Honkai Star Rail has a notable shortage of tanks or defensive supports, and players need help clearing content when their healers need to be more to keep their team alive. Fortunately, one of the best and most durable front liners is free and can be used by anyone who has progressed far in the Jarilo VI. If you need a good tank for your team, use the Fire Trailblazer to provide survivability for the party. This guide will help players optimize their Fire MC to become an effective tank.

Fire Trailblazer Overview

Like Genshin Impact, the MC for HSR can swap between elements or purposes, and they don’t need to invest or pull on anything to the game other than progressing through the main story questline in Jarali VI to get the new Path. The difference between the Fire MC’s Fire form and their Physical form is their roles in the game because the former is under Preservation, and the latter is under Destruction. The Path of Destruction focuses on that the former prioritizes dealing physical damage against enemies. At the same time, Preservation seeks to protect teammates, which the MC’s kit excels at. 

Despite being a free character, MC Trailblazer is as good as any five-star in the game because they can ensure your team's survivability. Aside from being tanky, this character can taunt enemies and shield allies with his abilities. These skills are the reason we have a 5-star case waiting for him. She is perfect in situations wherein the enemies deal with high single-target attacks. 

How to Build Fire Trailblazer

As a Tank, we focus on building a defense on her for two primary reasons. The first is that DEF reduces the damage taken by characters, which is an excellent skill for a character with a taunt or increased chance of being targeted. Secondly, the Fire Trailblazer can shield all their allies, which scales on her DEF. Her taunt plus barrier abilities make her a high-value target that cannot be quickly taken down.

Fire Trailblazer Stat Priority

Players must remember that we need the MC to be strong and durable. While she is not a DPS, we still want to improve her attacks, especially since she gains enhanced Basic Attacks depending on her stack of Magma. Here are the main stats that you should focus putting on Fire Trailblazer:

Main Stats

• DEF %
• Speed
• Fire Damage
• Energy Regen

Sub-Stats Main

• DEF %
• HP %
• ATK %
• EFFECT RES %

DEF is the main focus that we will want to find because it increases the MC’s shield and armor value. Speed is next because you can attack more often to generate as much energy and Magma as possible. ATK% and Fire Damage are supplementary to make her Enhanced Basic attacks more functional. However, DEF can also increase the DPS output once the Earth-Shaking Resonance has been unlocked, which means ATK % becomes less desired. 

Relic Set

We want to focus on increasing the MC’s Defense for the sets, which is relatively easy because bad RNG usually results in people getting DEF% and DEF on their enhancements. Damage is not a big thing, and you generally only want to use an attack-oriented relic set on a DPS. However, the Fire Trailblazer can still provide decent damage, so only consider investing in ATK if your character has enough DEF already. Here are the best relics to fit on the Trailblazer:

Knight of Purity Palace

• 2-Pc Effect – Provides additional 15% DEF
• 4-PC Effect – Increase the damage absorption of shields created by the user by 20%

Firesmith of Lava-Forging

• 2-Pc Effect – Provides additional 10% Fire Damage
• 4-PC Effect – Provides additional 12% Skill Damage to the user and increases her next attack’s damage by 12% after using an Ultimate.

Planar Ornament: Belobog of the Architects

• 2-Pc Effect – Provides an additional 15% DEF to the user and another 15% DEF when the wearer has a 50% Effect Hit Rate or higher.

Knight of Purity Palace is the BiS for the Fire Trailblazer because it increases her shielding capabilities and DEF. The MC’s barrier scales with defense, and this set enhances it further because of the additional damage absorption. The Firesmith set is your secondary option, but you should only consider using these relics when you do not have good main and sub-stats on the Knight of Purity Palace items that you have. 

The additional fire damage gained from this set allows the MC to become a decent sub-DPS, but you might lose some advantages on this unit being a tank. In addition, you do not benefit from the extra Skill Damage because the Fire Trailblazer’s Basic Ability is just a Taunt with no DPS capabilities. However, the enhanced Basic Attack after using an Ultimate improves the Enhanced version of Ice-Breaking Light. 

Only one Planar Ornament is recommended for the Fire Trailblazer. The Belobog of the Architects mainly provides DEF%, and the MC will gain even further when they have a high Effect Hit Rate. Aside from making this unit even more durable, it also enhances her shielding capabilities. 

Light Cones

Regarding Light Cones, the Fire Trailblazer has many options, all providing various advantages to this unit. The base effect of most of these weapons is an additional DEF %. Their bonuses vary and can present different benefits to the user. Here are the best Light Cones for the Fire Trailblazer:

• Moment of Victory – Provides bonus of 24% to the user’s DEF and 24% to her Effect Hit Rate. The Light Cone also increases the chances of the wearer being targeted and will provide an additional 24% DEF until the end of the turn after being hit by an attack.
• This Is Me! - Provides a bonus of 16% DEF to the user and increases their DMG after using an Ultimate, which scales at 60% on the wearer’s DEF.
• Landau’s Choice – Increase the chance of being targeted but gain 16% Damage Reduction.
• Day One of My New Life – Provides bonus of 16% DEF to the wearer and increases DMG Reduction of allies by 8% after entering battle. This effect cannot stack with those of the same type.
• Trend of the Universal Market – Provides bonus 16% DEF and inflicts Burn damage on an enemy after being attacked. The wearer gains extra DoT based on 40% of her DEF for two turns.

Moment of Victory is the BiS for the Fire Trailblazer because it provides the most DEF % bonus and an additional Effect Hit Rate, increasing the chances of a successful Taunt. Ideally, you should use your Ultimate after getting hit to increase the value of your shields and before you have taken your turn so that you can still use your Ice-Breaking Light. Make sure to use your Enhanced Basic Attack while the bonus 24% DEF is still active, especially when you have E1 activated. 

This is Me! It is the next best thing because it provides additional DEF % and damage after using your Ultimate. This extra DPS output is based on 60% of the wearer’s DEF. Further damage lets the MC make more powerful attacks when paired with the Enhanced Ice-Breaking Light.

Landau’s Choice might not seem much since it lacks any DEF % bonus other Light Cones have. However, its innate ability to increase the user’s chances of being targeted even when not using Taunt makes this item a good pick. This higher chance of being attacked outside the Fire Trailbazer’s skill ensures you gain Will of Magma stack from constantly getting hit. The additional damage reduction adds extra durability for the increased frequency of attacks on the wearer. 

Day One of My New Life is something you will get if you want your Fire Trailblazer to be a pure tank and support to your team. The Light Cone gives a bonus DEF % to the wearer and also provides additional damage reduction for allies. These things do not significantly boost the MC’s kit and grow some of her stats. 

The trend of the Universal Market is a good choice for those who need extra DoT. Instead of the Trailblazer benefiting from this Light Cone, it is the item that takes advantage of the unit’s kit. This weapon shines because it applies Burn on attacking enemies, which pairs well with the Fire MC’s Taunt ability. In addition, the damage from the Burn scales with the DEF % of the user, which is expected to be high for the Trailblazer. 

Skill Leveling Order

Your focus on the Fire Trailblazer is to increase the efficacy of her shield. Aside from increasing your DEF stats, you should prioritize upgrading skills that enhance her defensive utilities. Here is the order in which you will improve the Fire Trailblazer’s kit:

• Treasure of the Architects (Talent)
• Ever-Burning Amber (Skill)
• War-Flaming Lance (Ultimate)
• Ice-Breaking Light (Basic Attack)

The main priority is Talent because it increases the durability of the shield you provide to allies. This is followed up by the Ever-Burning Amber ability, which is the bread and butter of the Fire Trailblazer. Improving this skill increases the Main Character’s Damage Reduction, ensuring she survives multiple uses of it. 

The Ultimate is your considerable nuke ability, which scales with your ATK and DEF. The main reason you want this over your Basic Attack is that the ULT allows the Fire Trailblazer an Enhanced Attack without consuming stacks of Magma Will. Regular Attacks are your least priority because you generally only want to use them if the upgraded version of Ice-Breaking Light is ready. 

Best Composition

Like most tanks in Honkai Star Rail, the Fire Trailblazer will fit any well-thought-of composition. However, the essential teammates would be a healer and a main DPS. Even if the Fire MC is a tank, she will still need recovery spells from their allies to keep them alive in a prolonged fight. As noted, the Trailblazer is mainly defensive support and can only act as a sub-DPS. Players will still need a unit that has more DPS capabilities to increase overall output.

How to Play the Fire Trailblazer

The Fire Trailblazer is relatively easy to use, but you must time when to use specific abilities. Your Taunt should be used whenever available to stack on Magma Will quickly. You rarely want to use your Basic Attack to generate the meter because you can only get one point at a time. Always reserve at least one Skill Orb for the Taunt. 

Your Ultimate is mainly a damage ability and a way to gain an extra Enhanced Attack with no Magma cost. Most of the time, you want to use this skill as a supplementary DPS source. However, consider using your ULT during clutch situations to apply a shield to the whole team. 

Fire Trailblazer’s Ascension and Trace Materials

Ascension Materials 

• Thief’s Instinct
• Usurper’s Scheme
• Conqueror’s Will
• Enigmatic Ectostella
• Credit

Trace Materials 

• Endurance of Bronze
• Oath of Steel
• Safeguard of Amber
• Thief’s Instinct
• Usurper’s Scheme
• Conqueror’s Will
• Destroyer’s Final Road
• Tracks of Destiny
• Credit

Take Advantage of your Fire Trailblazer

People tend to replace the Main Character because they think more units are better than hers. However, in the current landscape of Honkai Star Rail, there is a severe shortage of tanks and defensive support. The Fire Trailblazer is currently one of the two bests tanks in the game, so you should take advantage of being able to utilize and upgrade her kit freely.