Yunli Quick Guide

Updated for Version 2.4

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

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Introduction

Yunli is a 5-Star Fire Physical Destruction character in Honkai: Star Rail that breathes new life into the Counter playstyle. Yunli’s Ultimate activates a powerful Counter ability, but only if used immediately before enemy attacks, rewarding deliberate play with massive bursts of damage. This quick guide will outline Yunli’s best Light Cones, Relics, synergies, and teams.

Infographic

Design: euphorysm | Content: jas

Character Overview

Pros

• Unique playstyle that rewards reactive timing
• Strong in all three “endgame” modes (Memory of Chaos, Pure Fiction, Apocalyptic Shadow)
• Synergizes well with a wide range of existing supports
• Damage scales with enemy actions

Cons

• Loses notable damage potential without manual play
• Damage scales with enemy actions

Playstyle

Yunli has one goal: use her Ultimate immediately before an enemy action to trigger a massive Counter after the enemy attacks.

Traces

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

Trace Priority

When played properly, Yunli’s Ultimate makes up anywhere between 75% to 85% of her overall damage, so it should be leveled to 10 before any of her other abilities are leveled at all.

Her Skill is not worth leveling for damage, but it does provide significant healing, which makes it useful in some scenarios.

Damage from Yunli’s Talent is useful primarily in Pure Fiction, so it can still be worth leveling after her Ultimate is maxed.

Eidolons

Build

Light Cones

Calculations for the rankings shown here were done with Yunli using The Wind-Soaring Valorous and Inert Salsotto with KQMS-distributed substats in a team with Tingyun, Pela, and Lynx. Full calculation details can be found in jas’s Yunli Mastersheet.

Light Cone	Damage	Notes
Dance at Sunset	~122% (vs. AoE attacks) ~127–136% (with Lynx, vs. ST attacks) ~140%+ (without Lynx, vs. ST attacks)	A tremendously strong signature Light Cone. Even when the aggro increase is completely nullified, Dance at Sunset significantly outperforms other options. When Yunli faces many single-target enemy attacks, however, Dance at Sunset jumps even farther ahead of any other option, due to the significant difference in Energy generation. Lynx’s aggro increase will partially diminish the value of the aggro increase from Dance at Sunset, but not completely.
Brighter Than the Sun	~107–108% (without Lynx) ~112% (with Lynx)	Brighter Than the Sun has high Base ATK and provides strong stat boosts for Yunli, but requires her to use a Basic ATK at least once every other turn, which reduces her Energy generation as much as the 12% Energy Regeneration Rate buff increases it. Regardless, its high stats make it Yunli’s second-best option in all scenarios.
The Unreachable Side	~107%	The 24% DMG increase applies only to Yunli’s Counters, but since Counters represent ~94% of her damage, it’s effectively full uptime. The high Base HP and 18% HP increase don’t boost Yunli’s damage, but can significantly boost her survivability.
Something Irreplaceable	~106%	Effectively the same as The Unreachable Side, but with 24% ATK instead of 18% CRIT Rate. Scales slightly worse with ATK buffs.
On the Fall of an Aeon	100%	Being at the bottom of the list doesn’t mean it’s bad. Yunli stacks On the Fall of an Aeon’s 64% ATK increase quickly, and it’s still a strong option, significantly better than any other free Light Cone.

Relics

Relic Sets

Calculations for the rankings shown here were done with Yunli using Dance at Sunset and Inert Salsotto with KQMS-distributed substats in a team with Tingyun, Pela, and Lynx. Full calculation details can be found in jas’s Yunli Mastersheet.

Relic Set	Damage	Notes
4-Pc The Wind-Soaring Valorous	100%	The Wind-Soaring Valorous provides a mix of stats that boost Yunli’s Ultimate damage significantly. The 36% Ultimate DMG increase is active for the follow-up attack that triggers it, meaning “Intuit: Cull” and “Intuit: Slash” will always get the bonus.
4-Pc The Ashblazing Grand Duke	~99%	“Intuit: Cull” hits each target many times, stacking the ATK% increase from this set quite effectively. This set’s performance will decline slightly relative to other options when Yunli has large ATK buffs, like those provided by Robin or On the Fall of an Aeon.
4-Pc Champion of Streetwise Boxing	~92%	Yunli’s frequent Counters easily stack and maintain the ATK% boost from this set. This set’s performance will decline slightly relative to other options when Yunli has large ATK buffs, like those provided by On the Fall of an Aeon or Robin.
4-Pc Longevous Disciple	~92%	Yunli easily stacks and maintains the 16% CRIT Rate bonus from this set, and the 12% HP increase adds some convenient durability. If you have it, this set is generally recommended over 2-Pc combinations due to the large CRIT Rate buff and small survivability bonus.
2-Pc Combinations	~92%	Outside of 4-Pc Relic Sets, combinations of 2-Pc The Ashblazing Grand Duke with either 2-Pc Champion of Streetwise Boxing or a 2-Pc ATK-Boosting Relic Set offer Yunli the best damage available.

Planar Ornaments

Calculations for the rankings shown here were done with Yunli using Dance at Sunset and Inert Salsotto with KQMS-distributed substats in a team with Tingyun, Pela, and Lynx. Full calculation details can be found in jas’s Yunli Mastersheet.

Planar Ornament	Damage	Notes
Inert Salsotto	100%	Inert Salsotto provides strong, consistent buffs to nearly all of Yunli’s damage. Note that “Intuit: Cull” and “Intuit: Slash” do not receive the 15% DMG increase to follow-up attacks and Ultimates twice — she only gets 15%. Salsotto is generally recommended over Duran because its buffs are more frontloaded and Yunli tends to finish battles quickly.
Duran, Dynasty of Running Wolves	~100%	Duran provides a strong boost to follow-up attacks when fully stacked, but requires all 5 stacks to offer the majority of its bonuses. Additionally, since Yunli gains a whopping 100% CRIT DMG from her own Ultimate, the CRIT DMG increase from this Planar Ornament is somewhat diluted. Duran is recommended only if you have no Inert Salsotto pieces or if you are playing Yunli with other follow-up attackers, like Topaz, Jade, or Aventurine.

Stats

Body	Boots	Sphere	Rope
CRIT	ATK%	Physical DMG Boost	ATK% ≥ Energy Regeneration Rate*

Substats

CRIT > ATK%

* Usually, ATK% will be a better Link Rope main stat than Energy Regeneration Rate if Yunli receives significant Energy that doesn’t scale with Energy Regeneration Rate, like from Tingyun or Huohuo, or if enemies do not attack frequently. If enemies do attack frequently, or if the majority of Yunli’s Energy comes from her own abilities and enemy attacks, an Energy Regeneration Rate main stat often performs on par with or sometimes slightly better than ATK%. However, ATK% can still outperform Energy Regeneration Rate even in these scenarios if it helps Yunli defeat enemies in fewer Counters.

In general, an ATK% Rope is recommended in Memory of Chaos, Apocalyptic Shadow, and in teams with Tingyun or Huohuo, and an Energy Regeneration Rate Rope is recommended in Pure Fiction.

Notable Synergies

Sustains

Lynx	If Yunli does not have her signature Light Cone Dance at Sunset, the aggro increase applied by Lynx’s Skill can aid significantly with Yunli’s Energy generation. If Yunli does have her signature Light Cone, Lynx is not recommended over other options.
Huohuo	Huohuo’s Ultimate generates 48 Energy for Yunli and 26 Energy for Tingyun, boosting Yunli’s overall Energy generation so much that Huohuo outperforms Lynx even when Yunli does not have Dance at Sunset. Additionally, because Yunli’s rapid Energy generation makes it easy to control whether she is below or above 50% of her Max Energy, you can more easily manipulate the Energy-granting effect of Quid Pro Quo (if equipped on Huohuo). This is especially strong in a team with Robin.
Aventurine	Aventurine gains Blind Bet stacks from Yunli’s constant Counters, increasing his Shield generation and personal damage. Furthermore, Yunli can easily heal back any chip damage taken if Aventurine’s Shield runs out, and the guaranteed Taunt on her Ultimate makes it less likely for other allies to lose their Shields. A strong option, especially in a team with Robin.
Luocha	Luocha’s Abyss Field healing triggers when allies attack enemies. Yunli’s constant Counters trigger this healing all the time, ensuring the team is nearly always topped off. Additionally, her Counters trigger the healing exactly when it is needed — immediately after enemies attack. A very comfortable synergy.

Supports

Tingyun	Yunli is entirely dependent on her Ultimate to deal damage. Tingyun gives Yunli 50–60 Energy with her own Ultimate. Add to this Tingyun’s moderate ATK% and DMG% buffs, and Tingyun comes out as Yunli’s strongest overall support.
Limited 5-Star supports: Ruan Mei, Sparkle, Robin, Jiaoqiu	Ruan Mei, Sparkle, Robin, and Jiaoqiu all provide significant direct buffs to Yunli’s damage in slightly different ways.
Topaz	Topaz provides a 50% Vulnerability multiplier for follow-up attacks on a single enemy, and Yunli’s Counters Advance Numby’s action. Furthermore, all of Yunli’s Counters have Blast targeting, making it very likely for every Counter to trigger Numby’s Action Advance (and guaranteed when facing one or two targets). Yunli also avoids Topaz’s biggest weakness in follow-up teams: Numby’s action can’t be Advanced on its own turn, but Yunli’s Counters always happen on enemy turns, so she never fails to Advance Numby.

Notable Anti-Synergies

Aggro-Stealing Units

Clara Gepard Landau’s Choice

Yunli relies on being attacked by enemies to gain Energy quickly, so any unit that increases their own chance of being attacked (and thus decreases Yunli’s chance of being attacked) will naturally reduce Yunli’s effectiveness.

Crowd Control Characters

Welt	Yunli needs enemies to attack her, and Welt both delays enemies’ actions and reduces their SPD, directly reducing the frequency of Yunli’s Counters and Energy generation.
Freeze Units: Misha, March 7th	Frozen enemies cannot act, and thus cannot attack Yunli.

Teams

Hypercarry

Yunli has tremendous damage-dealing potential, and is most effective when all of the team’s resources are dedicated to her. Like most hypercarries, her strongest teams typically consist of one sustain and two supports.

She can also use nearly all of the strongest supports and sustains in the game, so you can mix and match whatever supports and sustains you have and probably get a decent team.

Note that since she relies so heavily on being attacked, it is ideal for Yunli to occupy one of the two middle slots of a team, because that makes it more likely for Blast attacks to hit her. The team order pictured above is typically ideal.

Example Teams

One of Yunli’s strongest teams. Huohuo’s teamwide Energy regeneration is extremely valuable for all three of her allies, and she can even equip Quid Pro Quo for more potent Energy restoration.

Sparkle and Tingyun’s strong multi-turn buffs greatly enhance Yunli’s Counters, and Luocha provides comfortable sustain for the entire team, thanks to Yunli’s constant Counters after enemy attacks.

Yunli’s most reliable 4-Star team. Lynx increases Yunli’s chance of being attacked, Tingyun generates Energy for Yunli, and Pela provides consistent AoE DEF Reduction. It’s simple, but works well.

Synergistic Follow-ups

While typically not ideal, Yunli can be placed into a team with synergistic follow-up attackers like Topaz, Aventurine, and Jade, and supported by a teamwide buffer like Robin. These teams tend to be quite expensive because they rely on multiple limited 5-Star units, but once fully assembled, they can be powerful and very satisfying to play.

As of Version 2.4, strong options for these teams are constrained to a small selection of limited 5-Star characters. The characters required for this type of team to compete with hypercarry variants and play smoothly are displayed in the image above. More team options may become available in the future, but it is not guaranteed.

Example Teams

Yunli paired with the classic follow-up core. Robin provides strong buffs to the entire team. Yunli’s Counters trigger Numby’s Action Advance. Both Yunli’s Counters and Numby’s attacks grant Aventurine Blind Bet stacks, causing Aventurine to use his follow-up attack more often. All three of these abilities generate Energy for Robin and trigger her additional damage during Concerto. The entire team has multiple layers of synergy that make it strong and smooth to play. This team should work well in every single game mode.

A Pure Fiction team. Yunli hits 3 enemies with every attack, and “Intuit: Cull” usually hits every enemy on the field. Furthermore, since Yunli Counters every time an enemy attacks her, she can potentially attack many times per turn, further enhancing her synergy with Jade. Aventurine is the ideal sustain here, but Huohuo also works well, because Yunli, Robin, and Jade all have high Max Energy.

The only drawback to this team is that you can’t use Yunli or Jade on the other side of Pure Fiction. You’ll absolutely dominate the side they’re on, though.

Credits

References

jas’s Yunli Mastersheet by jas

Changelog

• 18 August 2024 – Published for v2.4
• 24 August 2024 – Added Jiaoqiu to Notable Synergies section
• 4 September 2024 – Adjusted note in Stats section for clearer wording