Saber | Honkai: Star Rail

Overview

Saber is a powerful Wind Destruction hypercarry built around feeding her massive 360-Energy Ultimate. With Gilgamesh, her current version is significantly stronger: their Joint Follow-Up gives Saber 120 fixed Energy and doubles the damage of her next Ultimate.

Role

Main DPS / Ultimate Carry

Playstyle

Use Skill every turn while allies use their Ultimates to generate Core Resonance. Manage Saber's Energy carefully so Mana Burst gives her an immediate extra action, then fire Ultimate during a fully buffed damage window.

Why It Works

Every ally Ultimate gives Saber 3 Core Resonance, and each stack can restore 8 fixed Energy. Gilgamesh accelerates this even further while providing enormous ATK/CRIT DMG buffs and empowering Saber's next Ultimate after their Joint Follow-Up.

Watch For

Saber's biggest challenge is Energy and turn-order control. Mana Burst and Gilgamesh's 120-Energy refund can unexpectedly push her into another action, so poorly timed buffs can expire before her Ultimate lands.

Playstyle

Combat Flow

Prepare support buffs and build Core Resonance through allied Ultimates ? build Energy until the next Skill can fill it by consuming Core Resonance ? take the immediate action if Mana Burst triggers ? use that Skill ? Ultimate ? Enhanced Basic ? rebuild. With Gilgamesh, account for the joint attack's Energy before spending an external Energy transfer.

Key Notes

Tune SPD and external action advance together. Count her native CRIT bonuses in battle; this guide does not prescribe one SPD breakpoint for every Energy-support composition.
Gilgamesh + Saber trigger a Joint Follow-Up every 8 attacks between them.
Do not expect every Skill to consume Core Resonance: it only does so when that recovery can fill her Energy.
Do not spend action-advance buffs without checking Mana Burst and their remaining duration. Extra actions can consume short buffs before the intended Ultimate.

Build & Investment

Light Cones

Primary

A Thankless Coronation

Signature option built around her Ultimate damage cycle.

F2P

On the Fall of an Aeon

Accessible ATK option with solid general performance.

Alternative

I Am As You Behold

Strong premium Destruction alternative for burst damage.

Relics

Primary

Wavestrider Captain

Two Help stacks require being targeted by allies. Ultimate consumes them for a one-turn ATK buff; this is not a permanent Skill-damage bonus. Align the buff with the intended damage window.

Alternative

Scholar Lost in Erudition

Strong Skill and Ultimate alternative.

Planars

Situational

Cosmic Life Sciences Institute

Her 360 Max Energy reaches this set's 32% damage-bonus cap. It supports the whole damage rotation without requiring a CRIT threshold; compare actual pieces rather than assuming the set name alone makes them better.

Situational

Rutilant Arena

At 70% CRIT Rate, its bonus applies to Basic ATK and Skill, not Ultimate. Use it for a build that values those attacks or has substantially better pieces; do not treat it as an Ultimate-damage bonus.

Main Stats

Body

CRIT DMG
AlternativeCRIT Rate

Preferred when team and gear provide enough CRIT Rate.

Use to stabilize the ratio.

Feet

SPD
AlternativeATK%

Default for self-driven energy and turns.

Alternative with strong action support.

Sphere

Wind DMG Boost
AlternativeATK%

Default offensive sphere.

Alternative with superior substats.

Rope

ATK%
SituationalEnergy Regeneration Rate

Default damage rope.

Rotation-specific option for tighter Ultimate timing.

Recommended Substats

SPD
CRIT Rate
CRIT DMG
ATK%

First reach the SPD needed for the chosen action-support plan, then balance CRIT and ATK. Count Knight of the Dragon and active team bonuses before adding CRIT Rate. Extra SPD beyond that plan is optional; Mana Burst and external Energy change the action timing.

Eidolon Investment

E0 includes the Core Resonance, Mana Burst and overflow-Energy loop. E1 adds damage and more Core Resonance; E2 rewards repeated Core gains. Neither is required to use her defining rotation.

A Thankless Coronation supplies CRIT DMG and ATK on Ultimate. Saber meets its 300-Max-Energy condition, gaining another ATK bonus and a fixed refund of 10% of Max Energy. That refund helps rebuild Energy, but does not guarantee a particular Ultimate schedule.

Adds 60% Ultimate damage and one Core Resonance after Basic ATK or Skill. The extra Core is a resource gain as well as an offensive upgrade.

Each Core Resonance gained adds 1% DEF ignore, up to 15%. Each Core consumed to amplify Skill also adds seven percentage points to that Skill multiplier.

Grants 8% Wind RES PEN, then another 4% after each Ultimate, stacking three times. Its full value needs those Ultimate uses.

Adds Ultimate Wind RES PEN and raises the overflow cap to 200. The first Ultimate restores a fixed 300 Energy; the refund can recur after every three Ultimate uses, rather than after every Ultimate.

Teams

Recommended Teammates

Gilgamesh

Joint attacker and amplifier. Attacks by Saber and Gilgamesh build their joint attack, which restores 120 fixed Energy to Saber and empowers her next Ultimate. His team ATK and CRIT DMG bonuses also scale with the recipient's Max Energy. Keep support buffs active when that Energy arrives.

Sunday

Action and Energy support. Sunday advances Saber and restores Energy through Ultimate while adding CRIT buffs. Coordinate his Skill with Mana Burst; advancing her immediately before she would act anyway can waste part of the benefit.

Trailblazer (Remembrance)

Alternative action support. The team's Energy recovery charges Mem, while Mem's Support adds True DMG and advances its target. Saber's high Max Energy improves Mem's high-Energy scaling. Use this in the flexible support slot rather than removing sustain by default.

Tingyun

Accessible Energy support. Tingyun provides ATK and Ultimate Energy without needing Skill every turn. Maintain Benediction on Saber and time the Energy transfer around her Core Resonance threshold; this is an alternative support slot, not an additional fifth member.

Best Saber Teams

16,131 observed teams36 recent contexts

Most Played With

Most Played Teams

#118.4%2,971 teams
- Saber
- Huohuo
- Mortenax Blade
- Gilgamesh
#212.3%1,992 teams
- Saber
- Huohuo
- Gilgamesh
- Robin • Summeretto
#311.1%1,796 teams
- Saber
- Huohuo
- Tribbie
- Gilgamesh
#49.5%1,534 teams
- Saber
- Huohuo
- Gilgamesh
- Trailblazer (Remembrance)

Explore full Team Comp Finder

Skills

Basic ATK

Invisible Air: Barrier of the Wind King

Single AttackLv. 6

Deals Wind DMG equal to 100% of Saber's ATK to one designated enemy.

Basic ATK sequence

Release, the Golden Scepter

AoE AttackLv. 6

Gains 2 point(s) of "Core Resonance" and deals Wind DMG to all enemies equal to 150% of Saber's ATK. When this ability is used, if the number of enemy targets is 2 or 1, additionally deals Wind DMG to all enemies equal to 150% or 220% of Saber's ATK respectively.

Lv. 6

Skill

Strike Air: Hammer of the Wind King

BlastLv. 10

Deals Wind DMG equal to 150% of Saber's ATK to one designated enemy, and deals Wind DMG equal to 75% of Saber's ATK to adjacent targets. If Saber currently holds "Core Resonance" and her Energy can be fully regenerated by consuming "Core Resonance" after this instance of Skill attack, then increases the multiplier for this instance of Skill. For every 1 point of "Core Resonance," increases the DMG multiplier for this instance of Skill by 14.0%. And after the attack, consumes all "Core Resonance" to regenerate Energy for Saber. Otherwise, immediately gains 3 point(s) of "Core Resonance."

Lv. 10

Ultimate

Excalibur

AoE AttackLv. 10

Deals Wind DMG equal to 280% of Saber's ATK to all enemies, and additionally deals 10 instance(s) of DMG, with each instance being Wind DMG equal to 110% of Saber's ATK dealt to one random enemy. After using Ultimate, the next Basic ATK switches to "Release, the Golden Scepter," and only "Release, the Golden Scepter" can be used.

Lv. 10

Talent

Dragon Reactor Core

EnhanceLv. 10

When entering combat, gains 1 "Core Resonance" point(s). When any ally target uses Ultimate, increases the DMG dealt by Saber by 60% for 2 turn(s) and gains 3 "Core Resonance" point(s). For every 1 "Core Resonance" point consumed, regenerates a fixed amount of 8.0 Energy for Saber.

Lv. 10

Technique

Behold, the King of Knights

EnhanceLv. 1

After using Technique, at the start of the next battle, increases Saber's ATK by 35% for 2 turn(s) and gains 2 "Core Resonance."

Traces

Major Traces

Knight of the Dragon

Increases Saber's CRIT Rate by 20%. When entering combat or when using her Enhanced Basic ATK, gains the "Mana Burst" effect. Under this effect, if Saber has "Core Resonance" and her Energy can be fully regenerated by using her Skill and consuming "Core Resonance," then consumes "Mana Burst" to recover 1 Skill Point for allies, and causes Saber to immediately take action.

Blessing of the Lake

Saber can accumulate up to 120 overflow Energy. After using Ultimate, the overflow Energy is cleared and a corresponding amount of Energy is regenerated. When the battle starts, if Energy is below 60%, it is regenerated to 60%.

Crown of the Star

When using Skill, increases Saber's CRIT DMG by 50% for 2 turns. During this battle, for every 1 point of "Core Resonance" gained, increases Saber's CRIT DMG by 4%, stacking up to 8 time(s).

Minor Traces

CRIT Rate Boost+12%
DMG Boost: Wind+22.4%
HP Boost+10%

Eidolons

The Lost White Walls

Increases the Ultimate DMG dealt by Saber by 60%. After Saber uses Basic ATK or Skill, gains 1 "Core Resonance."

The Lost Oath of the Round Table

For every 1 point of "Core Resonance" gained in this battle, Saber's DMG dealt ignores 1.0% of the target's DEF. This effect stacks up to 15 time(s). When triggering the "Core Resonance" effect to boost Skill's multiplier, each point of "Core Resonance" additionally increases the DMG multiplier for the current instance of Skill by 7%.

A Wish Across Fifteen Centuries

Basic ATK +1
Ultimate +2

Ultimate Lv. +2, up to a maximum of Lv. 15.

Basic ATK Lv. +1, up to a maximum of Lv. 10.

The Saga of Sixteen Winter Days

Increases Saber's Wind RES PEN by 8%. After using Ultimate, increases Saber's Wind RES PEN by 4%. This effect stacks up to 3 time(s).

The Dreamed Utopian Dawn

Skill +2
Talent +2

Skill Lv. +2, up to a maximum of Lv. 15.

Talent Lv. +2, up to a maximum of Lv. 15.

The Long Fated Night

The Wind RES PEN of the Ultimate DMG dealt by Saber increases by 20%. The amount of overflow Energy that can be accumulated with the Trace "Blessing of the Lake" increases to 200. After using Ultimate for the first time upon entering combat, regenerates a fixed amount of 300 Energy for Saber. This effect can trigger 1 time after every 3 Ultimate use(s).

Stats

Level 80

Maximum ascension

HP1242

ATK602

DEF655

SPD101

Level	HP	ATK	DEF	SPD
1	169	82	89	101
20	397	192	209	101
30	549	266	290	101
40	701	340	370	101
50	853	413	450	101
60	1005	487	530	101
70	1157	561	610	101
80	1242	602	655	101