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17 Min read Phainon is a Physical Destruction unit with an exceptionally unique playstyle where he becomes a playable boss on the battlefield and removes all teammates during his divine transformation.
Anaxa’s banner will be in the first half of Version 3.4, releasing on July 2nd, 2025, and will run until July 23rd, 2025.
Phainon has two states. At the start of the battle, he will be in his normal state, which has its Skill, Basic Attack, and Talent.
To reach his penultimate form, Phainon must gather 12 “Coreflame” stacks just like his Flame Chase journey. Phainon will gain Coreflame in several ways. First of all, his Skill, aside from being a Blast attack, grants him 2 Coreflames. Additionally, whenever Phainon becomes the target of ANY targeting effects, be it from his teammates or enemies, he will gain 1 Coreflame as well as a 30% Crit Damage boost for 3 turns. When he receives any Energy regeneration effect provided by his teammate, Phainon will gain another Coreflame. Phainon will also gain 1 Coreflame at the battle start and 3 after his Transformation ends.
Once Phainon reaches 12 Coreflame stacks, he finally unlocks his Ultimate, which allows him to transform into a much more threatening existence.
Phainon can accumulate up to 15 Coreflame. The excess Coreflame stack when he transformed will be refunded to him once he exits his Transformation.
Upon using his Ultimate, Phainon will transform and deploy a unique battlefield called Territory. Within this Territory, all of his teammates will become Departed, as in they cannot take action at all, and all enemies within the Territory will gain Physical Weakness. During the duration of this Ultimate, Phainon does not have his turns, but instead has 8 Extra Turns with a fixed Speed equal to 60% of his base Speed. Essentially, a countdown will appear on the Action Order. Once Phainon moves 8 times during the Ultimate duration, this will end, and the Territory will disappear, with the action value not resetting at the start of each wave, so his action counts will be carried over between waves.
Since these turns during the Ultimate are Extra Turns, whatever buffs that are on Phainon right before he uses his Ultimate will be snapshotted and carried over during the entirety of his transformation, which allows some powerful 1-turn buffs to last for these whole 8 turns.
Phainon will also have access to three different abilities that utilize or generate a unique resource called “Bruises” – essentially a replacement for Skill Points during the transformation. Bruises is capped at 7 stacks and can be carried over between Transformations if he did not consume all Bruises before exiting his Territory. He gains 4 Bruises upon his Transformation right away, and he can generate more Bruises via his first two abilities. His first ability – Creation: Bloodthorn Ferry is essentially the replacement of his Basic Attack. It is a Blast Attack that generates 2 Bruises.
His second ability, Soulscorch Edict, is the equivalent of his Skill. This ability will grant him an amount of “Bruise” equal to the number of enemies on the field, grant him a buff called “Soulscorch” that reduces his Damage Received by 75%, then immediately make all enemies take action. While he has this “Soulscorch” buff, he will launch a Counter to any enemies who take action, deal damage to all of them, dispel the current “Soulscorch” stack, then grant him a new stack of “Soulscorch”.
While his first two abilities are both about generating Bruises, his last ability – Foundation: Stardeath Verdict is about spending it. This ability will dispel all debuffs on Phainon, then for each “Bruise” stack consumed, he will deal 4 instances of Physical Damage to random enemies, with each hit equal to 45% of Phainon’s Attack. If he consumes 4 Bruises for this attack, he will deal an additional attack to all enemies equal to 450% of his Attack, so players are highly encouraged to use this ability at 4 Bruises stack for maximum amount of damage. Once he exits this transformation, Phainon will deal one Final Hit equal to 960% of his Attack that is evenly distributed to all enemies.
During this transformation, Phainon is completely immune to all Crowd Control debuffs. After attacking, he will gain an 80% Attack increase and a 270% Max HP increase. He also heals himself by 20% of his Max HP after every attack, and can survive one fatal hit. Upon taking a killing blow, he will immediately revive with 25% Max HP and trigger the Final Hit.
If exiting this Transformation state this way, this Final Hit will have its multiplier reduced by 12.5% of its original multiplier for each extra turn remaining that Phainon did not use. Upon exiting this Transformation, he will increase all allies’ Speed by 15% for 1 turn, so they can quickly get into the position to charge his Coreflame again.
Outside of the ridiculous amount of self-buffs from his Transformation, Phainon has two other self-buffs from his traces. When Phainon receives a healing or Shield effect from a teammate, he will increase his Damage Deal by 45% for 4 turns. Upon entering battle or when his transformation ends, he will gain a permanent 50% Attack buff that can stack up to 2 times.
Phainon has a highly notable technique. First, while he is in the Party, he will increase the Technique Points cap by 3. Upon use, he will consume 2 Technique to instantly kill all non-Elite enemies within a certain range, a very similar effect to Acheron’s technique, but with a much better efficiency. Upon entering battle with this Technique, he will regenerate 25 Energy for all allies and generate 2 Coreflame to himself, while dealing some Physical Damage to all enemies at the start of each wave.
While his lengthy kit may look daunting at first glance, Phainon is a ridiculously simple unit to pilot. His gameplay revolves around having teammates with as many Action Advance and targeting buffs as possible to quickly prep up his Coreflame so he can transform. Once he is in the Transformation state, players just alternate between the two abilities that can generate “Bruise” depending on which can generate the most at the given circumstances, then use his big nuke Foundation: Stardeath Verdict when they have 4 stacks of “Bruise”.
Phainon is blessed with a high Multiplier, numerous self-buffs, and even self-survival built into his kit, allowing him to run triple Supports with no sustain in most circumstances, resulting in a very high “floor”.
This means he can perform very well with a minimal amount of investment and even non-premium teammates, making him a fantastic unit for players that are still progressing and/or do not have access to great relics / powerful support units, especially in Memory of Chaos. His ability to implant Physical Weakness also ensures he can tackle most Apocalyptic Shadow and clear in a reasonably fast time.
The trade-off is that his ceiling is much lower compared to other Damage Dealers due to how his kit works.
First off, Phainon wants Harmony units as his teammates since they are the best at charging his Coreflame, but Harmony units’ buffs are highly oversaturated due to the large amount of self-buffs he possesses.
Furthermore, since Phainon aggressively kicked out his teammates during his transformation, he completely removed all interaction his teammates can do both for him and against enemies. This is highly detrimental in a turn-based game like Honkai Star Rail, where the support units are often much more overpowered and responsible for the heavy-lifting, not just from their buffs but also from the way they can impact the battlefield with other effects.
Last but not least, transformation also has a fixed amount of action he can do over a set amount of Action Value before he exits, and once he reverts, he has to wait until he can transform again before he can effectively deal damage.
This means if Phainon cannot kill enemies within his first and at most 2nd transformation, his clear speed will be significantly slower compared to other Damage Dealers. And since Phainon cannot be interacted with by his teammates during this transformation, they cannot help him shorten the Action Value needed during this period.
Since Honkai Star Rail is a game that highly rewards teams that can clear as fast as possible (as in consuming as little Action Value as possible) and have numerous bosses with stalling mechanics (such as Pollux or Aventurine), all it takes are HP inflation or any stalling mechanics that can delay Phainon DPS windows and his power will be diminished significantly.
Basic Attack – Stride to Deliverance: Deals Physical DMG equal to 100% of Phainon’s ATK to one designated enemy.
Skill – Let There Be Light: Gains 2 point(s) of “Coreflame,” dealing Physical DMG equal to 300% of Phainon’s ATK to one designated enemy and Physical DMG equal to 120% of Phainon’s ATK to adjacent targets.
Ultimate – He Who Bears the World Must Burn: Transforms into Khaslana and deploys Territory during transformation. Other teammates in the Territory becomes Departed and cannot take action, and all enemies gain Physical Weakness.
Khaslana does not have his own turn, but has 8 Khaslana’s extra turn(s) with a fixed SPD equal to 60% of Khaslana’s base SPD. At the start of the final Khaslana’s extra turn, immediately launches Final Hit and deals Physical Ultimate DMG equal to 960% of Khaslana’s ATK that is distributed evenly across all enemies.
Talent – Pyric Corpus: Phainon’s Talent. When “Coreflame” reaches 12 point(s), Ultimate can be activated. After reaching the max limit, up to 3 excess point(s) can be accumulated. At the end of the Transformation, gains “Coreflames” based on the excess points.
When Phainon is the target of any target’s ability, he gains 1 point of “Coreflame.” If the ability’s user is Phainon’s teammate, additionally increases Phainon’s CRIT DMG by 30% for 3 turn(s)
Technique – Beginning of the End: After using Technique, increases Phainon’s ATK by 35% for 2 turn(s) at the start of the next battle and gains 2 “Core Resonance”.
Talent – Fate: Divine Vessel: Khaslana’s Talent. When Transforming, gains 4 point(s) of “Bruise”. If it is during an ally target’s turn, all buffs on that ally target will be extended by 1 turn and the current turn ends.
Khaslana is immune to Crowd Control debuffs and has 1 Enhanced Basic ATK and 2 Enhanced Skills, but cannot use Ultimate. During his Transformation, increases ATK by 80% and Max HP by 270%. After attacking, restores HP equal to 20% of his Max HP. Upon taking a killing blow, Khaslana will not get knocked down, and will instead restore HP equal to 25% of Max HP and immediately launch Final Hit. For every 1 remaining extra turn Khaslana has, the Final Hit’s DMG multiplier reduces by 12.5% of its original multiplier.
When the Transformation ends, increases all allies’ SPD by 15%, lasting for 1 turn.
Basic Attack – Creation: Bloodthorn Ferry: Obtains 2 “Bruise”, dealing Physical DMG equal to 250% of Khaslana’s ATK to one designated enemy and Physical DMG equal to 75% of Khaslana’s ATK to enemies adjacent to it.
Skill – Calamity: Soulscorch Edict: Gains “Bruise” by an amount equal to the number of enemy targets present and 1 stack of “Soulscorch,” then causes all enemy targets to immediately take action.
When in the “Soulscorch” state, reduces DMG received by Khaslana by 75% and gains 1 additional stack of “Soulscorch” after enemy targets attack or take action. Immediately launches a Counter after the aforementioned enemy targets take their actions, dealing Physical DMG to all enemies equal to 40% of Khaslana’s ATK, as well as additionally deals 4 instance(s) of DMG, each instance being Physical DMG equal to 30% of Khaslana’s ATK. Then, “Soulscorch” is dispelled. Each stack of “Soulscorch” increases this Counter’s DMG multiplier by 20% of the original multiplier.
DMG dealt through this ability is considered as Skill DMG. If “Soulscorch” is still active at the start of Khaslana’s extra turn, immediately launches Counter
Skill – Foundation: Stardeath Verdict: Dispels all debuffs from this unit, then deals Physical DMG up to 1170% of Khaslana’s ATK.
In that, for every 1 point(s) of “Bruise” consumed, deals 4 instance(s) of DMG, each instance being Physical DMG equal to 45% of Khaslana’s ATK dealt to one random enemy. When consuming 4 point(s) of “Bruise”, additionally deals Physical DMG equal to 450% of Khaslana’s ATK, and this DMG is evenly distributed to all enemies.
March to Oblivion: At the start of the battle, gains 1 point(s) of “Coreflame.” When the transformation ends, gains 3 point(s) of “Coreflame”.
Bide in Flames: When receiving healing effects or Shields from a teammate, increases DMG dealt by 45% for 4 turn(s). This effect cannot be triggered repeatedly within one turn.
When receiving Energy regeneration ability effects provided by teammates, gains 1 point(s) of “Coreflame.”
Shine with Valor: When entering battle or when transformation ends, increases ATK by 50%. This effect can stack up to 2 time(s).
Phainon’s first Eidolon is quite good in modes with a lot of small units, such as Pure Fiction, as it effectively reduces the amount of Action Value he spends on each transformation. Similar to several highly anticipated and pushed units in the past, Phainon has an exceptionally powerful E2 for players who want to vertically invest in him. His E4 is pretty lackluster, being simply a damage boost for his Counter during transformation. Similar to most modern Damage Dealers, his E6 is exceptional as it increases his operational effectiveness notably. It lets him quickly transform while massively reducing his downtime. For normal players, E0S1 is a good stopping point. For Phainon’s enthusiasts, E2S1 will be the prize.
Thus Burns The Dawn: The wearer’s base SPD increases by 12 / 14 / 16 / 18 / 20. When the wearer deals DMG, ignores 18% / 22.5% / 27% / 31.5% / 36% of the target’s DEF. After the wearer uses Ultimate, obtains “Blazing Sun,” which is removed at the start of their turn. While “Blazing Sun” is in possession, increases the wearer’s DMG dealt by 60% / 78% / 96% / 114% / 132%.
Thus Burn The Dawn is one of the very few Light Cones in the game that increase a wearer’s base Speed, and this effect is quite valuable for Phainon. Base Speed increase essentially reduces the amount of Action Value Phainon spends during his transformation. Beyond that, this Light Cone also gives a lot of damage boost for Phainon.
A Trail of Bygone Blood: Increases the wearer’s CRIT Rate by 12% / 14% / 16% / 18% / 20%. The Skill DMG and Ultimate DMG dealt by the wearer increase by 24% / 28% / 32% / 36% / 40%.
Phainon’s Damage are mostly from Skills and Ultimate, so this Light Cone is a perfect alternatives for Phainon players that are willing to buy the Battle Pass for several patches in a row.
Under the Blue Sky: Increases the wearer’s ATK by 16% / 20% / 24% / 28% / 32%. When the wearer defeats an enemy, the wearer’s CRIT Rate increases by 12% / 15% / 18% / 21% / 24% for 3 turn(s).
A decent alternative for Phainon since it provides two decent stats boost that Phainon appreciate.
On the Fall of an Aeon: When the wearer attacks, increases their ATK by 8% / 10% / 12% / 14% / 16% in this battle. This effect can stack up to 4 times. After the wearer breaks an enemy’s Weakness, increases DMG dealt by 12% / 15% / 18% / 21% / 24%, lasting for 2 turn(s).
Most Destruction characters can utilize Aeon since it is quite generic and has a great stats boost. This is Phainon’s best F2P option, albeit he has a lot of competition for the usage of this Light Cone.
Phainon should always be run with support units that can provide Action Advance. The reason for this is that these units provide him with the largest amount of stacks via both their buffs and Phainon Skills. As such, Speed boot will be the best for him when used with units like Sunday, Bronya, or Remembrance Trailblazer to maximize his number of turns. The ideal threshold is he move ahead of them so they can drag him back up to double or triple his turns.
For his other relics slot, they should be straightforward for Crit-scaling Damage Dealer to maximize his damage output: Crit Rate / Crit Damage% for Chest, Attack% / Physical Damage% for Orb and Attack% for his Rope.
This set is tailor-made for Phainon. Since Phainon’s snapshot all buffs before transforming, the 48% Attack boost from the 4-Pc bonus will be applied to all 8 of his extra turns.
Scholar is a very competitive option since it boosts both Phainon Skill and Ultimate – his two main sources of Damage, and also a much-needed 8% Crit Rate.
A good placeholder set for people who have some good pieces lying around, since Phainon likes both Physical Damage% and Attack%. His ability to force enemies into attacking him let him stack the 4-Pc bonus with no trouble.
Phainon is one of the very few units in the game that can take advantage of this set since he pushes all allies out of his Territory during the Ultimate window, giving him a 27 – 36% Damage boost to all of his abilities.
Phainon’s damage mainly comes from his skills, so Rutilant is an excellent set to consider. It also gives him an 8% Crit Rate, which allows him to lean toward more Crit Damage% and Attack% on his substats.
Salsotto boosts both his Ultimate Damage (which is the Final Hit) and his Counter (which counts as both Skill Damage and Follow-up Attack Damage), and also a valuable 8% Crit Rate.
Since Phainon has so many self-buffs and few units can boost him during his Transformation, Phainon favors units that can provide Action Advance the most, since they are the most effective at raising Coreflame stacks. Phainon does not scale well with many Nihility amplifiers since they cannot inflict debuffs during his Ultimate window, except those with special mechanics like Cipher or Jiaoqiu.
Sunday: Sunday stands above all Action Advance Support for Phainon since he also has an Energy buff, which generates an extra Stack for Phainon.
Bronya / Remembrance Trailblazer / Sparkle: These units all have targeting abilities and Action Advance to help Sunday with Coreflame stack generation. Bronya is the best amongst the three since her Action Advance is more controllable than Remembrance Trailblazer while also being better than Sparkle’s Action Advance (100% AA vs 50% AA).
Robin: Robin’s Ultimate is massive in letting Phainon squeeze in extra Ultimate transformations over a certain amount of Action Value. This is thanks to her Ultimate essentially doubling Phainon’s Coreflame generation by giving him and all the other Action Advance Support Units more turns.
Tingyun: Tingyun has targeted Skill and Ultimate, high Speed and Energy Regeneration, which translates to extra Coreflame to Phainon.
Cipher: Cipher provides an alternative way to get around Phainon’s problem. While not providing any Coreflame stack for him, Cipher can record Phainon’s damage dealt during his Ultimate, then unleash this during Phainon’s downtime. This can help Phainon a lot in dealing with bosses with a tight DPS window, such as Pollux.
Yukong: Yukong provides monstrous short-term buffs that generally very few units can take advantage of, but since Phainon snapshot buffs before transforming and no teammates can take a turn during this time, her buffs do not tick down, and Phainon can fully enjoy the benefit of Yukong’s buff on near 100% uptime.
Huohuo: Huohuo Skill and Ultimate both target, and since her Ultimate provides Energy Regeneration, she is one of the best sustainers at generating Coreflame stack for Phainon.
Lynx: Since Phainon can get Coreflame stacks from being targeted by enemies, Lynx can indirectly give him Coreflame stacks via increasing his Aggro.
Phainon’s premium team should always consist of Sunday, as he is his best-in-slot partner as of the time of Phainon’s release. The other teammates can be other Harmony / Sustain units with a lot of targeting abilities or Energy regeneration. Since Phainon can work without a sustain unit since he heals himself and his teammates rarely get hit, he can run a triple Harmony or 2 Harmony + 1 Nihility team.
At the time of his release, Phainon should not have any problem clearing the contents. Phainon draws a lot of comparison to the pushed unit of 2.x patch – Firefly. Both are high-floor, low-ceiling units that can work with minimum investment and a very beginner-friendly playstyle. Thus, we can expect Phainon to get favorable treatment for a few patches.
In the long run, Phainon’s kits have a lot of innate problems that also do not have many viable solutions, unlike other Damage Dealers that can abuse powerful Supports and Action Value Manipulation. This means that Phainon is susceptible to both HP inflation and aggressive boss mechanisms that tank his clear speed. In which case, for Phainon to keep up in even the near future, investing in his Eidolons and/or future teammates is a must.
All in all, Phainon is a unit that suits the more casual players as well as newer players, as his ability to work off scrap can help them push through content quite easily. But for players who strive for min-maxing as well as wanting a longer-lasting Damage Dealers who are more flexible, Phainon is an easy skip.
Thanks for reading! For more resources, check out our other Honkai Star Rail Guides.
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