Pure Fictionhas reset inHonkai Star Railand a new phase is now live!Out of Thin Airis the latest Pure Fiction challenge in Honkai Star Rail, and it’s yet another follow-up attack phase. Thankfully, there are some workarounds if you don’t have many follow-up units built.
Best Pure Fiction Teams for Out of Thin Air
For this phase of Pure Fiction, follow-up attackswill charge Whimsicality, which will deal a set amount of damage to enemies once you reach 10 points. Launching as many follow-up attacks as possible without a short period of time is crucial to success in Out of Thin Air.
This isn’t the first follow-up attack-centric Pure Fiction phase that we’ve seen in Honkai Star Rail, so you should already have a good idea of which characters work the best here.Topaz,Aventurine, andClarareally shine in Out of Thin Air, for example.
The first stage of Out of Thin Air onlypits you against level 55 enemies, so it’s easy to brute force your way through it with a team of level 80 characters. We recommend these teams for the first stage of Out of Thin Air.
With the first team,Clarawill unleash most of the follow-up attacks whileXueyioccasionally pitches in.RobinandFu Xuanare strictly there for support, so feel free to swap them out for other sustain units and buffers/debuffers. Since this team doesn’t get as many follow-up attacks, you should chooseDistortionas the Cacophony buff since it reduces the Whimsicality requirement by four.
On the second team,March 7th,Herta, andTopazwill unleash nonstop follow-up attacks whilePelaenhances their attacks by shredding enemies’ defense. You can replace Pela with any debuffer or buffer of your choosing, and you can replace Topaz withHimekoif you need to.Distortionworks well as the Cacophony buff for this team as well, but you can also chooseChicanery(which increases Ultimate damage and causes Ultimates to charge Whimsicality) since this team has high average energy regeneration rates.
Things heat up a bit in the second stage, but you still havea level advantage on your side if your units are maxed out. We recommend these teams for the second stage of Out of Thin Air.
The usual suspects work well here, soHertaandXueyiwill maximize your follow-up attack potential whileFu XuanandPelasupport. You can swap them out for any sustain or support units of your choosing. We recommend going with eitherDistortionorChicaneryfor this team’s Cacophony buff. Herta and Xueyi’s follow-up attacks are more than enough for Distortion to trigger Whimsicality quite often, but the increased Ultimate damage (and more importantly, the fact that Ultimates can charge Whimsicality) makes Chicanery a solid choice as well.
For the second team,Clara,Topaz,Himeko, andAventurineare follow-up powerhouses. Paired withDistortion, they’ll trigger Whimsicality several times per turn. You probably don’t have all of them, though, so you can substitute as needed. If you need to replace them with non-follow-up attackers, then useExaggeratefor your Cacophony buff. This will make standard attacks charge Whimsicality as well. It’s not an ideal replacement, but it will help if you don’t have enough follow-up attack units.
The third stage isthe first real challengefor this phase of Pure Fiction. The recommended elements stay mostly the same, though, as there just aren’t enough follow-up attackers to allow for any more diversity. We recommend these teams to clear stage three of Out of Thin Air.
XueyiandClaraare back in the spotlight for the first team since you can’t do much better than them for Physical/Quantum follow-up attacks. You can swap outRobinfor any support unit (we recommendLynxfor this team) andNatashacan be replaced with someone likeFu XuanorHanyaif needed. Distortion is easily the best Cacophony buff for this team.Jing Yuanis also a surprisingly good pick for the first team, as isKafkasince most enemies have an Electric weakness.
For the second team,March 7this the best sustain since she counters Ice weaknesses and performs frequent follow-up attacks.Ruan Meireally helps with that too if you have her, but you can swap her out for Pela if you don’t. Since Fire is recommended,TopazandHimekoare your go-to units. If you don’t have Himeko or Topaz, then swap in other Ice/Fire DPS units likeJingliu,Guinaifen,Yanqing, orHookand choose theChicaneryCacophony buff to capitalize on their Ultimates.
The fourth and final stage of Out of Thin Air is a real challenge. You have todefeat Gepard and the Abundant Ebon Deer back to back, and both require very different strategies. Use these teams to get three stars on stage four of Out of Thin Air.
While Electric isn’t recommended by the game for the first half, most of the enemies are weak to it so you can bringJing YuanalongsideClarafor a very capable follow-up attack duo. WithRobinbuffing the team’s damage andAventurinecoming in with his own follow-up attacks that will trigger quite often as Gepard continually summons Silvermane guards, you’ll trigger Whimsicality over and over. With this team setup,Distortionis the way to go for your Cacophony buff.
If you don’t have these units, then you can choose theExaggerateCacophony and just focus on normal attacks.Welt,Dr. Ratio, andDan Heng Imbibitor Lunaework great in that regard. A Super Break team withFireflyandHarmony Trailblazeralso works incredibly well against Gepard (especially paired with the Chicancery Cacophony that buffs Ultimates).
For the second team,Fu Xuanwill keep the team alive and whittle down some weaknesses during the Ebon Deer fight.March 7thalso works as a sustain unit since the Ebon Deer and other enemies have Ice weaknesses.Silver Wolfwill debuff and shred defense soHimekoandTopazcan make the most of their limited turns. With Distortion in effect, you’ll charge Whimsicality incredibly fast.
If you don’t have them, then you can swap in other Quantum, Fire, and even Ice units for anExaggerateorChicaneryteam.Jingliuis exceptionally strong for this fight because of her Ice AOE capabilities, and the same can be said forGuinaifenandXueyifor Fire and Quantum respectively.Astais also a remarkably strong buffer for this fight, and the speed buffs provided by her Ultimate are very helpful with Pure Fiction’s limited turn count.
Diego Perez
Currently serving as a Senior Staff Writer at PC Invasion, Diego Perez has been writing about video games since 2018, specializing in live service games like Destiny and Final Fantasy XIV. His work is featured at publications like Game Rant and Attack of the Fanboy (where he served as Associate Editor), but PC Invasion is home to his best work. When he’s planning content or writing guides, he’s yelling about Ape Escape or grinding Lost Sectors in Destiny. Plus, he has a Bachelor of Science in Telecommunication Media Studies for Texas A&M University.
