Honkai Star Rail: Luka Theorycrafting (Advanced Analysis)

Kafka was previously tested in the CBT of Honkai: Star Rail, but Luka is an unknown name before his information was teased in an official post. The young man is a member of the Wildfire who’s known to be a boxing champion within the Belobog Underworld. He’s the first Physical character that can apply Bleed DoT through his Skills instead of having to Break the enemy’s Toughness, which is interesting considering Bleed scales with the target’s HP rather than the debuffer’s ATK.

RELATED:
Honkai Star Rail: Kafka Theorycrafting (Advanced Analysis)

Apparently, although Luka’s Bleed scales with the enemy’s HP, it’s still capped by his total ATK, which means stacking this offensive stat is crucial for Luka’s build in Honkai: Star Rail. If players wish to understand more, this advanced analysis will cover the things that people must know to play Luka.

Recommended Relic For Luka In Honkai: Star Rail

Luka is a Bleed DoT character that also increases damage-taken by the target enemy through his Ultimate. Since players should focus on maximizing his Bleed, ATK/ATK/Physical DMG Bonus/ATK is the best setup for damage build. However, if Trailblazers want him to apply his DMG-taken debuff more often, then an Energy Regeneration Link Rope is also viable.

If players can reach 120 SPD without using a SPD main-stat, then Space Sealing Station is the best option for Luka’s Planar Ornaments. However, if players can’t reach the demanded SPD, then Pan-Galactic Commercial Enterprise can be an alternative.

Players need at least 50% Effect Hit Rate (EHR) to exceed the 12% ATK bonus from Space Sealing Station, but considering Luka gets 10% from the Relic itself and 18% from his Traces, 22% additional EHR from Relic should be manageable.

Here’s a comparison between the performance of ATK VS Crit on Body piece:

Weapon		Body Main Stat	Percentage %
	S5 Good Night and Sleep Well (Max Stacks)	ATK	117.75%
	S5 Good Night and Sleep Well (Max Stacks)	Crit	107.60%
	S5 Good Night and Sleep Well (2 Stacks)	ATK	105.92%
	In the Name of the World	ATK	102.44%
	Patience Is All You Need	ATK	101.82%
	Good Night and Sleep Well (Max Stacks)	ATK	100.00%
	Patience Is All You Need	Crit	97.96%
	S5 Good Night and Sleep Well (2 Stacks)	Crit	96.79%
	Good Night and Sleep Well (2 Stacks)	ATK	94.08%
	In the Name of the World	Crit	93.70%
	Good Night and Sleep Well (Max Stacks)	Crit	91.38%

Recommended Light Cone For Luka In Honkai: Star Rail

When it comes to Luka’s Light Cone, players can either opt for damage and maximize his Bleed DoT, or focus more on making him a debuff support. For damage, Good Night And Sleep Well at maximum Superimposition is the best option as long as the passive is properly utilized. Even at two stacks, S5 of this weapon can outperform Patience Is All You Need (SPD bonus not considered). This is because Luka can’t properly utilize the Light Cone’s Shock DoT, given he won’t be having Lightning DMG Bonus in his stat. 

In The Name Of The World is another great option for Luka. It grants him Effect Hit Rate on Skill and some other bonuses that enhance the Bleed-debuffing experience.

As for support Light Cones, players can either use Incessant Rain to increase the DMG taken by the target, or Resolution Shines As Pearls Of Sweat. Just note that this DEF-reducing weapon is best used at higher Superimposition. At S1, the Light Cone’s base hit chance is merely 60%, so people will end up needing Effect Hit Rate on Luka to properly utilize it. Meanwhile, at S5, the base chance increases to 100%, removing the need for Effect Hit Rate.

Here’s a comparison of Luka with different Light Cones:

Weapon		Body Main Stat	Percentage %
	S5 Good Night and Sleep Well (Max Stacks)	ATK	117.75%
	S5 Good Night and Sleep Well (Max Stacks)	Crit	107.60%
	S5 Good Night and Sleep Well (2 Stacks)	ATK	105.92%
	In the Name of the World	ATK	102.44%
	Patience Is All You Need	ATK	101.82%
	Good Night and Sleep Well (Max Stacks)	ATK	100.00%
	Patience Is All You Need	Crit	97.96%
	S5 Good Night and Sleep Well (2 Stacks)	Crit	96.79%
	S5 Eyes of the Prey	ATK	94.87%
	Good Night and Sleep Well (2 Stacks)	ATK	94.08%
	In the Name of the World	Crit	93.70%
	Good Night and Sleep Well (Max Stacks)	Crit	91.38%
	Incessant Rain	ATK	91.37%
	S5 Resolution Shines As Pearls of Sweat	ATK	89.40%
	Eyes of the Prey	ATK	88.56%
	Good Night and Sleep Well (2 Stacks)	Crit	85.97%
	S5 Hidden Shadow	ATK	85.97%
	We Will Meet Again	ATK	85.63%
	We Will Meet Again	Crit	85.25%
	Incessant Rain	Crit	84.98%
	S5 Eyes of the Prey	Crit	84.90%
	S5 Resolution Shines As Pearls of Sweat	Crit	81.69%
	Eyes of the Prey	Crit	80.03%
	S5 Hidden Shadow	Crit	73.65%

Note: SPD bonus is not calculated with Patience Is All You Need

Luka’s Pros & Cons In Honkai: Star Rail

Unlike Serval who excels in applying DoT to several enemies, Luka is a single-target debuffer like Silver Wolf, so he’s best used in boss fights. Fortunately, his Bleed DoT has a large damage, so he’s not lacking. With his Talent, Luka can even pop his own Bleed DoT, which works really well when combined with other DoT-trigger like Kafka.

How To Play Luka In Honkai: Star Rail

Talent

• Energy Regeneration: 0
• Weakness Break: 0
• Gain 1 stack of Fighting Will after using normal Basic Attack or Skill, and 2 stacks from Ultimate (max 4 stacks). When Luka has 2 or more Fighting Will, his Basic Attack will be enhanced. The final hit of enhanced Basic Attack will trigger Bleed DoT on the target by a percentage of the original damage.

Luka’s Talent is how he can trigger Bleed DoT and allow players to use his Basic Attack without feeling like he wasted a turn.

Normal Basic Attack

• Energy Regeneration: 20
• Weakness Break: 30
• Range: Single-target
• Deals Physical DMG to an enemy.

Enhanced Basic Attack

• Energy Regeneration: 20
• Weakness Break: 60
• Range: Single-target
• Consumes 2 stacks of Fighting Will and deal larger Physical DMG.

For enhanced Basic Attack, Luka will attack three times and then unleash one final hit with larger damage, so there’s a total of 4 hits. Only the final hit will trigger Bleed unless players have his E6.

After unlocking his A6 Trace, each of the first three hits has a 50% chance to deal damage one more time. This means there’s a 12.5% chance that he’ll deal six damages before the one final hit, totaling to 7 hits.

Skill

• Energy Regeneration: 30
• Weakness Break: 60 
• Range: Single-target
• Deal Physical DMG and apply Bleed for 3 turns. Bleed DoT scales with the enemy’s max HP and is capped by Luka’s ATK.

Ultimate

• Energy Regeneration: 5
• Weakness Break: 90
• Energy Required: 130
• Range: Single-target
• Increase DMG taken by the target for 3 turns and deal Physical DMG.

Does Luka Need Effect Hit Rate Relic In Honkai: Star Rail?

Both Luka’s Ultimate and Skill has a 100% base chance to apply their respective debuff. This means that Luka doesn’t need Effect Hit Rate Relic as 20% EHR already has a 72% hit chance against an enemy with 40% RES. Considering he also gets an 18% Effect Hit Rate from his Traces, the accidental EHR from Relic sub-stats should be more than enough to reach 50%.

Luka Trace Priority In Honkai: Star Rail

The Trace priority for Luka in Honkai: Star Rail is Skill > Ultimate > Basic Attack > Talent. Here’s a DPS increase comparison between different Trace level-ups.

Luka Eidolon In Honkai Star Rail

For Luka’s final Eidolon (E6), he will deal three hits before the final punch (as mentioned in How To Play Luka), so he’ll trigger the DoT three times for 8% of the original DMG each. With his A6 Trace, his initial basic attack can reach six consecutive hits, which means the DoT will also trigger up to six times.

This is how much damage increase players can expect from each Eidolon:

Note: E4 includes the bonus from E1, and E6 includes the bonus from E1 and E4. E2, E3, and E5 are not considered in the E6 calculation.

MORE
Genshin Impact: Kamisato Ayato Best Build