Honkai: Star Rail Pure Fiction Guide

In This Guide

• What Pure Fiction Is and How to Unlock It
• How Scoring and Stars Work
• Respawning Enemies, the Boss and Grit
• Before the Fight: Phase Effect, Weaknesses, Buffs and Teams
• Which DPS Styles Fit: AoE and Blast
• Strongest Characters and Teams in Pure Fiction (Version 4.6)
• Rewards Each Phase
• Common Mistakes That Cost You Stars
• Frequently Asked Questions

What Pure Fiction Is and How to Unlock It

Pure Fiction is one of the three main endgame modes, next to Memory of Chaos and Apocalyptic Shadow. Unlike Memory of Chaos, where you wipe out every enemy, small enemies here respawn as you defeat them. Your job is to defeat as many as you can and deal as much damage as you can before the Cycles run out. To compare all three modes, see the endgame modes overview.

How to Unlock It

1. Reach Trailblaze Level 34Your account needs Trailblaze Level 34 first. If you’re not there yet, keep playing the story.
2. Finish Youci’s Clever DecorDuring the Xianzhou Luofu story you reach the unlock mission with Youci, a floating bird cage. Finish it and talk to Youci to open Stage 1.
3. Enter through YouciFrom then on, find Youci in the Exalting Sanctum to enter the mode, pick a stage, set up your two teams and choose your buffs.

How Scoring and Stars Work

Your score comes from two things: how many enemies you defeat and how much damage you deal. The fight ends when the 4 Cycles are up, even with the field still full. Each score threshold you pass earns a star, up to 12 across the 4 stages.

• Every kill pays three ways. A small enemy going down gives you points, damages the boss and fills your Grit gauge.
• Damage counts too. Hits that don’t finish anything off still add points, so multi-target attacks score much faster than single-target ones.
• Cycles are a hard limit. The higher your SPD, the more turns your characters get in those 4 Cycles, meaning more attacks and more points.
• Stars on easy stages still count. Stellar Jade is paid per star, so if Stage 4 is out of reach, grab every star on Stages 1 to 3.

Respawning Enemies, the Boss and Grit

Since version 2.7, Pure Fiction has its own mechanic that tends to confuse new players. The field has a boss along with a pack of small enemies. Defeat a small enemy and another takes its place, while the boss is the gate to the next wave.

1. Clear the small enemiesEach small enemy you defeat damages the boss and fills your team’s Grit gauge. Since they keep respawning, your multi-target attacks never run short of targets.
2. Fill Grit to enter Surging GritA full gauge switches your team into Surging Grit, a heavily buffed state that lets you sweep enemies away faster. This is the time to fire off your Ultimates and your biggest attacks.
3. Defeat the boss for a new waveWhen the boss falls, the next wave arrives, with fresh enemies to score on in your remaining Cycles.

So the smart way to play is to clear the small enemies at a steady pace and let them wear down the boss and fill Grit for you, rather than hitting the boss with single-target attacks.

Before the Fight: Phase Effect, Weaknesses, Buffs and Teams

Before each fight you can check enemy Weaknesses in each half and pick Cacophony buffs for your team. Each phase has its own set of buffs, so redo these steps every new phase.

1. Read the phase effectEach phase comes with its own special effect. It shows which playstyle is favored, so bring the team that triggers it most.
2. Check the Weaknesses in each halfThe two halves of one stage often suit different Types. Put DPS on the matching Weakness so they deplete Toughness fast and trigger Weakness Break sooner. The Break and Super Break guide explains how this works.
3. Pick a buff that fits your teamRead what each buff needs to work, then ask whether your team does that often. Choose by how your team deals damage, not by which buff sounds strongest.
4. Split your two teams evenlyEach character can only be used in one half, so plan which team takes which half. Put all your best characters in one half and the other falls short, so your total misses the star threshold.

Which DPS Styles Fit: AoE and Blast

With crowds of respawning enemies, the number of targets each attack hits nearly decides your score. Based on how they attack, DPS characters fall into three styles:

Supports and Sustain

Supports who boost damage make every attack score more, and supports who give Action Advance let your DPS act more often within 4 Cycles, so both earn a slot. You still need sustain, since more enemies means more hits on your team. On the tier list, Hyacine, Huohuo and Lingsha are SS in this mode, and Gallagher and Aventurine are S+.

Strongest Characters and Teams in Pure Fiction (Version 4.6)

This part follows the Pure Fiction column of the site tier list, updated October 6, 2026. The SS group is big: Pearl, Aventurine • Waveflair, Robin • Summeretto, Evanescia, Silver Wolf LV.999, Ashveil, Sparxie, Yao Guang, Evernight, Cyrene, The Herta, Castorice, Himeko • Nova, Rin Tohsaka, Mortenax Blade, Tribbie, Hyacine, Himeko, Jade, Firefly, Herta, Ruan Mei, The Dahlia, Sunday, Robin, Lingsha, Fugue, Huohuo and Dan Heng • Permansor Terrae.

Rankings here differ a lot from the other two modes, so someone strong in Memory of Chaos isn’t automatically strong here. The clearest gaps:

Best Teams for Some SS Characters

Rewards Each Phase

Rewards are tied to stars and reset each phase, so you can earn them all again. Stellar Jade per milestone:

Jade Feathers are spent in the Priceless Jewels shop on items like Self-Modeling Resin and Relic Remains. Each stage you clear also gives Lost Crystals, Traveler’s Guides, Refined Aether and Credits. To spend that Stellar Jade well, see the Stellar Jade and pity guide.

Starward Mode arrived in version 4.3. Turn it on and the hardest stage becomes 3 fights for 3 different teams. Without 12 well-built characters, get the regular 12 stars first. That 100 Stellar Jade can wait.

Common Mistakes That Cost You Stars

• Building around a single-target DPS. They hit the boss hard, but small enemies keep respawning, and one kill per turn makes your score crawl.
• Hitting the boss and ignoring the small enemies. Small enemies already damage the boss and fill Grit when they fall. Ignore them and you lose points and Surging Grit.
• Using Ultimates at the wrong time. A multi-target attack scores more on a crowded field than on a thin one. If Grit is nearly full, save your big attacks for the buffed window.
• Skipping the phase effect and buffs. Bringing a team that can’t trigger the phase effect throws away free power.
• Stacking your best characters in one half. One half has points to spare, the other falls short, and the total misses the star threshold.
• Not enough SPD. You only get 4 Cycles, so slow characters get fewer turns and fewer points. How to build SPD is in the Relics and stats guide.

Deciding who to build? Also read the Memory of Chaos guide and the Apocalyptic Shadow guide to find characters that work in several modes and save resources. The Ascension Planner works out the materials to farm.

Frequently Asked Questions

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