Ruan Mei is a brilliant support character in Honkai Star Rail, if not one of the best. The Ice-wielding scholar has some of the most useful buffs in the game, with little to no downtime, and she is the only character who can increase the Break Efficiency of her team.
She’s a must-have for any Break team, but that doesn’t mean she needs to be on a Break team to be useful. Ruan Mei brings benefits and buffs galore to most compositions with the right build, so here’s exactly how to go about making the best Ruan Mei build in Honkai Star Rail.
Best Honkai Star Rail Ruan Mei Build
Ruan Mei is a 5-Star character from the Path of Harmony that uses the Ice element in battle.
Her kit is exceptional, with her Skill – String Sings Slow Swirls – being the highlight, given that it allows Ruan Mei to gain Overtone, which buffs the damage and Weakness Break Efficiency of her allies. She is the only character who can do the latter, making her incredibly valuable to Break teams.
That said, her ability to buff allies’ damage, Speed, and Res Pen (on top of buffing Weakness Break Efficiency) between the use of both her Skill and Ultimate is what helps make her kit valuable to a range of teams. On top of that, she can activate these buffs early, and provided you’ve enough Energy and Skill Points, these buffs can remain active for the entirety of the longest battles.
If you want to know exactly how many materials you’ll need to fully build Ruan Mei, take a look at our guide to Ruan Mei’s ascension and traces materials first.
Honkai Star Rail – Best Ruan Mei Light Cone
5-Star Ruan Mei Light Cones
Past Self in the Mirror increases Ruan Mei’s Break Effect by 60%. After she uses her Ultimate, all allies’ damage is increased by 24% for three turns. If Ruan Mei’s Break Effect then exceeds 150%, she will recover a Skill Point. At the start of each wave, she can also regenerate 10 Energy for all allies.
4-Star Ruan Mei Light Cones
Memories of the Past increases Ruan Mei’s Break Effect by 28%. When she attacks, she will also regenerate 4 Energy. This can only be triggered once per turn and does not stack.
Carve the Moon, Weave the Clouds comes into effect when Ruan Mei’s turn begins at the start of a battle. She will apply one of three effects to her allies: a 10% Attack increase, a 12% Crit. Damage increase, or a 6% Energy Regeneration Rate increase. The effect will not be the same as the last one applied, and will only be removed if Ruan Mei faints during battle.
3-Star Ruan Mei Light Cones
Meshing Cogs allows Ruan Mei to regenerate 4 Energy after she attacks or gets attacked. This can only be triggered once per turn.
Honkai Star Rail – Best Ruan Mei Relics
The best set of Relics for Ruan Mei are Watchmaker, Master of Dream Machinations, which provide the following stats when equipped:
- Two-piece effect: Increases Break Effect by 16%.
- Four-piece effect: When Ruan Mei uses her Ultimate on an ally (which she always will), Break Effect for all allies increases by 30% for two turns.
If you don’t currently have a suitable Watchmaker set for Ruan Mei, your next best set of Relics are Messenger Traversing Hackerspace:
- Two-piece effect: Increases Speed by 6%.
- Four-piece effect: When Ruan Mei uses her Ultimate on an ally (which she always will), Speed for all allies increases by 12% for one turn.
For the substats of your Relics, you ideally want Feet that boost Ruan Mei’s Speed, and a Body-piece that either gives Ruan Mei more Break Effect, or more HP%/DEF%. Look out for Break Effect, HP%, and/or DEF% for your Gloves and Leg-pieces too.
Honkai Star Rail – Best Ruan Mei Ornaments
Sprightly Vonwacq is the best pair of Ornaments for Ruan Mei. They increase Ruan Mei’s Energy Regen Rate by 5%, and when Ruan Mei’s Speed reaches 120 or higher, her action is advanced forward by 40% immediately upon entering battle.
Your second best pair of Ornaments are Broken Keel. These increase Ruan Mei’s Effect Res by 10%, and when Ruan Mei’s Effect Res reaches 30% or higher, all allies Crit. Damage is increased by 10%.
For the substats of your Ornaments, look out for HP% or DEF% on your Sphere to improve Ruan Mei’s survivability, and keep your eyes peeled for Energy Regen or Break Effect for your Link Rope.
Though, if you’re using the Broken Keel Ornaments, it’s worth looking out for a Link Rope that provides additional Effect Res for Ruan Mei so she can easily reach the 30% Effect Res needed for the Ornament’s second effect.
Honkai Star Rail – Ruan Mei Traces Priority
When building Ruan Mei in Honkai Star Rail, it’s highly likely that you will use her Skill more than anything in her kit, as this is what allows her to buff the damage and Weakness Break Efficiency of her allies. So, Ruan Mei’s Skill is the first Trace you will want to level.
After that, you’ll want to go about leveling her Ultimate trace, which is what increases the All-type Res Pen of her allies while applying Thanatoplum Rebloom to enemies. Rebloom is triggered whenever an enemy attempts to recover from Weakness Break, delaying their next action and dealing further damage to them. This gives our team the opportunity to dish out as much damage as possible before the enemy recovers.
After that, you can focus on Ruan Mei’s Talent, which increases the team’s speed, and allows for Ruan Mei to dish out some Break Damage whenever her allies Weakness Break an enemy. Last, but not least, level-up the least-used part of her kit: Basic Attack.
In order of highest priority to lowest, here’s how you should level Ruan Mei’s Traces:
- Skill
- Ultimate
- Talent
- Basic Attack
Honkai Star Rail – Best Ruan Mei Teams
Ruan Mei is a versatile support character who can be slotted into a wide range of teams in Honkai Star Rail. The best team for Ruan Mei right now revolves around Break Effect and uses Firefly as its main damage dealer, but you can easily swap Firefly out for another DPS capable of Break, such as Boothill, Rappa, or March 7th: The Hunt.
- Ruan Mei
- Firefly (or Boothill, Rappa, March 7th: The Hunt)
- Harmony Trailblazer
- Lingsha (or Gallagher)
As you can see, the best Break Effect team for Ruan Mei is not the most free-to-play friendly. Fortunately, the Harmony Trailblazer is free as part of Star Rail’s story, but getting your hands on Firefly and Lingsha will be troublesome if you do not already have them.
Fortunately, there are plenty of characters you can swap Firefly and Lingsha for to make a solid Break Effect team without the need to break your bank. Gallagher, while only a 4-Star character, performs really well alongside Ruan Mei and Firefly as a healer, especially with Firefly’s ability to give enemies Fire weakness.
As an alternative to Firefly, any other characters capable of dishing out Break Effect – as mentioned above – are viable in this team composition.
Alternatively, Ruan Mei also functions as a solid support for DoT (damage over time) teams too. Kafka is arguably the queen of DoT, so if you have her, great. You can then team the pair up with the likes of Black Swan – or Sampo, if you need a free-to-play alternative – and a healer, such as Huohuo. Gepard, while not a healer, does provide brilliant shielding and can deal a good amount of damage alongside Ruan Mei.
Is Ruan Mei good in Honkai Star Rail?
Ruan Mei is great in Honkai Star Rail, boasting a unique kit that you can’t get anywhere else. She’s one of few support characters that we’d recommend pulling for whenever you’ve the opportunity, as she is easily slotted into many teams and will make a grand difference wherever you put her. If you’re hoping to build, or are in the process of building a strong Break team, then Ruan Mei is a no-brainer to build and use if you have her.
That said, if you have Bronya, who’s capable of providing your team with Crit. Damage and Attack % buffs, you still have a strong, versatile support character among your roster which means you could pass on Ruan Mei if you wanted. Though, the scholar will make your life much easier in a wide range of scenarios.
For more on Honkai Star Rail, take a look at our Dr. Ratio build, Jing Yuan build, and Yanqing build. While you’re at it, don’t neglect our Honkai Star Rail codes for some free Stellar Jade to warp with, too!