If you’re a fan of Honkai: Star Rail’s fiery, chaotic four-star Fire DPS characters, you’ve probably wondered how to get Hook in Honkai Star Rail at some point. This tiny troublemaker from Belobog’s Underworld is far more powerful than her small frame suggests, with high single-target burn damage that makes her a top pick for many early to mid-game PVE lineups, and even viable for endgame content if built correctly. I’ve mained Hook on two separate accounts since her initial banner drop, so I’ve tested every possible way to unlock her, plus the best ways to make her shine once she’s on your roster. This guide breaks down every step of the process, no gacha luck required (well, mostly no gacha luck required).
How to Get Hook in Honkai Star Rail: All Valid Acquisition Methods
The most straightforward way to unlock Hook is to pull on her limited-time rate-up banner when it runs. Every time you get a 4-star drop on her rate-up banner, there is a 50% chance it will be Hook, rather than a random standard 4-star character or light cone. Pulling on Hook’s rate-up limited banner gives you a 7x higher chance of unlocking her compared to pulling on the standard warp banner. If you have 20-30 Star Rail Passes saved when her banner is active, you have a very high chance of unlocking her without spending real money.
If her rate-up banner is not currently running, you still have several reliable options. Hook is part of the permanent standard warp pool, so you can get her randomly from any standard warp pull, though the odds are much lower than on her rate-up banner. She also rotates into the Stellar Warp shop every few months, where you can purchase her for 140 Undying Starlight, a currency you get from pulling duplicate characters or light cones. This is the most guaranteed way to get her, as you don’t have to rely on random gacha odds at all.
HoYoverse also occasionally gives away 4-star characters for free during limited in-game events, and Hook was offered as a free reward once during a Belobog-themed event in 2023. It’s likely she will be offered again as a free reward in future events, so keep an eye on event announcements if you don’t want to spend pulls or currency to unlock her. Just make sure you complete all required event tasks before the event ends if she is offered, as you won’t be able to claim her after the event closes.
What to Do First After Unlocking Hook
As soon as you add Hook to your roster, the first thing you should do is level her to 20 and ascend her once to unlock her first bonus trace, which boosts her burn damage by 20% for every burn stack applied to an enemy. This trace is the core of her damage kit, so unlocking it as early as possible will make a massive difference in her performance. Don’t waste credits leveling her HP or defense traces first, as they won’t contribute to her damage output at all, and she’s meant to be a squishy high-damage character anyway.
Next, prioritize leveling her traces in this order: her ultimate first, then her skill, then her normal attack, then her remaining bonus traces that boost ATK and crit damage. Her ultimate deals massive AoE Fire damage and extends the duration of burn stacks on all affected enemies, so it’s her most valuable ability in both mob and boss fights. Hook’s burn damage stacks up to 3 times, so you’ll want to use her skill every turn possible to keep the debuff active on enemies. If you let the burn stacks drop off, you’ll lose 60% of her total damage output.
I made the mistake of wasting 200,000 credits leveling her HP and defense traces first when I unlocked her on my first account, and it set back her damage output by almost a week, so don’t repeat that error. Save your trace materials for her damage-focused traces first, and only level her defensive traces if you’re struggling to keep her alive in endgame content, even with shields and healers on your team.
Optimal Builds for Hook to Maximize Her Damage Output
The right light cone and relic set can make Hook hit as hard as many 5-star DPS characters, even if you don’t have perfect substats. For light cones, the best 4-star option for F2P players is “We Are Wildfire”, which you can get for free from clearing Simulated Universe World 3. It boosts Fire damage by 20% and gives Hook a 15% damage absorption shield every time she uses her skill, which helps offset her low base defense. If you have access to paid light cones, “Cruising in the Stellar Sea” is the best option, as it boosts her ATK by 32% and increases her damage against enemies with debuffs by 16%, which pairs perfectly with her burn stacks.
For relics, the best set for Hook is the 4-piece Firesmith of Lava-Forging set, which boosts Fire damage by 20% and increases skill damage by 20% for 2 turns after using a skill. If you’re still farming for the full Firesmith set, a temporary 2-piece Firesmith plus 2-piece Musketeer of Wild Wheat set works really well, as it gives you 20% Fire damage plus 12% ATK and 6% speed. You don’t need perfect substats to make Hook viable for all Memory of Chaos stage 10 content, even mid-tier relics with 30-40 CV per piece will let her clear all current PVE content if paired with a good team.
Prioritize these main stats and substats for Hook’s relics:
- Crit Rate (aim for 50% minimum before stacking Crit Damage)
- Fire Damage Bonus (always better than flat ATK on your planar sphere)
- Energy Regen Rate (lets you cast her ultimate every 2 turns consistently)
- Effect Hit Rate (only needed if you’re running a burn-focused support build, not required for main DPS)
Avoid running Hook with other Fire DPS characters, as you’ll waste slot space that could be used for supports that boost her damage or keep her alive. It’s much more efficient to run one main DPS plus three supports than to split experience and resources between two DPS characters of the same element.
Best Team Comps to Use With Hook
Hook works well in a wide range of team comps, from F2P lineups with no 5-star characters to premium endgame lineups built for clearing high-level Memory of Chaos stages. The best F2P team comp for Hook is Hook, Natasha, Asta, and March 7th. Natasha provides consistent healing and debuff cleansing, Asta boosts the entire team’s ATK and speed to make Hook attack more often, and March 7th provides strong shields that keep Hook alive even when she draws aggro from enemies. This team can clear all Simulated Universe worlds and up to Memory of Chaos stage 8 without any 5-star characters.
If you have access to 5-star supports, the best premium team comp for Hook is Hook, Tingyun, Luocha, and Silver Wolf. Tingyun boosts Hook’s ATK by up to 50% and gives her extra energy to cast her ultimate more often, Luocha provides passive passive healing that doesn’t require you to waste turns using healing skills, and Silver Wolf can implant Fire weakness on enemies that don’t naturally have it, letting Hook trigger weakness breaks even against resistant foes. If you don’t have Silver Wolf, you can swap her for Pela, who reduces enemy defense by 40% and works almost as well for most content.
Hook performs best in teams with at least one support that can boost her ATK or crit stats, as she already has high base damage multipliers on her skill and ultimate. You can also pair her with Guinaifen for a niche burn-focused team, where both characters apply burn stacks to enemies to deal consistent damage over time that works even against bosses with very high HP pools. This comp works especially well in Simulated Universe runs with the Nihility path, as you can get extra buffs that increase damage over time effects.
At the end of the day, figuring out how to get Hook in Honkai Star Rail is only half the battle, the other half is building and using her correctly to make the most of her unique damage kit. She’s one of the most fun four-star characters in the game, with a playful personality and surprisingly high damage output that can carry you through almost all PVE content if you invest in her properly. You don’t need to spend hundreds of pulls to get her either, waiting for her to show up in the Stellar Warp shop or pulling on her next rate-up banner are both solid options that fit almost any playstyle or budget. If you do end up unlocking her, take the time to level her traces and farm the right relics, you won’t regret adding this fiery Underworld troublemaker to your roster.
