Ceui
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12 Min read Ruan Mei was the first Harmony character to be released in HSR, offering teamwide buffs, speed, and weakness break efficiency. She faces heavy competition nowadays with many other supporters, and has transitioned into primarily a break support, but still can be fit into any team thanks to her universal buffs.
Ruan Mei has been available in the Stellar Convergence shop since Patch 3.2 by exchanging one Golden Companion Spirit.
Ruan Mei’s Skill gives Overtone, increasing the team’s damage by 32% and Weakness Break Efficiency by 50% for 3 turns.
Ruan Mei’s Ultimate deploys a Zone, increasing the team’s All-Type RES PEN by 25% and extends the duration of the Weakness Break when the enemy tries to recover for 2 turns. This delay period scales based on Ruan Mei’s Break Effect.
Both the Skill and Ultimate’s duration decreases by 1 at the start of her turn; therefore you should wait till it’s her turn to cast her Ultimate even if you have enough Energy to not waste turns.
Ruan Mei’s Talent is a straightforward speed buff of 10% to the team (excluding herself), and she also does a bit of Break DMG (120%) when allies break the enemy.
Ruan Mei’s Technique, Silken Serenade, triggers her Skill automatically without using a Skill Point when entering battle. This lets Ruan Mei to just use her Basic and still get enough energy to Ult if she has her Sig. LC or other LCs that give Energy.
Ruan Mei’s Technique gains unique abilities in the Simulated/Divergent Universe, being one of the designers. Silken Serenade lets units reduce all toughness regardless of the enemy’s weakness.
For every blessing obtained, the toughness DMG of attacks increases by 100% and Ruan Mei’s Break DMG also increases by 100% as well.
As the cherry on top, when Ruan Mei is in the party and you encounter a Ruan Mei Occurrence, you get showered with both choices, giving you a free run in SU/DU.
Ruan Mei is a low interaction harmony, passively buffing her team from just existing. Only thing to note is that her buff duration decreases on her own turn, so action advancing teammates won’t affect the duration, but her taking more turns will. Ruan Mei’s double extension of breaks makes her great defensively, reducing the damage teammates take.
Basic Attack – Threading Fragrance: Deals Ice DMG equal to 100% of Ruan Mei’s ATK to a single target enemy.
Skill – String Sings Slow Swirls: After using her Skill, Ruan Mei gains Overtone, lasting for 3 turns(s). This duration decreases by 1 at the start of Ruan Mei’s every turn. When Ruan Mei has Overtone, all allies’ DMG increases by 32% and Weakness Break Efficiency increases by 50%.
Ultimate – Petals to Stream, Repose in Dream: Ruan Mei deploys a Zone that lasts for 2 turns. The Zone’s duration decreases by 1 at the start of her turn.
While inside the Zone, all allies’ All-Type RES PEN increases by 25% and their attacks apply Thanatoplum Rebloom to the enemies hit. When these enemies attempt to recover from Weakness Break, Thanatoplum Rebloom is triggered, extending the duration of their Weakness Break, delaying their action by an amount equal to 20% of Ruan Mei’s Break Effect plus 10%, and dealing Break DMG equal to 50% of Ruan Mei’s Ice Break DMG.
Enemy targets cannot have Thanatoplum Rebloom re-applied to them until they recover from Weakness Break.
Talent – Somatotypical Helix: Increases SPD by 10% for all teammates (i.e., excluding this unit). When allies Break an enemy target’s Weakness, Ruan Mei deals to this enemy target Break DMG equal to 120% of her Ice Break DMG.
Technique – Silken Serenade: After using the Technique, gains Silken Serenade. At the start of the next battle, automatically triggers the Skill for 1 time(s) without consuming Skill Points.
In Simulated Universe or Divergent Universe, when Ruan Mei has Silken Serenade, the team actively attacking enemies will always be regarded as attacking their Weakness to enter battle, and this attack can reduce all enemies’ Toughness regardless of Weakness types. When breaking Weakness, triggers Weakness Break Effect corresponding to the attacker’s Type. For every Blessing in possession (up to a max of 20 Blessings will be taken into account), additionally increases the Toughness Reduction of this attack by 100%. After breaking an enemy target’s Weakness, additionally deals to the enemy target Break DMG equal to 100% of Ruan Mei’s Ice Break DMG.
Inert Respiration: Increases Break Effect by 20% for all allies.
Days Wane, Thoughts Wax: Ruan Mei regenerates 5 Energy at the start of her turn.
Candle Lights on Still Waters: In battle, for every 10% of Ruan Mei’s Break Effect that exceeds 120%, her Skill additionally increases allies’ DMG by 6%, up to a maximum of 36%.
Ruan Mei’s Eidolons other than her E1 are not recommended. E1 provides 20% DEF shred, a decent boost that pairs well with break teams that have many other sources of DEF shred.
E2 is a terrible Eidolon, as it only applies to broken enemies. However, for break DPS, they hardly get a damage increase since break does not scale with ATK. Even in Firefly’s case where she converts ATK to Break Effect, Ruan Mei’s E2 doesn’t actually increase ATK directly but modifies the DMG number, so its pointless.
E4 and E6 help increase Ruan Mei’s break damage, but won’t be useful unless you break the target. With many anti-Break mechanics in the meta and DPS that far outpace Break DPS since Rappa, the investment is not worth it.
Light Cones
Main Stats
Relics
Planar Set
Past Self in Mirror: Increases the wearer’s Break Effect by 60% / 70% / 80% / 90% / 100%. When the wearer uses their Ultimate, increases all allies’ DMG by 24% / 28% / 32% / 36% / 40%, lasting for 3 turn(s). Should the wearer’s Break Effect exceed or equal 150%, 1 Skill Point will be recovered.
At the start of each wave, all allies regenerate 10 / 12.5 / 15 / 17.5 / 20 Energy immediately. Abilities of the same type cannot stack.
Ruan Mei’s Light Cone is pretty great mainly due to the QoL. By default it gives 60% Break Effect and increases allies’ DMG for 3 turns. The greatest benefit of this Light Cone is that it gives 10 Energy per new wave teamwide, and refunds a Skill Point whenever the user’s Ultimate is cast. Energy and Skill Points are rare resources in this game, bringing great value to this LC.
Memories of the Past: Increases the wearer’s Break Effect by 28% / 35% / 42% / 49% / 56%.
When the wearer attacks, additionally regenerates 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 Energy. This effect cannot be repeatedly triggered in a single turn. At Max Superimposition (S5), this LC can reliably let Ruan Mei get a 3 turn Ultimate. It also gives Break Effect letting Ruan Mei hit her Break Point easier.
Dance! Dance! Dance!: When the wearer uses their Ultimate, all allies’ actions are Advanced Forward by 16% / 18% / 20% / 22% / 24%.
Arguably the best Light Cone in the game, Ruan Mei as a harmony can utilize this LC too. Though Energy issues exist and lack of Break Effect don’t provide the best synergy, Action Advance is such a powerful mechanic in this game it is hard to dismiss.
Meshing Cogs: After the wearer uses attacks or gets hit, additionally regenerates 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 Energy. This effect cannot be repeatedly triggered in a single turn. This 3 star LC acts like Memories of the Past, but at the cost of lower base stats and no Break Effect, which will reduce her survivability.
Ruan Mei’s relics do not really matter, and prioritize bulk. Ruan Mei can be played slow or fast, which determines what Boots she wears. Most of the time you want Energy Regeneration Rope, but if the fight can be finished quickly and you want Ruan Mei to do more damage from her Breaks, you can use a Break Rope.
Ruan Mei from her A2 trace gets 20 Break Effect for free. Thus to cap out her Break Effect to DMG% conversion trace (A6), she needs 160 Break Effect in the stat screen. Ruan Mei can be played fast or slow, but both will have to deal with downtime without external Energy eventually.
If your DPS is fast and/or the goal is to finish the fight before Ruan Mei’s Ultimate runs out in one rotation, she can be played either at 120 SPD w. Vonwacq or even lower with a different planar. For teams like DoT or extended fights where the uptime matters, a fast Ruan Mei is better (160+), both for SP and minimizing downtime. Other substats aren’t really relevant, so can be invested into survivability.
An ideal supportive relic focused on Break teams, increasing Ruan Mei and her team’s damage. The duration also matches her own Ultimate.
Alternatively when you’re not running a Break team, double SPD 2pc is also a great option to quickly get a lot of SPD since Watchmaker won’t be of much use. Thankfully there are multiple relics with 2Pc options that give SPD and Break Effect, which can be used depending on what kind of team she’s being played with.
Vonwacq does not provide any buffs, but lets Ruan Mei act earlier than her team and get up her Ultimate before her main DPS acts.
A good choice when played against fire weak enemies, or if you are playing with Firefly that can apply Fire weak.
Any supportive planar that provides offensive buffs can also be used, depending on the team needs; Lushaka when combined with multiple others is particularly strong, Penacony for Ice DPS, and Keel for HP DPS.
The primary 3 break DPS we know of (Firefly, Boothill, Rappa) have different kits, but mainly want two things: Break Effect and Weakness Break Efficiency. Ruan Mei provides both, and helps them break the enemies faster to do damage.
The double break extension when Ruan Mei first came out was huge for DoT, but unfortunately better supports with bigger amps superseded Ruan Mei’s stamp in DoT teams. Ruan Mei also makes getting speed easier, something relevant for DoT teams. The synergy is still there, letting DoTs proc twice but is no longer required nor the best option.
Ruan Mei’s buffs, although may not be the most powerful or suited for hypercarries, still have the advantage of being universal and teamwide. With more HP scaling DPS being released, this is becoming notable, as the previous queen of Harmony Robin cannot be used with them, while Ruan Mei’s buffs fully apply.
Fugue: Fugue’s ability to reduce toughness regardless of weakness, and the Exo-Toughness mechanic go hand in hand with Ruan Mei’s weakness break efficiency and break effect buffs. Both also have traces that delay enemies once they’re broken.
Imaginary MC: Imaginary MC’s Skill becomes a Toughness Shredder when paired with Ruan Mei which go hand in hand on break teams.
AoE supporters: Other AoE supporters also go well with Ruan Mei, as Ruan Mei’s passive existence does not interfere with other Zones or abilities, and her buff durations tick down on her turn.
Lingsha/Gallagher: Ruan Mei increases the team’s Weakness Breakness Efficiency and Break Effect, letting the sustain break the enemy faster for their DPS.
Hyacine: Ruan Mei’s All-Type RES PEN and DMG% can boost Little Ica’s AoE damage as well as provide SP from her LC, letting Hyacine skill more often.
Huohuo: Huohuo’s Energy Regen can prevent downtime on Ruan Mei’s field, and Ruan Mei’s SP friendly kit helps Huohuo keep up her talent.
Ruan Mei’s Weakness Break Efficiency and Break Effect that she provides are stats that benefit break DPS the most. Together with Fugue and/or IMC, she helps the main DPS effortlessly cut through the toughness bar and help delay the enemy, extending the time enemies stay broken.
DoT’s main benefit Ruan Mei provides along with her buffs is that through her talent she can extend the break, and this in turn procs applied DoTs on the enemies twice. Ruan Mei with her Signature also brings SP management in this team more manageable.
Ruan Mei’s buffs, as mentioned many times, are universal. RES PEN and DMG% thus work great with HP DPS, such as Castorice which currently have a limited pool in terms of supports that can buff them.
Ruan Mei is our first harmony and is still being played today. She is still core to break teams, and her simplistic yet universal kit makes her usable in any team and also prolonged her life. Ruan Mei may not be as strong as Tribbie in AoE, give teamwide AA like Robin, or give Hypercarry direct buffs like Sunday, but her increased WBE, RES-Pen, DMG%, and Speed that are all teamwide still can find use in most cases. Weakness Break Efficiency is a rare buff to have that is still very useful in Apocalyptic Shadow.
Not to mention the incredible utility her Signature brings, in terms of teamwide Energy and SP.
There’s no need to pull Ruan Mei, as players can get a free copy since 3.2 in the Stellar Convergence Shop should they desire, a much better option than Luocha. Players that already own Ruan Mei can enjoy a good bump in Ruan Mei’s potential if they get her E1 from the free copy.
Despite her universalness, she is nowhere near essential unless you want to play break teams, as there are so many other Harmony/Nihility units that can be substituted, and many more to come.
Thanks for reading! For more resources, check out our other Honkai Star Rail Guides.
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