Honkai: Star Rail – Serval build and ascension guide
Make the world clamor with the best Honkai: Star Rail Serval build, extracting the most out of this free character. Serval is the older sister of Gepard and encounters the player quite early on in the story. She follows the Path of the Erudition and deals Lightning Damage, focusing on area-of-effect attacks.
Serval’s Skill, Lightning Flash, deals Lightning Damage to a single opponent and a little less of the same to any adjacent enemies. This attack has a 80% base chance to apply Shocked for two turns, which deals damage over time. Whenever Serval attacks, she deals additional Lightning Damage to all adversaries suffering from Shocked thanks to her Talent, Galvanic Chords.
Her Ultimate, Here Comes the Mechanical Fever, dishes out Lightning Damage to all enemies on the field, extending the duration of Shocked for all enemies that already are afflicted by it by two more turns.
Serval is a reliable helper and cool to hang around with.
HoYoverse
Serval’s Eidolon levels, which may be obtained by getting duplicates of her, enhance her damage potential further. Level 1 allows her Normal Attack to deal damage to one adjacent target as well. Level 2 regenerates four Energy for her whenever her Talent is triggered. Her Ultimate applies Shocked to all enemies that don’t have it yet on Level 4. Finally, Serval deals 30% more damage to all Shocked targets with her Eidolon 6.
Honkai: Star Rail – Serval: best Light Cones
Serval’s signature Light Cone, Make the World Clamor, isn’t necessarily the best choice for her. While this piece of equipment is pretty good, giving her Energy at the start of the battle and buffing her Ultimate damage, some gear with the Attack stat on it would enhance all of Serval’s offensive moves. That’s why using Himeko’s signature Light Cone, Night on the Milky Way, may be better for a more consistent damage increase.
Night on the Milky Way boosts the wearer’s Attack for every enemy on the field and provides an additional damage buff whenever an opponent is inflicted with Weakness Break. Since Serval is primarily a character used to beat masses of enemies, this provides better value in most cases.
In general, though, the Erudition is not short on useful Light Cones, so you’ll surely find something that will serve you well.
Best Light Cones for Serval:
- Night on the Milky Way (5-Star)
- Before Dawn (5-Star)
- Make the World Clamor (4-Star)
- Geniuses’ Repose (4-Star)
- Data Bank (3-Star)
- Sagacity (3-Star)
Honkai: Star Rail – Serval: best Relics
All of Serval’s offensive moves depend on her Attack for damage, making it a crucial stat for her. Speed and Energy Regeneration Rate are important as always, while Effect Hit Rate is nice to have on her as well to make her Shocked application more consistent.
Best Relic Sets for Serval:
- Pioneer Diver of Dead Waters (4) – +12% damage dealt to debuffed enemies, +4% Critical Hit Rate and 8%/12% increased Critical Hit Damage against enemies with at least 2/3 debuffs. After the wearer inflicts a debuff on enemy targets, these effects increase by 100% for one turn.
- Band of Sizzling Thunder (4) – +10% Lightning Damage, +25% Attack for the wearer for two turns after using their Skill.
- Band of Sizzling Thunder (2) + Musketeer of Wild Wheat (2) / Prisoner in Deep Confinement (2 ) – +10% Lightning Damage, +12% Attack.
Best Planar Ornaments for Serval:
- Space Sealing Station (2) – +12% Attack, and another +12% Attack when the wearer’s Speed reaches 120 or higher.
- Pan-Galactic Commercial Enterprise (2) – +10% Effect Hit Rate, Attack increases by up to 25% of Effect Hit Rate.
Prioritize the following Relic and Planar Ornament stats for Serval:
- Head – HP (Primary), Critical Hit Damage %, Critical Hit Rate %, Attack %, Speed
- Hands – Attack (Primary), Critical Hit Damage %, Critical Hit Rate %, Attack %, Speed
- Body – Critical Hit Rate % (Primary), Critical Hit Damage %, Attack %, Speed, Effect Hit Rate %
- Feet – Speed (Primary), Critical Hit Damage %, Critical Hit Rate %, Attack %, Effect Hit Rate %
- Planar Sphere – Lightning Damage % (Primary), Critical Hit Damage %, Critical Hit Rate %, Attack %, Speed
- Link Rope – Energy Regeneration Rate % (Primary), Critical Hit Damage %, Critical Hit Rate %, Attack %, Speed
Honkai: Star Rail – Serval: best teams
Serval is great at beating waves of weaker opponents, though she mostly does so by applying damage-over-time effects, transforming the battle into a war of attrition.
Adding a buffer, a shielder, and a healer to Serval will ensure that the team has the staying power to withstand the enemy while Serval whittles them down. Bronya, who can be replaced by Asta or Tingyun, boosts Serval’s Attack and can manipulate the turn order.
Gepard generates shields and acts as the tank, drawing the enemy’s attention to himself. March 7th or Trailblazer (Fire) are great choices in his stead. Bailu, Natasha, or Luocha complete the team as healers.
Serval is great at inflicting Shock, which makes her fantastic as a Sub DPS in a DoT-focused composition with Kafka at the center.
Honkai: Star Rail – Serval: ascension materials
Here’s everything you need to know to get Serval ascended to the maximum level and upgrade all of her talents.
Serval requires the following ascension materials to get to level 80 in addition to the necessary XP:
- Credits x246,000
- Silvermane Badge x12
- Silvermane Insignia x13
- Silvermane Medal x62
- Lightning Crown of the Past Shadow x50
You can gain Silvermane Badges, Insignia, and Medals from enemies in the Outlying Snow Plains and the Corridor of Fading Echoes as well as the Simulated Universe. You can create or exchange them through the Omni-Synthesizer on the Astral Express, too. Silvermane Badges are one of the materials you can easily farm through the Daily Assignments to your characters, making for a steady income of the material.
Lightning Crown of the Past Shadow is dropped by the Stagnant Shadow in the Corridor of Fading Echoes or gained through exchange. The best source of Credits are the Golden Calyxes around the galaxy.
Serval has her own band with Pela.
HoYoverse
Serval requires the following materials to upgrade her combat abilities and Traces:
- Credits x2,400,000
- Silvermane Badge x28
- Silvermane Insignia x42
- Silvermane Medal x42
- Key of Inspiration x12
- Key of Knowledge x54
- Key of Wisdom x105
- Guardian’s Lament x12
- Tracks of Destiny x5
For the materials already mentioned, check above. Keys can be farmed in the Crimson Calyx in Rivet Town. As usual, you can create the high-level materials by using up lower-level materials in the Omni-Synthesizer on the Astral Express.
Guardian’s Lament is a rare material only gained from the Echo of War (Everwinter Hill) domain, while Tracks of Destiny can be obtained during time-limited events, the Embers Exchange, the Nameless Honor, or as a Simulated Universe Points Reward.
