Gepard Landau is among the many 5-star units in Honkai Star Rail that some people overlook or undervalue. While people tend to prioritize and look for strong DPS characters, most fans would not overthink their other support characters. However, despite being a sub-DPS class, Captain Gepard still provides his worth to any team composition. His ability to provide crowd control and defensive utilities makes him a valuable unit in many situations in Honkai Star Rail.
Captain Gepard Landau Overview
Gepard is a 5-star unit that falls under The Preservation Path, which means he focuses on providing protection and survivability for his team. While he is a subpar DPS, he offers excellent defensive capabilities, which makes him one of the best tanks in the game. His only drawback is his lack of taunting skills, which can be easily fixed with the right Light Cones. On top of his outstanding shielding, he can also provide crowd control by freezing one enemy at a time. While this may be less than what other characters offer, it is only an additional benefit of using Gepard on top of his defense.
How to Build Gepard
For Gepard, he is valued more for his Ultimate skill, which allows him to provide shields for his whole time. While his damage is decent, it should not be the main priority since other characters can do better. Gepard should mainly be built as a tank with some sub-DPS capabilities to increase your team’s overall versatility. Here are Gepard’s min and max level base stats:
- Min
- HP: 190
- ATK: 73
- DEF: 89
- SPD: 92
- Max
- HP: 1397
- ATK: 543
- DEF: 654
- SPD: 92
Stat Priority
The ultimate ability in Gepard’s kit scales is based on his defense, while the other two are based on his ATK. However, the ULT is his most valuable and highly valued move, so we should focus on increasing its effectiveness. ATK is not Gepard’s primary concern, so you can forgo investing in relics. Here is the stat priority for this character in order of how important they are:
Main Stats (These are the stats you want to see on your relics right away)
- Def %
- Effect Hit %
- Energy Regen
Sub Stats (There are the stats are the secondary attributes of your relics)
- Def %
- SPD
- Effect Hit %
- Effect Res %
Relic Sets
Gepard needs to focus more on survivability to provide shields for his team continuously. There are not many sets to choose from that focus on DEF, so it will be easy for players to focus on a specific gear. Here are the bests Relic items for Gepard:
Knight of Purity Palace
- 2-pc Effect – Increase DEF by 15%
- 4-pc Effect – Increase the damage needed to break the shield of the wearer by 20%
Guard of Wuthering Snow
- 2-pc Effect – Reduce DMG received by 8%
- 4-pc Effect – The wearer regains 8% of their Max HP and 5 Energy
Planar Ornament: Belobog of the Architects
- 2-pc Effect – Increases the DEF of the wearer by 15% and provides an extra 15% DEF when their Effect Hit Rate is 50% or more.
We prefer the Knight of Purity Palace more for the Relic gear because it provides a stat increase instead of reducing the damage received from the effect. Since Gepard’s Ultimate scales on DEF, using Purity Palace also makes his most valuable ability more effective while providing him with durability. In addition, the value of the barrier increases for this 5-star tank as well because it increases its damage absorption by 20%.
Guard of Wuthering Snow is the next option, which you should only get if the sub-stats and main stats are better than the ones you have on Knight of Purity Palace items. This set provides Gepard additional survivability because of the damage reduction. However, the value of his ULT remains the same. Another alternative is to use 2-pcs of both sets, so you gain defense and damage reduction bonuses.
Only one Planar Ornament is viable for Gepard, the Belobog of the Architects. The item effects of this set provide outright DEF bonuses so that it would benefit him greatly. In addition, you gain an additional 15% for having a 50% Effect Hit Rate, which would further enhance his shielding.
Best Light Cones
Gepard has a wide variety of recommended Light Cones because he has a specific role that can be quickly built. Tons of Light Cones work well with him, but we can narrow the list to five. Here are all the best weapons for the Captain of the Silvermane Guards in order of most desirable to least:
- Moment of Victory (5 Star) – Provides bonus 24% DEF and 24% Effect Hit Rate to the wearer. The Light Cone also increases the chance that enemies will target the user and provide an additional 24% DEF until the end of the turn if the one wearing it is attacked.
- Landau’s Choice (4 Star) – Provides 16% additional damage reduction and increases the chance of the user being targeted.
- Texture of Memories (5 Star) – Provides 8% additional Effect RES to the user. The wearer gains a shield based on 16% of their max HP for two turns. This can only occur once every three turns. If the user is attacked when he has a shield, then he will gain a 12% damage reduction.
- Day One of My New Life (4 Star) – Provides an additional 16% DEF for the user. After entering battle, the wearer further reduces damage to all allies by 8%. (This effect cannot stack with other passives of the same type)
- Amber (3 Star) – Provides the wearer a 16% bonus DEF. If the user’s current HP drops below 50%, he gains 16% more DEF.
Moment of Victory is the best Light Cone for Gepard because aside from the high DEF and Effect Hit Rate bonus, it also increases the chance of him being targeted, activating the bonus 24% DEF upon being hit. Aside from massively improving his tanking and shield capabilities, it allows Gepard to gain enemy target priority, which he lacks in his kit.
Many might find it weird that a 4-Star Piece is preferred over a 5-Star. The main reason why the next best option is Landau’s Choice is that it increases the chance of Gepard being targeted while also providing him with damage reduction. A taunt ability is something Gepard lacks as a tank, so he will need to compensate for this via his Light Cones.
The texture of Memories is the third best option because it increases Gepard’s survivability. However, the lack of a taunting effect makes this fall off eventually to this character despite its marvelous passives. Day One of My New Life is the fourth option because of the 16% bonus DEF to boost Gepard’s ULT while reducing additional damage to allies. The last best choice is Amber because it allows for outright DEF, increasing his durability and shielding.
Skill Leveling Order
As mentioned earlier, we place Gepard’s shielding utility as a high priority over others, which is why we focus on building DEF on him instead of ATK. However, because of its freeze, we would still like to invest in his essential skill ability. Here is the leveling order for Gepard:
- Enduring Bulwark (ULT)
- Daunting Strike (Skill)
- Basic Attack
- Unyielding Will (Talent)
Outside of his active kit, players should prioritize getting “Integrity” from Gepard’s Traces because it provides him with increased chances of being targeted. This stacks with the same effect from Light Cones, further boosting his enemy target priority.
Note: Unyielding Will is not critical passive in Gepard’s ability because he ideally should not be dying first since he is a tank. However, it is still nice because it serves as a lifeline, especially if you equip him with a Light Cone with a taunt or increased target passive.
Best Composition for Gepard
As a tank and shielder, Gepard can fit into any team composition and will excel in his role regardless of who his teammates are. However, players should ensure they have at least one healer on the team, especially if you are building Gepard’s increased chance of being targeted. While he may be tanky and have shields, he still needs recovery spells from allies to keep him alive.
How to Play Gepard
Gepard’s primary role is to shield his allies and receive the bulk of the damage from the enemy. His Ultimate is his most important ability, so use Enduring Bulwark as needed. While you also benefit significantly from his chance to freeze opponents, try not to spam it too much, especially against multiple enemies. Consider only using it on the most dangerous targets, not enemies that can quickly be removed. For his primary attack, he prioritizes enemies that are frozen.
Gepard Trace and Ascension Materials
Aside from farming Relics and Plantar Ornaments, you must grind materials for Gepard’s Ascension and Trace materials. Most of these can be found in Calyxes and mobs in Belobog. Here are all the materials you need for Gepard:
Ascension Materials
- Silvermane Badge
- Silvermane Insignia
- Silvermane Medal
- Horn of Snow
Trace Materials
- Endurance of Bronze
- Oath of Steel
- Safeguard Amber
- Silvermane Badge
- Silvermane Insignia
- Silvermane Medal
- Guardian’s Lament
- Tracks of Destiny
Gepard is a High-Value Support
Despite his lack of taunting abilities, Gepard has still considered the best tank in the game, so if you can pull him from the banners, you should use him on your team compositions. He will be instrumental in high-level content like Simulated World and Echoes of War. If your team is dying too often, you need a great tank like Gepard.
