Boothill in Honkai Star Rail: guide to the best builds

In Honkai: Star Rail Boothill is 5 star character, having a Physical type of combat and related to the Hunting path. In a team, he can play the role of the main damage dealer, effectively penetrating vulnerabilities and inflicting enormous damage. In this guide we will tell you about his best builds, light cones And relics. You can also find out about the recommended units with him.

Note: Cyborg Cowboy has not yet been officially released, so the data presented here is based on information received as part of beta testing. If necessary, we will update the guide when the hero appears in the game.

Main features of Boothill

How to get Boothill

This hero can only be obtained during the event Jump. In the near future, this banner will be launched as part of the second phase of patch 2.2 (May 29). If you want to be one of the first to know about his next rerun, we advise you to bookmark this article.

Let's add that HoYoverse only once gave a 5-star character in honor of winning the category for “best mobile game of the year” and never once for completing various events, so it is highly likely that you will be able to unlock this galaxy ranger only with the help of Jumping.

Boothill Characteristics Progression

In the table below you can see how the hero's basic parameters change as his level increases.

Note that its critical damage, critical hit chance and taunt are 50%, 5% and 75 units respectively at any level, and its energy reserve is 115 units.

Advantages and disadvantages of Boothill

Thanks to his unique abilities, Boothill can quickly deal with strong single opponents, breaking through their durability almost instantly. Its advantages also include:

• He has the highest base health among Hunt characters, which is also increased by Traces, which increases his survivability, and this is extremely important considering that the cowboy will receive increased damage from the selected target.
• Needs crits less than other damage dealers, since his critical damage and critical hit chance will increase along with the penetration effect, which in turn will increase with the character's elevation.
• Considering the above information, it is relatively easy to assemble, since it only needs to increase two parameters: the penetration effect and speed.
• Ideal for battles with strong single opponents, since, firstly, it does not allow them to attack other members of the squad, secondly, it is able to quickly take them out of the line by breaking through their resistance, and thirdly, it deals increased damage to them.
• The Cowboy's superpower has almost the lowest cost of any Hunt character, allowing it to be used much more often and reducing the need for high energy recovery. In addition, it and the technique can inflict physical vulnerability on opponents, so Boothill can break through the resistance of any enemy.
• It does not require using the skill every turn, since the skill only enhances basic attacks, so the cowboy will save skill points for allies.
• It does not require Eidolons and legendary supports to effectively perform its main function, so it will appeal to F2P players.

However, there are some downsides, some of which follow directly from its advantages:

• The lack of AoE attacks makes it less attractive when you need to quickly deal with a large number of enemies or fight a boss that can summon minions.
• It deals the most damage when the enemy's vulnerability is broken, but there are many bosses in the game whose durability cannot be broken at certain stages. At such moments, the cowboy's DPS will begin to drop significantly.
• As a rule, Boothill will challenge a strong opponent to a duel, who will deal increased damage to the Galaxy Ranger. Even with high health, a cowboy is unlikely to be able to survive such a Adversarial for long, so he will definitely need a good shieldman and/or healer.

Boothill's abilities

When using a basic attack "Skull Crusher Spurs" it deals physical damage to the enemy equal to 50~130% of his attack power. At the same time, it restores 20 units of energy and penetrates 30 units of durability.

Explanation: Ordinary, unremarkable strikes, which you will use extremely rarely, mainly performing their enhanced version, discussed below.

After using the skill "Sizzling Tango" the cowboy and his chosen target enter the Duel state. His basic attacks become enhanced for 2 turns, and he cannot use the skill for the specified period of time. At the beginning of each of his actions, the number of remaining moves is reduced by 1.

During the Duel, the selected enemy is attacked with Mockery, and the damage he receives from Boothill increases by 15-37.5%. At the same time, the cyborg himself also receives 15% more damage from this enemy. By defeating the target or breaking through its vulnerability, the hero gains 1 level of Pocket Trick and ends the Duel. Let's add that the skill does not restore energy and does not end the character's action.

Explanation: If you want to quickly gain levels in Pocket Trick, then when activating the skill, choose weak enemies who can quickly break through the vulnerability. Otherwise, always make your target the most powerful enemy in the arena, who needs to be knocked out or distracted as quickly as possible (a mob in the Duel state will only attack Boothill; however, AoE attacks will still hit all your heroes). Please note that if you do not manage to kill or stun an enemy before the Duel action ends, you will not be given a Pocket Trick.

Using an enhanced basic attack "Swinging the Hammer", Boothill will deal physical damage equal to 110-286% of his attack power to the targeted enemy. This blow is not capable of restoring skill points and can only be used against a mob that is in a Duel state. But it restores 30 units of energy and penetrates 60 stamina.

Explanation: The main source of damage for the cyborg cowboy. These hits can break through the durability of most ordinary mobs at once, allowing you to quickly gain levels in Pocket Trick. Plus, they will speed up the accumulation of energy to activate the ultimate.

Using a superpower "Desert Devil Rodeo at Sunset", he inflicts physical vulnerability on the enemy for 2 turns and deals physical damage to him in the amount of 250-480% of his attack power, and also delays his action by 30-45%.

Explanation: Allows Boothill to break through the durability of any enemy. Of course, you should use your ult on the strongest enemy. You will not only inflict huge damage on him (only Seele can outdo the cowboy in this indicator), but you will also slow down his next move. Unfortunately, it reduces durability in the same way as many other damage dealers - by only 90 units.

As for the hero's passive talent - "Five Peas in a Pod", then it increases the effectiveness of breaking through the physical vulnerability of an enhanced strike by 50% for each level of Pocket Trick (the bonus stacks up to a maximum of three times). When performing a boosted attack against an enemy with broken durability, each stack of Pocket Trick deals piercing damage equal to 87.5%/150%/212.5% ​​of Boothill's piercing damage.

However, the enemy's maximum Toughness taken into account by this attack cannot exceed the Toughness removed by a normal basic hit, multiplied by 16. After winning the battle, the cowboy saves the Pocket Trick for the next fight.

Explanation: It is thanks to this talent that enhanced basic attacks become the main source of damage for the Galaxy Ranger. Until the enemy's vulnerability is broken, he can increase the amount of durability removed by these attacks to 90 units (1 stack of Pocket Trick), 120 units (2 stacks) and 150 units (3 stacks). If you add the buff Ruan Mei here, then this value can be increased to 225 units. For comparison, most elite enemies have a durability rating of 360 units, which means with one such blow you will destroy more than half of their “shield”. To break through the weekly bosses, it will be enough to perform a couple of hits.

If the enemy has already broken through a vulnerability or your current blow should break through it, then he receives additional penetration damage. We remind you that this damage does not crit, depends on the character’s penetration effect and has a multiplier depending on the enemy’s durability. Thus, for bosses with high durability, enhanced attacks when breaking through a vulnerability will cause higher damage.

However, to prevent this damage from reaching cosmic values, the developers introduced a restriction in which the maximum multiplier can be no higher than when breaking through resistance of 480 units (30 * 16). That is, when you break the balance of Chorus: Great Septimius (540 units), you will deal him the same amount of damage as Argenti (480 units).

It is also impossible not to mention the technology "3-9* Smile", the use of which will allow you to impose physical vulnerability on the selected enemy with the first use of the skill. She will exist on it for 2 turns.

Boothill's tracks

In addition to the above abilities, the hero leveling tree also includes other enhancements that provide passive bonuses or permanent increases to characteristics. Basically we are talking about increasing the penetration effect, attack power and maximum health. You can see them all in the picture below.

Next, we’ll briefly look at special tracks with their own mechanics:

1. Phantom Recharge – increases the character’s crit chance and critical damage by 10% and 50%, respectively, of his penetration effect. In this case, the maximum these indicators can increase by 30% and 150% (for this you need to increase the penetration effect to 300%).
2. Over Snakes – Reduces damage dealt by enemies not in the Duel state with Boothill by 30%.
3. Point-Blank Shooting – upon gaining a Pocket Trick level, restores the hero by 10 units of energy. The effect also works after gaining three stacks of status.

Eidolons of Boothill

To unlock them, you need materials of the same name, issued when duplicates of the hero appear, which, of course, is random. And considering the rarity of 5-star character drops, be prepared to spend a lot of money and time on this. Fortunately, even without eidolons, Boothill can easily serve as the team's primary damage dealer. Below is a list of them:

1. Lone Star of the Desert Wanderer – at the beginning of the battle, grants 1 level of Pocket Trick and allows the hero to ignore 16% of the enemy’s defense.
2. Mechanic – upon receiving a Pocket Trick, restores 1 skill point and increases the penetration effect by 30% for two turns. The effect also works after gaining three stacks of status.
3. Guardian of the Marble Garden - the level of the ult increases by two, and the level of the basic attack - by one. The maximum level for the first increases to 15, and for the second – to 10. Slightly increases overall damage.
4. Chef's Cold Cut – an enemy in a Duel with Boothill takes 12% more damage from him. At the same time, the increased damage received by the cowboy is reduced by 12% and is only 3%.
5. Dead-end speech – the level of skill and talent increases by two. The maximum level for both increases to 15. Increases overall damage well.
6. Raccoon of the Lom Hotel – when the talent is triggered, it deals additional penetration damage to the enemy in the amount of 40% of the initial damage multiplier. Targets adjacent to it receive pierce damage equal to 70% of the original damage multiplier.

If you plan to knock out eidolons and have a limited budget, then you can stop at E1 and E2, which will further increase Boothill's damage and provide his team with additional skill points. However, if you have a choice between E1 and a signature weapon, then we advise you to choose the second option, since at the moment the signature is the only cone that increases the penetration effect of the owner.

How to play as Boothill

The entire gameplay of this Galaxy Ranger revolves around breaking through enemy vulnerabilities and accumulating Pocket Trick levels. For this reason, at the beginning of the battle, it is recommended to first break through the resistance of weak ordinary mobs by challenging them to a Duel with a skill in order to gain 3 stacks of the effect, and only then take on the task of Annihilation the boss.

By this time, you should also have accumulated enough energy to use your ultimate on the boss and inflict physical vulnerability on him if necessary. It is not recommended to spend a superpower on ordinary mobs - it is better to use a technique before the start of the battle if you need to attach a physical. weakness on a normal enemy.

It should be remembered that Boothill retains the accumulated Pocket Tricks from battle to battle in the open world and the Virtual Universe (untested), so if you managed to gain 3 levels in the last battle, you can immediately move on to killing the most powerful enemy in the next battle, challenging him to a Duel.

After breaking through the enemy’s vulnerability, you will begin to inflict gigantic damage on him thanks to your talent, and the greater the enemy’s durability, the higher the damage inflicted on him, so Boothill is ideal for destroying the thickest-skinned enemies. In general, the optimal rotation with him looks like this:

1. Try to use the cowboy technique so that you can create physical vulnerability on any enemy with the help of a skill at the beginning of the battle. If you have already accumulated 3 levels of Pocket Tricks, then apply a weakness to the boss (if there is none). Otherwise, choose an ordinary mob to quickly break through its durability.
2. Having chosen the desired target for the Duel, start hitting it with enhanced basic attacks. If we are talking about an ordinary enemy, then after breaking through his vulnerability, you can immediately switch to the next enemy, thereby gaining stacks of status. If you have them, you can again attack the boss at the very beginning.
3. Use the ultimate when ready, hitting the boss with it - you will not only inflict great damage on him, but also, if necessary, create physical vulnerability. While in a Duel with him, continue to attack him even after breaking through the vulnerability, as you will be able to deal increased damage to him.
4. Do not forget to heal Boothill in time and/or put The Shield on him, as he will receive increased damage from the enemy he has chosen for the Duel.

Best builds for Boothill

Best Light Cones

We have already noted above that penetration damage is not capable of crit and depends on the character’s penetration effect indicator, so when choosing a weapon you should choose those options that increase this parameter. However, keep in mind that ults and enhanced basic attacks can still crit, so Boothill will still benefit from crit cones. We also advise you to look out for weapons that increase attack speed and power. The table below presents the most interesting options.

The best relics

As for the choice of ordinary relics mined in corrosion caves, the table below shows the most optimal options.

Now let's move on to planar jewelry, which is mined in the Virtual Universe. The list below shows the recommended options (the numbers indicate the priority of choice):

Concerning characteristics of relics, then you need to choose as follows:

• Body: Critical Damage/Critical Chance (the first option is preferable, but the second is required for the Star Arena)
• Legs: speed
• Planar Sphere: Physical Damage/Attack Power% (first option is preferable)
• Connecting rope: penetration effect
• Additional characteristics: penetration effect > crits > attack% > speed

Ideally yours breakout effect should be 300% so that you can get the maximum bonus to crits and deal gigantic damage to enemies with a broken vulnerability, but 200-250% for Boothill will also be a good indicator.

Best commands for Boothill

Boothill may well play the role of the only damage dealer in the squad, reinforced by two supports. In this case, the ideal support characters for him would be: Ruan Mei and Trailblazer (Imaginary), since they are both capable of increasing the penetration effect of allies. If you choose between them, then Ruan Mei wins, since in addition to the buff to EP, she gives a lot of other useful bonuses.

If you don’t have Ruan Mei, then it doesn’t matter, since, in fact, any support can replace her, allowing Boothill to move more often and break through vulnerabilities faster. We are talking about Bron, Twilight and Robin.

As for the shield/healer, we recommend taking either Aventurine, who simply will not allow damage to be dealt to the cowboy, or Leeuo Gallagher, whose abilities are also scaled by the penetration effect. In general, with Boothill you can use any healer and protector, from Natasha to Fu Xuan. The table below shows the most optimal units with it.

Upgrading Boothill

How to increase abilities (what to download first)

The pictures below demonstrate the materials and their quantities required to maximize the basic attack, skill, superpower and talent.

• Meteor Bullet, Predetermined End and Counter-Time Shot are obtained from the Crimson Sepal found in Penaconia or through Synthesis.
• Pieces of thoughts, fragments of impressions and fragments of desires are obtained from opponents in Penaconia, assignments and enemies in the Virtual Universe, or using Synthesis. They can also be purchased for unquenchable ashes at the Pom-Pom store.
• Unknown Material - obtained from the boss battle Chorus of Balance: Great Septimius in the Echo of War "Tribute of Mortal Tears" located on Penaconia.
• Imprints of Fate - obtained in the Virtual Universe, issued with a battle pass and purchased for unquenchable ashes in the Pom-Pom store. Sometimes they are a reward in temporary events.

As for the priority of leveling up abilities, we advise you to first increase your basic attacks and talent. Next come the skill and superpower, that is, they can lag behind the first two by 1-2 levels.

How to level up a character

At certain levels you will need to elevate the hero by spending a large amount of resources and credits:

• Exaltation (level 30): credits x4000 and pieces of thoughts x5
• Exaltation (level 40): credits x8000 and pieces of thoughts x10
• Exaltation (level 50): credits x16000, fragments of impressions and work permit KMM x3
• Exaltation (level 60): credits x40000, fragments of impressions x9 and KMM work permit x7
• Exaltation (level 70): credits x80000, wish shards x6 and KMM work permit x20
• Exaltation (level 80): credits x160000, wish shards x9 and KMM work permit x35

The KMM work permit can be obtained from the stagnant shadow "", located on Penaconia.