Speed is everything in a turn-based game like Honkai: Star Rail. This stat determines how often your character can get an attacking turn, which can be a decisive point for some battles. And while researching about it, you might’ve seen the term “speed breakpoint” being used somewhere. If you were left with more questions than answers, here’s what you need to know about these so-called breakpoints.
What Is a Speed Breakpoint in Star Rail?
Speed Breakpoint is the term given to a certain speed threshold where the Speed stat gets the most value, i.e. it gives you an extra turn in a certain amount of cycles. Whenever you see a guide telling you something like “a good speed breakpoint for this character is X”, it means that you should aim for having at least (or even precisely) that certain amount of speed.
These values are considered a goal for having Speed substats, as they immediately become more useful as soon as you reach them. Having 134 Speed allows you to have double turns during the very first cycle, while 133 only gets you double turns in your second cycle. Similarly, reaching 135 speed won’t give you three turns immediately as the next breakpoint is 143.
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A cycle is a preset number of turns where all characters, regardless of their speed, can act at least once. You can see how much a cycle lasts during your Forgotten Hall runs, where they’re directly displayed for the player. They’re also present on every other content in the game, but it is within the Hall where they matter the most. The first cycle is somewhat different as it’s considerably longer than others.
So in summary, reaching a Speed Breakpoint is useful for having more turns in the same cycle, allowing for better overall clear times, which are especially useful in the Forgotten Hall.
Which Speed Breakpoints Should I Go For?
When building a character, it’s important to consider its Speed regarding its role on the team and the build you’re making. Some important Breakpoints are 121, 134, 143, 161 and 172.
121 is considered the “bare minimum” as it meets the requirements for activating many Planar Ornament set effects, as well as giving you an extra turn on cycle 2. 134 allows you for a double turn on cycle 1, and 143 gives you all of the previous bonuses as well as an extra double turn past cycle 3. Any other breakpoints above these are theoretically reachable, but not something you should aim for.
Notice that all of these numbers aren’t accounting for external factors like Asta’s Ultimate (increases the whole team’s Speed) or other effects like Advance Forward (from Bronya’s skill, for example), which have another completely separate formula from Speed when deciding who’s attacking first.
Your main DPS should reach 134 Speed if possible as you definitely want them to hit as much as possible, but some characters don’t even need Speed at all. Clara for example benefits greatly from going last to avoid wasting Ultimate stacks, as well as Herta and Himeko since their main sources of damage come from their follow-ups, which can be triggered outside of their turns.
Buffers are always a case-specific situation. Bronya usually likes to go right after your DPS so she can immediately give them another turn. If your Seele has 134 speed, then Bronya ideally would have 133. Asta’s buff vanishes once she gets a turn, so she wants to be a little bit slower (despite also buffing her own speed).
But since this is Star Rail we’re talking about and we can’t perfectly control our substats, you gotta do what you can with your available resources. Try to reach those specific points as much as possible, but you can always go with Speed boots as those give you +25 Speed when maxed out.
Ultimately, it all comes down to what you got, so don’t worry if you can’t get the perfect stats at once. You can always use the extra Relic events to get more pieces later.
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