Best Black Swan Build & Teams In Honkai: Star Rail

Black Swan is a highly versatile 5-star Nihility character in Honkai Star Rail, specializing in powerful Damage-over-Time (DoT) effects that spread across enemies. To maximize her potential, players should focus on optimizing her Speed, Effect Hit Rate, and Energy Regeneration for consistent debuffs and high damage output. This guide breaks down the best Relics, Light Cones, and team compositions to build Black Swan effectively in the latest update.

Best Black Swan Light Cones

Black Swan’s ideal Light Cone is Reforged Remembrance, her signature weapon, which significantly enhances Effect Hit Rate, DoT damage, and ATK, making it the best choice for maximizing her debuff potential. If you don’t have it, Solitary Healing is a decent 5-star alternative, but some 4-star options can be just as effective.

For budget-friendly alternatives, Eyes of the Prey at Superimposition 5 is a fantastic option, increasing Effect Hit Rate and DoT damage. Good Night and Sleep Well is another excellent pick, boosting her damage against debuffed enemies. If you need a more general support Light Cone, Resolution Shines As Pearls of Sweat is a viable option, reducing enemy DEF to amplify overall team damage.

Best Black Swan Relic Sets

The 4-piece Prisoner in Deep Confinement set is the top choice for Black Swan, providing a 12% ATK increase and enabling her to ignore DEF based on the number of DoT stacks applied. Since she excels at spreading DoTs across multiple enemies, she can quickly maximize the benefits of this set.

For Planar Ornaments, both 2-piece Firmament Frontline: Glamoth and 2-piece Pan-Cosmic Commercial Enterprise work well, boosting SPD and Effect Hit Rate or ATK, respectively, depending on your build preference.

Alternatively, the 4-piece Eagle of Twilight Line is a strong option, allowing Black Swan to advance her turn more frequently, keeping her in the Epiphany state for consistent DoT application. If you’re looking for another set that ignores enemy DEF, the 4-piece Genius of Brilliant Stars can be a great substitute for Prisoner in Deep Confinement, providing similar benefits with a different approach.

Black Swan Stat Priorities

To maximize Black Swan’s effectiveness, prioritize SPD, ATK%, Wind DMG%, and Energy Regeneration in her substats.
• SPD increases her turn frequency, allowing her to apply DoTs more consistently.
• ATK% enhances her overall damage output, strengthening the DoT effects she spreads across enemies.
• Wind DMG% further amplifies her elemental damage, making her abilities hit harder.
• Energy Regeneration ensures she can activate her Ultimate frequently, extending her debuff duration and maintaining battlefield control.
• Effect Hit Rate is also beneficial, improving her chances of successfully inflicting DoTs and keeping enemies under constant pressure.

Best Team Composition for Black Swan

Black Swan excels as a DoT enabler, making her an excellent fit alongside characters who capitalize on her widespread debuffs.
• Fast attackers like Nemesis and Claudia thrive in a setup where enemies are constantly afflicted by DoTs, allowing them to maximize their damage output.
• DEF or Resistance shredders such as Cobalt-B and Zero enhance Black Swan’s effectiveness by further reducing enemy defenses, making DoTs hit even harder.
• Sustain units like Cocoritter benefit from Black Swan’s pressure on enemies, as the constant DoT effects weaken foes before they can retaliate, giving the team more breathing room in battle.

Black Swan’s Gameplan and Strategy

The key to maximizing Black Swan’s effectiveness is to consistently apply and maintain her DoTs through her Ultimate, Epiphany.
• Epiphany spreads three stacks of Nihility brands across enemies while providing a Light Cone DMG buff, amplifying her overall damage potential.
• With high SPD and Energy Regeneration, you can keep Epiphany active almost continuously, ensuring constant debuff uptime.

To reinforce her DoT-based damage, use abilities like Mind Squall and Mind Stream to further stack debuffs and pressure opponents over time.

Positioning is also key—try to target multiple enemies with each Epiphany activation to maximize its effectiveness. Staying at mid-range allows Black Swan to apply debuffs safely without unnecessary interruptions, letting her gradually overwhelm opponents with relentless damage over time effects.

Conclusion

Black Swan is one of the most powerful DoT-based characters in Honkai Star Rail, excelling at spreading debuffs and applying consistent damage over time. With the right Light Cone, Relic sets, and team composition, she can dominate battles by continuously weakening enemies while enabling her allies. Prioritizing SPD, Effect Hit Rate, and Energy Regeneration ensures her Epiphany state remains active, maximizing her damage potential. Whether paired with other DoT-focused characters or DEF-shredding supports, Black Swan is a game-changer for any Nihility-based team. If you’re looking to build a strong debuffer with exceptional long-term damage output, Black Swan is an excellent choice.