The best Honkai: Star Rail Kafka build lets you dominate the team and inflict damage even when you’re not acting. Kafka, the infamous intergalactic criminal, specializes in causing damage-over-time (DoT) and ekeing extra damage from DoT effects your party members inflict.
While her signature Light Cone is, naturally, the best fit, you can use a free one to get the most out of Kafka’s skills. Unlike her counterpart Blade, Kafka’s relics are pretty straightforward as well.
If you’re looking for some free Jade to spend on Kafka’s banner, check out our up-to-date collection of Star Rail codes.
Honkai Star Rail Kafka - Overview
Kafka follows the Nihility, as you’d expect from someone who relies so much on DoT, and she deals lightning damage.
Kafka’s skill is Caressing Moonlight, which deals lightning against a target based on her attack stat and a smaller amount of damage to adjacent enemies. If the target has an active DoT effect, such as Bleed or Wind Shear, Kafka’s skill triggers one instance of damage from each active effect.
Twilight Trill is her ultimate, and it works a bit differently than you might be used to. Kafka deals lightning damage to all enemies based on her attack, but the initial damage is a little underwhelming. However, the ability has a 100 percent chance to inflict Shocked on all enemies, and they instantly take damage from it. This shocked state lasts for two turns, and they take damage based on at least 110 percent of Kafka’s attack at the start of each turn.
Kafka’s talent is Gentle but Cruel. She can launch a follow-up attack once per turn when one of her allies uses a basic attack, and these attacks inflict shock. It’s a nice way to get some extra utility out of basic attacks without having to spend skill points.
Unlike a lot of 5-star Star Rail characters, Kafka’s Eidolons are actually pretty good all around. Eidolon 1 gives her Talent a 100 percent base chance to buff the DoT her talent deals by 30 percent. Eidolon 2 buffs DoT dealt by all allies by 25 percent, which is excellent if you have Sampo or Serval. Eidolon 4 lets Kafka regenerate additional Energy whenever her Shocked status damages an opponent, which is basically all the time, and, Eidolon 6 increases the amount of damage her shock deals and extends its duration to three turns.
Honkai Star Rail Kafka - Best Light Cones
Kafka’s signature Light Cone is Patience is All You Need, a new 5-star Cone and the strongest option for her. It boosts the equipping character’s damage and increases their speed after every attack – an effect that stacks three times. It also has a 100 percent chance to inflict Erode on any enemy that isn’t yet suffering from this effect. Erode is basically shock by another name, though eroded enemies take less damage at the start of each turn.
Best alternative Light Cones for Kafka:
- Incessant Rain (5-Star)
- In the Name of the World (5-Star)
- Before the Tutorial Mission Starts (4-Star)
- Fermata (4-Star)
- Eyes of the Prey (4-Star)
- Void (3-Star)
Of this bunch, we recommend Fermata the most. You can get Fermata at the Forgotten Hall’s Light Cone store, so there’s no need to spend Jade in the RPG‘s gacha banners. Fermata deals extra damage to enemies afflicted with shock or wind shear, which is going to be most enemies that Kafka attacks.
Honkai Star Rail Kafka - Best Relics
Kafka’s skills are comparatively straightforward lightning abilities that scale on attack, so your main considerations in a Relic set should be lightning and, well, attack. Critical hit rate is a nice bonus, but not necessary unless you really want to optimize and feel like grinding.
Energy regeneration is a bonus, given the DoT capacity of her ultimate, but make sure not to make Kafka too fast. She needs to go after her allies to make the most of their DoT effects.
Best Relic sets for Kafka:
- Band of Sizzling Thunder (4) – +10 percent lightning damage, +25 percent attack for the wearer for one turn after using their Skill.
Relic stats for Kafka
- Head – HP (Primary), Critical Hit Damage %, Critical Hit Rate %, Attack %, Effect Hit Rate %
- Hands – Attack (Primary), Critical Hit Damage %, Critical Hit Rate %, Attack %, Effect Hit Rate %
- Body – Critical Hit Rate % (Primary), Critical Hit Damage %, Attack %, Effect Hit Rate %, Break Effect %
- Feet – Attack % (Primary), Critical Hit Damage %, Critical Hit Rate %, Effect Hit Rate %, Break Effect %
Honkai Star Rail Kafka - Best Ornaments
There’s only one ornament set that really works well for Kafka as of version 1.2.
Best Planar Ornaments for Kafka:
- Space Sealing Station (2) – +12 percent attack, another 12 percent attack when wearer’s speed surpasses 120.
Prioritize these stats for her ornaments.
- Planar Sphere – Lightning Damage % (Primary), Critical Hit Damage %, Critical Hit Rate %, Attack %, Effect Hit Rate %
- Link Rope – Energy Regeneration Rate % (Primary), Critical Hit Damage %, Critical Hit Rate %, Attack %, Effect Hit Rate %
Honkai Star Rail Kafka - Best teams
Given Kafka’s emphasis on DoT, the best teams will include at least one or two DoT characters.
- Kafka
- Sampo
- Luka
- Luocha
Luocha is there to keep everyone alive without spending skill points, so your support DPS characters can keep using their skills.
Kafka F2P team
If you don’t have any of the characters we recommend and don’t want to spend any Jade, you can opt for this team.
- Kafka
- Serval
- Dan Heng
- March 7th
Honkai Star Rail Kafka - Ascension materials
Here’s everything you need to get Kafka and her traces to the maximum level.
Kafka Ascension materials:
- Credits x308,000
- Thief’s Instinct x15
- Usurper’s Scheme x15
- Conqueror’s Will x15
- Shape Shifter’s Lightning Staff x65
You can collect Thief’s Instincts, Usurper’s Schemes, and Conqueror’s Wills from Antimatter Legion enemies on Herta Space Station and in the Simulated Universe.
Thief’s Instincts are one of the base materials you can farm through the Daily Assignments, passively earning them while pursuing other activities.
Shape Shifter’s Lightning Staff is dropped by the Stagnant Shadow at Stargazer Navalia or gained through exchange.
Kafka Traces materials:
- Credits x3,000,000
- Thief’s Instinct x41
- Usurper’s Scheme x56
- Conqueror’s Will x58
- Obsidian of Dread x18
- Obsidian of Desolation x69
- Obsidian of Obsession x139
- Regret of Infinite Ochema x12
- Tracks of Destiny x8
Obsidian comes from the Crimson Calyx in the Great Mine, and Regret of Infinite Ochema only comes from the Echo of War (Scalegorge Waterscape) domain by defeating Phantylia, meaning you’ll have to complete the 1.2 story before you can earn them.
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF
