Boothill in Honkai Star Rail: Build Guide and Top Teams

Boothill in HSR — a legendary representative of the Path of the Hunt, serving as the primary DPS character. Given his skillset's focus on single-target takedowns, he's considered a suitable hero for room-based combat. "Forgotten Hall" and knots "Apocalyptic Shadow"However, it performs worse in situations where it is necessary to fight against a group of enemies.

A unique trait of the Cowboy is the ability to inflict physical vulnerability on a targeted mob. This partly makes him similar to Firefly, who can also manipulate enemy durability types and thereby increase her own combat potential. However, in comparison, the hero is considered a more versatile fighter.

As a result, he plays equally well in teams with supports that build up their combat power through increased critical hit rates, and in teams that focus on increasing penetration (combinations with Ruan Mei, Fugue, and Harmonic Pathfinder).

How to Get the Character

In the limited-time Event Jump: Lone Star Dusty Roads, Boothill can be dropped with Star Pass tickets.

In order not to miss the next rerun of Boothill, follow the constantly updated banner schedule.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The Cowboy has a unique Duel mechanic. While in a boosted state, he inflicts a weakness to his element on the opponent and deals high damage, making him effective against single targets. He focuses on reducing durability and dealing piercing damage. — This becomes both an advantage and a limitation.

Best Boothill Builds in Honkai: Star Rail

The Cyborg Cowboy is a physical damage dealer specializing in single-target takedowns. He has a unique combat mechanic where he challenges one opponent to a Duel. In this mode, the character's basic attack is enhanced, with higher multipliers and faster stamina reduction. Additionally, the unit can inflict physical weakness with a super ability, further boosting his abilities.

In order to deal maximum damage, Boothill's XSR build should be built not only on attack power, from which skills are scaled, but also penetration effect, which affects the damage from the talent. Crit. indicators he himself increases due to the trace, and the bonus also depends on the EP, which makes the characteristic even more in demand. No less important do things quickly, to "walk" more often, deal damage more actively and engage in Duels.

Recommended Stats

Main stats in relics:

Secondary characteristics (sub-stats):

Speed ​​> EP > Crits

Optimal parameter values ​​for a max level character:

• Break effect: from 260% (or 300% to get the max crit bonus from the trail).
• Speed: 145 and more
• ATK: 2-900+.
• CRIT Rate: 40-55% and more.
• CRIT DMG: 150% and more
• HP: 3+.
• DEF: 800 and more

Light Cone Rating

When choosing a weapon, you should give preference to those that belong to Paths of the HuntIn addition, the light cone should increase EP, speed, attack power, or crits (optional).

Light cone	Effect	Recommendation
Sailing Towards A Second Life ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ HP 48-1058 ATK 26-582 DEF 21-463	The penetration effect increases by 60-100%, and the inflicted piercing damage is ignored 20-32% of the target's defense. When break effect in battle reaches 150% or more, speed increases by 12-20%.	Signa provides a significant boost to EP, making it easier to reach 300 HP to receive the maximum buff from the trail. Another benefit is the defense reduction and speed increase.   To further enhance the buff from the "card", it is recommended to provide an additional cut of enemy defense. For example, at the expense of the character's first eidolon, Pela or Silver Wolf.
Shadowed by Night  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ HP 38-846 ATK 21-476 DEF 18-396	Break effect is increased by 28-56%At the start of a battle or after dealing piercing damage, the speed increases by 8-12% for 2 turns. This can only happen once per turn.	A budget-friendly version of the Signature Light Cone. The overall EP increase is lower even at maximum stacking level, but the boost is still extremely useful if the stat is lacking.
River Flows in Spring ⭐⭐⭐⭐ HP 38-846 ATK 21-476 DEF 18-396	At the start of combat, increases speed by 8-12% and damage to 12-24%. After receiving damage, the buff disappears. The effect will appear at the end of the next turn.	A powerful weapon that increases speed and damage at the start of combat. This bonus can potentially be maintained throughout the battle, but a shielder is essential for this to work.
Cruising in the Stellar Sea ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ HP 43-952 ATK 24-529 DEF 21-463	CRIT chance increases by 8-16%. When the wearer attacks an enemy with health less than or equal to 50%, crit. the chance is further increased by 8-16%. After defeating an enemy, attack power increases by 20-40% for 2 turns.	The trace bonus grants a unit up to 30% damage/150% damage/damage bonus. Since the critical chance is lower, it's more beneficial for balance. The standard buff is always granted, but the additional buff requires an enemy with half HP.
Swordplay ⭐⭐⭐⭐ HP 43-952 ATK 21-476 DEF 15-330	When the owner attacks the same enemy multiple times, the damage dealt increases by 8-16%. If the target of the attack changes, the boost will disappear. The bonus is stacked up to 5 times.	An excellent epic cone of light that provides a significant boost to damage. Moreover, the passive's activation condition is compatible with the character's gameplay, as he only attacks one enemy in Duel.
Confrontation (N5) ⭐⭐⭐ HP 33-740 ATK 16-370 DEF 12-264	After defeating an enemy, increases speed by 10-18% for 2 turns.	Due to its low rarity, the weapon is easily awakened to its maximum potency. However, it's important to keep in mind that you'll need to kill numerous enemies to maintain the effect, which can weaken your character during boss battles.

Alternative equipment:

• Sleep Like the Dead (Light) — The weapon is aimed at increasing critical hits. While a cowboy doesn't need these stats as much, this card is useful because it allows for a greater emphasis on speed, attack power, and EP.
• "There remains only silence", Subscribe for More! и "The Only Winner" (epic) - decent cones, which, although inferior to the four-star options presented in the table, can be used successfully at first.

What relics and ornaments are needed

Among relics, sets that primarily increase EP are recommended. Combinations with speed, attack power, or physical bonuses are also worth considering.

Cavern relics

Set and its effects	Recommendation
Iron Cavalry Against the Scourge 2 parts: break effect +16%. 4 parts: Penetration damage ignores 10% of defense if the EP is at least 150%. When the EP exceeds 250%, the owner's super-penetration damage ignores an additional 15% of defense.	The best set with a primary stat and the ability to reduce defense. Due to the partial realization of the bonus, even without a false protagonist in the party, the cowboy will be stronger with these artifacts.
Iron Cavalry Against the Scourge 2 parts: break effect +16%. Comes with: Thief of Shooting Meteor / Watchmaker, Master of Dream Machinations  (2 parts) — penetration effect +16%. Messenger Traversing Hackerspace / Sacerdos' Relived Ordeal (2 parts) - speed +6%.	Combining sets with EP or speed, which is similarly needed in the build, is an excellent option. These combinations can be used without further switching to sets, especially if you have good lower stats.
Thief of Shooting Meteor 2 parts: break effect +16%. 4 parts: Penetration effect +16%. Restores 3 energy after depleting the target's durability with vulnerability.	EP is a key stat for a cyborg, so this set is perfect for him. It provides a 32% boost without meeting any conditions and also restores a small amount of energy.

Although the ranger does not have mastery over the quantum element, he can use Genius of Brilliant StarsLike Cavalry, it reduces enemy defense, so it's equipped as an alternative. It's especially effective against enemies weak to the set element.

Planar ornaments

Set and its effects	Recommendation
Talia: Kingdom of Banditry 2 parts: Penetration effect +16%. At speed equal to 145 units or higher, EP is additionally increased by 20%.	The build is built, among other things, on pumping up speed, so with the right selection of stats, equipment, and squad, the unit is capable of reaching 145 units, receiving full growth.
Forge of the Kalpagni Lantern 2 parts: Speed ​​+6%. If the owner damages an enemy vulnerable to the fire element, their EP increases by 40% for 1 turn.	A strong option that provides not only EP but also speed. The main drawback is that without enemies weak to fire, the kit begins to sag.
Space Sealing Station 2 parts: Attack Power +12%. At 120 speed or more, an additional 12% attack power bonus is given.	This set is easier to implement and more accessible to beginners, although it only increases ATK. The maximum buff requires only 120 Haste, which is achieved by equipping Speed ​​Boots.

Team Guide for Boothill in HSR

In a team, Boothill takes the position of the main damage dealer. He is accompanied by supports with buffs or debuffs, as well as shielders or healers, since HP can drop significantly during the Duel. When passing content that requires more AoE damage, you can use secondary DDs of the Path of Erudition or Destruction instead of one of the heroes of Harmony / Nihility.

Which characters are suitable?

The table shows the heroes that can be placed in the cowboy's squad.

Character	Features
Ruan Mei (Harmony: Ice)	One of the best supports. Increases damage, penetration of all resistance types, and effectiveness, allowing the cowboy to reduce enemy durability faster. And most importantly, it grants speed and EP.
MC (Harmony: Imaginary)	A free-to-play alternative to Ruan Mei. Significantly increases the cyborg's primary stat with skills and can slow enemies. Furthermore, the hero's Eidolons are unlocked for free.
Georgina (Non-existence: Fire)	Considered the "core" of break squads due to its key buffs and mechanics that allow for super-piercing damage when the enemy hasn't depleted their stamina. Cowboy also gains a 30% speed boost from his last trail.
Fugue (Nihility: Fire)	Applies the "Fox's Prayer" status, increasing HP and allowing you to drain enemy stamina regardless of vulnerability type. This allows you to gain more Pocket Advantage levels and rely less on your Ultimate.
Silver Wolf (Nihility: Quantum)	Applies various debuffs: decreased attack power, speed, and defense. Additionally, it reduces defense with a super ability, and with a skill, it creates a weakness to the ranger's element.
Pela (Nihility: Ice)	Her primary specialization is lowering defense. She does this with a technique at the start of combat and a super ability during battle. She also removes a buff from one enemy with a skill.
March 7 (Hunt: Imaginary)	A secondary damage dealer who, using his skill, applies the "Teacher" buff to a targeted ally. His "Tide Tamer" trail increases the buffed ally's critical damage and EP.
Lingsha (Abundance: Fire)	She's interesting not only as a healer but also as a support, increasing the amount of piercing damage taken by enemies. She also deals decent damage using her bonus attacks.
Gallagher (Abundance: Fire)	A healer who, in addition to healing, applies the "Dead Drunk" debuff to enemies. This debuff increases the target's stamina drain damage and reduces attack power.

Which support is better: the Harmony Trailblazer or Ruan Mei

Ruan Mei and the fake main character both apply buffs related to the Penetration effect. Since Boothill plays around this stat, let's compare the two characters:

Ruan Mei provides less penetration but a wider variety of buffs. This makes her a versatile support. The False Hero has fewer buffs, but significantly increases HP and damage after depleting enemy stamina, making her a more effective choice in protracted battles.

However, the best combination of these heroes is a team. Not only do they greatly enhance a unit's strength, but they also synergize well with each other. For example, Ruan Mei prolongs the exhaustion state, while Pathfinder increases damage to enemies with reduced durability.

Best team samples

The most effective units:

Character 1	Character 2	Character 3	Character 4	Features
Boothill	Dahlia	Ruan Mei MC Harmony Fugue	Lingsha Gallagher	One of the strongest teams, where the hero maximizes his DPS thanks to useful buffs and synergies between support characters. Recommended for Pathfinder or Ruan Mei. "Watchmaker, Master of Dream Machinations".
Boothill	Dahlia Ruan Mei Fugue	Bronya Sunday	Aventurine Lynx	An alternative hypercarry composition. The first slot also features supports that provide bonuses to EP, while the second slot features characters that diversify the build with other buffs. Specifically, all the featured heroes promote action, allowing Boothill to be used even more often.
Boothill	Ruan Mei MC Harmony	Fugue Silver Wolf Pela	Luocha Gepard	A balanced squad consisting of one hero from the Path of Harmony and one from the Path of Nothingness. The former focuses on buffing allies, while the latter focuses on debuffing enemies, such as lowering their defense or slowing them.
Boothill	Dahlia Ruan Mei Fugue	Rappa Himeko	Huohuo Lingsha Gallagher	A group consisting of one support character and an additional damage dealer. The second DPS character would be someone who can assist the unit in content that requires AoE damage.
Boothill	Asta Yukong	MC Harmony	Gallagher Natasha	A free hypercarry build. Path of Harmony supports buff the cowboy to increase his DPS in duels. Yukun pairs with Pathfinder for the supposed bonus, and Asta pairs with Gallagher for a Fire boost.

Leveling

The table shows the resources needed to level up to level 80:

Total amount of materials required:

• Credits (×3 888 000);
• Traveler's Guide (×290);
• Fragments of Impression (×56), Shards of Desires (×71), Chordal Mirage (×73) - materials that drop after defeating enemies of the "Meme Zone Meme" category;
• Meteoric Bullet (×18), Destined Expiration (×69), Countertemporal Shot (×139) - a reward for completing "Sepalist: Qualifying Site" of the Scorched Sands from "Delight".
• work permit KMM (×65) - an item awarded for completing "The Stagnant Shadow: Theme Park Studio Clock";
• Lost Echo of the Shared Wish (×12) - reward for defeating the boss "Harmonious Choir" The Great Septimus;
• Tracks of Destiny (×8).

How skills work

The hero's abilities are aimed at penetrating weaknesses and destroying large monsters. Using the skill, the cowboy challenges an enemy to a Duel, entering a special state where they can only attack each other during the battle. While in this state, their basic attack is enhanced, gaining high multipliers and reducing stamina faster.

Another useful feature of this unit is the ability to add physical vulnerability through a superpower or skill if a technique is used at the start of a battle. This allows it to independently destroy enemy armor, thereby dealing with any opponent.

Active skills

Passive Skills

Leveling Order

Talent > Skill > Super Ability > Basic Attack

All skills are important to upgrade, as they are equally used in combat or provide useful bonuses. The priority can be set as follows:

1. Talent is the damage inflicted on an enemy with a breached vulnerability. This is the character's primary source of damage.
2. Skill - increases the damage received by the target during a Duel, which will provide additional reinforcement.
3. Superpower - high physical damage to one enemy and slowdown.
4. B/a - is upgraded last, as it depends solely on attack power (less of a priority compared to the main stat).

Traces

Talents contained in the Tree:

• Ghost Charging (A2): Increases critical chance and critical damage by 10%/50% of EP. Maximum 30%/150%. To get maximum values, 300% is required.
• "Above the Snakes" (A4): Reduces damage from targets not in a Duel state by 30%.
• Point blank (A6): When you gain Pocket Advantage, restore 10 energy. The bonus also applies if stacks exceed the limit.

The final increase in characteristics after maximizing the traces:

Eidolons

The best eidolons of Boothill are E1, E2 and E6.

• First eidolon At the start of combat, grants 1 stack of Pocket Advantage without the need to penetrate a vulnerability or destroy an enemy to activate the talent. The hero can also ignore enemy defenses and deal even more damage.
• Second eidolon For each stack of Pocket Advantage, it restores 1 skill point and increases the penetration effect. This allows you to use Cowboy/Support abilities more often and deal more damage with the talent. EP also affects the critical hit bonus.
• Sixth Eidolon This talent is further enhanced, increasing damage dealt to enemies with a breached vulnerability. Additionally, the character becomes less targeted, allowing it to target nearby mobs.

How to play Boothill in HSR

The hero relies on a state that allows him to engage in Duels. While in this state, the cyborg cowboy uses a strengthened basic attack that deals devastating damage upon penetration and reduces enemy durability faster depending on the accumulated levels of Pocket Advantage (talent).

Stacks are awarded for destroying a target or depleting its vulnerability. During a Duel, a unit attacks only the targeted enemy and takes increased damage, forcing the player to carefully monitor the battle or use supports. At the same time, for each stack of the talent, the hero deals additional damage to the weakened enemy.

The ultimate goal is to break through the boss or elite monster's vulnerability and subsequently attack it with an enhanced basic attack.

General recommendations for the Boothill rotation:

1. Use the technique to inflict physical vulnerability on the target with a skill at the beginning of the fight. The effect will last for 2 turns. If all mobs are already weak to a given type of element, you don’t have to spend points.
2. Use this skill on one monster that will be your opponent during the Duel. The effect won't end, so immediately perform a strengthened basic attack to reduce their stamina.
3. On your next turn, attack the target again. If you do not win or do not break through the weakness the first time you use the skill, the Duel will end after the second enhanced shot.
4. When the super ability is ready, activate it on the largest enemy to deal high damage and apply physical vulnerability for 2 turns. Then use the skill on them and deal damage with a powerful poke.

Remember that each time you fully reduce your stamina or kill a mob, you accumulate stacks of Pocket Advantage. These stacks are essential for increasing penetration efficiency and dealing increased damage to targets with reduced stamina. It's generally recommended to prioritize stacking at the very beginning by targeting smaller enemies (if any), although levels are saved in other battles.

Is The Character Worth Pulling?

In Honkai: Star Rail, the cyborg cowboy Boothill specializes in breaching weaknesses and taking down large, single targets. He utilizes a dueling style of combat, where his basic attacks are empowered, dealing even more damage and depleting stamina faster. He also doesn't rely on his opponent's initial weakness, as he can inflict it himself with his ultimate.

This hero is worth picking if you need a high-damage single-target damage dealer for bosses or elite mobs. Galactic Ranger performs well in "Forgotten Hall" и "Apocalyptic Shadow", but due to the lack of AoE damage it is less powerful in "Pure fiction". It is convenient because it does not depend on the enemy’s vulnerabilities and is suitable for F2P players. The only optimal investment is a signature weapon, although even without this the character shows good results if you find the right use for it.

Which is better: signature or E1

Signature weapons are more beneficial than E1s. "Swimming Towards a Second Life" is the only Path of the Hunt cone that increases penetration. It's important for the hero to accumulate 300 EP to fully realize their potential, which is difficult to achieve without a signature. Additionally, the weapon grants speed and reduces defense when dealing piercing damage.

The first Eidolon offers 1 level of "Pocket Advantage" at the start of combat, which isn't a significant bonus since stacks carry over between battles. While E1 offers a defense reduction that applies to all damage, this doesn't offset the benefits of the Signature Light Cone buffs.

Boothill trailers

Personal trailer for "Cowboy Has a Case":

YouTube VK.Video

A demonstration of abilities in the trailer "Fluffy, you're so sweet":

YouTube VK.Video