After the recent dashing appearance of Robin in the first part of Honkai: Star Rail‘s Version 2.2, where we finally see the culmination of Penacony’s story and unlocking a new Weekly Boss, this time around, it’s our lovable space cowboy’s turn to shine. He is none other than Boothill, a new 5-star Physical character who embraces Path of The Hunt, donning his Galaxy Ranger gear and his trusty pistol into combat.
This guide will help you create the best Boothill build in Honkai: Star Rail. That includes a closer look into his kit and how it works, Boothill’s best Traces, Relics, and Light Cones, and his team compositions for luxury and free-to-play options. Additionally, Boothill will be perfect in the super team surrounding Break Effect, since with the help of Harmony Trailblazer, Boothill’s damage can significantly increase, therefore killing his enemies faster than usual.
Looking for more Honkai: Star Rail guides and articles? You can check them out at KeenGamer with the links below:
- Honkai: Star Rail Jingliu Build Guide | Jingliu Best Light Cone, Relics, and Teams
- Honkai: Star Rail Argenti Build Guide | Argenti Best Light Cone, Relics, and Teams
- Honkai: Star Rail Dr. Ratio Build Guide | Dr. Ratio Best Light Cone, Relics, and Teams
- Honkai: Star Rail Stagnant Shadow Guide | How to Defeat Dreamjolt Troupe’s Beyond Overcooked and Sweet Gorilla in Penacony
Boothill Materials
Let’s begin this guide by examining the essential materials required for Boothill’s ascension to Level 80. Below is a comprehensive list of everything you’ll need to collect:
- 15x Tatters of Thought / 15x Fragments of Impression / 15x Shards of Desires (Memory Zone Meme Enemy Drops)
- 65x IPC Work Permit (Stagnant Shadow Drops)
- 308,000 Credits
When looking for the Memory Zone Meme series materials, the Memory Zone Meme enemies are your best chance of finding them, and you can battle these enemies in Penacony (A Child’s Dream and The Reverie (Dreamscape)). Moreover, when you try battling through Simulated Universe Worlds, you will have better consistency in finding the materials. Additionally, you can convert low-grade materials into higher grades using the Omni-Synthesizer. Last but not least, you can easily earn a steady stream of Tatters of Thought through Assignments, netting you 20 (+10) pieces each day.
Another important item for Boothill to make sure that he can reach Level 80 is the IPC Work Permit, a new Stagnant Shadow Drop that you can get after beating the latest Stagnant Shadow Boss within Penacony’s Clock Studios Theme Park. To obtain these materials, you must use 30 Trailblaze Power for each attempt, and the quality of the drops improves with increasing difficulty. The major enemy here will be the IPC’s Senior Staff: Team Leader, an enemy that will always call for backup from other IPC workers to overwhelm you.
As for Boothill’s Traces, you’ll need all three rarities of Penacony’s Path of The Hunt material (Meteoric Bullet, Destined Expiration, and Countertemporal Shot). You’ll also need to fight the newest Echo of War, Harmonious Choir – The Great Septimus, as Boothill requires the material, Lost Echo of the Shared Wish, from the weekly boss, which was introduced in Version 2.2.
Prepare for the Showdown.
Boothill’s Abilities Overview
Similar to previous characters in Honkai: Star Rail, Boothill is ready to fight any battle should you decide to bring him along as a Main DPS for your team. For the next part of this guide, we’ll examine Boothill’s Basic Attack, Skill, Talent, Technique, and Ultimate to understand the extent of his abilities.
Basic Attack: Skullcrush Spurs
Starting his kit overview, we’ll look at Boothill’s Basic Attack, Skullcrush Spurs. With this attack, Boothill deals Physical DMG equal to 50% of his ATK to a single target enemy.
However, that’s not all that Boothill can do with his Basic Attack, as after using his Skill, Skullcrush Spurs receives an enhancement. When Boothill is in this state, he will inflict Physical DMG equal to 110% of his ATK on a single target enemy. The Enhanced Basic Attack cannot recover Skill Points and can only target the enemy that is in the Standoff.
This means that just like the good ol’ cowboy he is, Boothill will trap one of the enemies after using his Skill, from which he will enter the Standoff state with that enemy for 2 turns, which gives you ample time to either try to apply Weakness Break on that said enemy or outright killing them.
Fanning the Hammer.
Skill: Sizzlin’ Tango
Moving on to his next ability comes the Sizzlin’ Tango, a dangerous Skill that Boothill utilizes to go toe-to-toe with an enemy to determine who’s the winner by trapping them in a unique state for a set of turns.
Sizzlin’ Tango forces Boothill and a single target enemy into the Standoff state. Boothill’s Basic ATK gets Enhanced, and he cannot use his Skill, lasting for 2 turn(s). This duration reduces by 1 at the start of Boothill’s every turn. The enemy target in the Standoff becomes Taunted. When this enemy target/Boothill gets attacked by the other party in the Standoff, the DMG they receive increases by 15%/15%.
After this target is defeated or becomes Weakness Broken, Boothill gains 1 stack of Pocket Trickshot, then dispels the Standoff. This Skill cannot regenerate Energy. After using this Skill, the current turn does not end.
Overall, Boothill’s attack initiations mostly come from Sizzlin’ Tango, though you should remain careful here as Boothill is not immune to any Crowd Control Effects such as Domination, Ensnare, and other things, so bringing a Sustainer/Healer such as Aventurine or Luocha remains the key of effectively using Boothill.
Sizzlin’ Tango.
Ultimate: Dust Devil’s Sunset Rodeo
After his Skill, Boothill is not done with his rodeo just yet, as his Ultimate also comes with a bang, aptly named Dust Devil’s Sunset Rodeo.
Applies Physical Weakness to a single target enemy, lasting for 2 turn(s). Deals Physical DMG equal to 240% of Boothill’s ATK to the target and delays their action by 30%.
While on paper this Ultimate seems strong, there is nothing within the ability itself to make it worthwhile to prioritize over his Basic Attack or Talent. In addition to that, Dust Devil’s Sunset Rodeo doesn’t have anything remarkable as Boothill damages an enemy, with the exception being the added function of 30% action delay, giving your team a slight edge against tougher enemies (if you target an Elite enemy with Boothill’s Ultimate).
Dust Devil’s Sunset Rodeo.
Talent: Five Peas in a Pod
Once you know how this space cowboy deals with all kinds of adversaries through his Basic Attack, Skill, and Ultimate, it’s time to take a closer look at his Talent, Five Peas in a Pod, arguably the best tool in his overall kit.
Each stack of Pocket Trickshot increases the Enhanced Basic Attack’s Toughness Reduction by 50%, stacking up to 3 time(s). If the target is Weakness Broken while the Enhanced Basic ATK is being used, based on the number of Pocket Trickshot stacks, deals Break DMG to this target equal to 35%/60%/85% of Boothill’s Physical Break DMG.
The maximum Toughness taken into account for this DMG cannot exceed 16 times the base Toughness Reduction of the Basic Attack, Skullcrush Spurs. After winning the battle, Boothill can retain Pocket Trickshot for the next battle.
Simply put, Boothill’s Talent increases his Break DMG substantially, especially when you maximize the Pocket Trickshot’s stacks, which you can gain by breaking the enemy’s Weakness or defeating them during a Standoff state. This is, once again, not trying to overstate things, is Boothill’s most important tool in the entirety of his kit.
Bounty for His Head.
Technique: 3-9x Smile
The last ability that Boothill has in his arsenal is his Technique, 3-9x Smile, which will promptly give him a better edge when the next battle starts.
After the Technique is used, when casting the Skill for the first time in the next battle, applies the same Physical Weakness to the target as the one induced by the Ultimate, lasting for 2 turn(s).
This Technique is relatively simple, but it does the job incredibly well, as Boothill can apply a Physical Weakness to an enemy when he uses Sizzlin’ Tango for the first time in a battle, giving him more avenues of incorporating that implant beside his Ultimate, and this makes his Technique a precious utility for bonus damage.
3-9x Smile.
Boothill’s Traces Breakdown
After understanding how this cheeky Galaxy Ranger does his job, it’s time to take a closer look at Boothill’s Traces. In general, all of his Traces improve both his damage and sustainability, which you can see below:
- 10% Max HP Boost (4 + 6)
- 37.3% Break Effect Boost (5.3 + 5.3 + 8 + 8 + 10.7)
- 18% ATK Boost (4 + 6 + 8)
After knowing the bonus stats that you can gain from Boothill’s Traces, it’s time to further discuss his Major Traces. At Ascension Stage 2, Boothill gains Ghost Load, an ability that will improve his CRIT Rate/CRIT DMG, by an amount equal to 10%/50% of Break Effect, up to a max increase of 30%/150%, meaning that the more Break Effect you can have on Boothill (most notably through Relics), then Boothill’s CRIT Rate/CRIT DMG gain will also improve. Therefore, focusing on the Break Effect is the key when building Boothill.
Once you get him to Ascension Stage 4, you will unlock the Major Trace Above Snakes for Boothill. While Boothill is in the Standoff, it reduces the DMG he receives from targets that are not in the Standoff by 30%. This Major Trace will solve any sustainability issues that may arrive from Boothill’s Standoff, meaning that you can be more relaxed and not worry that the cowboy will die from outside interference.
The last Major Trace for Boothill comes after you get him to Ascension Stage 6. This Trace, Point Blank, allows Boothill to regenerate his Energy. When in Standoff and gaining Pocket Trickshot, regenerates 10 Energy. It can also trigger this effect when gaining Pocket Trickshot stacks that exceed the maximum limit.
They Aren’t Ready for the Cowboy.
Boothill Abilities Priority
Once you get the gist of his arsenal and the way of doing things, it’s time to dissect Boothill’s priority of upgrading his abilities to ensure that he can be the very best Galaxy Ranger in Honkai: Star Rail.
- Five Peas in a Pod (Talent)
- Skullcrush Spurs (Basic ATK)
- Sizzlin’ Tango (Skill)
- Dust Devil’s Sunset Rodeo (Ultimate)
Suppose I can recommend something for any Boothill wanters out there. In that case, it’s that you need to immediately upgrade his Talent whenever possible, as this is the main source of Break DMG for Boothill, a Hunt character who desperately needs as much Break Effect as he can to maximize his overall damage, so getting the Talent to Level 10 will tremendously help with his damage output.
The next abilities to upgrade are his Basic Attack and Skill, both of which are interchangeable depending on which attacking avenue you prefer more. However, I wholeheartedly recommend boosting his Basic Attack first, as the main source of damage comes from there, especially when Boothill enters his Enhanced Basic Attack from Sizzlin’ Tango.
Lastly, the Ultimate becomes the lowest priority within his arsenal of abilities not because it’s weak, but because the other abilities are that much more important and game-changing for Boothill that a super strike from Dust Devil’s Sunset Rodeo can’t offset the others’ utility.
Boothill the Galaxy Ranger.
Boothill’s Eidolons
Of course, talking about Boothill won’t be complete without also discussing his Eidolons. After analyzing his arsenal of abilities in the previous parts of this guide, we will now list all of Boothill’s Eidolons in Honkai: Star Rail. Eidolons can be acquired by pulling the same character multiple times from the Event Warp. To get Boothill’s unique Eidolons, you need to have multiple copies of him from his Character Event Warp, “Dusty Trail’s Lone Star”. Here are the full list of his Eidolons, ranging from Eidolon 1 to Eidolon 6:
- Dusty Trail’s Lone Star: When the battle starts, obtains 1 stack of Pocket Trickshot. When Boothill deals DMG, ignores 16% of the enemy target’s DEF.
- Milestonemonger: When in Standoff and gaining Pocket Trickshot, recovers 1 Skill Point(s) and increases Break Effect by 30%, lasting for 2 turn(s). It can also trigger this effect when gaining Pocket Trickshot stacks that exceed the maximum limit. But cannot trigger repeatedly within one turn.
- Marble Orchard’s Guard: Ultimate Lv. +2 and Basic ATK Lv. +1.
- Cold Catch Chef: When the enemy target in the Standoff is attacked by Boothill, the DMG they receive additionally increases by 12%. When Boothill is attacked by the enemy target in the Standoff, the effect of him receiving increased DMG is offset by 12%.
- Stump Speech: Skill Lv. +2 and Talent Lv. +2.
- Crowbar Hotel’s Raccoon: When triggering the Talent’s Break DMG, additionally deals Break DMG to the target equal to 40% of the original DMG multiplier and additionally deals Break DMG to adjacent targets equal to 70% of the original DMG multiplier.
The best Eidolon that Boothill has is his E1, as this Eidolon makes all of Boothill’s attacks capable of ignoring a portion of the enemies’ DEF stat, making his overall damage significantly higher.
A Lone Ranger.
Boothill in Memory of Chaos (MoC) and Pure Fiction
After getting to know all of Boothill’s abilities, Eidolons, and Traces for building him, we will now see how well he fares against two end-game contents in Honkai: Star Rail: Memory of Chaos and Pure Fiction.
In Memory of Chaos, he is a beast incarnate thanks to the Break Effect potential that Boothill has, not to mention that the current and next batch of Memory of Chaos will heavily favor the Break Effect. With that in mind, fielding Boothill for Memory of Chaos is always worth your time, and even without the buff that can enhance Break Effect and the characters who are using them, notably Boothill and Firefly (in Version 2.3), his single-target damage remains one of the strongest in the game as of now.
As for Pure Fiction, unfortunately, Boothill is lacking here as he doesn’t have any AoE options, meaning that for a fast-paced environment like Pure Fiction, where characters who can deal AoE damage are the champions, Boothill is not the go-to DPS character to use here.
Overall, Boothill’s single-target abilities mean that he will be less useful in Pure Fiction, however, that is not the case with Memory of Chaos, as his high damage ceiling makes him a top DPS that can potentially one-shot any Elite enemies that may arrive to your way.
The Cowboy Arrives.
Boothill’s Best Light Cones in Honkai: Star Rail
Best in Slot: Sailing Towards a Second Life
For the best Boothill Light Cone, you should not look further than his Signature Light Cone, Sailing Towards a Second Life, as this Light Cone significantly improves Boothill’s damage and allows him to act faster.
At level 80, Sailing Towards a Second Life nets you 1058 HP, 582 ATK, and 463 DEF to the holder. This Light Cone has one main Ability, Rough Water, and there are many benefits to unpack here. This Light Cone increases the wearer’s Break Effect by 60%. The Break DMG dealt by the wearer ignores 20% of the target’s DEF. When the wearer’s Break Effect in battle is at 150% or greater, this Light Cone increases their SPD by 12%.
The reason why this Light Cone is so perfect for Boothill is thanks to the fact that it’s Break Effect-coded, meaning that the bonuses fit our cowboy like a pair of gloves, without sacrificing anything in the process.
Sailing Towards a Second Life Light Cone.
Best Alternatives for Boothill’s Light Cones
While it is undisputed that Sailing Towards a Second Life is Boothill’s best-in-slot Light Cone, as a Path of The Hunt character, Boothill has some backup tools in case you don’t manage to get his Signature Light Cone.
Before we dive in, it should be worth mentioning that the recommendations will be a mix of a 5-star Light Cone option paired with a more accessible 4-star Light Cone.
The best replacement Light Cones for Boothill in Honkai: Star Rail is Cruising in the Stellar Sea and Swordplay.
Cruising in the Stellar Sea Light Cone.
Light Cones Breakdown
Cruising in the Stellar Sea is a free-to-play 5-Star Light Cone that is obtainable through Herta’s Store in Simulated Universe. At level 80, it will give your characters 952 HP, 529 ATK, and 463 DEF. Its Ability, Chase, has several effects. Increases the wearer’s CRIT Rate by 8%, and increases their CRIT Rate against enemies with HP less than or equal to 50% by an extra 8%. When the wearer defeats an enemy, their ATK is increased by 20% for 2 turn(s). While not necessarily boosting Boothill’s Break Effect damage, this Light Cone still offers some solid additional overall damage for him, especially against enemies that are below the 50% HP threshold.
Moving on to the 4-Star option is the Swordplay Light Cone, a great free-to-play Path of The Hunt Light Cone that is great for Boothill, as its Ability, Answers of Their Own, provides 8% DMG dealt bonus and stacks up to 5 time(s). This effect will be dispelled when the wearer changes targets. This can pair well with Boothill’s Standoff state since that Skill kind of forces him to target one enemy at a time, and the Swordplay Light Cone needs a character who can do exactly that.
Swordplay Light Cone.
Best Relics and Planar Ornaments for Boothill
Relics are arguably the most versatile part of any Honkai: Star Rail character build, which you can try matching two combinations that you see fit for that character. Moreover, every set has its unique effects and abilities that can shift a character’s potential. For Boothill’s build, we want to give him a Relic Set and Planar Ornaments that can enhance his Break Effect numbers as many as we can, potentially reaching more than 200% Break Effect.
With that in mind, the best Relic and Planar Ornament set for Boothill is the 4-piece Thief of Shooting Meteor Relic Set and 2-piece Talia: Kingdom of Banditry Planar Ornaments.
Thief of Shooting Meteor Relic Set.
Combination Explanations
Let me explain why these two sets are the very best Relics and Planar Ornaments you can give to Boothill. Let’s begin with the Thief of Shooting Meteor Relic Set. Its effects are pretty much self-explanatory, as this Set can improve Boothill’s Break Effect by up to 32%, and additionally grants him 3 Energy Regeneration after he breaks an enemy’s Weakness.
Moving on, the Talia: Kingdom of Banditry Planar Ornament Set will increase by 16%, giving him a juicy source of Break Effect that will further enhance his Weakness Breakability. However, there’s a juicier bonus if you can reach 145 SPD with your Boothill, where he will gain another 20% Break Effect bonus that will increase his damage output greater than previously.
Talia: Kingdom of Banditry Planar Ornaments.
Boothill’s Crucial Stats
Here are the main stats we’re recommending Trailblazers should hunt for if they want to build their Boothill to be the greatest The Hunt character right now:
- Body: CRIT Rate% / CRIT DMG%
- Feet: SPD
- Planar Physical DMG Bonus
- Link Rope: Break Effect%
Meanwhile, here’s what you want to be on the lookout for in terms of Boothill’s sub-stats:
- Break Effect%
- SPD
- CRIT Rate
- CRIT DMG
Always strive for at least more than 200% Break Effect and 145 SPD for Boothill, as these two stats are crucial to allow him to deal as much damage as he can swiftly and more frequently.
Swag of a Cowboy.
Best Teams for Boothill in Honkai: Star Rail
Boothill Super Break Team
Since Boothill is a Break Effect-centric character, giving him Support characters that can help boost that Break DMG will be a tremendous help for Boothill, as he alone can’t sufficiently yield the highest desirable damage output, meaning that any Harmony character that boosts overall damage as well as giving bonus Break Effect will be highly appreciated for Boothill.
With that in mind, Boothill Super Break Team will field Boothill, Harmony Trailblazer, Ruan Mei, and Gallagher.
In this team setup, Boothill receives an extra Super Break DMG in addition to the Break DMG he inflicts, courtesy of Harmony Trailblazer. This also enhances his Break Effect, further amplifying his Break DMG.
Ruan Mei contributes additional Break Effect and other benefits such as RES PEN, and Break Efficiency, and prolongs the duration of Weakness Break on opponents, all of which Boothill can utilize. For sustainability, Gallagher is the optimal choice as he scales with the Break Effect.
Harmony Trailblazer for Boothill Super Break Team.
Boothill F2P Team
The last team for Boothill in this guide will be his free-to-play team, a team composition that mostly hosts a character who is either free at one point, or you can easily get them from either the gacha system or through Simulated Worlds (only for Herta).
After careful consideration, the Boothill F2P Team has Boothill, Trailblazer Harmony, Bronya, and Natasha/Lynx.
Bronya has the second-highest holding rate within Honkai: Star Rail, at 96.1% ownership within a 25,000 sample size, just behind Dr. Ratio who has the highest holding rate at 99.4% (the full image can be seen through the link here), I will consider her a F2P option since she is recruitable after you manage to spend 300 Standard Tickets. With that in mind, there’s another reason why Bronya takes a spot here: she can give Boothill bonus actions per turn, which will boost his Enhanced Basic Attacks tremendously.
As for the Healer, Natasha or Lynx are the suitable characters to fill the last spot, as they can sufficiently provide some useful healing for the entire team and making sure that Boothill lives for another battle.
Bronya for Boothill F2P Team.
And that’s how you can make the best build for Boothill in Honkai: Star Rail.
