A Good Kafka Build Only Needs Two Stats in Honkai: Star Rail

With Kafka now a playable character in Honkai: Star Rail, she’s brought with her a new and viable way to deal damage to enemies outside of Simulated Universe. She is a DoT attacker who specializes in zapping away at an enemy’s HP over time rather than in one quick burst like some of the other DPS characters that HoYoVerse introduced thus far. To make the most of Kafka in Honkai: Star Rail, you have to be pretty picky with what Light Cones and Relics you give her.

Before we start, let’s take a look at Kafka’s kit and how she works to best determine what she needs. The majority of Kafka’s damage comes from DoT, which takes from Kafka’s ATK. DoTs cannot Crit, so you really don’t need to waste any time on trying to farm good Crit Relics for her or give her a Crit Light Cone. You can, of course, if you want Kafka to be a solo DPS. But if we go by how her kit wants her to play, then you simply need to focus on Kafka’s ATK and SPD.

Screenshot by Siliconera

Here are the Best Light Cones for Kafka in Honkai: Star Rail:

• Patience Is All You Need
  This is Kafka’s signature Light Cone, which means it’s obviously her best one. It increases how much DMG she does, as well as increases her SPD whenever she attacks. It also inflicts Erode onto enemies that don’t already have the debuff, and this counts as a Shocked DoT. As a signature 5-star Light Cone, this can be hard for people to get unless they pay or are saving specifically for a really good Kafka.
• Incessant Rain
  This is Silver Wolf’s signature Light Cone, but it can also pair well with a Kafka who will take on a more main DPS role. It increases her Effect Hit Rate, as well as Crit Rate whenever she hits an enemy with three or more Debuffs. It can also implant the Aether Code debuff onto enemies, which will increase how much DMG they talk for one turn. You can also put this on a DoT-focused Kafka, but it will essentially work as a stat stick.
• Good Night and Sleep Well
  This is Kafka’s second best Light Cone. Since it’s a 4-star that’s always available, there’s a higher chance of already having it or getting it somewhere down the line. Its effect increases Kafka’s DMG for every debuff an enemy has.
• Fermata
  This increases the Break Effect, as well as how much DMG the wearer deals towards enemies with Wind Shear or Shock. So far, characters that can reliably apply Wind Shear and Shock (Sampo and Serval) are the best characters to run with Kafka, and she can apply Shock herself. So this is a pretty good one if you don’t have the others. You can also get it for free via Forgotten Hall.
• Eyes of the Prey
  Like Good Night and Sleep Well, this is a 4-star Light Cone that’s always available. It increases the Effect Hit Rate and DoT of the wearer.

Image via HoYoVerse

Here are the Best Relics for Kafka in Honkai: Star Rail:

• Band of Sizzling Thunder
  This is the one of the best Relic Sets you can put on Kafka right now because it increase both her Lightning DMG and her ATK.
• Musketeer of Wild Wheat
  If you don’t have a lot of good Relics for Kafka, this is an okay one to use. It increases her ATK as well as her SPD if you have the 4-piece.
• 2x Messenger Traversing Hackerspace, 2x Band of Sizzling Thunder/Musketeer of Wild Wheat
  You don’t want the full Messenger Traversing Hackerspace Set on Kafka. But the 2-piece increases her SPD, which is good because you want her to use her Skill and set off the DoTs on enemies quite often. You might have to SPD tune a little, because you still want Kafka to move later than, say, Sampo or Serval.
• Prisoner in Deep Confinement
  Unsurprisingly, this is a good Relic Set for Kafka because it specializes in improving DoT damage. Not only does it increase her ATK, DoTs will also ignore DEF when they hit. There is a limit of three DoTs that this effect will apply to. But nonetheless, this is a great Set for maximizing Kafka’s usage as a DoT DPS.
• Space Sealing Station
  This is Kafka’s best Planar Ornament Set because it increases her ATK, which in turn increases how much her DoT does.
• Pan-Galactic Commercial Enterprise
  This increases Kafka’s Effect Hit Rate, as well as raises her ATK by 25% of the current Effect Hit Rate. This honestly isn’t as good as Space Healing Station. Kafka doesn’t need so much Effect Hit Rate that you need a whole Planar Ornament Set on her. But if you happen to have some good Relics for this one, you can put it on Kafka until you farm for better Space Sealing Station ones.
• Firmament Frontline: Glamoth
  This is a good Planar Ornament Set because of its ATK boost. It also helps to deal more damage when Kafka has high SPD, which is ideal for her anyway.

Honkai: Star Rail is readily available on mobile devices and Windows PC. PS4 and PS5 versions are in development. You can only pull for Kafka in Honkai: Star Rail when the Nessun Dorma Event Warp is up.