Pela Guide

Updated for Version 2.0

Note that the information given may change if new discoveries are made. More extensive testing is in progress.

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Introduction

Pela is a 4★ character available since the initial release of Honkai: Star Rail. She is an Ice-Type debuffing support belonging to the Nihility Path with excellent enemy DEF reduction and team utility. As one of the few sources of DEF reduction, enemy buff dispel, and teamwide EHR buffs, Pela is difficult to replace and always useful. Gearing her requires minimal effort and her SP generation is amongst the highest in the game. With her universal effects and ease of use, Pela can effortlessly find a place in any team with an open slot.

New Content

Infographic	Infographic added.
Planar Ornaments	Added Penacony, Land of the Dreams.
Light Cones	Moved Resolution Shines Like Pearls of Sweat to a higher ranking, removed Void.
Substats	Changed 67% to 57% to reflect in-game stat screen. Added an Effect Hit Rate requirement table for various superimpositions of the Light Cone Resolution Shines as Pearls of Sweat.
Notable Synergies	Reordered based on relevance. Rewrote Genius of Brilliant Stars section to focus on all sources of DEF Reduction and DEF Ignore. Updated icons.
Teams	Added newer characters in examples.

Infographic

Design: euphorysm | Content: skylarke

Character Overview

Pela is a powerful and flexible debuffer that specializes in reducing enemy DEF (an effect often known as ‘DEF Shred’) and generating a large amount of SP for the team. She can also dispel enemy buffs. Almost no other support characters have the flexibility to Basic ATK as much as Pela does, and when combined with a high base SPD stat and a lack of demand for other stats, these factors make her one of the most SP-Positive characters in the game. 

Pela’s DEF Shred being universally applicable and enemy-centered allows for a wide variety of characters to synergize with her, to the point that there are virtually no noticeable downsides other than using up a team slot for her.

Traces

Note: Trace levels shown are 1/10/12 (Basic ATK 1/6/7).

Trace Priority

Pela’s Ultimate is where the majority of her utility comes from, and as such, should be the first priority. Her Talent helps with her Ultimate uptime and therefore should be the second priority; however, the Talent does not need to be maxed. You can find Energy breakpoints in the Energy Requirements section.

As her personal damage is not a priority, her Basic ATK and Skill can be ignored when building purely for debuffs. Basic ATK takes higher priority in most cases as her default action of choice, but with E4 and an Ice-Type damage dealer, her Skill priority can rise. 

Eidolons

Playstyle

Due to the ease of reaching her required EHR, and lack of demand for other stats, Pela finds it very easy to stack high SPD and act as many times as possible. As her Skill does not have much use outside of dispelling buffs, the default way to play Pela is to use her Basic ATK unless an enemy buff needs to be dispelled, or if you’d like to reduce Ice RES with her E4 effect.

Build

Pela’s kit implies that she can be built as a damage dealer, having several damage-oriented Traces and a 6th Eidolon that increases her Basic ATK damage. These should not be taken as a hint to build further damage, as a dead Pela cannot debuff enemies.

Relics

Relic Sets

As Pela’s primary role is as a support, the importance of substats cannot be understated. It is encouraged to use whatever sets available on your account with more optimal SPD and survivability stats. 

2-Pc Combinations	Pela is not dependent on any sets to function, and prioritizing her SPD and survivability is often preferable to focusing on her damage. It is not recommended to farm any set specifically for Pela herself, but to simply use whatever is available from farming for higher-priority units. Possible 2-Pc sets include Messenger Traversing Hackerspace, Guard of Wuthering Snow, Longevous Disciple, and Knight of Purity Palace. To a lesser extent, Musketeer of WIld Wheat and Hunter of Glacial Forest can work as well.
4-Pc Eagle of Twilight Line	A highly competitive set for Pela. The more often you use your Ultimate, the faster Pela goes and the more SP you can generate. The higher Pela’s personal SPD, the better it gets.  Most potent when using S5 Before The Tutorial Mission Starts Light Cone for 2-turn Ultimates. For anyone interested in the math, when Pela is able to cast her Ultimate in 2 turns, this set offers an approximately 14% increase to her effective SPD, which falls to 9% with 3-turn Ultimates, and further to 6% with 4-turn Ultimates. You can multiply her SPD stat with this increase to find her effective SPD. For example, 134 SPD at 2-turn, 3-turn, and 4-turn rotations respectively would equate to 153, 146 and 142 effective Speed. The higher Pela’s Speed, the better the effect.
4-Pc Guard of Wuthering Snow	With little need to prioritize damage output, Guard’s lack of offensive bonuses is irrelevant. Reducing incoming damage by 8% and receiving an 8% heal when below 50% HP allows Pela to absorb large amounts of damage without the need for external healing. The extra Energy while below 50% HP is occasionally useful if not using Before the Tutorial Mission Starts  but cannot be relied upon to enable 2-Turn Ultimate rotations.

Planar Ornaments

Broken Keel	Generally Pela’s best Planar set, as 10% CRIT DMG is usually more impactful than 8% ATK. However, this can vary based on your team and the stats your damage dealers already have.  The decision between Fleet of the Ageless and Broken Keel should depend on your substats and teammates.
Fleet of the Ageless	A very competitive alternative to Broken Keel, especially when considering that the HP% from this set provides more defensive utility than the Effect RES from Broken Keel. Reaching the SPD threshold for Fleet’s Set Effect is much easier than reaching Broken Keel’s Effect RES requirement. When in a DoT team, this set becomes her best option.
Penacony, Land of the Dreams	The 10% Ice DMG Penacony can provide can be useful for Ice-Type damage dealers, although the 5% Energy Regeneration Rate is negligible in Pela’s case.  A niche option that can be viable with the right substats, but definitely a step below Keel and Fleet due to lack of survivability stats and only being able to buff Ice DMG.
Pan-Cosmic Commercial Enterprise	Provides a 10% EHR stat, which with other common sources of EHR, such as Before the Tutorial Mission Starts  or an EHR Body, completes her EHR requirements.  However, these EHR stats are easily found elsewhere and Pan-Cosmic’s partner Planar Ornament is Fuel-inefficient, so this set is not recommended to farm specifically.

Light Cones

Before the Tutorial Mission Starts	A strong competitor for Pela’s best Light Cone. Just like on Silver Wolf, this Light Cone has excellent synergy with Pela. It helps with reaching her EHR goal, which allows for greater focus on defensive stats on her Relics.  Furthermore, this Light Cone enables quicker Ultimate rotations, see Energy Requirements for Energy Breakpoints.
Resolution Shines as Pearls of Sweat	Although this Light Cone is less consistent at lower Superimposition Ranks due to the low Base Chance of the Ensnare debuff, it is still a good option, and scales extremely well with Superimpositions. Even though the debuff only lasts for one turn, Pela can keep it on enemies with fairly good uptime, thanks to her AoE Ultimate and two-hit Basic ATK. Furthermore, the DEF Reduction from Ensnare stacks with the DEF Reduction from her own Ultimate, allowing for even more potent damage amplification, and the additional DEF Reduction can also bridge gaps when Pela’s Ultimate is down, which can improve her Talent consistency.  At S3+, and especially in teams with external sources of Energy like Huohuo, Resolution Shines as Pearls of Sweat is a better choice than Before the Tutorial Mission Starts.
Incessant Rain	Although the merits of pulling a limited Light Cone for a support character are questionable, Incessant Rain does provide decent EHR, as well as an additional damage-amplifying debuff via Aether Code’s application.  However, Aether Code is applied after attacking the enemy. If the Aether Code-applying attack is the first debuff added to the enemy, this will prevent Pela’s Talent from activating.
Patience Is All You Need	Same as Incessant Rain, pulling Patience Is All You Need just for Pela is a questionable decision, but the SPD buff is appreciated, and due to her high EHR, Pela finds it easy to apply Erode to enemies. The additional debuff is appreciated to trigger Pela’s Talent.
Eyes of the Prey	Eyes of the Prey is a solid pick if it’s your only option for her. The Effect Hit Rate allows you to run a defensive Body stat. However, the DoT buff from this Light Cone is completely wasted on Pela, which makes this just a worse Before the Tutorial Mission Starts, and other Light Cones easily outclass it.

Stats

Main Stats

Body	Boots	Sphere	Rope
EHR%/HP%/DEF%	SPD	HP%/DEF%	ERR%

Substats

Effect Hit Rate (until 57%*) ≥ SPD > HP% = DEF% > Effect RES

Effect Hit Rate

Pela’s A4 gives her a free 10% Effect Hit Rate, which lowers the amount of Effect Hit Rate necessary to guarantee her Ultimate to 57% from 67%. 

*If Pela is running Resolution Shines as Pearls of Sweat below S5, she does require some extra Effect Hit Rate to guarantee Ensnare application on every hit. Debuff-reliant units and gear appreciate consistent application of Ensnare.

The following table shows the Effect Hit Rate Pela needs to guarantee application on every hit for different Superimpositions of Resolution Shines as Pearls of Sweat.  Keep in mind that this table is for a single hit.

Superimposition		Effect Hit Rate Needed (Against 40% RES)
S1		167.7%
S2		128.1%
S3		98.3%
S4		75.2%
S5		56.7%

Tank Stats (HP, DEF, Effect RES)

Pela has no inherent survivability built into her kit, and low base stats due to being a 4★ support. For reference, Sushang, a typical Hunt damage dealer, has four HP/DEF boosts from Traces, an aggro-reducing Bonus Ability from her A2, and a lower aggro stat than Pela. This effectively means that Pela is more fragile than all damage dealers in the game, and survivability must be built on her. 

Effect RES should be considered a lower priority than HP and DEF substats, as Effect RES is not very noticeable until it reaches 40% or more, which is difficult without Effect RES traces.

However, if using Broken Keel, increasing Pela’s Effect RES to 30% should be prioritized above other tank stats.

Offensive Stats (ATK, CRIT, Ice DMG%)

Damage output is a luxury for Pela, as stacking meaningful amounts of CRIT is extremely difficult and other damage stats are low priority. Make sure that your survivability and SPD are in a comfortable spot before choosing to build damage.

Energy Requirements

Light Cone	+15 ERR Rope	2-Pc Vonwacq	Talent Level	# of Talent Procs	Rotation (Actions per Ultimate)
Any	Yes	No	5	4*	3 Basic	–
	Yes	No	9	3	3 Basic	–
	No	No	1	5*	4 Basic	–
Before the Tutorial Mission Starts S5	Yes	No	7	3	2 Basic	–
	No	No	6	3	3 Basic	–
Tutorial S5 on First MoC Turn	Yes	No	7	1	1 Technique	1 Skill

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Any Basic ATK and Talent proc pair can be replaced with one use of her Skill. For example, Pela can get her Ultimate back with three Talent procs, two Basic ATKs, and a Skill.

Sources
EdisonsMathsClub’s Energy Sheet: Various Energy Requirements (Updated for 1.2)
Aimgo’s Energy Calc for Pela: Pela Energy Calcs

Character Comparisons

Silver Wolf

Pela and Silver Wolf both share a niche as debuffers that reduce enemy DEF with universally useful effects and strong SP positivity. 

Silver Wolf’s Weakness implant allows her to enable unique team compositions and less content-optimal damage dealers at the cost of taking slightly more SP than Pela. Silver Wolf’s DEF Shred effect is greater and lasts a turn longer, but is single-target locked unlike Pela’s AoE effect. This makes Pela more prone to losing uptime on the debuff against incredibly fast enemies, especially when she does not have Before the Tutorial Mission Starts equipped. Pela’s access to buff dispel can also often be vital against certain content, and must be taken into consideration.

Although running both Silver Wolf and Pela is not as optimal as running a Harmony support instead of one, it is not a bad idea. See the Silver Wolf guide for information on running both Pela and Silver Wolf.

Notable Synergies

Due to her DEF shred’s universally useful nature and her SP positivity, Pela works with all other units. However, there are some types of units that benefit more than others. 

Damage Dealers

Due to her DEF shred’s universally useful nature and her SP positivity, Pela works with all damage dealers. However, there are some types of units that benefit more than others. 

SP-Hungry Units	Pela is very SP-Positive, which makes her especially useful on teams with units who consume large amounts of SP, like Dan Heng • Imbibitor Lunae, Qingque, or even Seele.  4-Pc Eagle of Twilight Line combined with Before the Tutorial Mission Starts on Pela will allow her to generate extra SP in this case.
Multi-Target Damage Dealers	Pela’s Ultimate applies to all enemies, which has excellent synergy with AoE characters such as Jing Yuan, Blade, and Serval, especially compared to single-target debuffers like Luka and Silver Wolf.
Other Source of DEF Reduction	DEF shred becomes more potent in larger quantities, and is also additive with the Genius set’s DEF ignore. This increases Pela’s value when paired with other sources of DEF reduction including damage dealers that can use 4-Pc Genius of Brilliant Stars, Resolution Shines like Pearls of Sweat which is essentially all of them, and/or Silver Wolf.  With many sources of DEF reduction, this may end up reducing enemy DEF to zero. This prevents any other DEF Shred from taking effect after that point. This is not an issue with Silver Wolf and Pela’s Ultimates as the only DEF reduction sources, but may become a problem with the Genius of Brilliant Stars set, Pela’s Technique, or Resolution Shines as Pearls of Sweat.
Any Unit with Effect Hit Rate Needs	Pela provides an unconditional 10% teamwide Effect Hit Rate with her A4, which automatically makes her synergize with anyone who needs Effect Hit Rate, such as Nihility units, Fire Trailblazer, and March 7th.  Notably, Pela’s A4 gives Kafka the perfect amount of Effect Hit Rate to fulfill her requirement without any additional Effect Hit Rate substats.
Any Ice-Type Damage Dealer	With E4, Pela has access to Ice RES reduction on her Skill, which is especially useful against bosses and makes Pela a great choice for any Ice team that relies on Ice damage.  However, keep in mind that the E4 RES Shred is a one-turn debuff, which is a small window to make use of, and this entire effect is gated by a higher Eidolon.

Notable Anti-Synergies

Pela has no notable anti-synergies. Her debuff is universal, and her SP-Positive playstyle means that she can easily fit into any team if a spot is available.

Teams

Standard Hypercarry

As Pela can fit into most teams as a debuffer, a hypercarry team format is an excellent choice for her.

Example Teams

F2P

Herta’s AoE Ice damage pairs well with Pela’s AoE debuffs, especially for doing damage to Ice-Weak enemies. Pela’s SP generation should allow for a high uptime on Asta’s Ultimate, as well as enabling Herta’s damage.

Kafka DoT

Pela’s Effect Hit Rate buff can helps both Kafka and Sampo with their stat requirements. Her SP positivity allows for Sampo to use his Skill indiscriminately for extra damage, and for Huohuo to use her Skill more often. 

“Mono” Ice

A highly SP-Positive team that focuses on Yanqing’s damage, and makes use of Pela’s E4 if she has it. As long as Yanqing uses his Skill every turn, SP can be very flexibly used, with Pela, Silver Wolf, and Gepard able to use their Skills at will. 

Imbibitor Lunae Hypercarry

Pela is a great SP generator, allowing Imbibitor Lunae to spam his triple enhanced Basic ATK more often. Additionally, Pela applies AoE DEF Shred, which aligns with Imbibitor Lunae’s Blast targeting. 

Blade Hypercarry

Pela’s AoE DEF Shred synergizes with Blade’s Blast and AoE attacks. Furthermore, Blade does not have many good Harmony support options due to his HP-scaling, making Pela a safe pick for a second support.

Dual Damage Dealer

Pela can benefit teams with multiple damage dealers due to how her debuffs affect all damage. This can be especially helpful if the two damage dealers have different damage scalings, such as ATK-scaling versus Break Effect-scaling.

Example Teams

F2P

An excellent pick for AoE damage with Qingque and Serval able to take advantage of Pela’s DEF Shred. As reducing DEF is one of the few ways to improve Break damage, Serval, especially if built for Toughness Breaking, greatly appreciates it. 

Jingliu-Blade Dual Carry

Both Jingliu and Blade can take advantage of Pela’s AoE DEF reduction, despite scaling off of different stats. Due to Jingliu and Blade’s low SP consumption, Lynx is able to use her Skill on Blade to increase his aggro and improve damage, and Pela may be able to use her E4’s Ice RES reduction if it is available.

Credits

Changelog

• September 26 2023 – Published for Version 1.3
• March 8 2024 – Updated for Version 2.0