Echoes of War in Honkai Star Rail: How to unlock and beat bosses

Echoes of war Honkai Star Rail - This is a replay mode of battles with especially strong story bosses. Fight the main opponents of the past and get materials for leveling Traces, light cones and other prizes in exchange for Energy of Exploration. In the guide, we will talk about the rules for how Echo of War works, consider tactics for defeating bosses, and all the rewards of the mode.

Content

What is Echoes of War in Honkai Star Rail

Thanks to the mode, the player can fight against strong story bosses for a limited number of times for a reward. It looks like weekly bosses from Genshin Impact. The following Echoes of War features are key:

The reward in Echo of War can be received in total 3 times a week. The attempt limit is updated every Monday after the servers restart.
Prizes can be collected by winning any boss. For example, you can only go to Kokoliya and get a reward for each of the 3 trips.
Each entry costs 30 Exploration Energy.
Each boss has 6 difficulty options, on which its level and the value of the prizes earned depend. Each difficulty level corresponds Balance level and requires its discovery: on the 3rd difficulty level 3 of the Balance is needed, on the 4th you need to open the 4th level of the balance, and so on.

Defeat bosses to level up your characters' Traces and accumulate powerful Relics.

How to open Echoes of War

The mode will become available after completing the quests «Paths to the past have long been closed" and "dangerous swamp”, completing the main story of Yarilo-VI. Echoes of war easily reachable through Guide to the interstellar world (shown in the screenshot). Entrances to various bosses are scattered throughout the game world.

Where are the Bosses in Honkai Star Rail

In update 1.0, two bosses are available in the game.

Doomsday Beast

Portal with The Doomsday Beast stands in the Support Zone, near the Star Express station on the Space Station «Herta», at the place where the battle with him took place.

Kokoliya, mother of deceit

It is located on the Hill of Everwinter, on Yarilo-VI.

Phantylia

Location Lofu Xiangzhou - Scaled Gorge. Portal with Fantilia unlocked after completing the story mission "A brave dragon in a boundless ocean".

Find out in a separate guide where to look all chests in Scaled Gorge.

Skarakabaz

Located on the first floor Isolated zone Hertha space station. Enter into battle for the first time The Bug Lord Skarakabaz possible during the mission “Shine, burn my star of genius”.

Great Septimius

Located in the center Bolshoi Theater on Penaconia. Battle with Choir of balance takes place in the Reconstruction mission "And on the eighth day".

Feixiao and the Inner Beast

Located in the battle arena on the third floor. "The Sky Cleaver" Lofu Xianzhou. The first boss fight occurs as part of the Exploration continuation mission. "The blade shines, the fox loses its mind".

How to defeat Echoes of War bosses in Honkai: Star Rail

In the paragraphs below, we will present the main recommendations for fighting bosses to achieve victory and give tips on choosing a squad.

The Beginning of Destruction (Doomsday Beast)

It has 2 phases of combat and consists of 3 parts: an engine in the middle and 2 arms on the sides.

In the first phase, the engine strengthens attacking hands and spams «Conclusion» by allies. The arms are capable of area attacks.
In the second phase, the ultimatum accumulation mode is added to the engine moveset until its next turn. If you do not bring down stamina during this time, then the Beast attacks «impending doom»: Massive area-of-effect AoE beam bombardment.

The universal weakness of the parts of the Beast is fire strikes. The left hand is weak to frost, the right to the wind, the engine to physical blows. The fighting tips are pretty simple:

Use a hero type Natasha, March 7 (with open additional Trace «Purify») Or Bronya, capable of removing debuffs to get rid of Imprisonment.
Shield-giving characters make combat a lot easier, allowing you to counter spam of attacks on the Beast's area.
It is not always possible to act proactively and bring down the resistance of the engine in time to prevent the ult. Better take care of protecting your allies.

Several compositions of characters with explanations of the roles of each are selected in the table:

Character 1	Character 2	Character 3	Character 4	How to use
March 7	Trailblazer (Fire)	Asta	Bailu Natasha	Preservation strategy: March 7th pours in Shields. The trailblazer accumulates charges and gives out the main damage, buffs himself and even allies (with additional traces open). Asta speeds up, strengthens the attack, bombards the area with fire. Natasha is able not only to heal, but also to break through the vulnerability of the engine.
Hook	Asta	Himeko	Natasha	Fire Domination Team: Hook inflicts Burn and inflicts significant damage. Asta - buffs for speed and team. The skill bombards all parts of the Beast with fire. Himeko is a master of area attacks, breaking through the vulnerabilities of all parts of the boss to fire. Additionally walks with bonus attacks.
Trailblazer (Fire)	Dan Heng	March 7	Natasha	Alternative F2P squad for long boss picking. Dan Heng can only pierce the right hand and slow down the Beast. March 7 casts shields, pierces the left hand, but has little damage to do it fast enough. Trailblazer helps March 7, then everyone switches to the engine.

The End of Permafrost (Cocolia, Mother of Deception)

Kokoliya has 2 combat phases:

In the first, she releases 2 ice steles.
In the second, she periodically enters the ultimate mode and accumulates power until her next turn. If during this time you do not bring down the resistance to zero, then she will release a powerful area of effect ability «The last chorus of genesis».
She is also able to "Contract" allies, which will prevent them from using their Superpower.

Kokoliya's key weakness is fire, so the team should be created to match the vulnerability. Heroes for quantum or electric damage are also held in high esteem. Stellas of Cocolia are vulnerable to fire, the left one is weak to electricity, the right one is weak to quantum hits.

Boss Fighting Tips:

Take Natasha or another hero capable of removing debuffs (March 7, Bronya). This is necessary to get rid of the Conclusion.
Break Kokoliya's steles: they operate as separate enemies. Moreover, until the steles are broken, all vulnerabilities are blocked for the boss.
Active ability available in combat «Anger of Creation Preservation». She is very strong and hits the area. Use at any time to infuse damage.

The table shows the units to fight Kokoliya:

Character 1	Character 2	Character 3	Character 4	How to use
Seele	Trailblazer (Fire)	Asta	Bailu Natasha	Team Features: Zele breaks through vulnerability as the main damage dealer. Fiery Pathfinder aggros himself and fires at weaknesses. Asta bombards with fire, speeds up, causes Burning. Natasha and Bailu heal, remove debuffs.
Hook	Asta	Himeko	Natasha	Team to host a fireshow: Hook is a great source of Burning with lots of attack bonuses on burning enemies. Asta is the team's booster and attack booster. Penetrates fire vulnerability. Himeko is a fire AoE sub-DPS with access to bonus attacks. Good inflicts Burning, cracking down on stells due to AoE hits.
Trailblazer (Fire)	Serval	Asta	Natasha	Alternative F2P command to exploit the boss's vulnerabilities. Serval, as the only new character, hits the area, causes Shock, to which the boss has no resistance.
Arlan	Asta	Tingyun	Bailu	Electric Domination Squad by Arlan: Arlan is the main DPS. Asta strengthens, accelerates and additionally engages in a stella without electrical vulnerability (right). Tingyun pours buffs into Arlan.

Seed of Immortality (Fantilia the Undying)

The boss fight is divided into 3 phases:

On the first stage Fantilia summons Lotus of Opulence, which drains skill points, places slits, and delays team members' moves.
On the second stage Lord Ravager summons Lotus of Destruction. Their vulnerabilities are only revealed during the period of preparation for the "Chaos" technique, which deals electrical damage with ignoring protection. They also apply a debuff, lowering max. amount of health. Fantilia herself hits hard with the AoE attack “Soaring Stars and Shards of the Moon”‎.
The third stage: Fantilia summons both types of lotuses, hits the area painfully, delays the moves of the heroes, and also performs several actions in a row.

There is nothing wrong with the excessive activity of the boss and the abundance of summoned mobs - no. The following tips will help you not die:

Don't forget to destroy the Lotus of Plenty. They steal skill points, which can lead to an incident in which Natasha or another representative of the Path of Plenty will not be able to use the E-shka and save the ally at the right time. Upon receiving a finishing blow, Lotus of Opulence explodes and restores 3 skill points to the team.
In phase 2, Lotus of Destruction will cut max. health of team members. It is treated simply: pump Natasha track "Calm", March 7 - "Cleansing" Loche - Cleansing Resurrection, or just take Armor. Each of the 4 heroes is able to return the HP ceiling to normal with a skill.
In the 2nd phase, the attack "Soaring Stars and Shards of the Moon" is quite dangerous! Observations show that Fantilia uses this technique only in 2 cases: at the beginning of the second stage and at each restoration of resistance during the 2nd phase. The conclusion from this is simple - maintain the health of the team after breaking through the vulnerability and until the boss restores the white bar of stamina.
Lotuses of Destruction are only vulnerable during the preparation of the attack "Chaos" lasting 1 cycle. During this time, you need to weaken the hostile plant so that the skill does not activate. The good news, in turn, is that it is not necessary to penetrate the vulnerability of the Lotus itself, you can focus on Fantilia: if you take down her white bar, then the Chaos attack will not start either.
Don't forget about the Roar of Heavenly Anthem active ability, which deals a lot of damage in an area. It is especially effective at times when Lotuses of Destruction show their vulnerability.
Electric and imaginary heroes with area attacks are the most dangerous for the boss.

Below are some squad compositions:

Character 1	Character 2	Character 3	Character 4	How to use
Dan Heng	Jing Yuan	Serval	Bailu Natasha	Strategy on wind and electricity, with a focus on destroying the Lotus in the process. Dan Heng is busy picking Fantilia, sometimes distracted by the destruction of the Lotus of Abundance. Jing Yuan and Serval deal lightning damage to the boss's vulnerability and Lotus of Destruction (if possible).
Welt	Sampo	Yukong	Luocha	A unit for dealing imaginary and periodic wind damage with a focus on the boss. Velt damages the Lotus of Opulence and the boss, knocking back the turns of small minions in the queue. Sampo breaks through vulnerability and inflicts Weathering. Yukong focuses on the boss. Locha only diverts from healing to deal damage when possible. This build allows you not to be distracted on the Lotus of Destruction during the battle.
Blade	March 7	Tingyun	Natasha	Strategy: Bladecentrism with protection. Blade is completely focused on Fantilia. His area of effect attacks will affect the Lotus of Plenty on either side of the boss. March 7 does everything so that Blade does not die in the middle of the battle (imposes shields). Tingyun strengthens Blade.

Old Wormhole Crater (Starbreaker: Skarakabaz)

The Skarakabaz fight includes 2 phases:

On the first stage often enters a state protected by a shell, and when struck by it it summons weak beetles.
In the second part tests the arsenal of attacks is complemented by a powerful explosion "Egg of a Broken Star", capable of destroying the entire team at once. Young ones begin to appear among the stingbugs, complicating the course of the battle with explosions and additional control.

Although the number of enemies will be overwhelming throughout the battle, the boss does not pose a high threat. The following recommendations will help cope with the onslaught of synthetic sting beetles:

Focus on the types of elements that the Bug Lord is weak to and select your squad according to them. The destruction of the shield plays a key role in the battle with Skarakabaz: if you break through the vulnerability while the boss is in the Reproduction state, all opponents on the field will be weakened, receive damage and the Binding effect.
Although you will be attacking mainly the main enemy, you should not make up a squad entirely of characters who specialize in dealing damage to single targets. Supplement your team with multiple area heroes, even if their elements don't match your enemies' weaknesses, to gradually drain nearby stingers with damage. Before dying, they will explode and deal damage to allies and their shields.
Among the abilities of the Bug Lord there are skills that impose control effects. When choosing a support character, pay attention to the possibility of removing weakening or increasing resistance to effects: traces of March 7, Natasha, Lochi, Fu Xuan, Hoho and Lynx skills. Be sure to leave a skill point to activate the appropriate support skill to keep the team alive.
In the second phase, make sure that the healer's ultimate is always charged while Shell of Born Catastrophe is active. If you can't break through the vulnerability before Skarakabaz's next turn, use the healer's super ability after the explosion of the "Egg of a Broken Star".
Gradually damage the Bug Lord's shield. Don’t spend all your action points and ultimates if it’s definitely not possible to break through the vulnerability in the current cycle. Leave some Toughness Gauge and wait for the enemy to enter the Reproduction state to deal a crushing blow to a group of monsters.

Examples of units to participate in the Old Wormhole Crater challenge:

Character 1	Character 2	Character 3	Character 4	Recommendation
Imbibitor Lunae Argenti	Tingyun Bronya	Hanya Yukong	Luocha Gepard Huohuo	Strategy: AoE hypercarry. Argenti and Moon Eater attack monsters in a wide area with skills, and are also able to deal with all the bugs with one use of their superpower. The two central slots contain personal buffers that take into account the basic needs of the damage dealer. For the support role, choose Locha with passive healing and low skill consumption, Cheetah with stable strong defense or Hoho with energy restoration.
Jingliu	Pela Blade	Ruan Mei	Fu Xuan Lynx	A detachment built around Jingliu. The swordswoman attacks with high ice damage, to which all opponents have a weakness. For support, you can take a constant companion - Pela, who cuts off resists, including ice ones (if you have E4). You can also consider the secondary damage dealer Blade in her place, whose mechanics go well with Jingliu. Ruan Mei increases the penetration efficiency and also prevents enemies from regaining their stamina if the ultimate is active. Fu Xuan ensures the survivability of the team, and at the sixth elevation also prevents enemies from trying to impose control effects on allies.
Sushang	Herta Luka	Yukong Pela	Natasha	A group of free and epic characters. Sushan takes the bulk of the team's damage and focuses strictly on Skarakabaz. Gerta helps with additional damage by performing bonus attacks. Can be replaced with Luka for faster penetration and negative statuses. Yukun is excellent at removing shields with regular attacks, and before casting all the party's ultimates he can buff critical stats. Pela plays a similar role, but can use free skill points to charge her ultimate faster. The survivability of the team can be taken over by the starting Natasha (or rarer representatives of Abundance and Conservation).

A Tribute to the Politeness of Mortal Dreams (“Chorus of Balance” by Septimius the Great)

The battle with Septimius Dominic lasts 3 phases:

During the first stage the enemy is distinguished by single strikes, and for breaking the durability scales he imposes good shields on the squad.
In the second part The boss poses a serious threat due to the targeting of attacks on the entire group, as well as the protection of the vulnerability bar.
In the final third phase the opponent launches a powerful attack once every seven turns of the allied characters and has ×9 levels of durability.

During the fight with the Balance Choir and Sunday, Fruit of Philosophy, special mechanics of the general shield and general health are in effect, and the specificity of the boss is the constant need to break through the vulnerability. Use the recommendations provided to assemble a suitable squad and successfully complete the battle:

Create a group that combines area and single target damage, and also take into account enemy weaknesses: fiery, imaginary, electric elements. In the initial stages, leave skill points for heroes with massive attacks, in the finals give preference to single ones.
Be sure to take heroes from high penetration and use their skills on the main enemy. Destroying the vulnerability level in all phases will “give” the squad an extremely powerful shield. Also for the last phase, skills like “Rebound” are suitable, for example, the skill Asta or Imaginary GG.
Use an additional skill "A lingering sound from afar" in accordance with the team style of play. If heroes benefit from personal vulnerability penetration, use the skill when enemies are deprived of elemental shields. Otherwise, destroy with the Fortitude skill.
The opponent is endowed with the ability to take heroes out of battle for a long time with the “Another Dream” debuff. Prepare for possible control effects, taking into battle a character with the ability to remove negative status or increase resistance: March 7, Natasha, Lynx, Bronya, Luocha, Fu Xuan, Huohuo , Gallagher (E2), Aventurine.
Although additional total shield accumulates during the battle, the second phase will still require healer or shieldman. Place a support in your squad that matches your opponent’s vulnerabilities and keep his ultimate charged.

Groups for completing “Tribute to the Politeness of Mortal Dreams”:

Character 1	Character 2	Character 3	Character 4	How to use
Himeko Imbibitor Lunae	Topaz Sparkle	Ruan Mei Imaginary MC	Aventurine Luocha	Strategy: Breaking game The Himeko/Topaz and Devourer/Sparkle combos are strong in dealing damage to groups of any size, and also do an excellent job of breaking through. Ruan Mei increases the durability damage efficiency of Mono-Fire Dual and Devourer's powerful skills. Can be replaced by Pathfinder of Harmony with a focus on damage against opponents in a state of broken vulnerability. Locha and Aventurine are equally well suited to the team's mechanics, the weaknesses of Septimius Dominic and the boss' focus on area damage.
Acheron	Welt Kafka	Pela Chern. Swan	Gallagher Fu Xuan	Strategy: Classical groups Acheron Acheron single-handedly deals devastating damage to each target, and given the overall health of the Balance Chorus, it gains a huge advantage in battle. To quickly accumulate Broken Dream points, the girl needs Oblivion debuffers. In combination with Kafka, who plays against DoT damage, you should use Black Swan, and Pela is more suitable for Welt. Gallagher will provide the heroine with an additional stack of negative status, in the case of Fu Xuan, survivability will be more stable.
Serval Gui	Asta	Imaginary MC Hook	Lynx Natasha	A group of free and epic characters. Possessing good area damage, Serval or Gui occupy the main damage dealer slot. Asta applies positive speed and attack power buffs to the team. The imaginary GG increases the group's damage to enemies with broken resistance. Can be swapped with Hook to increase solo target damage. Natasha and Lynx are free healers with a mechanic for removing control effects.

Inner Beast Battlefield (Shadow "Feixiao")

The battle with General Feixiao and her Eclipse Inner Beast takes place in three consecutive phases:

On the first stage On the battlefield, only Feixiao herself is present, periodically inflicting single and massive damage to allies.
In second phase The General is joined by an Inner Beast, which consists of three parts: a head, a paw, and a tail. Each target has its own set of vulnerabilities and skills, as well as a queue of actions. Each enemy in turn deals mass and single attacks to allies.
Third The battle is similar to the second, however, all enemy attacks become much stronger.

As part of the battle with the shadow of the general, you will have to face the mechanics of the total HP of enemy targets and the reduction of damage passing through enemies until the vulnerability of individual parts of Feixiao and the beast is broken. To facilitate the passage and successful completion of the battle, we recommend adhering to the following rules:

Assemble a squad of heroes physical, fire, wind or quantum damage types, to effectively penetrate the vulnerabilities of the boss and its parts. The best characters are those that can deal area attacks, independently impose certain types of vulnerabilities, increase the effectiveness of penetration or promote the actions of allies. No less useful will be heroes-healers and shielders.
After entering the second and third phases of the battle, concentrate your attacks for specific purposes. By breaking through their vulnerability, you will remove the enemy's defense and be able to inflict the main damage on the boss.
Don't waste your ultimates right after your heroes have built up energy. It's best to save your ultimates until you've broken through your enemies' vulnerability and removed their defenses. They can also be useful for quickly removing targets' shields after Feixiao uses Celestial Bonds and Stormbound.

The most suitable teams for fighting General Feixiao are:

Hero 1	Hero 2	Hero 3	Hero 4	How to use
Feixiao	Robin	Topaz Moze	Aventurine	Strategy: maximum protection. The chosen Save support guarantees survival and also provides damage support. The elements of damage-dealing heroes provide destruction to the three main types of vulnerability. Feixiao, as the main DPS unit of the group, is excellent at breaking through defenses while also dealing massive single-target damage.
Himeko	Hook	Asta	Gallagher Fire MC	Strategy: mono-fire. Three out of four enemies are weak to fire. Himeko does great area damage, which will make it easy to deal with both the boss and the summoned fox at the same time. The second slot, in turn, is occupied by Hook, who is able to effectively deal with solo-target. Asta buffs speed and also increases fire damage with a pumped trace. The support position is assigned to Gallagher or Pathfinder (Fire). Both units are good in their roles, and are also capable of providing damage support.
Seele Qingque	Silver Wolf	Sparkle	Fu Xuan Lynx	Strategy: mono-quantum. Two out of four enemies have a quantum weakness, and Silver Wolf will help distribute it to other enemies. Zele deals massive damage to single targets (can be replaced by Qingque with AoE potential), and Fu Xuan damages the entire group, while protecting and buffing allies (can be replaced by Lynx as a free hero). Twilight is considered the best Harmony character for the Quantum Heroes.
Firefly	Imaginary. GG	Ruan Mei	Gallagher	Strategy: break. Firefly is the main damage dealer who deals the bulk of the damage. Pathfinder (Imaginary) and Ruan Mei are considered the best heroes in Harmony, which strengthen the characters that play from penetration. Without Linsha, the group can rely on Gallagher's debuffs and healing abilities. His mechanics will also allow him to deal decent damage and effectively reduce the stamina bar.
	Bronya	Asta	Luocha Bailu	Strategy: game from hypercarry. The selected character from the Path of the Hunt, Destruction, or Erudition deals the main damage. Armor and Asta apply key buffs: increase speed, attack power, critical damage and outgoing damage. Armor, in turn, moves the action forward by 100%. Locha is one of the most comfortable representatives of Abundance with passive healing. However, he can be replaced with any other healer. For example, Bayla, who heals well and can resurrect one ally in case of his death.

Read more in a separate article Shadow Feixiao and Inner Beast Battle Guide.

Rewards for completing Echoes of War

Boss battles in the Echoes of War mode allow you to earn the following rewards:

Mastering Experience - 150.
Footprint Materials: The Last Path of the Destroyer, The Sorrow of the Guardian, The Repentance of the Eternal False Body, The Past Disasters of the Wormhole, The Lost Echo of the Unity of Desires.
Shining reflections for the exchange in the store Forgotten Hall.
light cones 4⭐: “Equal Exchange”, “Fermata”, “We Are Wild Fire”, “Spring Flows of Rivers”, “Past and Future”, “Woof! Walking time!”, “The Importance of Breakfast”, “What is Reality?”, “The Adventures of Grezaville”, “The Only Winner”, “Far from the Fire”, “Weaving the Threads of Fate”, “The Day the Universe Falls”, “The Show Begins”.
Cavern relics 4-5⭐: "Wild Wheat Shooter", "Thief of the Falling Meteor", "Burning Duke", "Watchmaker of Sleepy Shenanigans".
Credits.

We are glad if the HSR Echoes of War Memory Mode guide helped us get through the bosses. All questions related to battles with opponents and team building ask in the comments. Read complete guide for Honkai Star Rail, as well as other useful game guides in the relevant sections: completing missions, guides, builds.