Black Swan is an attractive 5-star Wind character coming to Honkai Star Rail 2.0 with a complicated but powerful kit. Here’s how it works.
Black Swan looks set to be a massive character in the upcoming Honkai Star Rail 2.0 update. The 5-star Wind character will be part of the Phase 1 banners, but to make the most of her kit you'll need to understand her debuff Arcana. Here's a guide to Black Swan's abilities and her unique debuff which deals delayed damage on your targets.
When is Black Swan's release date in Honkai Star Rail?
Five-star Wind character Black Swan will arrive in the first phase of Honkai Star Rail 2.0 on February 5 or 6 depending on your location. The Black Swan banner will last from Feb 6 until February 29. The other characters to feature on the banner are Misha, Tingyun and Guinaifen.
Black Swan Kit in Honkai Star Rail
Black Swan's combat style centers around Tarot Cards and divination, which the developers said they felt played into her mysterious character. To better understand how exactly her abilities work, you first must get to grips with her debuff Arcana.
What is Black Swan's Arcana in Honkai Star Rail?
Black Swan's kit revolves around Arcana, a new debuff unique to her which deals Wind DMG to enemies affected by any Damage over Time (DoT) debuff at the start of their turn. So essentially Black Swan's playstyle places Tarot Cards upon her enemies, the impact of which is decided at the beginning of their next turn.
Black Swan's Basic Attack, Skill and Technique all apply Arcana to enemies, which can stack to deal more damage. In addition her talent has a chance to apply an additional Arcana stack when an enemy receives damage from a DoT debuff.
DoT debuffs which will proc Black Swan's Arcana
- Wind Shear
- Burn
- Shock
- Bleed
So the more DoT debuffs on an enemy, the more damage Arcana will do. This means Black Swan will work best in a party with characters that have DoT abilities such as Kafka.
3 or more Arcana Stacks | Deals Wind DoT DMG equal to 225% of Black Swan's ATK to adjacent targets. 72.5% base chance of inflicting 1 stack of Arcana to adjacent targets. |
7 or more Arcana Stacks | Arcana DoTs ignore 20% of the target and adjacent target's DEF |
Black Swan's confirmed abilities:
- Basic Attack - Percipience, Silent Dawn: Deals Wind DMG to a single target with a chance of inflicting Arcana. If the target has a DoT applied to them, add an additional extra Arcana stack.
- Skill- Decadence False Twilight: Deals Wind DMG to a single target and adjacent enemies. There is a high chance of Black Swan inflicting 1 stack of Arcana on all targets. There is also a reduce change of reducing the DEF of target and adjacent targets.
- Ultimate - Bliss of Other World's Embrace - Deals Wind DMG to all targets and applies "Epiphany" to all enemies for 2 turns. Affected enemies take more DMG at the start of their turn, and their Arcana stacks count as DoT stacks. After Arcana is triggered, the stacks do not reset and remain for the enemies next turn.
- Talent - Loom of Fate's Caprice - When an enemy target is affected by a DoT ability on their turn, there is chance to be afflicted by Arcana. If so, they will receive Wind DoT and additional effects based on the number of Arcana stacks.
- Technique - From Façade to Vérité - At the beginning of battle there is a chance to inflict Arcana on each enemy. If the debuff is successfully applied to an enemy, the effect will be repeated until all enemies have been affected.
Traces abilities
Black Swan has three abilities unlocked via her Traces at Character Ascensions 2,4 and 6.
- Viscera's Disquiet (Character Ascension 2) - After using her Skill, Black Swan has a chance to inflict an extra stack of Arcana for each exisiting DoT debuff applied to the enemy.
- Goblet's Dredges (Character Ascension 4) - 65% chance to inflict 1 stack of Arcana on DoT receiving enemies, up to 3 stacks.
- Candleflame's Portent (Character Ascension 6) - Increases DMG by 60% of Effect Hit Rate, up to 72% max
Black Swan All Traces in Honkai Star Rail
Ability/Type | Requirement | Effect | Ascension Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
Viscera's Disquiet | Character Ascension 2 | Inflicts 1 extra stack of Arcana on enemies with Wind Shear, Bleed, Burn, or Shock with a 65% chance. | Credit x 5000 Fiery Spirit x 3 Past Evils of the Borehole Planet Disaster x 1 |
DMG Boost: Wind | Character Ascension 2 | Wind DMG increases by 3.2% | Credit x 5000 Fiery Spirit x 3 Extinguished Core x 6 |
ATK Boost | Character Ascension 3 | ATK increases by 4% | Credit x 10000 Starfire Essence x 3 Glimmering Core x 3 |
Effect Hit Rate Boost | Character Ascension 3 | Effect Hit Rate increases by 4% | Credit x 10000 Starfire Essence x 3 Glimmering Core x 3 |
Goblet's Dredges | Character Ascension 4 | 65% chance to inflict 1 stack of Arcana on DoT receiving enemies, up to 3 stacks. | Credit x 20000 Starfire Essence x 5 Tracks of Destiny x 1 Past Evils of the Borehole Planet Disaster x 1 |
ATK Boost | Character Ascension 4 | ATK increases by 6% | Credit x 20000 Starfire Essence x 5 Glimmering Core x 4 |
DMG Boost: Wind | Character Ascension 5 | Wind DMG increases by 4.8% | Credit x 45000 Heaven Incinerator x 3 Squirming Core x 3 |
ATK Boost | Character Ascension 5 | ATK increases by 6% | Credit x 45000 Heaven Incinerator x 3 Squirming Core x 3 |
Candleflame's Portent | Character Ascension 6 | Increases DMG by 60% of Effect Hit Rate, up to 72% max. | Credit x 160K Heaven Incinerator x 8 Tracks of Destiny x 1 Past Evils of the Borehole Planet Disaster x 1 |
Effect Hit Rate Boost | Character Ascension 6 | Effect Hit Rate increases by 6% | Credit x 160K Heaven Incinerator x 8 Squirming Core x 8 |
DMG Boost: Wind | Character Lv. 75 | Wind DMG increases by 6.4% | Credit x 160K Heaven Incinerator x 8 Squirming Core x 8 |
ATK Boost | - | ATK increases by 4% | Credit x 2500 Extinguished Core x 2 |
ATK Boost | Character Lv. 80 | ATK increases by 8% | Credit x 160K Heaven Incinerator x 8 Squirming Core x 8 |
Who is Black Swan in Honkai Star Rail?
Black Swan is a mysterious diviner and a Memokeeper from the enigmatic Garden of Recollection, an organization dedicated to Fuli, the Aeon of Remembrance. She is intrigued by the memories of others, and after listening to their tales, uses her tarot cards to divine their future.
The mysterious diviner's motives are not clear, but what we do know is Black Swan will play a major role in the storyline of Penacony, the new region of Honkai Star Rail. Penacony which will be a focal point from version 2.0 to 2.3.
If the Black Swan Trailer "Lullaby" is anything to go by, Trailblazer may be about to encounter a truly powerful being.