You've spent weeks farming the perfect Relics for your Seele or your Firefly. You finally got that Crit Damage body piece to drop with a Speed substat. But then you head into the Memory of Chaos and your damage feels like a wet noodle. Honestly, it’s usually because of the "weapon" system that isn't actually a weapon. Honkai Star Rail light cones are basically crystallized memories that act as the backbone of your character's stats, but most players treat them as an afterthought or just slap on whatever has the most stars. That’s a mistake.
It's weird.
In Genshin Impact, you can see the sword. In Star Rail, you’re equipping a literal card of a memory. Because these items provide the massive base stats that your Relic percentages scale off of, picking the wrong one makes everything else on your build weaker. If your base Attack is low because you chose a mediocre 4-star Light Cone, that 120% Attack bonus from your Relics is doing way less work than it should. It's math, but it's annoying math.
The Massive Stat Gap Nobody Talks About
Stop looking at the passives for a second. Everyone gets blinded by "Increases DMG by 20%" and forgets to look at the raw numbers at the bottom of the card. A 5-star Light Cone, especially a signature one like In the Night or Along the Passing Shore, has significantly higher base HP, Attack, and Defense than any 4-star counterpart.
Why does this matter?
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Because of the way the game calculates your final stats. Your total Attack is (Base Character Attack + Base Light Cone Attack) × (1 + Attack% bonuses) + Flat Attack. If you use a budget 4-star option, you are lowering the foundation of that entire equation. Sometimes, a "bad" 5-star Light Cone is actually better than a "good" 4-star one just because the raw stats are so much higher. It's basically the difference between building a house on a concrete slab versus building it on a pile of plywood.
You’ve probably seen people swear by Cruising in the Stellar Sea from Herta’s Shop. It’s a F2P 5-star. While its passive is "okay," the real reason it’s top-tier for most Hunt characters is that it offers 5-star base stats for the low price of just playing the Simulated Universe.
Path Restrictions and Why They Suck
You can't just give a Destruction cone to a Nihility character. Well, you can, but it’s a waste of time. If the Path doesn't match, the passive doesn't activate. You just get the raw stats.
This creates a massive headache for players who pull a great 5-star cone but don't have a character of that Path to use it. If you pulled Before Dawn (Jing Yuan’s signature) but you don't use Erudition characters, it’s basically a paperweight. However, some Paths are much more flexible than others. Harmony Light Cones are notoriously interchangeable. Past and Future is a 4-star that is arguably better than some 5-stars if you can tune your speed correctly.
The Overpowered 3-Star Secret
Let’s talk about Multiplication. It’s a 3-star Abundance cone. It looks like trash. It has the lowest stats in the game. But if you look at the passive at Superimposition 5, it advances the wearer's action by 20% every time they use a Basic ATK.
For a character like Luocha or Gallagher, who mostly just Basics to generate Skill Points, this is broken. They move so fast that they generate way more energy and SP than they would with a "better" 5-star cone. It’s a classic example of utility outweighing raw stats. Most players auto-burn their 3-star cones for XP, and they’re throwing away one of the best Abundance items in the game. Don't do that. Keep an S5 copy of Multiplication and Meshing Cogs. Seriously. Meshing Cogs is a 3-star Harmony cone that gives 8 Energy when the wearer attacks or gets hit. For characters like Tingyun or Ruan Mei, this allows them to have their Ultimate up almost constantly.
It’s better than most 4-stars. I’m not kidding.
Superimposition vs. New Cones
Is an S5 4-star better than an S1 5-star? Usually, no. But it’s close.
Take Good Night and Sleep Well. At S5, it gives a massive damage boost to Nihility characters for every debuff on the enemy. If you’re running Acheron or Kafka, an S5 Good Night and Sleep Well can actually outperform some 5-star options that aren't their signature weapons. But the gacha is cruel. Getting five copies of a specific 4-star is often harder than just hitting the 75% chance on a limited 5-star banner.
What You Should Prioritize
If you are a low-spender or F2P, your priority should always be the Herta Shop cones.
- On the Fall of an Aeon (Destruction) is incredible.
- Cruising in the Stellar Sea (Hunt) is a staple.
- Texture of Memories (Preservation) is... fine, mostly for Fu Xuan.
After that, look at the Forgotten Hall shop. Quid Pro Quo is a standout here. It gives energy to a random ally under 50% energy. In a game where Ultimates win fights, that's huge.
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Why Signature Light Cones are Becoming Mandatory
Early in the game’s life, you could get away with generic options. But lately, Hoyoverse has been getting "creative" with kit designs. Look at Acheron. Without her signature Light Cone, Along the Passing Shore, she struggles to gain stacks for her Ultimate. The cone itself provides a debuff when she hits an enemy, which counts toward her stack generation.
Without it, she’s significantly slower.
This is a worrying trend. When honkai star rail light cones start providing mechanics that aren't available anywhere else in a character's kit, they stop being "stat sticks" and start being "required components." If you’re pulling for a modern DPS character, you really need to look at whether their signature cone provides a unique mechanic or just more damage. If it's just damage, skip it. If it changes how the character functions (like Acheron or Topaz), you might need to save those extra Stellar Jades.
Break Effect and the New Meta
With the arrival of the Super Break meta (thanks, Harmony Trailblazer), the value of certain cones has shifted overnight. Suddenly, Memories of the Past is the most coveted 4-star in the game because it provides Break Effect and Energy.
A year ago, nobody cared about that cone.
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Now? You’ll see whales complaining that they only have it at S2. The meta in Star Rail moves fast, and because you can't "farm" Light Cones—you have to pull them or buy them with limited currency—you have to be very careful about what you salvage.
Stop Making These Mistakes
- Ignoring the 3-star gems. I mentioned Meshing Cogs and Multiplication. Keep them. S5 them. Use them.
- Leveling too many cones at once. Light Cone XP (Aether) is a bottleneck. Focus on your main team’s cones first. A level 80 4-star is better than a level 60 5-star.
- Pulling on the Light Cone banner without a guarantee. The 75/25 is better than the 50/50 on character banners, but it still hurts to lose. Only pull if you actually need the mechanical upgrade.
- Forgetting to check the "Free" options. Between the Herta Shop and the Pure Fiction/Forgotten Hall stores, there is almost always a "good enough" option for every Path.
Honkai star rail light cones are the literal soul of your build. You can have the best relics in the world, but if your Light Cone doesn't synergize with your character's Energy needs or their Path's scaling, you're going to struggle in endgame content like Apocalyptic Shadow or high-conundrum Gold and Gears.
Actionable Next Steps
Check your inventory right now for Meshing Cogs (Harmony) and Multiplication (Abundance). If you have them, lock them and get them to S5 immediately. These are your "break glass in case of emergency" tools for when you can’t get a character’s Ultimate fast enough.
Next, head to the Herta Shop in the Simulated Universe. If you haven't maxed out On the Fall of an Aeon, do it. It is arguably the best value-for-time item in the entire game and works on almost every Destruction character from Trailblazer to Dan Heng • Imbibitor Luna.
Finally, audit your DPS characters. Look at their base Attack. If it feels low, check if you’re using a 4-star cone with a low base stat total. Sometimes switching to a different 4-star with a higher base stat—even if the passive is slightly worse—can actually result in a net damage gain because of how your Relics scale. Stop following tier lists blindly and look at your specific character's stat sheet. If you're missing 200 base Attack, no amount of Crit Damage substats will save you.
Identify the "energy breakpoints" for your supports. If using a specific Light Cone allows your Tingyun to Ultimate every 3 turns instead of 4, that is a massive team-wide DPS increase that won't show up on a simple "damage per hit" calculator but will absolutely be the reason you clear a floor in one less cycle.