Tingyun Guide & Best Builds: Mastering the Art of Support
Tingyun is one of the game's finest support units, praised for her potent and straightforward support utilities.
She's her enemies' favorite target, even when there are teammates with higher aggro.
This guide is your ultimate destination to understanding her skills, best relic builds, team compatibility, and gameplay tips.
Let's dive in!
Tingyun Guide & Builds: Mastering the Art of Support in Honkai: Star Rail
Tingyun's Role and Skill Mechanics
Tingyun specializes in offering single-target buffs and energy regen for your allies.
Her primary skill, Soothing Melody, grants a targeted ally Benediction buff for three turns.
The buff increases the ally's attack by a percentage of their attack, capped at a certain threshold relative to Tingyun’s own attack.
Understanding the Math Behind Benediction
The Benediction skill serves as the cornerstone of Tingyun's support capabilities.
It increases a targeted ally's attack by a percentage of their base attack. However, this boost is capped at a threshold tied to Tingyun's own current attack.
Example Calculation:
Let's say Tingyun's skill is at level 10, and the multipliers are:
- 50% of the target's attack
- Up to 25% of Tingyun's current attack
If Tingyun targets Jingliu, who has an attack of 2,000:
- 50% of 2,000 is 1,000, setting the maximum potential boost at 1k.
To reach this maximum, Tingyun would need a current attack of at least 4,000, because 25% of 4k is 1k.
Determining the Required ATK for Tingyun
To fully use Benediction, you'll need to consider the following:
- Base Attack of Ally: Know the base attack of the ally you'll most frequently be buffing.
- Tingyun's Own Buffs: If Tingyun receives attack boosts from other teammates, that will count toward the attack threshold.
- High-Level Investment: At high levels of investment, aiming for Tingyun to have between 2,400 to 2,700 attack will generally be enough for most scenarios.
Quick Rule of Thumb:
A shortcut to figuring out the necessary attack for Tingyun is approximately double the target's base attack.
This ensures you're covering most scenarios for maximum buff potential.
Skill Buff Timing: When to Refresh
While it's generally best to refresh the Benediction buff right after it expires, there are times when refreshing earlier is beneficial.
Some units might need the buff refreshed earlier due to their unique mechanics, or you might want to capitalize on the 30 energy generated by her skill.
Special Abilities and Ascensions
Talent and Ultimate
- Talent: Whenever Tingyun basic attacks, the ally with Benediction also deals additional lightning damage.
- Ultimate: Instantly restores 50 energy for an ally and boosts their damage for two turns.
Ascension Bonuses
- Ascension 2: Grants a 20% speed increase for one turn after using her skill.
- Ascension 4: Increases her basic attack damage by 40%.
- Ascension 6: Regenerates 5 energy at the start of her turn.
Skill Priority
- Ultimate Skill: Main focus for leveling up.
- Active Skill: Next in line, especially for additional damage.
- Talent: Level up for extra damage output.
- Basic Attacks: Least priority for leveling.
Eidolons: Enhancing Tingyun's Abilities
Tingyun's Eidolons provide additional layers of utility and power to her kit.
Here's a breakdown:
E1: Speed Surge
Allies with Benediction gain a 20% speed increase after using their ultimate.
This is great for DPS units that could benefit from faster turn cycles.
E2: Energy Boost
Allies with Benediction regenerate 5 energy after defeating an enemy.
This is a consistent source of extra energy for your main DPS, especially in enemy-heavy scenarios.
E4 and E6: Damage and Energy
E4 increases the damage multiplier of Benediction by 20%.
E6 adds 10 more energy to her ultimate, optimizing her as an energy regen battery for the team.
Energy and Rotations Timing
With her maxed-out F-Star ERR Rope and Ascension 6 bonus ability, Tingyun generally takes four turns to recharge her ultimate.
Using Light Cones like "Meshing Cogs" or "Memories of the Past" can enable a consistent three-turn ultimate rotation under specific conditions.
Situational elements like getting hit for 20 energy or extra energy sources can alter the rotation from four turns to sometimes three.
Best Relic and Gear Builds
Stat Prioritization
- Body and Planer Sphere: Opt for HP or Defense for survivability, or Attack to maximize her buff potency.
- Feet: Speed for faster turn cycling.
- Link Rope: Energy Regen Rate (ERR) for faster ultimate rotations.
Recommended Relic Sets
- Four-Piece Messenger Traversing Hackerspace: Boosts your entire team's speed by 12% for one turn after using her ultimate.
- Four-Piece Musketeer of Wild Wheat: Grants speed, attack, and a basic attack damage bonus.
- 2-piece Hackerspace + 2-piece Longevous Disciple: For extra speed and HP.
Planer Ornament Sets
- Penacony Set: Increases ERR by 5% and 10% damage for other Lightning allies
- Broken Keel: Provides team-wide Crit Damage buff if Tingyun reaches 30% Effect Resistance.
- Fleet of the Ageless: Offers an 8% team-wide attack buff if Tingyun has at least 120 speed.
- Sprightly Vonwacq: Increases ERR by 5% and Tingyun's action is advanced forward by 40% at the start of the battle (if +120 speed).
Optimal Late Game Stats for Tingyun
ATK: 2,500+
Speed: 135+
Energy Regen: 20%+
Light Cones: Optimal Choices for Tingyun
F2P Options
- Chorus: Provides a constant attack buff for the team.
- Meshing Cogs: Useful for energy generation, helps achieve a consistent 3-turn ult rotation.
Four-Star Cones
- Past and Future: Offers a damage bonus, but requires careful turn planning.
- Memories of the Past: Similar to Meshing Cogs, but only activates when Tingyun attacks.
- Dance, Dance, Dance: For advancing the entire team’s turns.
Five-Star Cones:
- But the Battle Isn't Over: High base stats, energy regeneration, and a skill point refunding mechanic.
Team Composition: Maximizing Synergy
Hyper Carry Teams
Tingyun excels in teams with one main DPS and three supports.
Here’s a template:
- Damage Amplifier 1: Tingyun.
- Damage Amplifier 2: A Harmony or Nihility unit like Bronya, Huohuo or Silver Wolf.
- Defensive Support: Abundance or Preservation unit for survival like Luocha or Fu Xuan.
Special Cases
- Blade: His scaling relies more on HP, making Tingyun's attack buffs less impactful.
- Jingliu: Her advanced forward mechanic consume buffs faster, so plan accordingly.
Dual DPS Teams
Not the best fit due to her single-target abilities.
Opt for units that offer team-wide buffs/debuffs instead.
Auto-Battle: What to Expect
Post 1.4 patch, the AI is better at targeting the main DPS in hyper carry teams.
Tingyun will use her ultimate as soon as it’s charged and refresh Benediction when it expires.
However, the AI lacks the nuance for optimal skill timing, especially for characters with special turn mechanics.
Final Thoughts
Tingyun’s utility in Honkai: Star Rail is hard to overlook.
Her combination of buffs and the energy recharge mechanism makes her a top-tier support unit.
As you invest in Tingyun, understanding her intricacies will only make your team stronger.
If you're building or planning to build Tingyun, you're on the right track to amplifying your team's capabilities.
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