Honkai: Star Rail’s Honkai: Star Rail’s version 2.2 update introduces two new characters and the Imaginary Path for the Trailblazer, enabling players to build three new 5-star characters. Given this, many players may be tempted to pull for characters like Robin or Boothill, or even consider the rerun characters. However, with highly anticipated characters like Firefly or Jade slated to appear in the 2.3 version, players may question whether any of these characters are worth pulling for, or if it’s better to conserve resources for future releases.
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Considering that Robin and Boothill have distinct roles in team synergy – Robin as a support and Boothill as a hypercarry DPS – players may find it easier to choose between them. However, it’s important to examine aspects of their kits, synergies, strengths, and weaknesses to make an informed decision.
Robin Or Boothill In Honkai: Star Rail
Robin enters the roster as a Physical Harmony character, further enriching the limited 5-star Harmony character list alongside recent additions like Ruan Mei and Sparkle. Conversely, Boothill debuts as a Physical Hunt character, broadening the selection of Physical DMG dealers, which previously included options like Argenti, Clara, and Sushang on the non-limited roster.
While Robin and Boothill both follow Physical paths, their roles are distinct, each offering unique playstyles compared to existing characters within their respective paths. Despite some similarities with other characters, the primary decision between them hinges on whether players prioritize acquiring a support character or a DPS character. Alternatively, players may choose to forego both in favor of saving up Stellar Jades for upcoming characters in future version updates.
Roles
As a support unit, Robin doesn’t introduce entirely unique buffs, as her abilities are similar to those of previously existing characters like Ruan Mei. She can increase ATK, DMG, and Crit DMG buffs. However, unlike Ruan Mei, she doesn’t excel in Weakness Break efficiency. Instead, Robin synergizes well with follow-up ATK-oriented characters and can serve as a sub-DPS character to some extent. During the 3-turn duration of her Ultimate, she deals Physical ATK after other allies perform an ATK. While in this state, Robin cannot perform any actions, making her skill-point neutral. Additionally, upon entering her Concerto state, she advances all allies’ turns. With her ability to provide team-wide buffs, Robin is highly versatile and particularly useful for teams relying on multiple DPS/sub-DPS characters.
On the other hand, Boothill is a single-target-oriented damage dealer, aligning with most other Hunt characters. He derives most of his damage from making good use of Physical Break. Fortunately, he can inflict Physical Weakness on the target independently by activating his Ultimate ability (or Technique), a capability previously exclusive to Silver Wolf’s Skill. While not as versatile as Silver Wolf’s utility, Boothill can still function as a rainbow DPS, as he can effectively deal damage against any enemy he faces. His primary damage output comes from his Enhanced Basic attacks, as his skill augments his Basic attack, placing him and the target enemy in a unique state where Boothill taunts the enemy while dealing additional damage.
Considering their roles, for players who already have built enough Harmony characters, Robin might seem redundant, especially if they have Ruan Mei. However, since most difficult content requires players to have two sets of teams, she might still offer versatility. On the other hand, Boothill can serve as an excellent DPS unit, especially if players lack DPS units in their roster. However, he might be less future-proof compared to a support unit, especially considering upcoming characters like Firefly and Jade, confirmed as Destruction and Erudition, who might become more valuable as DPS characters in content like Pure Fiction or Memory of Chaos. Ultimately, for players who have been playing for a long time and have already established hyper-carry team compositions, Boothill might not be as valuable. However, players should still consider pulling these characters based on their preferences, such as unique character design or enjoyable playstyle. Other factors to consider include ease of building, resource investment, and specific strengths and weaknesses of each character.
Builds
In terms of builds, Robin and Boothill differ significantly due to their distinct roles, even though their Path is the same. Interestingly enough, Robin, while being a support-oriented character, can make better use of sets like Champion of Streetwise Boxing as a 4-piece or combined with relics that have ATK bonuses on their 2-piece bonus, such as Musketeer of Wild Wheat or Prisoner in Deep Confinement. She also has quite some versatility when it comes to choosing the right Planar Ornament set, with Fleet of the Ageless being the top choice as of now, though Space Sealing Station or Sprightly Vonwacq can also work quite well. As her only trace that scales with a stat is Ultimate, scaling with ATK specifically, Robin is relatively easy to build in terms of min-maxing the stats, as she’s not highly reliant on other stats at all. Generally speaking, she can make use of Energy Regeneration rate for her Rope Link, and players may consider increasing her speed to 120 (which isn’t an entirely difficult thing to do considering her base Speed and Speed traces). Players have an easy time increasing her ATK as high as possible while aiming for survivability-oriented stats like HP or DEF for the rest.
In terms of light cones, she will benefit most from her signature, Flowing Nightglow, but she has access to very solid F2P-friendly options like But the Battle Isn’t Over, which is obtainable through the standard pool or Shop, or even the new event-limited 4-star light cone, For Tomorrow’s Journey. Overall, there are quite some F2P or Gacha options for Robin, whether they may benefit her through ATK buff, Energy Regeneration, or even others that prioritize adding different buffs to other allies instead.
For Boothill, the build might be considered rather more complicated compared to Robin, since he combines a traditional DPS build, which typically involves Crit Rate, Crit DMG, and ATK%, with Break Effect. Given this, players have more stats to pay attention to, with Break Effect taking the most priority among main stats or set effect bonuses. Boothill will benefit from combining sets that provide Break Effect, such as Thief of Shooting Meteor and Watchmaker, Master of Dream Machinations. There isn’t much flexibility in this regard, except for considering Champion of Streetwise Boxing as a 2-piece instead. For Planar Ornaments, he is also not as versatile as Robin, though this is expected from DPS characters generally. He can best make use of Rutilant Arena to increase his Basic ATK DMG even further. Considering that Boothill doesn’t gain Crit Stats through his traces, reaching a 70% Crit Rate threshold can further increase the difficulty of min-maxing this character. Overall, however, if most attention is put on Break Effect through main stats or even light cone options, sub-stat min-maxing can be made a little easier.
When it comes to light cones, Boothill is quite dependent on his signature light cone, Sailing Towards A Second Life, for optimizing his damage, as it is currently the only Hunt light cone that provides Break DMG. This light cone may not be considered quite future-proof since it is relatively niche for him. Nevertheless, he can still make use of other options, primarily as stat sticks, such as Seele’s light cone In the Night. However, it can be said that he is still much more reliant on his light cone than many other DPS characters as well. This makes Boothill not quite F2P-friendly or easy to build on that note in terms of build. However, he is still going to perform quite well without his light cone.
Strengths and Weaknesses
While both Robin and Boothill can provide a fun gameplay experience, understanding the strengths and weaknesses of them is crucial for players to make informed decisions and set expectations about their team compositions and resource allocations.
Robin’s Strengths and Weaknesses:
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Boothill’s Strengths and Weaknesses:
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Verdict: Pulling Robin vs Boothill
Ultimately, the decision to pull for Robin, Boothill, both, or neither depends on each player’s individual preferences, current roster composition, and long-term goals in the game. While Robin may offer more versatility and long-term viability as a support unit, Boothill can be a strong addition for players in need of a reliable DPS character. Additionally, considering upcoming character releases and the overall balance of the player’s team, it’s important to weigh all factors before making a decision.
Players should pull for Robin if:
- They require a team-wide buffer and have not obtained Ruan Mei, or otherwise need another strong support for another team.
- They are particularly interested in playing follow-up characters such as Jing Yuan, Dr. Ratio, Herta or Topaz.
Players should pull for Boothill if:
- They are looking for a strong Physical DPS or a rainbow DPS (and don’t have Silver Wolf), and have not built characters like Argenti or Clara.
- They can spend extra resources on obtaining his light cone, or optimizing his build.
- They have characters like Ruan Mei and Gallagher, as these have nice synergy with Boothill.
Honkai: Star Rail
The fourth entry in HoYoverse’s Honkai franchise, Honkai: Star Rail is a free-to-play sci-fi RPG. Utilizing a turn-based combat system, the game includes dungeons, multiple planets, and a gacha system for unlocking new characters. Debuting on April 26, 2023, on PC and mobile, Honkai: Star Rail has also been announced for the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4.
