Revisiting Honkai Star Rail's Original Top 10 DPS List in 2026

It was a lazy Sunday in 2026 when Mira stumbled upon an old folder on her tablet labeled “HSR Launch Notes.” Inside was a ten-character damage-dealer list from late 2023, back when Serval and Himeko were still common answers for endgame clears. She laughed softly. So much had changed since those early Astral Express days—new worlds, new paths, new bosses that shredded old team comps. Yet the list still felt like a time capsule. She decided to go down the list one more time, comparing each old favorite to the game she now knew inside and out.

Mira remembered that the original article ranked units based on theorycrafting from various communities and early testers. Some placements aged like fine wine. Others aged like milk left on Jarilo-VI. But every name still mattered to someone.

⚡ 10. Serval – The Early-Game Lightning Queen

The eldest Landau sister had been the free-to-play savior for many launch accounts. Mira recalled how Serval’s Skill spread Shock and her Ultimate extended it, making her a reliable AoE lightning pick. Even in 2026, Serval remained a decent budget option for Pure Fiction waves, though pretty much every limited Lightning damage dealer had long ago stolen her thunder. Still, for a brand-new account, she did exactly what a four-star Erudition unit should do: break multiple enemies and keep the team moving.

🔥 9. Himeko – From Underrated to Pure Fiction Royalty

Nobody saw Himeko’s glow-up coming. In 2023 she sat near the bottom of many tier lists, but as follow-up attack synergies and Pure Fiction arrived, her orbiting lasers became a farming and scoring machine. Her Fire AoE and weakness break utility made her one of the most valuable standard five-stars by 2026. Mira smiled. The navigator of the Astral Express had finally gotten her flowers.

🌩️ 8. Jing Yuan – The Slumbering General Who Woke Up

Jing Yuan’s Lightning Lord had always looked cool but felt slow. Back in 2023, his huge AoE damage was real, yet players complained about waiting for the summon’s turn. By 2026, new support kits and relic sets had largely fixed that awkwardness. He became a legitimate endgame threat again, especially when Lightning Lord’s hits concentrated on a lone elite. The general was no longer a meme.

💜 7. Seele – The Fallen First Queen

She was the original limited banner star, the Quantum Hunt speedster who deleted bosses and farmed extra turns. Mira remembered rerolling for her. But power creep hit Seele hard. Newer Hunt characters brought higher ceilings without burning through Skill Points as badly. Seele remained a strong single-target nuke in the right hands, but she was no longer the automatic answer she once was.

🎲 6. Qingque – The Gambler Who Never Left

Qingque was, and still is, pure chaos. Drawing four matching Jade Tiles turned her basic attack into an AoE quantum explosion that occasionally outperformed Seele. Her Eidolons made the difference. In 2026, Mira still watched players clear high-difficulty content with a built Qingque just to prove RNG could beat the odds. The slacker from the Divination Commission had become a cult hero.

🕷️ 5. Kafka – The DoT Architect

Kafka’s kit was almost future-proof on paper: trigger all damage-over-time effects without consuming their duration. As more DoT characters released, her personal value arguably rose. The problem was that DoT teams themselves fell behind hypercarry and break metas for a while. Kafka stayed excellent in Simulated Universe and specialized battles, but she needed constant new partners to stay relevant in 2026.

🛡️ 4. Clara – The Counterattack Guardian

Clara had one of the strangest journeys. In 2023 she was considered good but dependent on enemy aggression. Then certain Memory of Chaos cycles and boss designs pushed her up the rankings. By 2026, she remained a powerful standard-banner option whenever enemies attacked frequently, though her reliance on being hit kept her out of the fastest clears. Svarog’s counters still felt satisfying.

🌪️ 3. Blade – The Calm Berserker

Blade’s HP-scaling damage made him easy to build compared to crit-hungry DPS units. His SP-positive playstyle was rare and valuable. By 2026, he had slipped from the absolute top tier, but HP supports and new relic sets occasionally pulled him back into relevance. He was still the go-to pick for players who loved a self-damaging bruiser who simply refused to die.

❄️ 2. Jingliu – The Ice Queen Who Cooled Off

At the end of 2023, Jingliu was arguably the strongest damage dealer in the game. Her Spectral Transmigration state hit like a comet. She consumed ally HP to buff herself, creating funny but deadly synergies with Blade. Time was less kind to her raw multipliers, but she remained a fan favorite and a solid Ice choice whenever players needed overwhelming burst.

👑 1. Dan Heng: Imbibitor Lunae – The Skill Point Devourer

The original king. Imbibitor Lunae’s ability to spend three Skill Points on one devastating basic attack set a new standard for burst damage. In 2023 he topped almost every chart. By 2026, many newer Destruction and Hunt units had caught up or passed him, but his toughness damage and sheer imaginary nuke potential still commanded respect. Building a team around his hunger was tricky, but when everything lined up, he obliterated encounters.

Mira closed the old file. The game had evolved, but the spirit of the list remained. Every character represented a different way to solve Honkai Star Rail’s puzzles—AoE, DoT, counters, follow-ups, or sheer skill-point greed. In 2026, a player didn’t need the old top ten to succeed, but knowing where those legends stood made the journey feel richer.