If you’ve played Genshin Impact, HoYoverse’s other flagship open-world RPG, you’re probably used to farming artifacts for hours to land that perfect crit rate roll for your main DPS. So when you first jump into Honkai Star Rail’s turn-based world, one of the first questions you’ll likely ask is does honkai star rail have artifacts like its fantasy counterpart? The short answer is no, not exactly, but the game has a nearly identical gear system called Relics that serve the exact same purpose, with a few quality of life tweaks that make grinding far less frustrating for new and veteran players alike. You won’t have to re-learn an entirely new gear system if you’re coming from other HoYoverse titles, and you’ll likely find the relic grind far more rewarding overall.
Does Honkai Star Rail Have Artifacts, or Is It a Different System?
While HoYoverse doesn’t use the term “artifact” for Honkai Star Rail’s character gear, the relic system is functionally identical to what you know from Genshin Impact. Each character can equip 4 regular relics and 2 planar ornaments, with 2-piece and 4-piece set bonuses that grant extra stats or unique combat effects. Every relic has one main stat and up to 4 substats, and you can upgrade relics to level 15 to boost main stats and unlock or improve substats every 3 levels. Relics function exactly the same as artifacts for all intents and purposes, so if you’re familiar with artifact farming from other HoYoverse titles, you’ll pick up the relic system in minutes. The only key differences are tailored to HSR’s turn-based combat loop, with set bonuses that boost stats like break effect, speed, and energy regeneration that are far more impactful in turn-based fights than they would be in real-time combat.
Core Relic Types and Universal Set Bonuses to Prioritize
Relics come in 6 total slots, with 2 slots having fixed main stats to cut down on unnecessary grind. The head slot always rolls HP as a main stat, and the hand slot always rolls ATK, so you never have to waste time farming for those specific stats on those pieces. The remaining 4 slots (body, feet, planar sphere, link rope) have variable main stats, so you can tailor them to your character’s role and kit. Some sets work for almost every character in your roster, and are worth farming first before you chase niche sets for specific units:
You don’t have to stick to these sets once you get deeper into endgame content like Pure Fiction or Apocalyptic Shadow, but they’re a fantastic starting point that will carry you through all story content and the first 10 floors of the Forgotten Hall with zero issues. Many new players make the mistake of wasting fuel farming niche 4-piece sets for characters they only use occasionally, so stick to these universal options first to get the most value out of your limited stamina.
How to Farm Relics Efficiently Without Wasting Resources
Relics drop from a few different sources across the game, so you don’t have to rely solely on stamina grinding to get usable pieces. You can get regular 4-piece sets from Caverns of Corrosion, planar ornaments from Simulated Universe worlds, and random relic drops from elite enemies, world chests, and limited-time event rewards. You should never use your Stellar Jade to buy fuel for relic farming before you reach Trailblaze Level 60, because that’s when you unlock the highest difficulty caverns that drop 5-star relics 100% of the time. Before level 60, 5-star relic drop rates are extremely low, so you’re better off using fuel to level up your characters, light cones, and traces first to make future farming faster. I usually save up all my unused fuel for double relic drop events, which run every few months, and that lets me get enough good relics to build 2-3 full characters in one weekend. You can also use the relic synthesis system to convert bad relic drops into pieces of a set you actually want, which cuts down on grind time a lot compared to similar systems in other gacha games.
Common Relic Mistakes That Kill Your Character Performance
It’s easy to fall into bad habits when you first start farming relics, especially if you’re used to how artifacts work in other games. One of the most common mistakes new players make is only chasing crit rate and crit damage substats while ignoring speed rolls. Even a 5% speed boost on your main DPS can lead to 20% more damage over the course of a long fight, because it lets your character take extra turns before the enemy gets to act. Another big mistake is forcing a full 4-piece set even if the individual relic stats are terrible. A 2-piece set with high crit and speed rolls will almost always outperform a 4-piece set with bad substats, so don’t get too attached to set bonuses at the cost of good raw stats. Avoid wasting upgrade resources on 3-star and 4-star relics after you reach Trailblaze Level 50, because 5-star relics have far higher stat caps and will last you for the rest of your time playing the game. The last common mistake is not matching your planar sphere main stat to your character’s damage type. A fire DPS will get far more value from a fire damage planar sphere than a generic ATK sphere, even if the ATK sphere has slightly better substats.
If you came into this guide wondering does honkai star rail have artifacts, you now know that while the official name is different, the core gear system works almost exactly the same, with a few small changes that make the grind far more user friendly. You don’t have to spend hundreds of hours grinding to get usable sets, and the synthesis system lets you turn bad drops into something useful far more often than similar systems in other gacha games. Take your time with farming, prioritize universal sets first, and don’t stress over perfect rolls unless you’re trying to clear the highest floors of endgame challenge modes. Most players can get through all available content with slightly above average relics, so focus on having fun with your favorite characters first instead of chasing perfect substats that only give a tiny damage boost.
