What is Honkai Star Rail superimpose and how does it work?

Guides
By published

Use Honkai Star Rail superimposition to improve Light Cones you have duplicates of

Honkai Star Rail superimpose
(Image credit: HoYoverse)

The Honkai Star Rail superimpose system provides a way to improve your character's stats, by combining multiple Light Cones to improve the overall boost they provide. However, you need to think carefully before using this in Honkai Star Rail, as by superimposing Light Cones you consume duplicates and reduce your overall pool of these cards, so you can apply them to fewer characters. If you're looking for further details on how superimposition works, then here's how to superimpose Light Cones in Honkai Star Rail.

How to use superimpose in Honkai Star Rail

Honkai Star Rail superimpose

(Image credit: HoYoverse)

To use superimpose in Honkai Star Rail you need to have at least two of the same Light Cones, which can then be combined to create an improved item. If you select a Light Cone from your inventory screen, you'll see its current Superimposition Effect on the righthand side of the display, as highlighted above. In a similar way to weapon refinements in Genshin Impact, there are five superimpose levels for Light Cones, starting at I and running through to V. To get started, hit that Details button in the bottom right corner, then select the Superimpose option on the menu to the left.

Honkai Star Rail superimpose

(Image credit: HoYoverse)

On this Honkai Star Rail Superimpose screen you'll see all of the duplicate Light Cones you have available, and can either manually add the number of Light Cones you want to use, or hit the Auto-Add button to add all of those you have available up to the maximum level. As you add Light Cones you'll see the increase you'll receive to the stats, so you can decide if you want to proceed or not. If you're happy, then select the Superimpose option in the bottom right corner and your Light Cones will be fused to make the upgrade.

Whether you should use Honkai Star Rail superimposition on your Light Cones depends on their rarity, and the composition of your fighting team. Superimpose will improve the effect you receive from a particular Light Cone, but as it consumes duplicates to do so this means you can equip it on fewer characters in your squad. As they're fairly abundant, superimposing three-star Light Cones shouldn't be an issue as you'll likely receive plenty of them from your pulls, but you should think hard about combining four-star versions and even more so with five-star Light Cones, as you won't see many of those unless you're buying lots of extra tickets and the increase in stats may not outweigh the ability to apply the lower superimposition level Light Cones to multiple characters.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Iain Wilson
Iain Wilson
Guides Editor

Iain originally joined Future in 2012 to write guides for CVG, PSM3, and Xbox World, before moving on to join GamesRadar in 2013 as Guides Editor. His words have also appeared in OPM, OXM, PC Gamer, GamesMaster, and SFX. He is better known to many as ‘Mr Trophy’, due to his slightly unhealthy obsession with amassing intangible PlayStation silverware, and he now has well over 900 Platinum pots weighing down the shelves of his virtual award cabinet. He does not care for Xbox Achievements.