You know that feeling when a character you’ve had since day one suddenly feels brand new? That’s basically what happened when HoYoverse dropped the "new" March 7th. Honestly, calling it a new character isn't quite right. It’s a literal evolution. March 7th The Hunt isn't just a cosmetic shift or a minor tweak to her kit; it's a fundamental reimagining of how a free-to-play unit can carry an endgame team. If you’ve been playing Honkai: Star Rail for a while, you probably remember her as the girl who freezes people and puts up a single-target shield. That version was fine for the early game, but let's be real—she fell off hard once the difficulty spiked.
The Hunt version changes the math.
The most fascinating part of March 7th The Hunt is the "Shifu" mechanic. It's a clever bit of narrative-gameplay integration. After training under Yunli and Yanqing during the Wardance festival on the Xianzhou Zhuman, March picks up twin blades and a completely different attitude toward combat. She doesn't just sit back and react anymore. She picks a mentor on the team and moves with them. It’s dynamic. It’s fast. And if you’re trying to clear Apocalyptic Shadow or Memory of Chaos, she might just be the most flexible Sub-DPS you own right now.
What Actually Makes March 7th The Hunt Work?
Most people look at a free unit and assume they’re a "budget" option. That’s a mistake here. March 7th The Hunt operates on a Master-Disciple relationship. When you use her Skill, she designates an ally as her "Shifu." This isn't just flavor text. Depending on what Path her Shifu follows, March gains different buffs.
If her Shifu is on the Path of Erudition, Destruction, or The Hunt, she deals additional Damage-over-Time or extra hits. If the Shifu is from the "support" paths like Harmony or Nihility, she boosts her own Break Efficiency. This makes her a modular weapon. You can slot her into a Super Break team with Firefly, or you can run her in a high-speed follow-up attack (FUA) comp with Topaz or Feixiao.
The flexibility is staggering.
Usually, characters in Star Rail are locked into one niche. Boothill does one thing. Argenti does one thing. March does whatever your best character needs her to do. Her Enhanced Basic Attack is where the real damage lives. Once she hits seven stacks of "Charge"—which she gets whenever her Shifu attacks—she unleashes a multi-hit flurry that can shred toughness bars. It feels punchy. It looks great. And most importantly, it generates skill points instead of eating them.
The Break Effect Trap
There is a huge misconception that March 7th The Hunt is only for Break teams. I see this all over Reddit and Discord. While she is incredible with Ruan Mei and Harmony Trailblazer, ignoring her Crit-based builds is a massive oversight. Because she gets so many free stats from her Traces and her Shifu's actions, she can actually reach respectable Crit ratios without whale-level relics.
When her Shifu uses a Basic ATK or Skill, March launches a follow-up. This happens constantly. In a fast-paced fight, she is attacking out of turn more often than she is taking her own turn. If you build her with the "Musketeer of Wild Wheat" or the "The Ashblazing Grand Duke" set, those follow-ups start hitting for 40k, 50k, or even 80k depending on the buffs. That adds up. Fast.
Comparing the Blades: March vs. Other Hunt Units
Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. How does she compare to Dan Heng or even Seele?
Honestly? She’s more useful than Dan Heng in 90% of scenarios. Sorry, Dan fans. While Dan Heng has decent slow mechanics, March 7th The Hunt has better action economy. She doesn't need to wait for her turn to contribute to the fight. Against Seele, it's a different story. Seele is a hyper-carry; March is a force multiplier.
March thrives when she’s paired with someone like Topaz. The synergy there is disgusting. Topaz’s Numby increases the follow-up damage the enemy takes, and March’s constant pokes keep Numby moving. It’s a perpetual motion machine of chalk throws and sword strikes.
- Skill Point Economy: March is almost entirely SP positive. You use her Skill once at the start of the fight, and then you basically never touch it again unless her Shifu dies or you need to swap mentors.
- Toughness Shred: Because her Enhanced Basic hits multiple times, she can deplete a Toughness bar faster than almost any other four-star in the game.
- Ease of Build: You got her Eidolons for free during the event. That’s huge. An E6 March 7th The Hunt outperforms many E0 five-star Hunt characters simply because her ceiling is so much easier to reach.
The Best Way to Gear Her Right Now
Stop overthinking the relics. I've seen people spending thousands of Trailblaze Power trying to get the perfect "Iron Cavalry" set for her. If you’re running her in a Break team, sure, go for it. But if you want a general-use March that works in every game mode, stick to the basics.
The "Standard" Power Build:
Use the 4-piece Musketeer of Wild Wheat. It sounds boring, I know. But the Speed boost and the Basic ATK DMG increase are exactly what she wants. For the Planar Ornaments, go with "Rutilant Arena" or "Firmament Frontline: Glamoth." You want her fast. Like, 145+ Speed fast.
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The Break Build:
If you're strictly using her alongside Firefly or Boothill, go 4-piece "Thief of Shooting Meteor" for the Energy regeneration on break. Pair it with "Talia: Kingdom of Banditry." Just remember you need to hit that 145 Speed threshold to get the extra Break Effect from Talia.
For the Light Cone? "Cruising in the Stellar Sea" is the F2P king. It's available in Herta’s Shop, and at S5, it gives her a massive Crit Rate boost. If you’re a light spender, "Return to Darkness" from the Nameless Honor is fine, but honestly, the Herta Shop one is usually better. If you’re a lucky gacha winner, "In the Night" (Seele’s signature) is incredible on her because of how much she utilizes her Basic ATK and Speed.
Why You Should Actually Care About Her Eidolons
Since we got her Eidolons through the "March 7th's Saga" event, most people have her at E6. If you don't, you're missing out on some of the best power spikes in the game. Her E2 is a game-changer; it lets her start the battle with energy and reduces the cooldown of her initial setup. Her E6? It flat out increases the Crit DMG of her Enhanced Basic ATK.
It’s rare for HoYoverse to give away a unit this "complete" for free. Usually, there’s a catch. With March 7th The Hunt, the only catch is that you actually have to play the game and finish the Xianzhou Luofu story arcs to unlock her potential.
Team Compositions That Actually Work
Don't just throw her into a random team. She needs a Shifu who acts often.
- The FUA Core: Feixiao (or Topaz), March 7th The Hunt, Robin, and Aventurine. This is arguably one of the strongest teams in the 2024-2025 meta. The sheer volume of attacks is dizzying.
- The F2P Break Team: Harmony Trailblazer, March 7th The Hunt, Gallagher, and a flexible fourth (like Pela or Asti). This team can clear almost all high-level content without a single limited five-star.
- The "Hyper-March" Meme: Sparkle, Tingyun, Huohuo, and March. It’s funny, but it actually works. You turn March into a main DPS. Is it optimal? No. Is it satisfying to see March hit for 200k? Absolutely.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Forgetting the Skill: You have to cast her Skill once at the start. If you forget, she does zero damage and gains no stacks. I’ve done this in Memory of Chaos and felt like an idiot.
- The Wrong Shifu: Don't make your sustain (like Luocha or Fu Xuan) the Shifu unless you're in a total emergency. They don't attack enough to generate the stacks March needs.
- Neglecting Speed: March needs to move. If she’s slow, her stack generation feels sluggish. Aim for Speed boots every single time.
Actionable Steps for Your March 7th Build
If you want to maximize her right now, follow this priority list.
First, finish the March 7th's Saga event if it’s still available in your Conventional Memoir. You need those Eidolons. Without them, she’s decent; with them, she’s a monster.
Second, level her Basic Attack Trace first. Most characters want their Ultimate or Skill leveled first, but March does the vast majority of her heavy lifting through her Enhanced Basic. Get that to level 10 immediately.
Third, check your Speed break-points. If your March is sitting at 120 Speed, she’s not doing her job. Swap out your ATK% boots for Speed boots. Even if the sub-stats are worse, the frequency of her turns matters more for stack generation.
Lastly, experiment with the Shifu role. Don't just set it and forget it. If you're fighting a boss with a specific elemental weakness, make the character who can break that boss your Shifu. March will inherit their element for the purpose of Toughness reduction, making her a universal breaker. This is her secret superpower.
March 7th The Hunt is a rare win for the community. She’s a versatile, high-damage, free-to-play friendly unit that actually rewards you for understanding the game's mechanics. Go build her. You won't regret it.