Meta Naito
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16 Min read Jing Yuan, being one of the first limited units, is a Lightning Erudition unit that tried to be good both in ST and AoE, due to his Lightning-Lord being Bounce.Unfortunately Lightning-Lord was also the bane of his existence, since it was only able to strike once per blue moon. In HSR, all endgame content is determined by who clears the fastest. Jing Yuan was not able to utilize all the AV manipulations and Action Advancing other characters were, because his main damage was tied to Lightning-Lord.
However, that changed with the release of Sunday, a dedicated summon support, and brought new light for Jing Yuan players. Jing Yuan post-Sunday is a solid unit, being great in Memory of Chaos and Pure Fiction, and respectable in Apocalyptic Shadow against Lightning weak.
Jing Yuan’s banner will be rerunning in the first half of Version 2.7 releasing on December 4th, 2024 and will run until December 24th, 2024.
Jing Yuan has a unique mechanic that only a few have even now before the remembrance path was introduced, a summon. A summon is an independent entity that appears on the Action Value Bar, and will take action when their turn comes.
Lightning-Lord, Jing Yuan’s talent, is a summon that gains 10 speed whenever you gain a stack and is considered a follow-up attack. Lightning Lord has 60 Base Speed and can stack its Hit Per Action up to 10, with a base start of 3. There are two ways to stack his Lightning-Lord. His Skill and Ultimate do 100% and 200% damage in full AoE, but also increases his stacks by 2 and 3 respectively. That means 2 skills and 1 Ultimate can get him to 10 stacks. Jing Yuan’s Ultimate is 130 Energy, which is on the high side.
Jing Yuan’s Technique increases his 1st Lightning-Lord’s stacks by an extra 3, so you start off with 6 at the start of battle. His self buffs from his traces are pretty underwhelming, for a grand total of 10% CRIT Rate after skilling, 25% extra CRIT DMG on 6 or higher LLs, and starting off with an extra 15 Energy. This lack of self buffs also has its positives, where Jing Yuan is very receptive to harmonies and buffs, since there are less combative stats to dilute.
A full 10 stack Lighting-Lord has a multiplier of 660% ST and up to 990% in 3T situations. These are pretty high multipliers even compared to modern units. Yunli’s Cull is 650%, and Feixiao’s Ultimate is 700%. So what gives? It’s time to talk about the downsides.
Jing Yuan, bearing a 1.0 kit, has many restrictions. Lighting-Lord, at max speed is 130. This means without any shenanigans, Lightning-Lord only strikes once per cycle. Lightning-Lord also cannot act if Jing Yuan is CC’ed. Lightning-Lord cannot overstack, unlike say Jade or Aventurine. Despite all these caveats, Jing Yuan’s Lightning-Lord still hits pretty hard, if it comes. If only there was a way to use Lightning-Lord more often.
Enter Sunday. Sunday can immediately action advance summons with his Skill, including Lightning-Lord. Gone are the days where you had to wait for Lightning-Lord to drag himself to the top, when you can just fast-track it with Sunday. Sunday also has a cleanse, and provides Energy, all of which are massively beneficial to Jing Yuan. Find out more on our dedicated Sunday guide!
Jing Yuan wants to use his Skill and Ultimate to clear out the mobs, so that Lightning-Lord can focus on the elites due to its Bounce. Bounce is a mechanic that hits all enemies randomly if they’re alive. Lightning-Lord also does 25% damage as Blast to adjacent targets, in addition to his Bounce. This makes Jing Yuan versatile in all combat scenarios. In addition, it makes his Single Target and 2/3T very respectable despite being an Erudition unit, since the Lightning-Lord will be concentrated on whatever is left on the field. It can be a downside too though, if you can’t clear the adds in time before Lighting-Lord comes, so make sure to not neglect your Skill/Ultimate traces.
Basic Attack – Glistening Light: Jing Yuan deals Lightning DMG equal to 100% of his ATK to a single enemy.
Skill – Rifting Zenith: Deals Lightning DMG equal to 100% of Jing Yuan’s ATK to all enemies and increases Lightning-Lord’s Hits Per Action by 2 for the next turn.
Ultimate – Lightbringer (130 Energy): Deals Lightning DMG equal to 200% of Jing Yuan’s ATK to all enemies and increases Lightning-Lord’s Hits Per Action by 3 for the next turn.
Talent – Prana Extirpated: Summons Lightning-Lord at the start of the battle. Lightning-Lord has 60 base SPD and 3 base Hits Per Action. When the Lightning-Lord takes action, its hits are considered as follow-up attacks, with each hit dealing Lightning DMG equal to 66% of Jing Yuan’s ATK to a random single enemy, and enemies adjacent to it also receive Lightning DMG equal to 25% of the DMG dealt to the primary target enemy.
The Lightning-Lord’s Hits Per Action can reach a max of 10. Every time Lightning-Lord’s Hits Per Action increases by 1, its SPD increases by 10. After the Lightning-Lord’s action ends, its SPD and Hits Per Action return to their base values.
When Jing Yuan is knocked down, the Lightning-Lord will disappear.
When Jing Yuan is affected by Crowd Control debuff, the Lightning-Lord is unable to take action.
Technique – Spiritus Invocation: After the Technique is used, the Lightning-Lord’s Hits Per Action in the first turn increases by 3 at the start of the next battle.
Battalia Crush: If the Lightning-Lord Hits Per Action is greater or equal to 6 in the next turn, its CRIT DMG increases by 25% for the next turn.
Savant Providence: At the start of the battle, immediately regenerates 15 Energy.
War Marshal: After the Skill is used, the CRIT Rate increases by 10% for 2 turn(s).
Jing Yuan, being a 1.0 unit, has pretty bad eidolons other than his E1 and E6, and even those don’t hold up to the crazy stuff 2.x DPS have like Firefly/Acheron/Feixiao. His E1 increases his multiplier on Lightning Lord on adjacent enemies by 25%. This is pretty good except that in single target scenarios this Eidolon does nothing. E2 is a joke, since his Skill and Ultimate are pretty weak, not to mention it only activates after the first Lightning-Lord. E4 gives 2 Energy per Lightning-Lord hit, but with Energy batteries like Sunday and Huohuo, it’s nothing gamebreaking to his gameplay. It can net you an extra Ultimate here and there at most.His E6 applies Vulnerability on LL, stacking up to 36%. This is a pretty good Eidolon, but way too much investment for most people, when equal or better performance can be gained from support Eidolons. It also doesn’t apply for his Skill/Ultimate, which is still a good portion of his damage, especially in AoE.
For Jing Yuan’s vertical options, I would recommend getting his Signature first if you don’t have any limited Erudition LCs, and E1 if you really like to play him. Jing Yuan has barely any self buffs, so if you want to make him stronger, it’s much better to vertically invest in the harmonies you will be using him with.
Light Cones
Main Stats
Relics
Planar Set
Before Dawn: Increases the wearer’s CRIT DMG by 36% / 42% / 48% / 54% / 60%. Increases DMG dealt by the wearer’s Skill and Ultimate by 18% / 21% / 24% / 27% / 30%. After the wearer uses Skill or Ultimate, gains Somnus Corpus. Upon triggering a follow-up attack, consumes Somnus Corpus, and increases DMG dealt by follow-up attack by 48% / 56% / 64% / 72% / 80%.
Jing Yuan’s Signature is really nice for him, increasing his DMG on Skills, Ultimate and follow-up attacks, as well as giving a lot of CRIT DMG. JY is noticeably weaker without a premium LC, and the F2P Erudition options even now are far off from his Signature, so consider getting at least one of JY, Jade, or BP LC for content that’s not Pure Fiction.
Today is Another Peaceful Day: After entering battle, increases the wearer’s DMG based on their Max Energy. DMG increases by 0.20% / 0.25% / 0.30% / 0.35% /0.40% per point of Energy, up to 160 Energy.
The BP LC is a really solid Erudition LC in general, and is not that far behind his Signature. Jing Yuan’s 130 Energy cost means this LC gives 52% DMG increase to all of his abilities.
Yet Hope is Priceless: Increases the wearer’s CRIT Rate by 16% / 19% / 22% / 25% / 28%. While the wearer is in battle, for every 20% CRIT DMG that exceeds 120%, the DMG dealt by follow-up attack increases by 12% / 14% / 16% / 18% / 20%. This effect can stack up to 4 time(s). When the battle starts or after the wearer uses their Basic ATK, enables the DMG dealt by Ultimate or follow-up attack to ignore 20% / 24% / 28% / 32% / 36% of the target’s DEF, lasting for 2 turn(s).
Jade’s LC, if you can activate the DEF down, is better than JY’s own Signature. The only problem is you need to use your Basic ATK, which means you can’t Skill. Still, if you have this LC, it is a great option as long as you remind yourself to weave in a Basic ATK every 2 turns, which you still should do when playing with Sunday since SP is in high demand.
Night on the Milky Way: For every enemy on the field, increases the wearer’s ATK by 9% / 10.5% / 12% / 13.5% / 15%, up to 5 stacks. When an enemy is inflicted with Weakness Break, the DMG dealt by the wearer increases by 30% / 35% / 40% / 45% / 50% for 1 turn.
Good for Pure Fiction, since JY will be weakness breaking a lot as well as hitting 5 target enemies since all his abilities are full AoE.
Geniuses’ Repose: Increases the wearer’s ATK by 16% / 20% / 24% / 28% / 32%. When the wearer defeats an enemy, the wearer’s CRIT DMG increases by 24% / 30% / 36% / 42% / 48% for 3 turn(s).
Good for wave-like content, like Pure Fiction, providing a sizable increase in CRIT DMG and ATK when you defeat an enemy.
Seriousness of Breakfast: Increases the wearer’s DMG by 12% / 15% / 18% / 21% / 24%. For every enemy defeated by the wearer, the wearer’s ATK increases by 4% / 5% / 6% / 7% / 8%, stacking up to 3 time(s).
Usable LC available from the Forgotten Hall shop. Can be used as a placeholder until one of the stronger Light Cones mentioned above is obtained. May struggle in the beginning since there is no benefit until enemies are killed.
The Day the Cosmos Fell: Increases the wearer’s ATK by 16% / 18% / 20% / 22% / 24%. When the wearer uses an attack and at least 2 attacked enemies have the corresponding Weakness, the wearer’s CRIT DMG increases by 20% / 25% / 30% / 35% / 40%, lasting for 2 turn(s).
Usable LC available from the Forgotten Hall shop. Is more restrictive than Breakfast, making its performance better on-element and worse off-element compared to Breakfast. Can be used as a placeholder until one of the stronger Light Cones mentioned above is obtained.
Jing Yuan is a standard crit DPS that deals the majority of his damage from his Lightning-Lord, while his Skill and Ultimate sweep up adds in AoE. For Body you want either CRIT Rate or CRIT DMG, as long as his CRIT Rate is at least 60%.
With Sunday, Speed boots are back in play. Running a -1 setup with Sunday, where JY is 1 speed faster than Sunday, can guarantee at least a 7 stack Lightning-Lord every time Sunday pushes up the stand. Attack boots are used when you’re using him with someone like a fast Sparkle (160+) or can get speed from external sources.
The Orbs are pretty standard, with Attack and Lightning performing marginally the same and coming down to substats and supports. Rope should always be Attack to increase his damage.
Jing Yuan wants as close to 100% CRIT Rate in-game, especially for multi-hit abilities like Lightning-Lord. Sunday provides 20%, and JY’s talent provides 10% so 70% gets you to that mark. Other sources of CR can come from Fu Xuan’s field (12%) or Sparkle’s LC (10%). Once you get the desired CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG and Attack substats should be your focus. Speed substats are also needed if you want to play optimally on Sunday.
Speedtuning:
Jing Yuan wants to be at least 1 speed faster than Sunday, so that you can do JY-Sunday-JY-LL. We aim for 135+ Speed, with Sunday at 134, that way Sunday can push up JY immediately after his turn is over as well as his Lightning-Lord. 134-135 gets you 2 turns in the first cycle, and is a reasonable speed breakpoint without gimping your offensive stats.
Without Sunday, Jing Yuan doesn’t need any speed when being played with Sparkle. Instead, Sparkle is played at high speed (160+) and will Action Advance Jing Yuan twice before Lightning-Lord to gain stacks. Alternatively you can use Hanya/Asta for a speed boost, or DDD with Tingyun to make up for his slowness to outspeed Lighting-Lord. A raw speed of 140 is needed to act twice before Lightning-Lord. This is really hard to do without any help just from relics, which is why we let the supports do the heavy lifting.
The Ashblazing Grand Duke
A great relic for Jing Yuan. Since Lightning-Lord is a follow-up, Jing Yuan can fully benefit from this. Each hit of Lightning-Lord counts, so an 8 stack Lighting-Lord is enough to max out the 48% ATK. Duke ramps up for each hit, so the last two LL stacks will get the full benefit of the increased ATK.
Band of Sizzling Thunder
A noticeable downgrade from Duke. There is also no reason to farm this domain this late into the game, when Duke also gives you Prisoner pieces, while seldom 1 character wants Knight.
The Wondrous BananAmusement Park
Jing Yuan being one of the few summon units as of 2.7 can fully benefit from this planar, getting a whopping 48% CRIT DMG for just having Lightning-Lord.
Inert Salsotto
Jing Yuan functions best as a Hyper Carry, and is receptive to almost all buffs, due to his kit being a jack of all trades as well as not having to worry about diluting stats since he has very minimal self buffing in his kit. His teammates usually consist of 2 harmonies and a sustain, like most Hyper Carries. Just because the support is not listed here, doesn’t mean they won’t work for him.
Sunday: Jing Yuan is a completely different unit with the release of Sunday. Previously being restricted to 1 Lightning-Lord per cycle, Sunday can now instantly advance Jing Yuan as well as Lightning-Lord, allowing him to use LL multiple times per cycle. Sunday cleanses on his Skill, so Jing Yuan doesn’t have to worry about having LL being lazy when he is CC’ed. Sunday also provides Energy, for Jing Yuan to get his Ultimate quicker. Playing a -1 Sunday with JY means that he can get at least 7 stacks in a JY-Sunday-JY rotation. Sunday fixes practically all flaws of Jing Yuan, and makes him competitive with the 2.x units.
Robin: The bird duo is very potent and also the best pairing for Jing Yuan’s team. With both Sunday and Robin’s Action Advance, Jing Yuan can get up to 3 LLs per cycle in a normal sustain comp. JY’s frequency of LL post-Sunday will also help Robin gain more Energy while in Concerto.
Sparkle: Prior to Sunday, Sparkle was Jing Yuan’s best support. Before Sparkle’s release, Jing Yuan could not use Bronya properly because the buffs would only last 1 turn, thereby not applying on Lightning-Lord. Sparkle’s buff lasts till the next time the DPS moves, supporting Jing Yuan’s clunkiness on Lightning-Lord. Sparkle is played with a “wheelchair” setup, where Sparkle is very fast and can push up Jing Yuan twice before his Lightning-Lord strikes.
Sparkle and Sunday have some anti-synergy, because when Sunday pushes up Jing Yuan, Sparkle’s buff will wear off since the DPS took their turn. You can play 136 JY 135 Sparkle 134 Sunday to retain both buffs, since Sparkle’s 50% AA will not fully push up JY before Sunday acts. However this is clunky and is largely wasting Sparkle’s Action Advance.
Bronya: Similar to Sparkle, Bronya’s buff will wear off right after the DPS turn ends, unless you have her at E6. Even still, once Sunday advances JY again, Bronya’s buff will not stick. Bronya however, unlike Sparkle also has a 100% Action Advance, and can instead push up Sunday so that Sunday can bring back JY and LL again, where Bronya is slower than Sunday.
This team comp is very SP intensive and not recommended for normal use, but maximizes LL’s frequency and can lead to some funny stuff when played in sustainless teams alongside Robin, being able to get way too many LLs per round.
Tingyun: Tingyun has been the OG Jing Yuan support since 1.0, providing him with Energy and Attack. Tingyun equipped with DDD can also push up Jing Yuan before Lightning Lord to gain more stacks.
Jiaoqiu/Ruan Mei: Both of these units are low maintenance in terms of SP and provide good amp by just existing, making them a solid secondary support. Jiaoqiu’s additional Ultimate Vulnerability can help Jing Yuan clear mobs easier, while Ruan Mei brings safety and the Weakness Break Efficiency makes Lightning-Lord do a good amount of Break Units.
Asta/Hanya: Asta and Hanya’s speed boosts can let JY run Attack boots and still have enough speed to act before Lightning-Lord. Nowadays with units like Sparkle and Sunday providing AA, their use is less needed, but were still important for Jing Yuan in the early days of the game.
Topaz & Numby: Topaz’s 50% follow-up Vulnerability makes her decent for Jing Yuan in ST fights. She is SP positive to help JY as often as well.
Jade: All of JY’s abilities are full AoE, which lets Jade get stacks of her talent quickly. Jade only using SP once every 3 turns and giving a flat 30 speed boost helps JY as well.
Huohuo: Huohuo provides Attack, Energy, and the best cleansing capabilities in the game, all things Jing Yuan really likes.
Sustain with Cleanse: Jing Yuan and his team really doesn’t want to get CC’ed, so any sustain with cleanse at quick disposal or CC Res like Fu Xuan/Aventurine is really wanted.
The Charmony Brother boosts Jing Yuan, a 1.0 unit, to new heights. With Sunday, Jing Yuan is no longer bottlenecked by Lightning-Lord, being able to strike whenever Sunday advances Jing Yuan. Robin will be the best in terms of damage, and synergizes really well with Sunday. A fast Sparkle and -1 Sunday can guarantee JY gets many stacks, but Sparkle’s buff will fall off when Sunday pushes JY up after Sparkle does. Tingyun is just a generally good unit for JY, since his Ultimate is important for getting 10 stacks of LL. Huohuo is the best sustain for JY, with Sunday, Tingyun and Huohuo giving him plenty of Energy to work with.
As long as Sunday is in the team, you can slot in most harmonies/support for the secondary teammate and still make it work.
Jing Yuan without Sunday is like playing golf except the fairway is all replaced with bunkers. In other words, it’s much weaker without him. Sunday’s importance to Jing Yuan is like Robin to Feixiao, Jiaoqiu to Acheron, etc but twofold. Lightning-Lord is Jing Yuan’s strongest ability, but without Sunday the stand takes his sweet time before it acts. With that being said, any harmony pairing will work as long as he can get the necessary stacks before Lightning Lord strikes.
Jing Yuan post-Sunday is a very capable unit, being able to hang out with the 2.x DPS, which is impressive considering he is the 2nd oldest limited unit to be released in the game. The Lightning DPS category is very saturated, and will be even more with Aglaea’s release. We don’t know what Aglaea does, but she is from the Remembrance path and will very likely use Sunday as well, bringing competition for Jing Yuan.
DPS on rerun are never the play unless you really like the unit and don’t care about meta. Same goes for our General. He may be good now with Sunday, but that would mean you need to pull Sunday and Jing Yuan together, which is a lot of pulls. Most people should prioritize getting Sunday and wait for future remembrance characters that will have a more modern kit than Jing Yuan.
Thanks for Reading! For more resources, check out our other Honkai Star Rail Guides.
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