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Who doesn’t like to try using powerful 5-star units? Luckily, Tides of War limited-event lets you borrow various characters to help you beat powerful bosses. There are six stages in total, each with their own rules. You can equip two buffs, which will activate as you upgrade your Grid Phase. If you want to claim all the rewards, you must utilize the best teams and buffs to beat all the stages in Honkai Star Rail‘s Tides of War event.
[Updated on April 18 – Added Stage 6]
How to Beat Tides of War in HSR
Stage 1
In the first stage of Tides of War, you can accumulate Grit Value by killing Trotters. The buffs you can select are centered around DoT, and you can also use the best DPS in the game, Acheron.
- DPS: Acheron
- Sub-DPS: Kafka and Black Swan
- Healer: Galagher
- Grit Phase 2: Fear Vulnerability
- Grit Phase 3: War of Attrition
Fear Vulnerability will debuff all enemies once you kill a Trotter. This will allow you to activate Acheron‘s Ultimate quickly. You can pick War of Attrition to increase your DoT damage, but Final Blow is also a valid option if you want to boost Ultimate’s damage.
Stage 2
In Tides of War’s second stage, you can gain Grit Value whenever your HP fluctuates. So, you should not bring any Tank into this fight. The best team you can use to beat this Tides of War stage is:
- DPS: Blade
- Sub-DPS: Jingliu
- Support: Bronya
- Healer: Luocha
- Grit Phase 2: Desperate Counter
- Grit Phase 3: Struggle Booster
Since I only pick trial characters, I put Blade and Jingliu into this team. However, feel free to use other support units on your account, such as Tingyun or Sparkle, instead of Jingliu. Blade is the best DPS for this stage since he actively loses HP with his Skill. Desperate Counter and Struggle Booster are the best buffs you can use on this level.
Stage 3
Supreme Leader is the third stage in Honkai Star Rail’s Tides of War event. You can get Grit Value when the unit on the first spot on your team setup unleashes an Ultimate.
- DPS: Imbibitor Lunae
- Support: Sparkle and Tingyun
- Healer: Huohuo
- Grit Phase 2: Respect From All
- Grit Phase 3: Hone Your Strength
Imbibitor Lunae or Argenti both work well as DPS for this stage. Just make sure that you place them on the first spot. Huohuo will be your healer, while Sparkle and Tingyun will buff your DPS. I recommend using Respect From All and Hone Your Strength to boost your Energy Regen Rate.
Stage 4
The fourth stage in Tides of War is Weakness Assault. This level focuses on Weakness Breaking, and you can get Grit Value from breaking the enemy’s Toughness or attacking stunned opponents.
- DPS: Himeko
- Support: Ruan Mei and Silver Wolf
- Healer: Lynx
- Grit Phase 2: Expose Weakness
- Grit Phase 3: Pursuer
Ruan Mei and Silver Wolf will support Himeko in breaking the enemies’ weaknesses. You may also substitute Silver Wolf with Xueyi if you want more AoE attacks. For Grid Phase buffs, you can pick Expose Weakness to remove the boss enemy’s Weakness Protection when you break any enemy’s Weakness. On the other hand, Pursuer can increase your damage to stunned opponents.
Stage 5
Overflowing Wounds is the fifth stage of Tides of War, where you can get Grit Value by defeating an enemy or dealing Overflow damage. This is the extra damage you may get when attacking an opponent who is dying. For instance, if an enemy has 1,000 HP left, but you deal 2,000 damage, you can get 1,000 Overflow damage.
Here is the best team you can use to win this Tides of War level:
- DPS: Seele
- Support: Fu Xuan, Tingyun, and Sparkle
- Grit Phase 2: Solitary Overwound
- Grit Phase 3: Final Blow
You can pick Jing Yuan or Seele as your DPS, but I recommend Seele due to her massive single-target attack. Tingyun and Sparkle will buff Seele, while Fu Xuan will keep your team alive. For Grit Phase buffs, you can select Solitary Overwound and Final Blow to boost Seele’s damage.
Stage 6
The last stage in Tides of War is Perpetual Exploits, and you can generate Grit Value by performing consecutive actions. I recommend building a follow-up attack team to increase your Grit Phase quickly.
- DPS: Dr. Ratio
- Sub-DPS: Topaz
- Tank: Aventurine
- Support: Hanya
- Grit Phase 2: Chain Motivator
- Grit Phase 3: Master Exploder
Aventurine, Dr. Ratio, and Topaz perfectly synergize with each other in a follow-up attack team. On the other hand, Hanya can be a great support due to her ability to increase Speed and generate Skill Points. Chain Motivator and Master Exploder are the best Grit Phase buffs to gain extra Grit Value from your follow-up attacks.
