Sparkle vs Luocha: Speculating which 5-star to pick in Honkai Star Rail

The Honkai Star Rail 2.0 update will feature two new 5-star characters and a 4-star unit. During the second phase of the upcoming game version, players will be able to obtain Sparkle, a Quantum character, and Luocha, a Path of Abundance unit. They can obtain both 5-star characters from their respective limited-time event Warp banners.

As both characters are exceptionally powerful, players may be wondering which 5-star unit is the best in Honkai Star Rail. The article determines which character players should choose in the upcoming version of the game.

Note: This article is based on leaks and is subject to change. Some aspects are subjective and solely reflect the opinions of the writer.

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Sparkle’s kit in Honkai Star Rail

Sparkle (Image via HoYoverse)

Sparkle’s abilities in Honkai Star Rail are summarized below:

• Basic ATK: Unleashes an attack that deals Quantum damage to an opponent.
• Skill: Boosts CRIT DMG of a single ally for a turn and advances the following turn by 50%. Sparkle won't advance her action if she uses this ability on herself.
• Ultimate: Grants all allies with Cipher and recovers four Skill Points. The damage of Sparkle's Talent will increase by an extra 10% in the next two turns for each team member who has Cipher.
• Talent: Increases the maximum Skill Point total by two while Sparkle is engaged in combat. A teammate's damage will increase by an extra 6% for two turns after they use up a skill point. The effect is stackable up to three times.
• Technique: All allies gain Stealth for 20 seconds. Characters in Stealth won't be discovered by enemies, and they gain one Skill Point back after engaging in combat.

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Luocha’s kit in Honkai Star Rail

Luocha (Image via HoYoverse)

Luocha’s abilities in the game are detailed below:

• Basic ATK: Deals Imaginary damage to an adversary.
• Skill: Upon activation, Luocha instantly heals an ally and gains a stack of Abyss Flower. This ability scales with his ATK stat. Luocha automatically activates his skill and heals one ally without using up any Skill Points when an ally's HP falls to 50% or less.
• Ultimate: Unleashes an attack that deals Imaginary damage to all enemies and dispels a buff simultaneously. Luocha gains a stack of Abyss Flower.
• Talent: After obtaining two stacks of Abyss Flower, Luocha launches a field against the enemy. Allies will get healed whenever they launch an attack on an opponent. This ability lasts for two turns.
• Technique: The Talent will be activated instantly at the beginning of the next battle following the activation of this ability.

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Sparkle vs Luocha: Which 5-star character should players pick in Honkai Star Rail?

Players should summon Luocha during the second phase of Honkai Star Rail 2.0. He is a Path of Abundance unit who excels in healing his team members when their HP is low.

Luocha has been reigning supreme since his debut in this title. As there is a scarcity of healers in the game, pulling for Luocha should be a no-brainer for Trailblazers who do not possess a decent healer.

Sparkle is also a phenomenal character who specializes in buffing her allies. Trailblazers who lack a good Harmony unit can summon her.

Having said that, players ultimately decide which characters to choose. As long as they ignore the meta of Honkai Star Rail, they are free to select any unit they desire.