Honkai: Star Rail 2.0: Who should you farm the new Penacony relic sets for?

While the biggest highlights of Honkai: Star Rail version 2.0 are undoubtedly the new world of Penacony and the three new characters in Black Swan, Sparkle, and Misha. However, the update also saw underrated yet impactful new additions in two new Cavern of Corrosion relic sets: the Pioneer Diver of Deep Waters set and the Watchmaker, Master of Dream Machinations set.

While these new relic sets work very well with currently available characters, they also seem primed to be the optimal gear for future characters. So, let's break down what exactly these two new relic sets do and which characters you should farm them for.

Pioneer Diver of Deep Waters

• 2-Piece Bonus

  • Increases DMG dealt to enemies with debuff by 12%.

• 4-Piece Bonus

  • Increases CRIT Rate by 4%. The wearer deals 8%/12% increased CRIT DMG to enemies with at least 2/3 debuffs. After the wearer inflicts a debuff on enemy targets, the aforementioned effects increase by 100%, lasting for 1 turn(s).

The Pioneer Diver of Deep Waters set is built for damage-dealing characters who either rely on enemies having debuffs or can inflict those debuffs themselves, giving them a 12% DMG, 8% Crit Rate, and 24% Crit DMG bonus when its 4-piece effect is triggered.

The damage-dealers who can make the most out of this set currently are the 5-star Imaginary characters Dr. Ratio and Welt Yang.

Dr. Ratio's skill can inflict an Effect RES debuff on enemies it hits while the follow-up attacks from his Talent need multiple debuffs on its target in order to trigger. Meanwhile, Welt can inflict enemies with a Speed reduction debuff with his skill and Imprisonment with his ultimate.

It's easy to see why Dr. Ratio and Welt will love having the Pioneer Diver of Deep Waters set, as their respective playstyles let them reliably gain the hefty DMG and Crit bonuses from the 4-piece set. If you have both of them, then you should start farming the Pioneer Diver of Deep Waters set as it is their new best-in-slot Cavern of Corrosion relics.

Interestingly enough, we think this set may also be designed for the upcoming 5-star Lightning Nihility character Acheron. This is because the crimson flower seen in the set's art appear to be the same crimson flowers seen in Acheron's splash art. Moreover, we also expect Acheron to be a debuff-based Nihility character similar to Welt given that Black Swan, a Nihility character with a kit centered on damage-over-time, had just been released.

In addition, the Pioneer Diver of Deep Waters set is looking like one of the best options for mixed sets for damage-dealers because of its 12% DMG bonus. You'd want to use it over the 2-piece sets for element-specific relic sets since those only grant a 10% bonus to attacks of a specific element type, grants a smaller DMG bonus, and can be obtained from a generally Trailblaze Power-efficient domain.

Watchmaker, Master of Dream Machinations

• 2-Piece Bonus

  • Increases Break Effect by 16%.

• 4-Piece Bonus

  • When the wearer uses their Ultimate on an ally, all allies' Break Effect increases by 30% for 2 turn(s). This effect cannot be stacked.

The Watchmaker, Master of Dream Machinations set is built for support characters who scale off Break Effect as it grants a 16% Break Effect bonus to its wearer and a party-wide 30% Break Effect bonus for 2 turns when its wearer uses their ultimate on allies.

Currently, the only character who can reliably use this set is Ruan Mei and it's her new best-in-slot Cavern of Corrosion relic set. The Watchmaker, Master of Dream Machinations set trumps the Thief of Shooting Meteor set for Ruan Mei specifically as the former's Break Effect bonus for its wearer is higher while also granting Break Effect for her teammates.

While The Watchmaker, Master of Dream Machinations set is best used for Ruan Mei, other Harmony characters who can target their allies with their ultimates. While someone like Bronya would rather use something else, Asta or Hanya can make good use of it provided they are supporting a Break Effect-scaling damage-dealer like Xueyi.

An upcoming character that we think will also make good use of this set is the 4-star Fire Abundance character Gallagher. We think this is the case based on the new Light Cone What is Real?, which features Gallagher in its art and grants its wielder a Break Effect bonus.

Honkai: Star Rail version 2.0 was released on 6 February and features a new planet in Penacony, three new characters in Black Swan, Sparkle, and Misha, as well as tons of other new content. To find out more about what's in version 2.0, check here.

After version 2.0 comes version 2.1 in late March, which features three new playable characters in Acheron, Aventurine, and Gallagher.

Yan Ku is a full-time dog parent, part-time (gacha) gamer, and part-time writer.

For more gaming news updates, visit https://yhoo.it/YahooGamingSEA. Also follow us on Twitter, as well as our Gaming channel on YouTube, and check out Yahoo Esports Southeast Asia’s Facebook page!