Topaz arrives as Honkai: Star Rail's queen of follow-up attacks! Here's how you build her

The second half of Honkai: Star Rail version 1.4 is finally here, and with it comes the debut of a new 5-star DPS character: the beautiful Topaz and her adorable pet Warp Trotter Numby!

Topaz wields the Fire element and follows the Path of the Hunt, wielding a kit that is centred around Numby and follow-up attacks. While Topaz and Numby dish out a lot of damage on their own, the pair also empower teams that are based around follow-up attacks, similar to how Kafka enables damage-over-time compositions.

If you were lucky enough to get Topaz, then read on as we break down her best build, gear, and teammates.

Topaz's kit and how to best utilise her

Fear the debt collector

As a Hunt character, Topaz specialises in quickly taking out single targets. But unlike most other Hunt characters, Topaz has the added utility of boosting the damage of follow-up attacks for her entire team. Because of this, she works best alongside other characters with follow-up attacks.

Topaz's kit is centred around her Talent, Trotter Market?!, which lets her summon Numby to aid her in battle as its own character, similar to Jing Yuan and his Lightning-Lord.

Numby has 80 Speed by default and launches follow-up attacks on the enemy target afflicted by the Proof of Debt debuff from Topaz's skill, Difficulty Paying? (more on this ability later). In addition, Numby's action will be advanced forward by 50% whenever the enemy afflicted by Proof of Debt is hit by follow-up attacks from Topaz and her other teammates.

Numby's follow-up attacks deal Fire DMG equal to 150% of Topaz's ATK at level 10. But when Topaz is downed, Numby will no longer be able to fight on.

Aside from determining which enemy will be Numby's target, the Proof of Debt debuff from Topaz's skill also causes the afflicted enemy to receive 50% increased damage from follow-up attacks at level 10. If there are no enemies with Proof of Debt on the field, then a random one will be afflicted at the start of an ally's turn.

Using Topaz's skill itself will be considered as a follow-up attack and will cause Numby to deal Fire DMG equal to 150% of Topaz's ATK to the target at level 10.

Topaz's ultimate, Turn a Profit!, lets her empower Numby by making it enter the Windfall Bonanza! state, increasing its DMG multiplier by 150% and Crit DMG by 25% at level 10. In addition, Numby's action will be advanced forward by 50% whenever an enemy afflicted by Proof of Debt receives attacks from an ally's basic attack, skill, or ultimate, instead of just follow-up attacks.

Numby will exit the Windfall Bonanza! state after unleashing 2 attacks.

Meanwhile, Topaz's major Traces increases her damage output and increases her energy regeneration.

Topaz's A2 Trace, Overdraft, turns her basic attacks into follow-up attacks, increasing her damage output against enemies afflicted by Proof of Debt while letting her advance Numby's action forward on her own.

Her A4 Trace, Financial Turmoil, increases her and Numby's DMG dealt to enemies with Fire Weakness by 15% while her A6 Trace, Technical Adjustment, regenerates 10 energy for her after Numby unleashes an attack while in the Windfall Bonanza state.

Finally, Topaz's Technique, Explicit Subsidy, gives her incredible utility in battles and during exploration.

In the overworld, Topaz will automatically summon Numby, who will then search for nearby treasure chests and Warp Trotters. Numby will also enchant any Trotters it finds, preventing them from running away.

Using Topaz's Technique to start a battle regenerates 60 energy for her after Numby's first attack. Once the battle is finished, you will then receive additional Credit rewards up to a maximum of 10,000 per day.

This also works in the Simulated Universe, granting bonus Cosmic Fragments with an additional chance to obtain a Curio.

In battle, use Topaz's skill on a priority target to focus Numby's attack on it and increase the follow-up attack DMG it receives. Use Topaz's basic attack or skill on the afflicted enemy to advance Numby's action forward as much as possible. Once Topaz's energy is full, use her ultimate to boost Numby's damage and finish off your target.

When leveling up Topaz's abilities, prioritise her Talent first, ultimate second, skill third, and her basic attacks last — though you need to get them all to max level to get Topaz to her full potential.

Topaz's best gear

Light Cones

Topaz's best Light Cone is hands-down her signature, Worrisome, Blissful, which passively increases her Crit Rate by 18% and her follow-up attack DMG by 30%.

While those stats are very good on their own, this Light Cone has added utility with the Tame debuff it applies to enemies hit by its wielder's follow-up attacks. Enemies afflicted by the Tame debuff will increase the Crit DMG of attacks it receives from both Topaz and her allies by 12%. The Tame debuff can also stack up to 2 times for a 24% increase to Crit DMG received by its target.

If you don't have Topaz's signature, then her best 5-star alternative will be Cruising in the Stellar Sea, which can be acquired and superimposed for free through the Simulated Universe's Herta store.

At max superimposition level, Cruising in the Stellar Sea gives its wearer a 16% Crit Rate buff, which doubles when they are attacking an enemy with 50% or less of their Max HP. In addition, defeating an enemy increases their ATK by 40% for 3 turns.

The two other 5-star Hunt Light Cones in the game, In the Night and Sleep Like the Dead, are also solid alternatives for Topaz. However, we'd still recommend going for Cruising in the Stellar Sea instead since it can be acquired and superimposed for free.

If you don't happen to have Cruising in the Stellar Sea, then Topaz also has a good 4-star option in Swordplay.

This Light Cone increases the DMG dealt by its wearer for each time they hit the same target by 8%, stacking up to 5 times for a 40% DMG buff at max stacks. At max superimposition level, this DMG boost increases to 16% and a whopping 80% DMG buff at max stacks.

While other 4-star Light Cones can work on Topaz, they pale in comparison to Swordplay and Cruising in the Stellar Sea. So if you don't have Topaz's signature, we recommend focusing on those two alternative Light Cones instead of others.

Relics

Since there is no dedicated Cavern of Corrosion relic set for follow-up attacks yet (hopefully it comes soon), Topaz will have to make do for now with a mixed set of the 2-piece Firesmith of Lava-Forging and 2-piece Musketeer of Wild Wheat.

The 2-piece Firesmith of Lava-Forging set increases Topaz's Fire DMG by 10% while the 2-piece Musketeer of Wild Wheat increases her ATK by 10%.

While you can also go for the 4-piece Firesmith of Lava-Forging set, its 4-set bonus isn't worth the effort it takes to farm it up. It's best to wait for a dedicated Cavern of Corrosion relic set for follow-up attacks to get released instead and farm that instead.

While Topaz's ideal Cavern of Corrosion relic set isn't here yet, she does already have a go-to Planar Ornament relic set in the 2-piece Inert Salsotto. It increases Topaz's Crit Rate by 8% and, if her Crit Rate reaches 50% or higher, boosts her follow-up attack DMG by 15%.

Topaz's best teammates

Since Topaz can buff follow-up attacks for her allies and her allies' follow-up attacks will buff Numby, she is best used alongside as many characters with follow-up attacks as possible.

The characters with follow-up attacks in their kits include Clara, Jing Yuan, Kafka, Blade, Himeko, Yanqing, March 7th, and Herta. Among these, Topaz's best teammates will be those who can perform multiple follow-up attacks per turn, the most noteworthy being Clara and March 7th.

Clara and March 7th can unleash follow-up attacks against enemies that attack them or their allies.

Clara is perfect as a secondary damage-dealer alongside Topaz, with the buffed counterattacks from her ultimate also helping to cover Topaz's lack of area-of-effect damage. Meanwhile, March 7th is great as the defensive support in a Topaz team.

Kafka also has a consistent follow-up attack she can unleash on an enemy targeted by an ally's basic attack once every turn, which when combined with her optimal high-Speed build, makes her a solid option for a secondary damage-dealer alongside Topaz.

Jing Yuan, Blade, Himeko, and Herta can also be viable options even if their follow-up attacks aren't as consistent as those from Clara, March 7th, or Kafka.

As for offensive supports in a Topaz team, you can go with Asta, Silver Wolf, Tingyun, Bronya, or Pela.

Asta and Tingyun are arguably Topaz's best Harmony supports. Asta provides party-wide ATK and Speed buffs, letting Topaz hit harder and attack faster. She can also make use of the Planetary Rendezvous Light Cone for a huge buff to Topaz's DMG that other supports can't make use of.

Tingyun is perfect in a Topaz-Clara team, using her skill to buff Topaz's ATK and her ultimate to ensure Clara's ultimate is always up to draw enemy aggro and buff her counterattacks.

Of course, Bronya is the best Harmony support in the game with the party-wide ATK and Crit DMG buffs from her ultimate and the turn manipulation from her skill.

Meanwhile, Silver Wolf and Pela are always good to have for their ability to shred enemy DEF. Silver Wolf's ability to implant Fire Weakness to enemies also synergises with Topaz's A4 Trace.

As for defensive supports, if you're not already running with March 7th, you can take your pick between the top options in Luocha and Bailu for healers or Fu Xuan, Gepard, and the Fire Trailblazer for tanks and shielders.

Lynx also deserves a special mention for her synergy in a Topaz-Clara team, as her skill can draw enemy aggro to Clara to help her trigger more follow-up attacks.

Topaz is one the featured 5-star characters for the second half of Honkai: Star Rail version 1.4, alongside Seele. This version also features the debut of the 4-star Fire Nihility character Guinaifen as well as the launch of the game's PlayStation 5 version.

If you're still torn on whether or not you should pull for Topaz, Seele, or their signature Light Cones, we've got you covered.

Version 1.5 in mid-November will also see three new characters, namely Huohuo, Argenti, and Hanya.

Yan Ku is a full-time dog parent, part-time (gacha) gamer, and part-time writer.

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