Honkai Star Rail Jiaoqiu build and teams
The right build to make Jiaoqiu serve
A good Honkai Star Rail Jiaoqiu build might look a bit different than you’d expect after seeing how his kit works. Jiaoqiu needs effect hit rate to perform well, but he has so many sources of that stat that you don’t have to prioritize it over everything else. He also doesn’t benefit from the usual DOT builds, since it takes a while for him to apply the maximum stacks of his debuff on foes.
On the bright side, the unique nature of his kit means you have plenty of options available and should have an easier time building him, hopefully without grinding endlessly for the right set. If you're not sure how Jiaoqiu works, check out our Jiaoqiu kit explainer for more details.
Our Honkai Star Rail Jiaoqiu build lays out his best Light Cone and Relics, and we’ve added Jiaoqiu team recommendations as well.
Honkai Star Rail Jiaoqiu build and teams
Honkai Star Rail Jiaoqiu Light Cone
HoYoverse has doubled down on just how much utility a signature Light Cone offers its character in the 2.x patches, and Jiaoqiu’s, Those Many Springs, is no different. It increases the user’s effect hit rate by 60 percent – perfect for maximizing Jiaoqiu’s bonus Trace buff – and gives them a 60 percent base chance of inflicting Unarmored on an enemy when they use their basic, skill, or ultimate. Enemies with the Unarmored debuff take 10 percent more damage for two turns, and if they have a damage-over-time effect from the user, there’s a 60 percent base chance Unarmored will turn into Cornered, where the enemy takes 14 percent more damage instead.
Combined with Jiaoqiu’s maxed out talent, and assuming you have five Ashen Roast on a target, that’s a foe taking 39 percent more damage just from Jiaoqiu’s skills.
Good it may be, but Jiaoqiu has other options as well. Silver Wolf’s Incessant Rain is his best alternate 5-star Light Cone, since it increases his effect hit rate by 24 percent, buffs the user’s crit rate against debuffed enemies, and has a chance of implanting an Aether Code, which makes affected enemies take 12 percent more damage for a turn.
Before the Tutorial Mission Starts is probably your best, most attainable choice if you don’t want to throw Jade at the Light Cone banner, though. You can get it and its superimposition materials from an early-game event, and it also buffs the user’s effect hit rate – by 20/40 percent. The user also gets a small energy regen boost if they’re attacking a target with reduced defense, which Jiaoqiu may or may not be doing frequently, depending on who else is in his party.
Another strong 4-star option is Eyes of the Prey, which buffs the user’s effect hit rate by 20 percent and increases damage-over-time by 24 percent. Jiaoqiu’s talent deals a hefty amount of DOT, so this is an excellent fit if you have it, despite the lower effect hit rate buff.
If you’re just starting in HSR and mainly have 3-star options, look no further than Void. It buffs the user’s effect hit rate by 20/40 percent, though only for a battle’s first three turns.
Honkai Star Rail Jiaoqiu Relics
Jiaoqiu’s Relic options are flexible, given most of his utility comes from passive effects, though at his debut, the community’s choices for his Relics run the gamut from traditional DOT builds to unorthodox speed sets that forego any damage increases so Jiaoqiu can act more frequently. He needs speed, attack, and effect hit rate, though speed is more important than all of those. The more often Jiaoqiu attacks, the more Ashen Roast stacks he can pile on.
Jiaoqiu has a fair amount of effect hit resistance in his extra Traces, so between those buffs and his Light Cone choices, you’re free to stack attack to increase how much damage his Ashen Roast DOTs do each turn.
One option is combining two pieces of Musketeer of Wild Wheat and two pieces of Prisoner in Deep Confinement, since both give the wearer a 12 percent attack buff. The full Confinement set lets the wearer ignore enemy defense based on how many DOTs they have, but it isn’t a great option given Jiaoqiu’s low damage multipliers.
Some players recommend Pioneer Diver of Dead Waters to get a damage boost when foes have debuffs, which they frequently will when Jiaoqiu is around, but he needs attack for his talent scaling. Flat damage buffs aren’t as helpful.
A two-piece set of either of those plus two pieces of Messenger Traversing Hackerspace is also a solid choice. Hackerspace’s two-piece effect increases the wearer’s speed by six percent – seemingly not much, but it helps as Jiaoqiu’s base speed starts to go up. If HoYoverse puts out an energy regen set at some point, that would also be a good idea for Jiaoqiu so he can fire off his ultimate more often.
Honkai Star Rail Jiaoqiu Ornaments
Jiaoqiu also has a few Ornament options to pick from, depending on which stats you need to increase. If you need attack, you could opt for:
- Herta’s Space Sealing Station: Increases attack by 12 percent and then by a further 12 percent when the user’s speed reaches 120 or higher
- Firmament Frontline Glamoth: Increases attack by 12 percent and then by a further 12/18 percent when the user’s speed reaches 135/160
Glamoth’s speed requirements are tough to reach unless you get really lucky with your substats.
Another set choice is Fleet of the Ageless, which gives the wearer a 12 percent HP buff and raises the party’s attack by 10 percent when the user’s speed reaches 120 or higher.
Pan-Galactic Commercial Enterprise is a last resort if you’re struggling to hit Jiaoqiu’s effect hit rate ratio. It gives the user a 10 percent EHR increase and then raises their attack by 25 percent of their EHR.
Honkai Star Rail Jiaoqiu stats
Jiaoqiu has a bonus Trace that increases his attack based on his EHR, and the value maxes out when his EHR hits 140 percent. Try to hit that point or as close as you can, and then move on to his other stats – attack and speed, primarily. Speed may or may not be important depending on on who you pair him with, so if you have someone like Asta on your team, you may have an easier time helping Jiaoqiu act more often without having to grind for it.
- Body: Effect hit rate (or attack% if you don’t need more EHR)
- Feet: Speed
- Sphere: Attack%
- Rope: Energy regeneration
Aim for the same three stats for your Relic substats – EHR, then speed and attack.
Honkai Star Rail Jiaoqiu teams
Jiaoqiu’s kit is flexible enough to let him fit on any team, whether you need increased damage, DOTs, or buffs for your main DPS’ ultimate. He’s not quite as suited to a DOT team as someone like Guinaifen or Black Swan, who can apply multiple stacks of their DOTs in a single turn, though, so unless you have a scheme to make him act frequently, don’t go replacing your usual DOT appliers.
One possible team combination that makes the most use of his skills are:
- Acheron
- Jiaoqiu
- Second Nihility of your choice (such as Black Swan or, for extra defense reduction, Pela)
- Sustain of your choice
If you can forego one of Acheron’s higher buffs by removing a second Nihility character, you could use Robin or Bronya instead. Robin’s skill buffs everyone, and her ultimate lets Jiaoqiu act immediately. Alternatively, Bronya can buff Jiaoqiu’s attack while also letting him act immediately.
He works on a Kafka team as well.
Aventurine makes a good sustain in this composition, since his ultimate buffs Kafka’s periodic follow-up attack as well.
Really, though, Jiaoqiu works with anyone, especially if they rely on their ultimate. You can pair him with Yunli or even Misha, add Asta and a sustain, and you’re good to go.
Check out our Honkai Star Rail tier list to see how these team options stack up and who else might be a good pick, and head over to our Star Rail codes page for some freebies to help with your next pull.