In Honkai: Star Rail, Ruan Mei is a 5-star character with an Ice fighting type and belongs to the Harmony path. In a squad, she can serve as a support, buffing allies. In this guide you can learn about her best builds, light cones and relics. We will also tell you about the most optimal commands with it
Note: The Genius Society scientist has not yet officially emerged, so the data presented here is based on information obtained through beta testing. If necessary, we will update the guide when the heroine appears in the game.
Main features of Ruan Mei
How to get Ruan Mei
This heroine can only be obtained during the event Jump . In the near future, this banner will be launched as part of the first phase of patch 1.6. If you want to be one of the first to know about her next rerun, we advise you to bookmark this article.
We add that HoYoverse has never given 5-star characters for completing various events, so you can only unlock the brilliant scientist with the help of Jumps.
Progression of Ruan Mei's characteristics
In the table below you can see how the heroine's basic parameters change as her level increases.
| Level | Attack Power | Defense | HP | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 90 | 66 | 148 | 104 |
| 20< /td> | 175 | 129 | 288 | 104 |
| 40 | 337 | 248 | 554 | 104 |
| 60 | 498 | 366 | 821 | 104 |
| 80 | 660 | 485 | 1087 | 104 |
Note that her critical damage, critical hit chance and taunt are 50%, 5% and 100 units respectively at any level, and her energy reserve is 130 units.
Advantages and disadvantages of Ruan Mei
< p>Thanks to her unique abilities, she can buff her allies, enhancing their attack capabilities. Her advantages also include:
- She has a fairly high base attack power for the Harmony character, which allows her to inflict good ice damage (for support) to enemies with regular attacks, which she will use quite often.< /li>
- Capable of passively inflicting damage when allies break through enemy vulnerabilities or when opponents try to restore their stamina. The amount of damage depends not on the strength of the heroine’s attack, but on the penetration effect. This brings her a little closer to the role of a sub-DD.
- An extremely versatile buffer, as it is capable of directly increasing all damage dealt by allies and their speed without any additional conditions. It can further increase damage with the help of the Trace, but with certain requirements (more details in the disadvantages).
- Significantly buffs the effectiveness of breaking through the vulnerability of allies, allowing them to keep enemies in a broken state for almost the entire cycle (they will not be able to attack you ), and we remind you that without resistance, mobs’ resistance to all types of damage drops by 10%. In addition, this reveals the mechanics of breaking through vulnerabilities in a new way, allowing you to build new battle tactics around it (more details in the section on how to play Ruan Mei).
- It is quite easy to assemble, since you will not need to spend your energy on pumping up many characteristics, trying to perfectly balance them – it will be enough to increase the penetration effect, energy recovery and speed for a confident buff to your allies. In addition, the penetration effect and speed are increased by traces.
- It can perfectly fulfill its main role without opening eidolons and purchasing signature weapons, which F2P players will certainly like. At the same time, unlocking eidolons is not a waste of time and resources, as it enhances the positive aspects of the heroine and allows you to give her additional capabilities on the battlefield.
- Saves and generates new skill points for the team, since her abilities can last several moves.
It is highly advisable to take it into the Virtual Universe, as it allows you to inflict significant damage on enemies and break through their vulnerabilities at the very beginning of the battle.
However, this researcher still cannot be called ideal, since she also has her drawbacks, namely:
- Damage from regular attacks and passives, while not bad for a support, is not high enough for Ruan Mei to be considered a full-fledged sub-detailer. You can make a damage dealer out of her only by opening the fourth and sixth Eidolons, so it will be inaccessible to many players.
- The basic indicators of defense and health leave much to be desired, which negatively affects its survivability, so you will have to take care of having a good shieldman/healer in your team or try to increase its HP and defense with secondary stats from relics.
- The duration of the buffs depends on the number of turns of Ruan Mei, that is, if she manages to walk twice in a cycle, the bonus from her ult will immediately disappear. It is advisable that she does not do this before the damage dealers. This leads to the need to properly balance the speed so that it is not too high or low.
- The high cost of the superpower (130 units) makes the heroine very demanding in terms of energy recovery. You will have to sacrifice the connecting rope by taking it to the VE.
- To get the maximum increase in damage from the “Candlelights on the surface of the water” trail, you will have to increase the penetration effect to at least 180%, which can be very problematic when lack of necessary cones.
- It fully reveals its potential only if the player has a larger roster of characters, when he can choose between damage dealers of different elements to receive various bonuses from breaking through vulnerabilities (more details below).
Ruan Mei's abilities
When using the basic attack “Orchid Needle”, it deals ice damage to the enemy equal to 50~130% of its attack power. At the same time, it restores 20 units of energy and penetrates 30 units of durability.
Explanation: Standard nothing unremarkable hits. Except that she does a little more damage than other Harmony characters due to her increased attack power.
After using the “Repetitive Melody of Singing Strings” skill, she receives the Overtone status for three turns. Its duration is reduced by one turn at the beginning of each heroine's action. While she has this buff, all allies' damage increases by 16-40%, and their vulnerability penetration efficiency increases by 50%.
Explanation: Gives a net damage boost that will be useful for absolutely any damage dealer. Plus, squad members will be able to break through enemies' defenses much faster, stripping them of their defenses, preventing them from attacking back, and increasing the damage they take. It is advisable to have two DDs in the team, and not one hypercarry with a bunch of supports, so that the largest number of characters can take full advantage of the buff.
Using the super ability “Petals on the water, rest in a dream”, it causes a Magic Circle for two a turn, the duration of which is reduced by one turn at the beginning of each heroine’s action. While it is in effect, allies' penetration of all types of resistance increases by 15-30%. Allied hits apply the Blooming Plum debuff to the enemy.
This effect is triggered when an enemy tries to restore their fortitude – it prolongs his state of broken vulnerability and delays the action by an amount equal to 20% of the heroine’s broken effect + 10%. In addition, he inflicts penetration damage, the amount of which is equal to 30-60% of the damage of Ruan Mei's ice penetration. Mobs without toughness cannot re-get Blooming Plum.
Explanation: Team members will be able to deal even more damage to enemies, as their defense will be reduced. For example, if a boss has 60% resistance to ice, then when the Magic Circle is active, this parameter will decrease to 30%, and, therefore, ice characters will be able to hit him more painfully.
Opponents will also be given a debuff that will prevent them from regaining their toughness for another turn and will delay their action, leaving them vulnerable to attacks. In addition, Ruan Mei passively deals damage to these targets. When fighting enemies with Ice Vulnerability, it will be possible to keep them Frozen for almost the entire fight.
As for the heroine’s passive talent – “Somatotypic Spiral”, it increases the speed of all allies by 8-11%. When party members penetrate an enemy's vulnerability, the heroine deals additional penetration damage equal to 60-150% of her ice penetration damage.
It is also impossible not to mention the “Silk Serenade” technique, the use of which allows you to obtain the status of the same name. When the battle begins, the heroine automatically activates her skill without spending skill points.
In addition, in the Virtual Universe, when activating a technique in the event of an attack by any enemy ally, the opponents' resistance will decrease, regardless of the type of their vulnerabilities. If resistance is broken, an effect occurs corresponding to the element of the attacking character, that is, a physical hero will inflict Bleeding, a wind hero will cause Weathering, and so on. Moreover, each blessing increases penetration damage by 100%. After fortitude is destroyed, he receives additional pierce damage equal to 100% of Ruan Mei's ice pierce damage.
Traces of Ruan Mei
In addition to the above abilities, the heroine’s leveling tree also includes other enhancements that provide passive bonuses or permanent increases to characteristics. They mainly increase its penetration effect, defense and speed. You can see all the tracks in the pictures below.
Eidolons of Ruan Mei
To unlock them, materials of the same name are required, which are issued when duplicates of the heroine appear, which, of course, is random. And considering the rarity of 5-star character drops, be prepared to spend a lot of money and time on this. Fortunately, even without eidolons, Ruan Mei can effectively act as a buffer for the team.
If you do decide to open them up, you can stop at E1 and E2, which significantly increase the heroine's usefulness as a support character, as she will further increase the damage done by allies, allowing them to ignore enemy defenses and increasing their attack power. If you want to turn Ruan Mei into a sub-DD, you will have to open E6, which will significantly increase the passive damage she deals.
- Neural pattern – when the Magic Circle is active, allies begin to ignore 20% of the enemy’s defense.
- Walk along the reeds – increases the attack power of allies by 40% when dealing damage to enemies with a broken vulnerability.
- Emerald Pirouette – the level of ult and talent increases by two. The maximum level for both increases to 15.
- Shimmering Shine of the Mirror – increases the effect of breaking through Ruan Mei by 100% for three turns when the enemy's stamina is destroyed.
- Decorative hairpin in the hair – the skill level increases by two, and the basic attack – by one. The maximum level for the first increases to 15, and for the second – to 10.
- A fan on the folds of silk fabric – increases the duration of the Magic Circle by one turn and increases the damage multiplier in the talent by another 200%.
How to play for Ruan Mei
With her system breaking through vulnerabilities will sparkle with new colors, as it will allow your damage dealers to break through enemy shields much faster and more often (in one cycle it will be quite possible to do this 2-3 times), applying appropriate effects to them and building new tactics around them.
< p>
Let us remind you that each penetration effect deals its own damage and imposes a unique debuff, the benefit of which will vary depending on the opponents. For example, Burning (fire penetration), which has high initial damage and good periodic damage, works better against large crowds, and Binding (quantum penetration), which has low initial damage, but stacks up to 5 times when hitting allies, and then explodes, causing significant damage.
Considering this information, in the presence of Ruan Mei, it makes sense to choose damage dealers based on the enemies’ vulnerabilities. For example, if you have to fight a large number of ordinary mobs that are vulnerable to fire and wind damage, then you should take fire fighters against them. If you plan to engage in a fight with a powerful boss who has physical and quantum vulnerabilities, then you should take a quantum main DD.
Of course, all this only works if you have a large selection of characters of different elements . Silver Wolf can mitigate this problem a little, which is capable of inflicting vulnerabilities on opponents that correspond to the elements of the fighters you need. Otherwise, you will just have to take damage dealers of suitable elements.
However, even in this case, Ruan Mei will bring you incredible benefits, giving you many buffs. The main thing is to keep her speed at such values that she does not move very often, otherwise her buffs will end before the damage dealers have time to use them 2-3 times. Plus, you will have to use the skill more often, which will increase the consumption of skill points.
As for the optimal rotation, it will look like this:
- Try to use the technique before attacking the enemy to immediately use the heroine's skill without spending skill points. Damage dealers will be able to inflict increased damage from their very first moves.
- If you were able to use the technique, then when Ruan Mei takes her turn, use her normal attack. Otherwise, use her skill.
- While the Overtone status is active, use normal attacks, and when it ends, use the skill again.
- Naturally, you also need to activate your ult when ready to further strengthen your allies.
- At the same time, you will deal additional damage to enemies in passive mode. True, without an open E6 it will turn out to be relatively small.
Best builds for Ruan Mei
Best light cones
When choosing a weapon, you should take a closer look at those options that increase the penetration effect, energy recovery and/or speed, and also provide some additional buffs to the team. The table below shows the most interesting examples.
< th scope="col">Ability
| Name | Characteristics | |
|---|---|---|
Reflection of the past me (5 stars) | HP: 1058 ATK: 529 DEF: 529 | Increases the penetration effect by 60%. Increases damage dealt by allies by 24% for three turns after the owner uses an ult. Restores one skill point when the wearer's penetration effect is equal to or greater than 150%. After the start of each wave, it immediately restores 10 units of energy from all allies. This bonus does not stack with similar effects. Ruan Mei's signature, which enhances all her positive aspects, but requires frequent activation of her superpower. However, this is easy to achieve, since you can pay more attention to VE when choosing relics. If you have a choice between this weapon and E1, then we recommend knocking out the cone. |
Memories of the Past (4 stars) | HP: 952 ATK: 423 DEF: 396 | Increases the penetration effect by 28-56%. During an attack, restores 4-8 units of energy. The bonus can occur once per turn. After the signature is the best choice for Ruan Mei, as it can significantly increase her EP, on which many of the heroine’s abilities depend, and give her the energy necessary to use her ult more often. By the way, energy will be restored not only from basic attacks, but also from blows inflicted by talent and superpowers. |
The battle is not finished (5 stars) | HP: 1164 ATK: 529 DEF: 463 | Accelerates energy recovery by 10-18% and gives 1 skill point after using an ult on an ally. The bonus occurs once every 2 uses of a superpower. Using the skill increases the damage of the teammate making the next move by 30-50%. A good cone that will give the heroine the VE necessary for frequent use of her ult, and will allow her to pay more attention to the penetration effect, as well as provide the team with additional skill points and increase the damage of the damage dealers (though for this, Ruan Mei must walk in front of them).< /i> |
Dance! Dance! Dance! (4 stars) | HP: 952 ATK: 423 DEF: 396 | Promotes the actions of allies by 16-24% after the wearer uses an ult. Many often underestimate the usefulness of this cone, but it allows support allies to make moves before enemies, and, therefore, carry out a more active attack on them. In this case, Ruan Mei's ultimate will become even more useful to the team, so you will have to pump up the VE as much as possible. |
< img class="aligncenter" src="/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/zhuan-mej-v-honkai-star-rail-gajd-na-luchshie-bildy-60ce0a3.jpg" alt="Zhuan Mej v Honkai Star Rail: guide to the best builds" /> Cut the moon and cut the clouds (4 stars) | HP: 952 ATK: 476 DEF: 330 | Gives a random effect at the beginning of the battle or before the wearer performs an action: the attack power of all allies increases by 10-20%, their damage increases by 12-24%, or their energy recovery is accelerated by 6-12%. The resulting effect replaces the previous one. Bonuses are not cumulative and disappear if the hero dies. Gives good additional buffs to all allies in the squad, but does not strengthen Ruan Mei herself in any way. In addition, you can only get it from a paid Battle Pass. It is not recommended to purposefully knock out this “gun” specifically for a scientist. |
Date with the stars (4 stars) | HP: 1058 ATK: 423 DEF: 330 | Increases damage dealt by 12-24% at the beginning of the battle when an ally deals damage of the same type as the wearer. You can take it if the damage dealers on the team are also of the ice type (for example, Jingliu, Herta or Yanqing). In this case, it will be possible to slightly increase their overall damage. |
Past and Future (4 stars) | HP: 952 ATK : 423 DEF: 396 | Using the skill increases by 16-32% the damage of an ally for one turn who walks after the weapon bearer. A stripped down version of “The Battle Isn't Over” with only the damage bonus remaining. If you want to make the most of her passive, you will only need to use Ruan Mei's skill if there is a damage dealer coming after her. |
Coupling gears (3 stars) | HP: 846 ATK: 317 DEF: 264 | Restores 4 units of energy if the wearer is attacked or hit. The bonus occurs once per turn. A pretty good choice in the absence of other suitable cones, as it supplies the heroine with the necessary amount of energy for frequent use of her ult. It will not be difficult for you to reach the 5th rank of overlay. |
Best relics
As for the choice of ordinary relics, mined in corrosion caves, then you can collect the full “Thief of the Falling Meteor” set, 2 parts of which increase the penetration effect by 16%, and 4 parts increase this parameter by another 16%. When the wearer breaks through an enemy's vulnerability, he receives 3 units of energy. An excellent option for Ruan Mei, which allows you to increase the efficiency of her abilities, which depend specifically on EP.
You can also collect a complete set of “Herald of the Wandering in Hacker Space”, 2 parts of which increase the speed by 6%, and 4 parts increase the speed of all allies by 12% for one turn if the bearer uses an ult on an ally. Bonuses are not cumulative. Thus, you will be able to increase the speed of not only Ruan Mei, but also her associates – you will only have to use the superpower more often.
If you have not yet managed to collect the entire set with the desired characteristics, then you can combine the “Thief” with the “Herald” or “Long-Living Apprentice”, 2 parts of which increase health by 12% (will allow you to increase the heroine’s survivability).
Now we move on to planar jewelry, which is mined in the Virtual Universe. The list below shows the recommended options (the numbers indicate the priority of choice):
| Planar decoration | Bonuses | Reasons for choice | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1) Living Wonwak | 2 parts: accelerates energy recovery by 5%. Advances the action forward by 40% at the start of battle if the wearer's speed is equal to or greater than 120. | A good option for Ruan Mei, which allows her to use her ult more often and activate the skill before the damage should go. | |||||
2) Broken Keel | 2 parts: increase resistance to the owner’s effects by 10%. If this indicator is equal to or exceeds 30%, then allies' critical damage increases by 10%. | A good alternative to the previous decoration, buffing allies, but you will most likely have to increase resistance to effects in order for the second part of the passive to work. | |||||
3) Ageless Fleet | 2 pieces: Increases maximum health by 12%. If the character's speed is equal to or greater than 120 units, then all allies have an 8% increase in attack power. | Another good option for Ruan Mei, as it increases her survivability and gives another buff to team members (with you are unlikely to have any problems with speed dialing). | |||||
4) Dreamland Penaconia | 2 pieces: accelerates energy recovery by 5% and increases damage dealt by squad members of the same type as the wearer by 10%. | Allows Ruan Mei to use her ult more often and strengthens the ice damage dealers in the team. | Allows Ruan Mei to use her ult more often and strengthens the ice damage dealers in the team. | Allows Ruan Mei to use her ult more often and strengthens the ice damage dealers in the team. | Allows Ruan Mei to use her ult more often and strengthens the ice damage dealers in the team. | Allows Ruan Mei to use her ult more often and strengthens the ice damage dealers in the team. | td> |
5) Talia – land of bandits | 2 parts: increases the penetration effect by 16%. This indicator increases by another 20% if the speed of the wearer is equal to or exceeds 145 units. | On the one hand, this decoration increases the necessary scientific characteristic, but on the other hand, it requires an extremely high speed, which will be extremely difficult to achieve. |
As for the characteristics of relics, you must choose as follows:
- Body: HP/Defense% (to increase the heroine’s survivability) or critical chance. (if you want to bring her closer to the role of a sub-damage)
- Legs: speed
- Planar sphere: HP%/Def% or ice damage (if you want to bring her closer to the role of a sub-damage)
- Connecting rope: energy restoration
- Additional characteristics: penetration effect > speed > HP%, Defense%, effect resistance
Best commands for Ruan Mei
The scientist's buffs will be useful to almost all damage dealers, since all fighters want an increase in damage, speed and efficiency of breaking through vulnerabilities. However, if you take into account that bonuses are given to all allies, and not to one character, then it is advisable to assemble squads of two fighters, and not one hypercarry.
We also recommend taking an additional support capable of “filling” Ruan Mei with energy so that she was able to activate her ult more often. Naturally, the team must have a good shield warrior or healer. The table below presents several of the most interesting pack options.
< td class="center">
Silver Wolf
| Main DD | Sub DD | Sub DD/Support | Support |
|---|---|---|---|
Jingliu (Yanqing) |
Silver Wolf |
Ruan Mei |
Fu Xuan |
Jingliu (Yanqing) |
Ruan Mei |
Armor (Tingyun) |
Hoho (Bailu) |
Topaz | < p> Himeko (Clara, Blade) |
Ruan Mei |
Locha (Fu Xuan) |
Green |
Ruan Mei |
Tingyun |
Bailu (Natasha) |
Green | < p> Silver Wolf |
Ruan Mei |
Fu Xuan (Lynx) |
Jing Yuan |
Ruan Mei |
Tingyun |
Bailu (Natasha, fire. Pioneer) |
Kafka |
< /p> Sampo (Luka) |
Ruan Mei |
Hoho (Locha) |
Kafka |
Ruan Mei |
Bailu | |
Moon Eater | Silver Wolf (Tingyun, Pela, Welt) |
Ruan Mei |
Locha (Hoho) |
Argenti |
Ruan Mei |
Chania (Tingyun) | < img class="aligncenter" src="/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/zhuan-mej-v-honkai-star-rail-gajd-na-luchshie-bildy-c981c63.webp" alt="Zhuan Mej v Honkai Star Rail: guide to the best builds" /> Hoho |
< /p>
Pumping up Ruan Mei< /h2>
How to increase abilities (what to upgrade first)
The pictures below demonstrate the materials and their quantities required to maximally level up a basic attack, skill, superpower and talent.
- A harmonious melody, a song of the clan and a symphony of constellations are obtained from a sepal located in the Robot Settlement (Yarilo-VI), or using Synthesis.
- Sprouts of Immortality, Ethereal Flower of Immortality, and Branch of Immortal Glory are obtained from Abundance Abominations, Quests, and Enemies in the Virtual Universe or through Synthesis. They can also be purchased for unquenchable ashes in the Pom-Pom store.
- Past Wormhole Disasters – obtained from fighting the boss King of the Starfall Swarm: Skarakabaz.
- Imprints of Fate – obtained in the Virtual Universe, are issued with a battle pass and can be purchased for unquenchable ashes in the Pom-Pom store. Sometimes they are rewards in temporary events.
As for the priority of leveling up abilities, we recommend leveling up a skill, superpower and talent at the same time, since all three allow you to buff your allies. If you have limited resources, then give priority to skill. Increase basic attacks according to the residual principle.
How to elevate a character
At certain levels you will need to elevate the heroine, spending a large amount of resources and credits:
- Exaltation (level 30): credits x4000 and sprouts of immortality x5
- Exaltation (level 40): credits x8000 and sprouts of immortality x10
- Exaltation (level 50): credits x16000, ethereal flowers of immortality x6 and gelid chitin x3
- Exaltation (level 60): credits x40000, ethereal flowers of immortality x9 and gelid chitin x7
- Exaltation (level 70): credits x80000, branches of immortal glory x6 and Gelid Chitin x20
- Exaltation (level 80): credits x160000, branches of immortal glory x9 and Gelid Chitin x35
Gelid Chitin can be obtained from the Stagnant Shadow located in Cloud Crossing (Lofu Xianzhou).
