Honkai: Star Rail: Why Relic Scores Are Low and When to Stop Farming

Relic scores in third-party rating tools appear disproportionately low because automated calculators prioritize Critical Value (Crit Rate multiplied by two, plus Crit Damage) and initial four-line bases over functional combat stats. To optimize your account, stop chasing high automated grades and instead build toward specific combat thresholds: correct main stats, crucial Speed breakpoints, and guaranteed trace upgrades.

How Relic Calculators Distort Gear Quality

Most automated evaluation tools assign letter grades by measuring Critical Value (CV). Under this formula, any piece lacking both Crit Rate and Crit Damage receives poor marks, even when it rolls heavily into other vital combat stats like percentage Attack, Speed, or Effect Hit Rate.

Offensive damage dealers scale across multiple multipliers. An offensive relic that rolls repeatedly into percentage Attack or Speed often yields equal or better real-turn damage compared to an item with an isolated Crit Damage roll, yet rating tools will score the pure critical piece substantially higher. Relying strictly on CV leads players to discard functional gear that already satisfies combat requirements.

The Drop Math Behind Low Scores

The upgrade system for 5-star relics creates an uneven scoring ceiling before enhancement even begins. Relics drop from Caverns of Corrosion with either three or four initial substats, determining the total number of upgrade rolls the piece can receive.

Because a four-line item gains five enhancement rolls rather than four, it holds an automatic scoring advantage. Four-line pieces drop far less frequently, meaning top-tier community scores require beating both drop checks and enhancement odds. Chasing these profile scores consumes Trailblaze Power for marginal statistical gains that are unnecessary for clearing endgame battles.

Gearing Priorities: Main Stats Before Substats

Main stats provide the largest stat allocations on an account and cannot be compensated for by secondary substat rolls. Prioritize relic evaluation in this sequence:

1. Correct Main Stats and Set Bonuses: Equipping an Energy Regeneration Rate Link Rope, Speed Feet, or an elemental damage Planar Sphere establishes rotation timing and damage buckets that substats cannot replicate. An on-element Damage Sphere with average substats outperforms an off-element Attack% Sphere carrying high Crit Damage.
2. Functional Thresholds: Reach required Speed benchmarks and character-specific requirements like Effect Hit Rate before focusing on raw damage.
3. Offensive Substats: Allocate remaining rolls into Crit Rate, Crit Damage, and percentage Attack.

Key Speed Breakpoints

Automated scoring tools evaluate relics in isolation without accounting for team turn order or Action Value. In turn-limited modes like Memory of Chaos and Apocalyptic Shadow, crossing specific Speed thresholds provides additional actions that outweigh critical substats:

• 133.4 Speed: Allows a character to take two actions within the first combat cycle.
• 160.0 Speed: Allows a character to take two actions per cycle across the first three consecutive cycles.

A support character using low-scoring relics with heavy Speed rolls enables an offensive carry to act far more frequently. Doubling carry actions generates significantly more team damage than an extra substat roll on an individual DPS piece.

When to Stop Farming Caverns of Corrosion

To prevent wasted Trailblaze Power, establish clear stopping points for your characters rather than farming indefinitely for ideal substats.

• Target Carry Thresholds: For standard offensive carries, stop Cavern farming once the character reaches roughly 60% to 70% Crit Rate and 120% to 140% Crit Damage, factoring in traces, Light Cones, and standard combat buffs.
• Support Minimums: Stop farming support sets once your supports reach their designated Speed breakpoint (such as 133.4 or 160.0) and sufficient defensive survivability.
• Pivot to Guaranteed Upgrades: Once these benchmarks are met, redirect daily Trailblaze Power to guaranteed upgrades, including Level 10 character traces, character ascension, and Light Cone levels. Return to relic farming only after core team traces are complete.