Hello all! Today I would love to talk about my favorite character- the Loufou General and Seat of Divine Foresight: Jing Yuan! There are many (and I mean many) misconceptions and misinformation on him ranging from being difficult to build, use, and even to being weak. Well, I’ve got quite a lot to say so I am going to go over everything you need in order to learn how to play him at his very best. First and foremost let’s go over his kit and eidolons. 

Jing Yuan is a 5⭐️ Lightning type Erudition DPS. Powerful in his own right, he is a versatile character that revolves around his follow-up attack, The Lightning Lord.

Jing Yuan my beloved ❤️

Abilities

Technique 

Spirit Invocation

After using Jing Yuan's Technique, at the start of the next battle, Lightning-Lord's attack count in the first turn increases by 3.

Basic Attack (ST): Glistening Light 

Jing Yuan deals Lightning DMG up to 100% of his ATK to a single enemy.

Skill (AOE): Rifting Zenith

Deals Lightning DMG up to 100% of Jing Yuan's ATK to all enemies and increases Lightning Lord's attack count by 2 for the next turn.

Ultimate (AOE): Lightbringer

Deals Lightning DMG up to 200% of Jing Yuan's ATK to all enemies and increases Lightning Lord's attack count by 3 for the next turn.

Talent: Prana Extripated

Summons Lightning-Lord at the start of the battle. Lightning Lord has 60 base SPD and 3 base Hits Per Action. When the Lightning Lord takes action, its hits are considered as follow-up attacks, with each hit dealing Lightning DMG up to 66% of Jing Yuan's ATK to a single enemy, and enemies adjacent to it also receive Lightning DMG equal to 25% of the DMG dealt to the target enemy. The Lightning Lord's Hits Per Action can reach a max of 10. Every time Lightning Lord's Hits Per Action increases by 1, its SPD increases by 10. After the Lightning Lord's action ends, its SPD and Hits Per Action return to their base values. When Jing Yuan is knocked down, the Lightning Lord will disappear. When Jing Yuan is affected by Crowd Control debuff, the Lightning Lord is unable to take action.

Since this is a large amount of text I’ll break it down to its important points with a visual of the action order in game. 

• At the start of a battle, Jing Yuan will summon the Lightning Lord (LL). There’s no animation because it happens automatically, but you will see LL’s turn in the turn order and damage from it is considered to be follow-up attack (FuA) damage. 
• Jing Yuan’s skill will increase the LL’s attack count (or stacks) by 2 and ultimate will increase it by 3. 
• For each new stack gained, the LL’s speed will increase by 10 up to a maximum speed of 130 with max stacks. With this the LL will only be able to act once a cycle, this cannot be changed in the current version. You will see LL move up the action order with each new stack. 
• Basic attacks do NOT contribute to any stacks, therefore expect to primarily use his skill every turn and ultimate when available. 

As seen above, LL with 3 automatic stacks is very slow so everyone will end up having a turn (or 2) before it lands.

And in this 2nd image everyone has had their turns and LL will land next.

Major Traces

Battalia Crush 

If the Lightning Lord's attack count is greater or equal to 6 in the next turn, its CRIT DMG increases by 25% for the next turn.

Man With a Plan

At the start of the battle, immediately regenerates 15 Energy.

War Marshal

After using Skill, Crit Rate increases by 10% for 2 turns.

Minor Traces

Crit Rate 12%

Atk 28%

DEF 12.5%

Eidolons

E1: Splash, Seas Split

When Lightning Lord attacks, the DMG multiplier on enemies adjacent to the target enemy increases by an extra amount equal to 25% of the DMG multiplier against the target enemy.

E2: Swing, Skies Squashed

After Lightning Lord takes action, DMG caused by Jing Yuan's Basic ATK, Skill, and Ultimate increases by 20% for 2 turns. 

E3: Strike, Suns Subdued 

Ultimate Lv. +2, up to a maximum of Lv. 15. Basic ATK Lv. +1, up to a maximum of Lv. 10.

E4: Spin, Stars Sieged

For each hit performed by the Lightning Lord when it takes action, Jing Yuan regenerates 2 Energy.

E5: Stride, Spoils Siezed

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

E6: Sweep, Souls Slain

Each hit performed by the Lightning Lord when it takes action will make the target enemy Vulnerable.

While Vulnerable, enemies receive 12% more DMG until the end of the Lightning-Lord's current turn, stacking up to 3 times. 

Now that I’ve gone over his, kit let’s talk about it. As you can see from his traces alone, Jing Yuan does not get much in the way of Crit or DMG so outside sources of this are what you would look for in Harmony characters to run with him. He works with a variety of supports outputting a consistent amount of damage and being quite competitive in cycles used for MoC. 

Jing Yuan’s best source of damage comes from the LL, however DO NOT neglect his skill and ultimate. Both of these attacks are not merely meant to increase the stacks of LL; in fact they are used to clear weak mobs. Therefore, he will do incredibly well against a single enemy that will take the full force of LL.

The LL’s damage that is dealt is not in fact AOE; it targets random enemies like a bounce attack that has additional blast damage to adjacent targets. It will NOT target 0 HP enemies if they happen to still exist on the field. Each single stack LL has deals up to 66% of Jing Yuan’s attack. It starts with 3, meaning it automatically begins with a total of 198%; if you get to 10 stacks it goes up to 660%. Just remember if there are multiple enemies that 660% gets spread out between enemies.

LL not being able to act while Jing Yuan is affected by Crowd Control (CC) is a potential damage loss but not an actual detriment; remember that all characters cannot act under CC until cleansed. In all of his teams you should 100% be running a cleanser as there is far too many enemies right now with CC type debuffs. As long as the cleanser acts before the LL then it will not be pushed back. The only time you do not need a cleanser is if the enemy you face doesn’t have any kind of debuff, particularly CC, like Stellaron Hunter: Sam for instance.

Following the path of Erudition and having access to multi-target attacks makes him a particularly good choice in Pure Fiction (PF). However he will be played differently here vs in Memory of Chaos (MoC). PF has several waves of squishy mobs and then an elite or boss, often accompanied by weak enemies. The LL is treated as an additional damage source rather than his main source; so continually using Jing Yuan’s skill and ultimate to clear those weak mobs away will increase your score. Ignore the attack count on the LL. By the time the LL acts the main enemy will be weakened far enough to be defeated by the LL. 

Lightcones

*All 5⭐️ lightcones are assumed S1.

Before Dawn

5⭐️ HP 1058 | ATK 582 | DEF 463

Increases the wearer's CRIT DMG by 36%. Increases the wearer's Skill and Ultimate DMG by 18%. After the wearer uses their Skill or Ultimate, they gain Somnus Corpus. Upon triggering a follow-up attack, Somnus Corpus will be consumed and the follow-up attack DMG increases by 48%.

Jing Yuan’s Signature and is his best available lightcone buffing his entire kit and giving him the best performance. It’s also extremely versatile for many of the current Erudition characters. 

Night on the Milky Way

5⭐️ HP 1164 | ATK 582 | DEF 396

For every enemy on the field, increases the wearer's ATK by 9%/10.5%/12%/13.5%/15%, up to 5 stacks. When an enemy is inflicted with Weakness Break, the DMG dealt by the wearer increases by 30%/35%/40%/45%/50% for 1 turn.

This lightcone works well but has some conditions. The more enemies the more the attack buff increases. It also requires breaking enemies in order to increase his overall DMG but that DMG increase is only for 1 turn. 

Today Is Another Peaceful Day

4⭐️ HP 846 | ATK 529 | DEF 330

After entering battle, increases the wearer's DMG based on their Max Energy. DMG increases by 0.2%/0.25%/0.3%/0.35%/0.4% per point of Energy, up to 160 Energy.

This is a Battle Pass lightcone so it will cost money. Since Jing Yuan’s max ultimate energy is 130 he will gain a permanent in battle 46.8% DMG increase to all his attacks with no downtime. 

Geniuses’ Repose

4⭐️ HP 846 | ATK 476 | DEF 396

Increases the wearer's ATK by 16%/20%/24%/28%/32%. When the wearer defeats an enemy, the wearer's CRIT DMG increases by 24%/30%/36%/42%/48% for 3 turns. 

Another option that is similar to The Day the Cosmos Fell however it is a banner light cone. Jing Yuan would have to be the one defeating enemies (which isn’t hard for him honestly). Has more ATK and Crit DMG at max superimpositions than The Days the Cosmos Fell. If he is unable to defeat any enemy (or there’s only one) the usefulness of this lightcone drops off.

The Seriousness of Breakfast

4⭐️ HP 846 | ATK 476 | DEF 396

Increases the wearer's DMG by 12%/15%/18%/21%/24%. For every defeated enemy, the wearer's ATK increases by 4%/5%/6%/7%/8%, stacking up to 3 times.

F2P option that unconditionally increases DMG. Its second effect is also very easy to achieve whether used in MoC or PF. Valuable for PF. 

The Days the Cosmos Fell

4⭐️ HP 952 | ATK 476 | DEF 330

Increases the wearer's ATK by 16%/18%/20%/22%/24%. When the wearer uses an attack and affects no fewer than 2 attacked enemies with a corresponding Weakness, the wearer's CRIT DMG increases by 20%/25%/30%/35%/40% for 2 turns. 

The second F2P option that has an unconditional ATK buff. Its second effect however may be harder to achieve in all situations. You must be attacking 2 or more enemies and they will need to have a Lightning weakness. Valuable for PF when Lightning weakness is available. 

The Birth of the Self

4⭐️ HP 952 | ATK 476 | DEF 330

Increases DMG dealt by the wearer's follow-up attacks by 24%/30%/36%/42%/48%. If the current HP of the target enemy is below 50% of their Max HP, increases DMG dealt by follow-up attacks by an extra 24%/30%/36%/42%/48%.

I believe you get the first copy free from Simulated Universe but it’s another banner lightcone that happens to be Herta’s signature lightcone. It will only increase LL’s damage. Only buffing follow-up attacks makes this restrictive and personally there are better alternatives.

Recommended Relic Sets

The Ashblazing Grand Duke

Definitely Jing Yuan’s BiS relic set. He makes full use of the 40, set effect giving him plenty of ATK to work with. The follow-up DMG is ridiculously good for him especially since each stack is a separate instance of damage.

Band of Sizzling Thunder

The OG set which isn’t the best for its 4pc but for the 2pc is still decent. The DMG is welcome but the 1 turn ATK buff just isn’t up to par with others for a full set.

Pioneer Diver of Dead Waters

For its 2pc effect this is good. His most common teams contain Topaz, Ruan Mei, or Asta all of which have at least 1 debuff that can be placed in enemies. Because Jing Yuan does lack DMG innately, this is a good set for him as long as someone can keep up a consistent debuff.

Musketeer of Wild Wheat

Good general set since it can increase speed by a bit. However the 2pc would be the most beneficial for him over its 4pc.

OR Any 2pc each of the following:

The Ashblazing Grand Duke + Band of Sizzling Thunder

The Ashblazing Grand Duke + Pioneer Diver of Dead Waters

The Ashblazing Grand Duke + Musketeer of Wild Wheat

Inert Salsatto

Easily Jing Yuan’s most easily effective Planar Ornament. Low-ish amount of Crit Rate but the increased follow-up DMG works together with The Ashblazing Grand Duke set makes this combination hard to beat out.

Firmament Frontline: Glamoth

As long as Jing Yuan is paired with speed buffers he should be able to proc this set regularly assuming speed buffs have 100% uptime.

The ATK buff this provides can start to get diminishing value. He does have a decent amount of ATK nodes and if using Ashblazing Grand Duke that will give him a pretty big boost. However if you need to use something in the meantime it isn’t a bad choice.

Ruiliant Arena

Ok so this set isn’t going to be all that good, however, if you use him a lot in PF and just need him to clear waves quickly with his skill then it’s a good choice. Just remember there are other sets that would be preferred.

Relic Main Stats

Relic Substats

Crit Rate = Crit DMG > ATK% > Speed

Always take into consideration all in battle buffs from all sources. For speed, ensure you can hit the point you need to in battle in order to proc any Planar Ornaments. 134 will get Jing Yuan 2 turns within the 1st cycle, 135 is needed for Frontline Firmament: Glamoth. If he is in teams with speed buffers or action advancers like Sparkle/Bronya, they should be built with speed and Jing Yuan should have little to no speed.

Teammates 

Topaz, Ruan Mei, HuoHuo, and Asta all have at least 1 debuff each to count towards the debuff conditions for the 2pc Pioneer Diver of Dead Waters. However since 3 debuffs are needed in order to keep the 4pc buff up for this relic set, an E4 Pela (with Resolution Shines like Pearls of Sweat), Silver Wolf, Welt and E1 Guinafen would needed to keep up consistent debuffs. However Harmony character buffs are too good to pass up so do keep this in mind.

If you’ve made it to the end, thank you so much! Jing Yuan is my favorite character in Honkai: Star Rail so I wanted to do my part to explain how he works as thoroughly as possible. Hope you enjoyed! See you in the next!