Game Mechanic Guide

Honkai: Star Rail Light Cone Tier Guide 2026

Prioritize signatures for the units you actually main, then refine the universal 4★ shop cones (Swordplay, A Secret Vow, Past and Future). A limited 5★ signature typically beats its 4★ alternative by ~15-20% but a new character is usually the better jade spend.

Must-Have Signatures

Jingliu (I Shall Calm the Seas and Return), Bronya (But the Battle Isn't Over), Kafka (Patience Is All You Need), and Firefly (Whereabouts Should Dreams Rest) gain the most from their signatures because the passive is core to the kit.

Best F2P Cones

Swordplay (Hunt), A Secret Vow (Destruction), Past and Future (Harmony), Landau's Choice (Preservation), and Post-Op Conversation (Abundance) are R5 shop cones that rival some 5★ for free-to-play teams.

Refinement Order

Refine wide-use 4★ cones first, then signatures of your mains. Do not refine a 5★ just because you own it if you don't use the unit — a new character almost always adds more account value.