Honkai: Star Rail Ruan Mei Build Guide | Ruan Mei Best Light Cones, Relics and Teams

Ruan Mei, Genius Society Member #81, has finally arrived in Honkai: Star Rail as a playable character in Version 1.6. As the game’s first Ice Harmony unit and limited 5-star Harmony character, Ruan Mei ticks a lot of boxes when it comes to powerful characters in HSR. The signature part of her kit is her focus on Weakness Break, allowing her teammates to dominate opponents by shredding their Toughness Bars with ease. However, she can do so much more than that: between raising the entire team’s DMG to permanently increasing their SPD to increasing the duration that an enemy is Broken, Ruan Mei is one of the most stacked supports in the entire game and any team would be happy to have her.

Here’s how to make the best Ruan Mei build in Honkai: Star Rail. This guide will include an in-depth breakdown of Ruan Mei’s kit, what kind of stats she relies on, what order you should prioritise levelling her Traces in, what her best Light Cones and Relic sets are and even what kind of teams you should put her in for maximum effectiveness. 

Want more Honkai: Star Rail content, including other character-build guides? Then you can find more here on KeenGamer:

1. Honkai: Star Rail Hanya Build Guide | Hanya Best Light Cones, Relics and Teams
2. Honkai: Star Rail | Simulated Universe World 4 Guide (Easy F2P Clear)
3. Honkai: Star Rail | Simulated Universe World 6 Guide (Easy F2P Clear)
4. Honkai: Star Rail | The Seven Errors of Cycranes Guide (All Missing Cycrane Locations)
5. Honkai: Star Rail | Luminflux Pyxis Day 3 Puzzle Guide

Ruan Mei Ascension Materials in HSR

If you want to bring Ruan Mei to her maximum potential and reach level 80 in Honkai: Star Rail, you’ll need to collect the following materials:

• 15x Immortal Scionette / 15x Immortal Aeroblossom / 15x Immortal Lumintwig (Enemy Material)
• 65x Gelid Chitin (Stagnant Shadow Material)
• 308k Credits

 First and foremost, you’ll need to stockpile a decent amount of the Immortal series of enemy drops for Ruan Mei. As the name suggests, the Immortal series – which consists of the Immortal Scionettes (Green), the Immortal Aeroblossoms (Blue) and the Immortal Lumintwigs (Purple) – have a chance of dropping whenever you defeat Mara-Struck enemies aboard the Xianzhou Lufou. Mara-Struck can be found roaming all across the Luofu but, if you want a reliable farm for them, repeatedly challenge Worlds 5, 6 and 7 of the Simulated Universe where these enemy types are in abundance. Additionally, if you have a surplus of low-level Immortal drops or many drops from a different Ascension material, you can transmute them into higher-tier Immortal materials at the Omnisythisizer. 

Ruan Mei’s other most important Ascension material is the Gelid Chitin, the Stagnant Shadow drop which comes from the Shape of Icicle. You’ll find this Stagnant Shadow early in the Xianzhou Luofu’s Cloudford area, with higher difficulty runs awarding you more Gelid Chitin drops. The main boss of the Shape of Icicle is an Ice Out of Space, a hulking Fragmentum monster that likes to Freeze your party after powering itself up. If you want to coast through this fight as quickly as possible, bring Fire, Wind or Quantum characters to quickly shred through the boss’ Weaknesses and Toughness. 

Lastly, while not required for levelling up Ruan Mei’s Ascension rank, you will also want to gather some other materials which will be used in levelling up her Traces. The first is the Harmony series which comes from the Bud of Harmony Crimson Calyx inside the Robot Settlement. You’ll need all three rarities – the Harmonic Tune, Ancestral Hymn and Stellaris Symphony – at various points when levelling up Ruan Mei’s Traces so get as many as you can. The other material you’ll need is the Past Evils of the Borehole Planet Disaster, a mouthful material which comes exclusively from 1.6’s newest Echo of War. 

Ever Elegant

Honkai Star Rail Ruan Mei Kit Overview

Threading Fragrance (Basic ATK)

Next, let’s go over all the major parts of Ruan Mei’s kit, starting with her Basic ATK. Threading Fragrance is a single target attack which deals deals minor Ice DMG.

Harmony characters often aren’t known for their damage capabilities, especially when it comes to their Basic Attacks, and Ruan Mei is no different. Her Basic ATK is just going to be something you use between casts of her Skill or whenever you’re out of Skill Points. Ruan Mei’s Basic ATK is weak, simple and not very synergistic with the rest of her kit and that’s okay because her buffing abilities are next level. 

Basic ATK

String Sings Slow Swirls (Skill)

Ruan Mei’s most potent ability and the one which you’ll be using most consistently is her Skill, String Sings Slow Swirls. When cast, this Skill gives Ruan Mei the Overtone buff for 3 turns, with the Overtone count reducing by one whenever it reaches Ruan Mei’s turn. While Overtone is active, all allies’ DMG increases dramatically (up to 32% at Trace level 10) as does their Weakness Break Efficiency (which goes up by 50%). 

Even if Ruan Mei’s Skill only buffed damage, it would already be a contender for one of the best Harmony abilities in the game, especially compared to other party-wide buffers like Yukong (whose buff is extremely strict and limited) or Bronya (whose party-wide buffs only come from her Ultimate). What’s even better is that, because Ruan Mei’s Skill buffs DMG instead of one singular stat like ATK or HP, it can improve the viability and lethality of any main attacker no matter which character you use or what stat they stack off.

Of course, the DMG bonus is only one part of this Skill, with the Weakness Break Efficiency boost being Ruan Mei’s signature buff. Better Weakness Break Efficiency means a much easier time dealing with enemy Toughness, allowing you to shred through enemies with ease and get off Weakness Break effects like Freeze, Imprison or Entangle at a much quicker pace. When put in the right team compositions, the combination of higher DMG and Weakness Break can be incredibly strong but, even if you’re only benefitting from one or the other, Ruan Mei earns her spot on nearly any team from this Skill alone. 

Ruan Mei’s Skill

Petals to Streams, Repose in Dream (Ultimate)

The final ability Ruan Mei can deploy directly in battle is her Ultimate, Petals to Streams, Repose in Dreams, which costs 130 Energy to use. When her Ultimate is used, Ruan Mei deploys a field that lasts for 2 turns. While the field remains, all allies’ All-Type RES PEN (Resistance Penetration) increases and their attacks apply the Thanatoplum Rebloom effect to enemies. 

Whenever an enemy attempts to recover from Weakness Break, Thanatoplum Rebloom will trigger and extend the duration of the Weakness Break, delaying the enemy’s action based on Ruan Mei’s Break Effect (20% + 10%). This will also cause the enemy to take Ice DMG. You cannot reapply Thanatoplum Rebloom to an enemy until after they’ve already recovered from Weakness Break.

Ruan Mei’s Ultimate

RES PEN is a stat which doesn’t come up much in Honkai: Star Rail but, in essence, it allows your character to deal more damage with attacks of a specific element by bypassing part of the enemy’s elemental defence. So, with that in mind, Ruan Mei’s All-Type RES PEN simply increases the damage of all allies, no matter the element, allowing them to pierce the defences of any target. Pair that with the various buffs she provides from her Skill and Ruan Mei can quickly turn your entire team into an absurd force of nature against any enemy. 

The second part of her Ultimate – the Thanatoplum Rebloom effect – is a nice bonus to Weakness Breaks, allowing you to take advantage of an opponent’s weakened state for far longer, especially if you’re using Ruan Mei alongside DPS who can inflict things like Freeze or Entangle. However, because it only triggers on Weakness Break, it can be difficult to feel the full effects of it, especially against particularly tanky targets with high Toughness (such as most bosses). In those situations, the buffs from her Skill or even just the RES PEN are going to feel a lot more impactful.

Thanatoplum Rebloom Effect

Somatypical Helix (Talent)

Somatypical Helix is the lengthy title of Ruan Mei’s Talent which is, surprisingly, another core aspect of her kit and buffing potential. This ability increases the SPD of all characters in the party (excluding Ruan Mei herself) and causes Ruan Mei to deal with additional Ice Break DMG whenever an ally Weakness Breaks an opponent. 

At this point, it should be clear that Ruan Mei’s kit is a smorgasbord of different buffs and effects, capable of improving DMG, Weakness Break Efficiency, RES PEN for all elemental types and, now, even SPD. That SPD buff can go as high as 10% at Trace level 10, permanently improving your whole team’s viability and power without Ruan Mei having to lift a single finger: her SPD buff is essentially completely free, a rarity when it comes to Harmony units. 

As for the extra damage, it’s a nice way for Ruan Mei to contribute to the overall damage output of the team without sacrificing her main signature stat or playstyle. Weakness Break is the name of the game when it comes to Genius Society #81 and her Talent is just another way of pushing you towards a playstyle which prioritises consistently Breaking Weakness over anything else. It likely won’t be a massive chunk of damage or even be very noticeable in moment-to-moment gameplay but every little helps, especially if you’re already getting a ton of benefits one way or the other.

Beautiful Melody

Silken Serenade (Technique)

Lastly, we have Ruan Mei’s overworld Technique, Silken Serenade. For one Technique Point, Ruan Mei will gain the Silken Serenade buff which will automatically trigger her Skill – Strings Sings Slow Swirls – once without spending any Skill Points. Additionally, if used within the Simulated Universe, attacking an opponent will always count as attacking their Weakness, reducing their Toughness no matter their elemental type, and you’ll gain additional Weakness Break damage based on how many Blessings are in your possession. 

In terms of Techniques, Ruan Mei’s is, unsurprisingly, excellent. A free DMG and Weakness Break as soon as you start the battle is already superb but the sheer amount of bonuses this Technique provides you in Simulated Universe is absurd. Simply put, expect Ruan Mei to take up a near-permanent spot in most of your Simulated Universe teams from now on. 

Ruan Mei’s Technique

Ruan Mei’s Traces

A character’s Trace Tree is a vital part of their playstyle in Honkai: Star Rail as it is responsible for a number of their most impactful passive abilities as well as increases their most important stats. When it comes to Ruan Mei, her Traces improve her survivability, Weakness Break capabilities and the overall consistency and power of her buffing abilities. 

Before we dive into her Major Traces, though, let’s first go over the three main stats which Ruan Mei’s Minor Traces will increase:

• 32% Break Enhance (Break Effect) 
• 22.5% DEF
• 5 SPD

Trace Tree

When it comes to Ruan Mei”s Major Traces, her first is Inert Respiration, which you can unlock once Ruan Mei hits Character Ascension 2. This simply increases the Break Effect of all allies, including herself, by 20%. More Break Effect means higher damage on Weakness Break but it also improves Ruan Mei’s buffing capabilities (as you’ll soon see). This Trace is simple, effective and straightforward, befitting a member of the Genius Society. 

Next on the chopping block is Ruan Mei’s Ascension 4 Trace, Days Wane, Thoughts Wax. This causes Ruan Mei to regenerate 5 Energy at the start of her turn. Once again, the benefits and effects of this Trace are very straightforward: easier Energy gains mean more consistent Ultimates which means higher uptime on the buffs provided by her Ultimate’s field which results in enemies dying at a much faster pace. 

Finally, there’s Ruan Mei’s Character Ascension 6 Trace which is Candle Lights on Still Waters. While in battle, for every 10% of Ruan Mei’s Break Effect which exceeds 120%, her Skill will increase her allies’ DMG by an additional 6%. This bonus can go up to 36% (or 180% Break Effect). This is where you can weaponise Ruan Mei’s Weakness Break, turning one of the best buffs in the game into something even better: at Trace level 10 with as much Weakness Break as you can get, you’re looking at a 68% DMG Boost for the whole team for 3 whole rounds. That’s just absurd. 

In short, Ruan Mei’s Traces are all relatively simple, either improving her consistency or power, but each still manages to provide her with a huge boost in potential. The best part about them is that they directly increase her support potential, allowing her to double down on her focus on Weakness Breaks without sacrificing the power of any of her buffs. In doing so, Ruan Mei can become ridiculously strong as both a Harmony support and as a Freeze Breaker.

Learning the Truth of Life

Ruan Mei Trace Priority in Honkai Star Rail

1. String Sings Slow Swirls (Skill)
2. Somatypical Helix (Talent)
3. Petals to Streams, Repose in Dreams (Ultimate)
4. Threading Fragrance (Basic ATK)

With a suite of abilities as varied and powerful as Ruan Mei’s, it can be hard to narrow down which ones to focus on first when it comes to levelling her Traces. To be honest, each has a different value and you could theoretically argue that either her Skill, Ultimate or Talent should come in first place simply because of how powerful they are individually. However, if we’re looking at most Ruan Mei builds and team compositions, her Skill just edges out her Talent and Ultimate regarding Trace priority. 

Simply put, Ruan Mei’s Skill is her most reliable and consistent buff. Both the DMG Bonus and Weakness Break Efficiency are incredibly powerful, serving to embolden and heighten the power of everyone on the team, no matter what kind of stats or bonuses they stack off. The more you invest and level String Sings Slow Swirls the higher the DMG Bonus will be (the Weakness Break Efficiency is always 50%, no matter the Trace level). 

Fighting for second place are Ruan Mei’s Talent and Ultimate. When it comes to her Talent, better investment means a higher permanent SPD bonus to all party members as well as higher damage on ally Weakness Breaks. Meanwhile, for her Ultimate, a higher level means a longer Weakness Break with a better action delay as well as a more potent RES PEN increase. Both are supremely powerful but her Talent wins out in most situations simply due to the fact that both effects are always active whereas her Ultimate requires Energy (and a lot of it) to cast. Neither is bad, though, and you should invest heavily into both if you want your Ruan Mei build to shine in Honkai Star Rail.

Then last, and certainly least, is Threading Fragrance, Ruan Mei’s Basic ATK. The only time this attack should see any use is when you don’t need to refresh her Skill or can’t refresh it due to a lack of Skill Points or when you can get off an easy Weakness Break. As such, investing in it over any of her other abilities will just be a massive waste: do not invest heavily into Ruan Mei’s Basic ATK until her Skill, Ultimate and Talent are all at a decent level otherwise, you’re just handicapping yourself. 

Ruan Mei, Genius Society #81

Ruan Mei’s Eidolons in Honkai Star Rail

Next, let’s quickly go over all of Ruan Mei’s Eidolons and what they do. If you happen to pull a duplicate character in Honkai Star Rail, you’ll receive their Eidolon which allows you to unlock one of six unique bonuses. These effects range from enhancing the effects already baked into a unit’s kit to granting them a completely new ability to increase the level of their Traces past normal means. In some cases, a character’s Eidolons can completely change how they play or improve their viability so considerably that it’s hard to imagine them without those Eidolon effects.

If you want to get your hand on Ruan Mei’s Eidolons, you’ll need to make sure that you pull on her Character Event Warp. As a Limited 5-star unit, Ruan Mei can only be summoned while she’s on the Event Warp as she isn’t going to be joining the Standard 5-star pool once her banner ends. 

1. Neuronic Embroidery: While the Ultimate’s field is deployed, the DMG dealt by all allies ignores 20% of the target’s DEF.
2. Reedside Promenade: With Ruan Mei on the field, all allies increase their ATK by 40% when dealing DMG to enemies with Weakness Break.
3. Viridescent Pirouette: Ultimate Lv. +2 and Talent Lv. +2.
4. Chatoyant Eclat: When an enemy target’s Weakness is Broken, Ruan Mei’s Break Effect increases by 100% for 3 turns
5. Languid Barrette: Basic ATK Lv. + 1 and Skill Lv. +2. 
6. Sash Cascade: Extends the duration of the Ultimate’s field by 1 turn. The Talent’s Break DMG multiplier additionally increases by 200%.

Ruan Mei’s E1 is a nice boost to her damage potential, allowing you to turn her Ultimate into a direct DEF dampener in conjunction with its other effects. Additionally, her E2 lets you capitalise on Weakness Break in a new way, improving your damage for the duration of a Weakness Break instead of just relying on the Break damage itself, whereas her E6 is a superb quality of life improvement to her Ultimate. 

For the Sake of Science

Best Light Cones for Ruan Mei in Honkai Star Rail

Ruan Mei’s Best in Slot Light Cone: Past Self in Mirror

If you’re looking to spoil your newly acquired Ruan Mei and want her to operate at peak effectiveness, you’ll want to pick up her best in slot Light Cone. Without question, Ruan Mei’s best Light Cone is Past Self in Mirror, her signature 5-star Harmony Light Cone. As a Light Cone built with Ruan Mei’s kit and suite of abilities in mind, Past Self in Mirror is going to be the perfect partner for Genius Society #81, improving her viability and buffing potential considerably. If you want to snag this LC for yourself, pull on the Brilliant Fixation Light Cone Event Warp while Ruan Mei’s Character Warp is still ongoing. 

At level 80, Past Self in Mirror will improve the wearer’s HP by 1058, ATK by 529, and DEF by 529 along with granting them access to The Plum Fragrance in My Bone skill. First and foremost, this improves the wearer’s Weakness Break by 60% which is a gigantic boost. Secondly, whenever the wearer uses their Ultimate, increases all allies’ DMG by 24%, lasting for 3 turns and, if the wearer’s Break Effect exceeds or equals 150%, they will also regenerate a Skill Point. Finally, if that wasn’t enough, at the start of each wave, all allies will regenerate 10 Energy. 

Just like with Ruan Mei’s kit itself, this Light Cone is stacked with effects, providing four different buffs at once on top of some monstrous ATK and DEF stat increases. The extra Break Effect will ensure that you can hit the 120% and 150% thresholds required for her A6 Trace and the Skill Point regeneration effect without much issue, allowing you to focus on other more important stats on Ruan Mei’s Relics. Meanwhile, this Light Cone’s most beneficial effect is that it essentially turns Ruan Mei’s Ultimate into another cast of her Skill, one which can stack with the DMG Boost from said Skill. And that’s without mentioning the extra Energy Regeneration, either. 

It may have taken us a while to get a second 5-star Harmony character and 5-star Harmony Light Cone but Ruan Mei’s signature LC doesn’t disappoint. The sheer amount of buffs, effects and bonuses this Light Cone provides on top of Ruan Mei’s already stacked and buff-heavy kit will allow Ruan Mei to rise to the top of the Harmony hierarchy. If you want to take the world by storm and are willing to spend some Jade to do so, do not miss out on Ruan Mei’s Light Cone. 

Past Self in Mirror, Ruan Mei’s BiS

Best Replacement Light Cones for Ruan Mei

If you happen to be one of those Trailblazers who’s lucky enough to get Ruan Mei but not lucky enough to get her Light Cone, don’t fret. Even though Past Self in Mirror is undoubtedly her best Harmony LC, there are plenty of replacement options which you can use to fill the void, especially because Harmony has one of the most versatile and powerful line-ups of Light Cones in the whole game. 

Before we proceed, though, it is worth mentioning that all recommendations will be 4-star in rarity. Even though there is only one other 5-star Harmony Light Cone as of Ruan Mei’s release, it’s important to showcase the power and potential of the game’s list of 4-star options for F2P players or low-spenders. However, if you’re lucky enough to come into any 5-star Harmony LCs in the future, be sure to give them a go on Ruan Mei as they tend to have more potent effects and higher stat packages. 

With that out of the way, the best 4-star Harmony Light Cones for Ruan Mei in Honkai: Star Rail includes Memories of the Past, Past and Future, and Carve the Moon, Weave the Clouds. 

Memories of the Past

The first recommendation on our list is Memories of the Past, a Light Cone you can obtain from Warping. When it comes to Harmony LCs, this is probably the best fit for Ruan Mei after her signature Light Cone. At level 80, it will provide the wearer with 952 HP, 423 ATK and 396 DEF as well as the Old Photo ability. This will increase the wielder’s Break Effect by 28% and regenerate 4 Energy whenever the wearer attacks an opponent. While Ruan Mei won’t be doing a lot of damage with her kit, the long duration of her Skill means that her Basic ATK will be used fairly often, allowing you to generate a constant stream of additional Energy. Additionally, that extra Break Effect will really help push her above that 120% threshold from her A6 Trace.

After that is Past and Future, the F2P Harmony Light Cone you can acquire from completing an Echo of War or from the Forgotten Memory Shop. At level 80, Past and Future will give 952 HP, 423 ATK and 396 DEF.  It will also grant the wearer the Kites From the Past ability which increases the DMG of the next unit taking action after the wearer uses their Skill. Ruan Mei’s Skill already boosts the DMG of the whole team so this LC just doubles down on that by allowing her to skyrocket the damage of a single ally. You do have to be aware of SPD and team order when using this Light Cone but if you get it right, your enemies will be in for a world of pain. 

Lastly, Carve the Moon, Weave the Clouds is the Harmony Light Cone you can choose from hitting level 30 on the Nameless Honor and it is one of the best Light Cones in all of Honkai Star Rail. At level 80, it gives 952 HP, 476 ATK and 330 DEF. The Secret ability acts similarly to the Widsith from Genshin Impact, randomly applying one of the following effects whenever it reaches the wearer’s turn: all allies’ ATK increased by 10%, all allies” CRIT DMG increased by 10% or all allies’ Energy Regeneration Rate increases by 6%. Instead of doubling down on any already existing part of Ruan Mei’s kit, this LC simply gives her even more buffs to work with and hand out. 

Carve the Moon, Weave the Clouds

Honkai Star Rail Ruan Mei’s Best Relic and Planar Ornament Sets

Outside of team and Light Cone choice, Relic and Planar Ornament selection are arguably the most important part of building a character in HSR. Knowing which sets work on each character and what kind of effects they will benefit from is a massive part of refining your build – an HP scaling character won’t get very far if you slap an ATK-raising Relic set on them, for example. When it comes to Ruan Mei’s build, you want your Relics to raise Break Effect first and foremost, with other key stats being SPD or Energy Recharge. 

The first option you have for Ruan Mei’s Relics in Honkai Star Rail is to go full 4-piece Thief of Shooting Meteor, which is the Break Effect set, alongside 2-piece Talia: Kingdom of Banditry. When in effect, this Relic set will give Ruan Mei 32% extra Break Effect (16% from the 2-piece and another 16% from the 4-piece) and allow her to regenerate 3 Energy every time she Weakness Breaks an enemy. Meanwhile, from the Planar Ornament set, Ruan Mei will get another 16% Break Effect which increases by an extra 20% if her SPD reaches 145 or higher. 

The main draw of this Relic combination is the sheer amount of Break Effect Ruan Mei will receive. All in all, at baseline, she will be getting 48% additional Break Effect without factoring in her Light Cone, Minor Traces or sub stats. That’s absurd, especially when Ruan Mei can turn that Break Effect into an even more potent buff thanks to her A6 Trace. Additionally, the ability to generate more Energy on a Weakness Break allows you to play a bit more proactive with Ruan Mei whereas the 145 SPD shouldn’t be too hard to hit, either, as you’ll always want your Harmony character to have as much SPD as possible. In short, this Relic and Ornament combination is simply the best for enhancing Ruan Mei’s already existing.

Ruan Mei’s Best Relics

On the other hand, if you want something a bit different but still beneficial to Ruan Mei’s support playstyle, choose 2-piece Thief of Shooting Meteor and pair it with 2-piece Messenger Traversing Hackerspace while sticking with 2-piece Talia. This will retain the 16% extra Break Effect from Meteor but give Ruan Mei 6% more SPD, as well. This will let you hit that 145 SPD threshold on Talia much easier, giving you 20% additional Break Effect while benefitting from a massive bump in SPD. 

Honestly, both of these sets work well and your choice of which will largely depend on what kind of substats you roll. I you already have a bunch of SPD substats, you likely won’t need Hackerspace as much and can go all in on Break Effect. Meanwhile, players who need a bit more SPD may lean more towards Hackerspace to get them the extra bit they need. 

Path of Jabbing Punch

Most Important Main Stats and Substats for Ruan Mei

Obviously, choosing which Relic set you’re going to use is only the first step. The next one is getting the right main and substats on those pieces. Beginning with the main stats, the massive bonuses these stats provide do a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to carving out your character’s role and playstyle. Here are the main stats you need to be on the lookout for when it comes to Ruan Mei’s Relics and Planar Ornaments: 

• Body: ATK% 
• Feet: SPD
• Planar Sphere: ATK% / Ice DMG Bonus
• Link Rope: Break Effect

Second to main stats are substats. While they are a lot to get, the bonuses these smaller stats provide can quickly snowball into quite the integral part of a character’s build, especially if they’re relying on a certain stat like Ruan Mei does with Break Effect. With that in mind, here are the four most important substats for Ruan Mei as well as the order you should prioritise getting them in: 

1. Break Effect
2. SPD
3. Energy Recharge
4. ATK

Whatever It Takes

Best Teams for Ruan Mei in Honkai Star Rail

Premium Ice Ruan Mei Team

When thinking about possible team compositions for Ruan Mei in HSR, you want to come up with a team which lets her shine. While she can work in practically any team with any main DPS, she works best in teams which focus on Weakness Breaking opponents. When paired with certain units and team members, Ruan Mei can turn anybody into a Toughness shredding machine. 

The first premium Ruan Mei team in Honkai Star Rail consist of Silver Wolf, Jingliu and Lynx and will be largely focused on shredding enemy Toughness as quickly as possible. 

The most important character in this team, aside from Ruan Mei, is Silver Wolf, everyone’s favourite Stellaron Hunter hacker. Ruan Mei and Silver Wolf have great synergy largely thanks to SW’s ability to implant enemies with the Weaknesses of her allies: one big downside of having a character focused on Weakness Break is that they aren’t very effective if you aren’t, you know, Breaking anyone. Silver Wolf eliminates that possibility, especially in a team comprised of only two elements, allowing you to always hit for Weakness with at least two of your characters. She’s also just an excellent debuffer capable of lowering ATK, DEF and even SPD with her Talent. 

Silver Wolf, Hacker Extraordinaire

Next is Jingliu, our main damage dealer. Honestly, there isn’t much to really discuss here other than the fact that Jingliu, as an Ice main DPS, plays into the team’s strengths very well. By matching the Ice element with Ruan Mei, Silver Wolf will have a 50% chance of implanting Ice into any enemy she uses her Skill on, allowing Jingliu to tear through enemies with ease. Additionally, Ruan Mei’s DMG and SPD buffs are beneficial to any main damage dealer and Jingliu is no exception. However, you do have to be wary of the health-draining effect of the Spectral Transmigration state as it can land you in some real trouble if you don’t keep an eye on it. If you’d prefer a less volatile but slightly less effective Ice DPS, you can sub out Jingliu for Yanqing who also works very well in this team. 

To that effect, we have Lynx, our team’s healer. As the game’s only Quantum Abundance character, Lynx not only solves the problem of Jingliu’s health draining but also plays into Silver Wolf’s Skill by being a second Quantum character, giving her a 50/50 chance of implanting either Ice or Quantum with each Skill cast. Aside from that, Lynx’s kit allows her to direct attention away from the team’s squishier characters – namely Ruan Mei or Silver Wolf – using her Skill’s taunt effect while having solid amounts of healing to keep the entire team alive and well. 

Premium Double Ice Ruan Mei Team

Premium DoT Ruan Mei Team

Another big bonus for Ruan Mei’s kit is that she can work well alongside any main damage dealer, even those who usually struggle to pair with other supports. Because she buffs DMG rather than one individual stat, Ruan Mei can work well with DPS who scale off of weird stats like HP or, for this team example, damage-over-time units. In fact, running Ruan Mei in a DoT team works exceptionally well, especially if you have the right main DPS. 

If you’d like to use Ruan Mei on a team focused on damage-over-time effects in Honkai: Star Rail, run her alongside Kafka, Huohuo, and either Guinaifen or Sampo. 

Starting with the star of this team, we have the sly Stellaron Hunter, Kafka. Compared to most other damage dealers in HSR, DoT characters like Kafka are difficult in that they cannot benefit from CRIT DMG or CRIT Rate effects (because DoT debuffs cannot Crit), effectively cutting out a lot of potential supports such as Bronya or Yukong. Enter Ruan Mei who can raise Kafka’s overall DMG output, her SPD and especially her Weakness Break. More DMG means Kafka hits harder with both her abilities and her Shock, higher SPD means that Kafka can attack multiple times allowing her to detonate her DoT using her Skill more often and higher Weakness Break means more a effective Shock when Breaking a Lightning Weak opponent. Ruan Mei is a perfect compliment to Kafka and one of her best supports bar none. 

Stellaron Hunter Kafka

Following on from Kafka is Huohuo, the team’s healer and pseudo-support. Huohuo’s healing is very viable and very potent, able to heal and even cleanse when it isn’t Huohuo’s turn. This is already reason enough to have her on a team but her ability to regenerate massive amounts of Energy for the whole team with her Ultimate is even better. Kafka’s Ultimate is a super powerful attack which hits the entire field whereas Ruan Mei’s Ultimate is just a cocktail of various buffs so Huohuo’s ability to let them get their Ultimates back faster is a godsent and one of the main reasons why she belongs here over any other healer or sustain.

Last but not least we have either Guinaifen or Sampo but, honestly, you can slot in any DoT-focused Nihility character here. Kafka works best alongside another DoT unit as her Skill can detonate Shock, Wind Shear, Burn or Bleed, allowing her to deal far more damage. As such, your choice of a fourth team member is largely down to personal preference: do you prefer Guinaifen’s pure damage and the ability to debuff enemies with Firekiss or do you want Sampo to increase the damage of all DoT effects with his Ultimate? The choice is up to you. 

Premium DoT Ruan Mei Team

F2P Ruan Mei Team

Lastly, let’s go over a completely free-to-play team for Ruan Mei. Whether you’re a new player or someone who just doesn’t have a lot of premium units, there are plenty of Trailblazers who won’t have heavy-hitting 5-stars like Jingliu or Kafka. Well, fortunately, there are a lot of great replacement 4-stars who work equally as well with Ruan Mei, including those who you can earn for free. 

The best F2P team for Ruan Mei in Honkai Star Rail includes Dan Heng, Natasha and Asta. 

First up is Dan Heng, our team’s main DPS. It’s actually quite amusing how much of Dan Heng’s kit aligns with Ruan Mei’s: he’s reliant on having high SPD and can even increase his own SPD, his Talent gives him native Wind RES PEN which can synergy well with the All-Type RES PEN from Ruan Mei’s Ultimate and, as a main attacker, he’ll be relishing in the huge DMG bonuses she provides him with. Dan Heng just works perfectly with almost everything Ruan Mei has to offer and he’ll be an excellent workhorse on the battlefield. 

Quiet and Simple Dan Heng

Second to Dan Heng is Asta, a fellow Harmony character who will serve as another buffer and sub-DPS. Asta’s Talent lets her quickly and efficiently build up a teamwide ATK buff which will be beneficial in boosting Dan Heng’s already impressive damage numbers whereas her Ultimate can boost the team’s SPD to ensure that they’re always attacking first. On the offensive front, Asta’s multi-hit Skill makes her a superb Breaker against Fire Weak enemies, something she’ll only get better at thanks to Ruan Mei’s Weakness Break Efficiency increase. Like Dan Heng, Asta just works superbly alongside Ruan Mei’s suite of buffs and bonuses. 

Finally, we have Natasha, the staple healer of most F2P teams. Whether she’s healing with her Skill or Ultimate, cleansing team members of their ills and debuffs or simply serving as a Skill Point battery so that Dan Heng and Asta can continue spamming their abilities to their heart’s content, Natasha works beautifully in this team and will be key in keeping every member of the team alive and well. 

Best F2P Ruan Mei Team

That was how to make the best Ruan Mei build in Honkai: Star Rail.