Meta Naito
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18 Min read Castorice is our second limited Quantum main DPS since Seele. As all Remembrance characters, she has a memosprite, Netherwing: Pollux. Castorice scales off of HP and has a unique Ultimate that can be activated when her or her allies lose/gain a certain amount of HP, which summons her memosprite Dragon. Castorice is great in all endgame modes, but excels against 5T enemies, where Netherwing can output some disgusting numbers.
Castorice is also the first unit to introduce a unique global passive that revives allies with a caveat, even if she is not in the party. The precedence is questionable, but it is nevertheless a powerful passive that works even in endgame modes and can save doomed runs.
Castorice’s banner will be in the first half of Version 3.2, which will be released on April 8th, 2025, and will run until April 30th, 2025.
Castorice’s kit works around her memosprite Netherwing: Pollux, which is her primary source of damage. To summon the Dragon, Castorice needs to gain “Newbud”, which lets her use Ultimate to summon the Dragon. Newbud is gained through herself and allies, either healing or losing HP.
Castorice’s “Newbud” is like Energy for her and also a 1:1 relation to Netherwing’s HP. Essentially Castorice needs to gain enough Newbud to fill up her Memosprite’s HP before it can be summoned through her Ultimate.
Netherwing has a Max HP of 34,000 HP, and Castorice gains a point of “Newbud” for every HP lost by allies. Castorice and Netherwing also gain a 20% DMG increase when her allies lose HP, stacking up to 3 times. If Netherwing is on the field, she can’t gain “Newbud” since her Ultimate is already active. Instead, all mechanisms that gained “Newbud” heals Netherwing.
Thanks to Castorice’s A2 trace, she also gains 1 point of “Newbud” whenever allies, including herself, receive healing, capped at 12% of “Newbud’s” limit per target healed. This converts to 4080 HP needed to reach the cap.
Castorice’s Skill drains 30% HP of all allies and also does Blast DMG. If her Memosprite is up, she instead does a joint attack with Netherwing that does an AoE sweep attack while draining 40% HP.
Her Ultimate summons the Netherwing: Pollux at full HP and Action Advances itself by 100%. While her Memosprite is up, the enemy’s RES decreases by 20% on the field due to “Lost Territory”. Netherwing can only be active for 3 turns and the field goes away along with Netherwing when it dies.
When Netherwing is summoned, it comes in with full HP and can repeatedly cast Skill and/or end it prematurely anytime.
You can continuously cast Breath Scorches the Shadow by holding down on the Skill button, as long as Netherwing has enough HP to deplete.
When Netherwing’s HP is 25% or lower and you cast Skill, after the attack ends, Netherwing will detonate itself at 1 HP and trigger her talent “Wings Sweep the Ruins”. Netherwing will also be forced to deplete all its HP if it takes a 3rd turn.
“Wings Sweep the Ruins” blows up Netherwing and makes it disappear, dealing Quantum DMG equal to 40% of her HP to a random enemy 6 times (Bounce). When Netherwing exits, it also restores the team’s HP by 6% of Castorice’s HP plus 800.
Netherwing’s other two Talents provide a 10% teamwide DMG buff when it’s on the field and a buffer to the team if they are at 1 HP and about to die. Instead, it will take 500% of the original DMG, tanking the hit for the ally.
Castorice’s Technique in the overworld, prevents enemies from approaching her while it’s active. When entering battle, Netherwing is also summoned immediately, and action is forwarded by 100%. Netherwing spawns in with 50% HP, and also drains the team’s HP by 40%. This allows Castorice to use her Memosprite immediately, but it should be blown up asap since Netherwing can’t be buffed by RMC/Sunday on its first turn. Castorice also gains 30% Newbud right after entering battle, so her next Ultimate will come quicker than usual. You should always start with her Technique if you can.
Global Passive: For the first time in HSR, Castorice has a global passive that revives allies and brings them back to 1 HP once per battle. There is a catch, though; the ally must be healed above 1 HP or receive some shielding. Otherwise, they will die the next turn.
This passive is global, meaning Castorice does not have to even be in the party to activate it. Castorice’s revive also works in endgame modes, like MoC/PF/AS and SU.
Basic Attack – Lament, Nethersea’s Ripple: Deals Quantum DMG equal to 50% of Castorice’s Max HP to one designated enemy.
Skill – Silence, Wraithfly’s Caress (Blast): Consumes 30% of all allies’ current HP. Deals Quantum DMG equal to 50% of Castorice’s Max HP to one designated enemy and Quantum DMG equal to 30% of Castorice’s Max HP to adjacent targets. If current HP is insufficient, this ability will reduce HP to 1. If Netherwing is on the battlefield, this Skill becomes “Boneclaw, Doomdrake’s Embrace.” instead.
Skill – Boneclaw, Doomdrake’s Embrace (AoE): Consumes 40% of all allies’ (except Netherwing) current HP. Castorice and Netherwing launch a Joint ATK on the target and deal Quantum DMG equal to 30% and 50% of Castorice’s Max HP to all enemies. If current HP is insufficient, using the ability will reduce HP to 1.
Ultimate – Doomshriek, Dawn’s Chime: Summons the memosprite Netherwing and advances its action by 100%. At the same time, creates the Territory “Lost Netherland,” which decreases all enemies’ All-Type RES by 20%. If the DMG Boost effect from Castorice’s Talent is active, the effect is extended to Netherwing. Netherwing has an initial SPD of 165 and a set Max HP equal to 100% of max “Newbud.” After Netherwing experiences 3 turns or when its HP is 0, it disappears and dispels the Territory “Lost Netherland.”
Talent – Desolation Across Palms: Max “Newbud” is based on all characters’ levels on the battlefield. For each point of HP lost by all allies, Castorice gains 1 point of “Newbud.” When “Newbud” reaches its maximum, Castorice’s Ultimate can be used. When allies lose HP, Castorice’s and Netherwing’s DMG dealt increase by 20%. This effect can stack up to 3 times, lasting for 3 turn(s). When Netherwing is on the field, “Newbud” cannot be gained through Talent, and HP lost by all allies (except Netherwing) will be converted to an equal amount of HP for Netherwing.
Technique – Wail Death’s Herald: After using Technique, enters the “Netherveil” state that lasts for 20 seconds. While “Netherveil” is active, enemies are unable to approach Castorice on their own.
While in the “Netherveil” state, attacking will cause all enemies within range to enter combat. At the same time, it summons the memosprite Netherwing and causes it to advance its action by 100%, as well as create its Territory “Lost Netherland.” Netherwing starts with current HP equal to 50% of max “Newbud.” After entering battle, it consumes 40% of all allies’ current HP aside from Netherwing. After entering battle and before summoning Netherwing, Castorice gains “Newbud” equal to 30% of maximum “Newbud.”
Support (Unique) – Sanctuary of Mooncocoon: After obtaining Castorice or when Castorice is in the current team, receive the following effect: In battle, when an ally character receives a killing blow, all ally characters that received a killing blow in this action enter the “Mooncocoon” state. Characters in “Mooncocoon” temporarily delay becoming downed and can take actions normally. After the action, if their present HP increases, or if they gain the Shield effect before their next turn, “Mooncocoon” is removed. Otherwise, they will be downed immediately. This effect can be triggered 1 time per battle.
Contained Dark Tide: After ally targets (excluding Netherwing) receive healing, converts 100% of healed value into “Newbud.” If Netherwing is on the battlefield, the healing is converted into Netherwing’s HP. The converted value for each ally target cannot exceed 12% of “Newbud”‘s maximum limit. The accumulated conversion value from all units resets after any unit takes action.
Inverted Touch: When Castorice’s current HP is greater or equal to 50% of this unit’s Max HP, her SPD increases by 40%. When Netherwing uses “Breath Scorches the Shadow” and deals fatal damage to all enemies on the field or brings them to a point where they cannot lose more HP, Netherwing’s SPD increases by 100% for 1 turn.
Where the West Wind Dwells: Each time Netherwing uses “Breath Scorches the Shadow,” increases its DMG dealt by 30%. This effect stacks up to 6 and lasts until the end of this turn.
Stat Boosts: 18.7% CRIT Rate, 14.4% Quantum DMG Boost, 13.3% CRIT DMG.
Memosprite Skill – Claw Splits the Veil (AoE): Deals Quantum DMG equal to 40% of Castorice’s Max HP to all enemies.
Memosprite Skill – Breath Scorches the Shadow (AoE): Activating “Breath Scorches the Shadow” will consume 25% of Netherwing’s Max HP to deal Quantum DMG equal to 24% of Castorice’s Max HP to all enemies. In one attack, “Breath Scorches the Shadow” can be activated repeatedly, with the DMG multiplier increasing respectively to 28% / 34%, until 34%. The DMG Multiplier Boost effect will not be reduced before Netherwing disappears. When Netherwing’s current HP is equal to or lower than 25% of its Max HP, activating the ability will reduce HP to 1, and then trigger the ability effect equal to that of the Talent “Wings Sweep the Ruins.
Memosprite Talent – Mooncocoon Shrouds the Form: When Netherwing is on the field, it acts as backup for allies. When allies take DMG or consume HP, their current HP can be reduced to a minimum of 1. Netherwing will consume HP at 500% of the original value until Netherwing disappears.
Memosprite Talent – Roar Rumbles the Realm: When Netherwing is summoned, increases DMG dealt by all allies by 10% for 3 turn(s).
Memosprite Talent – Wings Sweep the Ruins: Consumes all HP and deals 6 instance(s) of DMG, with every instance dealing Quantum DMG equal to 20% of Castorice’s Max HP to one random enemy unit. At the same time, it restores HP equal to 3% of Castorice’s Max HP plus 400 to all allies.
Snowbound Maiden, Memory to Tomb: When the enemy target’s current HP is 80%/50% or lower than this unit’s Max HP, the DMG dealt with “Boneclaw, Doomdrake’s Embrace,” “Claw Splits the Veil,” “Breath Scorches the Shadow,” and “Wings Sweep the Ruins” is 120%/140% of the original DMG.
Crown on Wings of Bloom: After summoning memosprite Netherwing, Castorice gains 2 stack(s) of “Ardent Will.” A maximum of 2 stacks of “Ardent Will” can be possessed at any given time and can be used to offset Netherwing’s HP consumption when using the Memosprite Skill “Breath Scorches the Shadow” while advancing Castorice’s action by 100%. In the next usage of Enhanced Skill, Castorice gains 30% of maximum “Newbud” points.
Pious Pilgrim, Dance in Doom: Ultimate Lv. +2, up to a maximum of Lv. 15. Basic ATK Lv. +1, up to a maximum of Lv. 10. Memosprite Talent Lv. +1, up to a maximum of Lv. 10.
Rest in Songs of Gloom: While Castorice is on the battlefield, all allies’ incoming Healing increases by 20% when having their HP restored.
Pristine Pages, Prophecy as Plume: Skill Lv. +2, up to a maximum of Lv. 15. Talent +2, up to a maximum of Lv. 15. Memorpsite SKill Lv. +1, up to a maximum of Lv. 10.
Await for Years to Loom: When Castorice or Netherwing deals DMG, increases Quantum RES PEN by 20%. When Netherwing attacks, it can ignore Weakness Type and directly reduce enemy Toughness. When it inflicts Weakness Break, it triggers the Quantum Weakness Break effect. Additionally, it increases the Bounce count for Netherwing’s Talent “Wings Sweep the Ruins” by 3 time(s).
Castorice’s Eidolons are all very good. E1 is a conditional damage increase of up to 1.4x depending on the enemy’s HP on all attacks that involve Netherwing.
E2 does a bunch of things. “Ardent Will” gives Castorice 2 extra casts of Skill as a buffer and won’t deplete Netherwing’s HP until it is used up. Castorice also gets Action Advanced ahead of Netherwing when summoned, and the Enhanced Skill used by Castorice will give 30% “Newbud”. This means she will start off with 30% of her Ultimate already charged after Netherwing exits, increasing the frequency of getting her ultimate. Overall, it’s a cracked Eidolon at max potential with everything it gives.
E4 is lackluster like every other E4, and E6 is the familiar huge damage increase from 3 extra bounce attacks on her Netherwing blowing up, more Res PEN, and Weakness Ignore on Netherwing’s attacks.
Castorice’s Eidolons are solid upgrades, but getting her Signature should be prioritized first as her alternative options hardly exist and fall short compared to her own Lightcone.
Light Cones
Main Stats
Relics
Planar Set
Castorice’s Light Cone options are incredibly limited. She is in a category of her own, being an HP Remembrance DPS. The only other current Remembrance DPS is Aglaea, an ATK scaling DPS, and her Signature gives SPD, which is the complete opposite of what she wants.
Make Farewells More Beautiful: Increases the wearer’s Max HP by 30% / 37.5% / 45% / 52.5% / 60%. When the wearer or their memosprite loses HP during their own turn, the wearer gains “Death Flower,” which allows the wearer and their memosprite to ignore 30% / 35% / 40% / 45% / 50% of the target’s DEF when dealing DMG, lasting for 2 turn(s).
When the wearer’s memosprite disappears, advances the wearer’s action by 12% / 15% / 18% / 21% / 24% . This effect can only trigger up to 1 time, and the trigger count resets every time the wearer uses Ultimate.
Castorice’s Signature is a massive boost to her performance, mainly because the alternatives hardly exist. A massive 30% increase in Max HP for starters and 30% DEF ignore is already a good boost. In comparison, Mydei’s Signature gives 18% Max HP, and Feixiao’s Signature gives 27% DEF shred, stacking twice to a max of 52%.
The kicker with her Signature is that when her Dragon dies, she advances herself by 12%. This is beneficial because Castorice is as slow as molasses, so any AA that assists in getting her turn and Skill quicker will let her be able to resummon her Memosprite faster.
Sweat Now, Cry Less: Increases the wearer’s CRIT Rate by 12% / 14% / 16% / 18% / 20% . When the wearer’s memosprite is on the field, increases the wearer and their memosprite’s DMG dealt by 24% / 27% / 30% / 33% / 36%.
The Battlepass Light Cone will make Castorice’s CRIT Rate overcap, but this is her only option other than her Signature, as it buffs both herself and her Memosprite.
Time Waits for No One: Increases the wearer’s Max HP by 18% / 21% / 24% / 27% / 30% and Outgoing Healing by 12% / 14% / 16% / 18% / 20% . When the wearer heals allies, record the amount of Outgoing Healing. When any ally launches an attack, a random attacked enemy takes Additional DMG equal to 36% / 42% / 48% / 54% / 60% of the recorded Outgoing Healing value. The type of this additional DMG is the same as the wearer’s. This Additional DMG is not affected by other buffs and can only occur 1 time per turn.
What is an Abundance Light Cone doing here? You are seeing it correctly. Castorice’s best F2P option is Bailu’s Signature, as it has a very high base HP. None of the passives will apply of course, since Lightcones don’t work if paths don’t match, so it’s just a pure stat stick.
Castorice is an HP scaling DPS, and she does not want speed at all, so all of her Main stats should be HP% other than her Body where CRIT DMG is preferred. HP% Orb will pull ahead compared to Quantum DMG% because she already has a lot of DMG% in her kit (216%).
There is no speedtuning with Castorice. You want to avoid Speed at all costs so that you are always slow enough to get Poet’s 4-Pc passive (95 SPD).
Castorice is difficult to build well because she wants nothing to do with Speed and also wants to avoid getting too much CRIT Rate. Her trace already gives her 18.7% and Poet another 32%, which is already 51% CRIT Rate. Factoring in RMC, one of her best teammates is an additional 10% CRIT Rate.
A CRIT Rate of 58% on stat screen is all she needs to guarantee crits, since Poet and RMC’s CR do not show up unless in battle. Beyond that Castorice wants all the HP% (flat HP welcomed too) and CRIT DMG substats she can get.
If Castorice’s Relic options look short, that’s because it is. Hoyo has imprinted Castorice’s names on these two relics, as if she custom ordered them. Other options are a significant performance decrease, and not worth farming.
It’s not an understatement that Hoyo made this relic just for Castorice. She is the only Quantum DPS that wants low Speed and possesses a Memosprite. Poet is by far the best for Castorice, with the insane 32% CRIT Rate it gives, making it one of the best relics when conditions are met.
Castorice’s teammate options are restrictive similar to Mydei, as there aren’t many supports that work with HP DPS. Castorice also wants teammates that can attack as well, to help get Energy for her Ultimate. A healer is also mandatory since Castorice drains her teammates’ HP rapidly.
Tribbie: Tribbie being the premier AoE support is by far the biggest boost to Castorice. All of her buffs apply for HP DPS, and her out-of-turn follow-up attacks can help with Castorice’s Energy paired with out-of-turn healing. Tribbie being an HP support also means that Castorice can drain more HP % from her Skill.
Remembrance Trailblazer: Remembrance Trailblazer works remarkably well with Castorice and has many reasons for it. First, True DMG is a unique buff that works for HP DPS. Second, RMC’s Action Advance can be controlled with proper Energy management so that Mem can either push up Castorice or her Dragon and retain the buffs. Third, RMC can attack the enemy both from RMC’s Ult and Mem’s Action, or Heal Mem with her Skill; both gain Energy for charging Castorice’s Ult up. Finally, RMC’s buffs last on Netherwing even if you use Mem’s Skill on Castorice (RIP Sunday).
These are the reasons why RMC works better as of now than Sunday and an amazing pairing for Castorice.
Sunday: Sunday in theory should’ve worked well, but is quite cumbersome to play properly with Castorice. Sunday’s buff uptime on the Memosprite is not very high since it just explodes itself and has to be resummoned. The Action Advance on Netherwing is also wasted if you have to wait for Sunday’s turn to push Castorice up to use her Ult to gain the buff.
Sunday also doesn’t attack compared to RMC, making Ult Charge slower.That doesn’t mean Sunday is terrible with Castorice. The summon buffs Sunday gives are still very good, but will perform worse than RMC in most cases unless Sunday has investment.
Jiaoqiu/Ruan Mei/Pela: These supports have a universal AoE amp/debuff that can be used with Castorice but are better in other teams and/or Castorice doesn’t fully benefit from their support. As a side note, Pela w/ Pearls+Technique and Castorice’s Signature caps out DEF shred, assuming full uptime.
Mydei/Blade: Since Castorice gains Energy from HP loss and healing, other HP DPS that drain their HP can function with Castorice to Charge her Ult. These DPS also have higher HP pools, which means more HP drained for Castorice. Castorice’s best team is still hyper carry, but dual DPS does exist as an alternative.
Castorice similar to Mydei is an HP scaling DPS, except that she drains the whole party’s HP whenever she Skills. Her Ult Charge also depends on how much HP she drains, so if the team is at low HP, her Energy gain will be slow too. A sustain therefore is a must! All the limited Abundance units perform similarly, with Gallagher being a cut above the rest.
Gallagher: Gallagher outperforms every limited sustain we have so far (3.2) for Castorice teams. This is because Gallagher’s Ultimate/Technique inflicts Besotted, a debuff that lasts for 3 turns with his E4. Besotted targets heal the Ally for each target attacked for 640 HP. The key here is each target, meaning that Besotted on AoE moves makes Gallagher’s heals multiplied by the # of targets it hits. At its max potential of 5 targets, Gallagher can heal up to 3200 HP on one target, and that’s before healing bonuses are considered.
Remember that Castorice gains her own unique Energy whenever allies heal HP, to a cap of 12% of the Dragon (4080 HP) . Gallagher along with other AoE attacking allies like Tribbie and RMC, due to Besotted, can trigger this cap for one Ally and gain a huge amount of healing/Energy for Castorice faster than any other sustain currently, especially when chained with Tribbie FUAs proccing besotted on all enemies.
Luocha: Luocha’s healing, both from his targeted Skill and out of turn-chip healing, works great for keeping Castorice’s team healthy. Luocha’s field in particular heals whenever Allies attack the enemy, which is not as much as Gallagher’s Besotted targets, but still the constant healing will continuously gain Castorice Energy for her Ult.
Huohuo/Lingsha: These two other limited Abundances work, but their healing capabilities are on the low end. Still both have the strengths from their Utility, such as giving Energy to Castorice’s other teammates in Huohuo’s case, or Lingsha’s non-negligible damage and follow-up attack heals from her summon.
At the time of her release, RMC with Castorice will be her best team. Only composed of two limited characters, a budget-friendly team compared to many other teams. Gallagher is not there just for show. His Besotted is core to why this team is so good. It’s not an understatement to say Castorice’s potential would be much lower without the existence of Gallagher. Nevertheless, Gallagher’s massive AoE healing due to his debuff and Tribbie/RMC being able to utilize it since they also attack the enemies is what makes this team so good for Castorice’s Energy gain.
Sunday also works, but requires better piloting due to maintaining his buffs on Netherwing.
A more auto-friendly team comp with a lower ceiling compared to Hypercarry. With 4 HP characters, Castorice will love the amount of HP she drains. Mydei can also gain “Newbud” for Castorice since he has his own HP drain and healing. Tribbie is there for her AoE support, and Gallagher’s Besotted debuff is just too valuable for Castorice’s Energy gain.
Castorice is a very strong DPS with a great F2P team as long as you have Tribbie. Like Firefly at her release, her team, with just RMC Tribbie and Gallagher, are competing with other teams with all limited units. Castorice, however, does not have a usable F2P LightCone option as of now, with her Signature being a massive boost to her damage.
Pulling Castorice should be an investment, similar to how Break teams received Fugue and Lingsha. It should be expected that Castorice teams will also receive similar upgrades of better limited counterparts.
Castorice will clear all endgame modes with ease, but requires manual play to be played to its fullest, even more so than others. Her “Newbud” gain depends on her allies and requires good timing to maximize how fast she can resummon her dragons.
As always, DPS are printed out every other patch, so she is not a must-pull. However if you are in need of a strong DPS and a new/returning player, Castorice should pan out well for you. Anniversary units receive good treatment with tailored supports and endgame modes more catered towards them.
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