It boosts her Break Effect by 60% at superimposition level 1 and allows her to amplify team damage after using her Ultimate. However, for us free-to-play folks, we'll need to look at other options. The top pick for free-to-play players is the 4-star light cone, What Is Real?. This light cone increases Lingsha's Break Effect by a substantial 48%, which synergizes perfectly with her kit. Remember, Lingsha's abilities and traces scale with Break Effect, so this boost is significant. As a bonus, it also allows her Basic Attacks to restore 4% of her Max H.P. plus 800, adding to her sustain capabilities. If you don't have access to What Is Real?, a solid 3-star option is Multiplication. While it doesn't provide any stat increases, its effect is quite useful for Lingsha. After she uses her Basic Attack, her next action is Advanced Forward by 20%. This helps Lingsha cycle through her abilities faster, allowing for more frequent healing and Fuyuan summons.

For team compositions, Lingsha works well in break-focused teams or as a hybrid support in any team that needs both healing and damage amplification. Consider pairing her with characters who can take advantage of her break support, like Firefly or Boothill. Linghsa’s best team is Lingsha, Harmony Trailblazer, Ruan Mei, and Firefly. You can also replace Firefly with Boothill, but be aware that you will be losing the fire element implant on enemies, which is important for Forge of the Kalpagni Lantern’s effect. Xueyi is a free-to-play break effect character that can replace Boothill or Firefly. Sushang is an alternative. Ruan Mei can be replaced with Hunt March 7th because she is a great free to play option and synergizes well with her follow up attacks. Linghsa could also potentially be used by follow up attack teams. A premium follow up attack team could be Feixiao, Topaz, Robin, and Lingsha. The main D.P.S. can be swapped out with Clara, Yunli, Jing Yuan, or Jade. A free-to-play follow up attack team could be Dr. Ratio, Hunt March 7th, Moze, and Linghsa. Moze can be replaced with a harmony character like Tingyun or Asta. Herta and Himeko can be used with Lingsha in Pure Fiction.

Lingsha's definitely a character to consider pulling for if you need a versatile support unit. I go over a guide to Moze.