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Honkai Star Rail‘s latest version is live, and one of the headlining features of the game’s huge content update is a bounty of new free-to-play Light Cones. Light Cones in Honkai Star Rail are weapons you attach to each character, increasing their base stats and providing a useful passive. For F2P players struggling to obtain some of the more valuable 5-star Light Cones, are these new free-to-play options worth investing in?
Honkai Star Rail: How To Obtain Free-To-Play Light Cones
You can obtain each free-to-play Light Cone (old and new) by going to the Memory of Chaos instance or the Pure Fiction instance. In each game mode, there will be an option to enter a “Priceless Jewels” store. Here, you can purchase several 4-star Light Cone options using the “Lucent Afterglow” currency, which you can obtain by completing the Memory of Chaos and Pure Fiction instances.
Honkai Star Rail: All New Free-To-Play Light Cones Reviewed
For the sake of this guide, all of the Light Cones analyzed will be using their maximum values. This means each Light Cone is assumed to be Level 80 and at max superimposition value.
Honkai Star Rail Abundance Light Cone: “What is Real?”
The What is Real Light Cone is on the Abundance path, the class of healers. This Light Cone increases the equipping character’s HP by 1058, ATK by 423, and DEF by 330. These stats are decent for a 4-star Light Cone, especially for a freebie. However, it is generally a worse free-to-play option compared to the Quid Pro Quo Light Cone, thanks to a niche passive.
What is Real increases the wearer’s Break Effect by 48% and restores HP for the wearer by 4% of their Max HP + 800 HP after they use their Basic ATK. None of the healers as of this writing utilize Break Effect as a stat, so this Light Cone is likely intended for a future character and is currently not a great option to invest in.
Preservation: “Destiny’s Thread Forewoven”
The Destiny’s Thread Forewoven Light Cone is on the Preservation path, a class dedicated to protecting your allies through shields or damage redirection. This Light Cone boosts the wearer’s HP by 953, ATK by 370, and DEF by 463. This one is intended for Preservation characters who can also be run as a sub-DPS character, providing some additional offensive utility.
This is thanks to the Light Cone’s passive, which increases the wearer’s Effect RES by 20%. It also increases the wearer’s DMG dealt by 1.2% for every 100 points of DEF the wearer has, up to a max of 48%. DEF-scaling Preservation units who want a little bit of damage will appreciate this Light Cone, such as Fire Trailblazer or even Fu Xuan.
Honkai Star Rail Harmony Light Cone: “Dreamville Adventure”
The Dreamville Adventure Light Cone is on the Harmony path, a class dedicated to buffing your allies. This Light Cone boosts the wearer’s HP by 952, ATK by 423, and DEF by 396. The Dreamville Adventure has a limiting passive but can work in certain teams.
The Light Cone’s passive is a bit of a doozy. After your Harmony unit uses a Basic ATK, Ultimate, or Skill, it will also buff the damage of your allies’ identical action by 20%. In other words, if your Bronya casts a Skill, all allies’ Skill DMG increases by 20%. If Bronya casts an Ultimate, all allies’ Ultimate DMG increases by 20%.
This is a fairly limiting passive, especially when characters like Tingyun, Bronya, and Yukong all utilize each aspect of their kit. It’s best to use this Light Cone on Harmony units that rely on their Skill, such as Bronya. You’ll have to carefully plan when you time your Ultimates when using this Light Cone.
The Hunt: “Final Victor”
The Final Victor Light Cone is on the Hunt path, a class dedicated to single-target damage. This Light Cone buffs the wearer’s HP by 952, ATK by 476, and DEF by 330. This Light Cone is rather interesting, as its passive can boost your wearer’s Crit DMG by a lot. However, any buffs the wearer obtains will disappear at the end of their turn.
Wearers of this Light Cone will receive an unconditional ATK buff of 20%. It will also increase the wearer’s Crit DMG by 12%, up to 4 times, after the wearer lands a Critical attack on an enemy. Characters like Dr. Ratio, who can attack frequently with his many follow-up attacks and Ultimates, can effectively max out the buff uptime of this Light Cone. Seele would be a decent choice as well.
Other Hunt characters who are unable to effectively maximize the buffs of this Light Cone should not use Final Victor, such as Dan Heng or Yanqing.
Destruction: “Flames Afar”
The Flames Afar Light Cone is on the Destruction path, and it’s a bit of a tricky Light Cone to utilize. Increasing the wearer’s HP by 1058, ATK by 476, and DEF by 264, it relies on your wearer taking heavy damage to utilize a meaty damage buff.
When using this Light Cone, the wearer will gain a 50% DMG buff if the health they consume by themselves exceeds 25% of their Max HP. Immediately, Destruction characters who do not consume their own HP, such as Clara or Physical Trailblazer, should not even consider using this Light Cone.
Instead, use this Light Cone with characters’ like Blade, who frequently drains his own HP. Future Destruction characters with a similar mechanic may also utilize this Light Cone in the future.
Nihility: “It’s Showtime”
It’s Showtime is the Nihility Light Cone, the class focused on debuffing enemies. This Light Cone boosts the wearer’s HP by 1058, ATK by 476, and DEF by 264. It’s an offensive option for DPS-focused Nihility characters, boosting pure offensive stats based on the amount of debuffs the wearer applies.
The full passive increases the wearer’s DMG dealt by 10% up to 3 times, stacking each time the wearer inflicts a debuff, lasting only 1 turn. Additionally, if the wearer’s Effect Hit Rate is greater than 80%, the wearer’s ATK will increase by 36%.
The biggest thing to consider is picking Nihility units that can apply a lot of debuffs. For instance, Silver Wolf easily applies more than three debuffs at a given moment. Other characters like Pela or Welt cannot exactly fulfill the three debuff requirements consistently. However, you can consider using this Light Cone on most Nihilty debuffers, as the ATK buff can be a great boon to adding some extra damage.
Erudition: “The Day The Cosmos Fell”
Finally, The Day The Cosmos Fell is our Erudition Light Cone, focusing on AoE damage dealers. This Light Cone increases the wearer’s HP by 953, ATK by 476, and DEF by 330. It’s a pretty decent free-to-play option, but only if the enemies you are battling have a corresponding weakness.
This Light Cone boosts the wearer’s ATK by 24% and then boosts the wearer’s Crit DMG by 40% (for 2 turns) if they attack two enemies with a corresponding weakness. In other words, if you are using Argenti, you will need to damage two enemies with a Physical weakness to proc the Crit DMG buff.
This makes the Light Cone very limiting and pretty much locks you out of using a character if you are not facing an enemy with the correct weakness. Generally, it would be better to invest in The Serious of Breakfast instead, which provides decent offensive buffs that are unconditional.
Those are all of the new Penacony free-to-play Light Cone options. Generally, these weapons do seem more niche than some of the other free-to-play Light Cones you can obtain in the game. We recommend deeply considering whether these Light Cones meet the needs of your favorite characters before investing in them.
