Honkai Star Rail Jiaoqiu kit and Traces priority

Honkai Star Rail’s Jiaoqiu kit might look familiar if you’ve been around long enough to have Guinaifen on your team. The latest 5-star Nihility character debuffs enemies with a unique effect that increases how much damage they take and inflicts a sizeable amount of burn damage on them. He also comes with a small buff for characters who use their ultimate, making him a perfect fit for parties with Acheron – and probably Feixiao, eventually – as their main damage dealers.

Our Honkai Star Rail Jiaoqiu kit guide breaks down how the Foxian healer-not-healer works and which Traces deserve your attention first. Once you've caught up with how Jiaoqiu works, head over to our Jiaoqiu build guide to kit him out with everything he needs.

Honkai Star Rail Jiaoqiu kit

Jiaoqiu might call himself a healer, but his skills deal damage, debuff enemies, and inflict damage-over-time (DOT) harm, and he has some special support utility for characters who rely on their ultimate skills.

Jiaoqiu basic attack: Heart Afire

Jiaoqiu deals fire damage equal to 50/90 percent of his attack to a single target.

Jiaoqiu skill: Scorch Onslaught

Jiaoqiu deals fire damage equal to 75/150 percent of his attack to a single target and damage equal to 45/90 percent of his attack to adjacent targets, with a 100 percent base chance of inflicting Ashen Roast (more on that in a bit) on the single target.

Jiaoqiu ultimate: Pyrograph Arcanum

Jiaoqiu sets the number of Ashen Roast stacks to the highest number of stacks allowed – that’s five, unless you unlock his sixth Eidolon – on all enemies, activates a zone, and deals fire damage equal to 60/100 percent of his attack to all enemies. While the zone is active, all enemies inside take 9/15 percent more damage from ultimates and have a 50/60 percent base chance of gaining an Ashen Roast stack when they attack.

The zone lasts for three turns, and the Ashen Roast effect can trigger up to six times while the zone lasts. If Jiaoqiu uses his ultimate again, that trigger count resets.

Jiaoqiu talent: Quartet Finesse, Octave Finery

Jiaoqiu’s talent works a bit like Guinaifen’s Firekiss effect. Jiaoqiu has a 100 percent base chance of inflicting one Ashen Roast stack when his attack, skill, or ultimate land. An enemy with one Ashen Roast stack takes 7.5/15 percent more damage, and each subsequent stack increases damage received by an additional 2.5/5 percent. At five stacks with Trace level 10, a target would take 35 percent more damage.

Enemies with Ashen Roast take burn damage when their turn begins for an amount equal to 90/180 percent of Jiaoqiu’s attack. Ashen Roast stacks linger for two turns after being applied. His A6 sounds dinky, but it can make a big difference if you’re using him in Pure Fiction.

Jiaoqiu bonus Traces

Jiaoqiu’s bonus Traces are slightly less impressive than we see on some characters, though they make building and using him effectively in battle easier.

• A2: Jiaoqiu regains 15 energy when a battle begins
• A4: Every 15 percent of Jiaoqiu’s Effect Hit Rate over 80 percent increases his attack by 60 percent, for a max of 240 percent.
• A6: When Jiaoqiu’s zone is active, enemies who enter combat receive the number of Ashen Roasts equal to the max number currently active on the field, or one, if no enemies have Ashen Roast

Honkai Star Rail Jiaoqiu Traces priority

Like most Nihility characters – who aren’t Acheron – Jiaoqiu does comparatively little damage. His utility lies in his effects, specifically the Ashen Roast damage modifiers, so you want to lavish attention on his talent before anything else. From there, it depends on who you’re using with Jiaoqiu. If he’s teamed with characters like Acheron who rely on their ultimate, his ultimate should be your next priority. If not, bump his skill up instead to help get more damage out of him.

• Talent
• Ultimate
• Skill
• Basic

If you're wondering who aside from Acheron might work with Jiaoqiu, check out our Honkai Star Rail tier list, and head over to our Star Rail codes page for some freebies to help with your next pull.