Tides of Waris the latest Honkai Star Rail event, and players can earn free Stellar Jades and other rare rewards by defeating some of the game’s strongestbosses.
Grit Mechanicsare the main gimmick of Tides of War, special buffs that activate as you accumulateGrit Valueby fulfilling certain criteria during battles. You only have alimited number of turnsto defeat as many enemies as you can, just likePure Fiction, but Hoyoverse has given players a ton of powerful trial units to help make things easier.
Honkai Star Rail Tides of War Event Schedule
Tides of War will be live for four weeks, beginning onSaturday, June 12, 2025,and ending onMonday, July 12, 2025.When the event wraps up, Honkai Star Rail version 2.2 will be released, so there’s no need to worry about a potential content draught.
The event itself istime-gatedwith bosses becoming available every day for the first week of Tides of War, but they’ll be permanently unlocked afterward so you can catch up easily. Tides of War itself won’t stick around permanently, though, so you only have a limited amount of time to claim all of the free rewards.
Trotter Effect
The first Tides of War battle isTrotter Effect. Here, you’ll face off against aTrampler,Beyond Overcooked, and finallyStellaron Hunter Sam. In this stage,Trotterswill regularly appear, and defeating them will accumulate large amounts of Grit Value. Here’s the best team lineup for this stage.
With this team lineup, you should chooseEnduring Effectfor Grit Phase 2 andWar of Attritionfor Grit Phase 3. This is a DoT-centric team, and these Grit Phase effects will helpBlack SwanandAcheronmaximize their damage.Pelais also a huge help because of her DEF debuffs. These characters are all available as trial units exceptBailu, but you can just swap her out with a sustain unit of your choice likeFu Xuan,Luocha, orGallagher.
Perilous Threshold
Perilous Thresholdis the second Tides of War battle. You’ll be up against aGuardian Shadow,The Ascended, and finallyArgenti. This stage’s Grit Mechanic will raise your Grit Value any time an ally’sHP is lowered or raised. As such, you should use characters that consume HP and healers that can frequently top off everyone’s health bars. This is the best lineup for this battle.
Surprise, surprise, the trial units are perfect for this stage, too.Blade’sattacks consume HP andJingliucan absorb allies’ HP as well, so they’re perfect for Perilous Threshold.Luochacan heal super often, and since heals count for the Grit Mechanic too, he’s the best choice.Bronyadoesn’t help with the Grit Mechanic, but if you want to clear this stage fast enough, you’ll need to make use of her CRIT DMG buffs and turn order manipulation.
For this team, the best Grit Phases areDesperate CounterandDecisive Strike. The former will restore HP after characters lose HP, raising your Grit Value, and it also increases your team’s SPD and will help you clear the round faster. Decisive Strike boosts the damage of follow-up and Ultimate attacks, greatly enhancing Blade and Jingliu’s damage respectively.
Supreme Leader
Supreme Leaderis the first truly difficult stage of Tides of War, but it’s nothing you can’t handle with the right team setup. You’ll start withSearing Prowler, move on to someMara-struckfoes, and end with a battle againstKafka. This stage’s Grit Mechanic will grant you a large amount of Grit Value when theally positioned first in your team lineup uses their Ultimate. Try this team setup for this battle.
Make sure to deploy these units in this specific orderto take advantage of the Grit Phase buffs.Imbibitor Lunaewill be your hypercarry DPS for this fight withTingyunbuffing his damage andSparkleensuring he has enough skill points at all times.Huohuowill keep everyone alive.
For this fight, chooseShared Hatredfor Grit Phase 2. This will regenerate Ultimate Energy for Imbibitor Lunae whenever Tingyun uses her Ultimate. For Grit Phase 3, go withHone Your Strength. This is an overall buff to Energy Regeneration Rate, allowing for more frequent Ultimates and easier Grit Value accumulation.
Weakness Assault
Weakness Assaultculminates in a battle against Bronya, so you’ll need to be prepared with a strong team. This stage’sGrit Mechanicincreases your Grit Value when you break an enemy’s Weakness or attack Weakness Broken enemies. Try this lineup for this stage.
The available trial units are perfect for a Weakness Break team.Ruan Mei‘s entire kit revolves around Weakness Break and extending the Weakness Break period, andHimeko‘s follow-up attacks will help you accumulate a ton of Grit Value.Silver WolfandLynxare great support units for debuffing and healing respectively.
With this team setup, you should chooseExpose Weaknessfor Grit Phase 2. This will increase your team’s Weakness Break efficiency after breaking any enemy’s Weakness and deal damage to any enemies that have already had their Weaknesses broken. For Grit Phase 3, go withPursuer. This increases the damage received by Weakness Broken enemies by 80%, which will help you defeat enemies even faster.
Overflowing Wounds
The main threat inOverflowing Woundsis Gepard, but there are some really helpful trial units available that will make the fight a lot easier. This stage’sGrit Mechanicwill accumulate a large amount of Grit Value whenever you defeat an enemy with Overflow DMG, meaning your attack does more than enough damage to kill them. Here’s the best lineup for this stage.
Seeleis your hypercarry for this stage. WithSparkleandTingyunbuffing her, she can make quick work of any enemy on the field.Fu Xuanwill ensure that nobody takes too much damage as well. You could also swap her out forJing Yuan, but she’s the most effective at defeating enemies and accumulating Grit Value at this stage.
The best choice for Grit Phase 2 isSolitary Overwound, which deals massive Overflow DMG to the boss and minor Overflow DMG to all enemies when attacking and defeating a single target, which is where Seele excels. For Grit Phase 3, chooseFinal Blowto maximize the damage dealt by Seele’s Ultimate.
Perpetual Exploit
The final stage of Tides of War features a showdown with Cocolia, who shouldn’t be too big of a problem if you bring the right team. TheGrit Mechanicfor this stage rewards you with Grit Value for performing consecutive actions. As you might expect, a follow-up attack team is the key to victory here. Try this team composition to make quick work of this stage.
This stage gives you a trial version of the newly-releasedAventurine, and his follow-up attack unleashed by accumulating stacks of Blind Bet is perfect for this stage.Topazis the best follow-up attack character in the game, too, so picking her is a no-brainer here.Hanyawill ensure everyone has enough skill points at all times and allow for huge damage with the buff from her Ultimate. Finally,Dr. Ratio‘s follow-up attacks will trigger quite often with this team continually applying debuffs.
You should chooseChain Motivationfor Grit Phase 2 since your entire team will be popping off follow-up attacks every turn. For Grit Phase 3, go withMaster Explodersince the Detonate debuff not only increases the damage received by enemies but also adds one more debuff to the list that Dr. Ratio can capitalize on.
That’s it for the Tides of War event! Remember that you only need to defeat the first boss of each stage to earn Stellar Jades. Defeating the other bosses will just net you Relic Remains and other rewards. You’ll also get a Track of Destiny for defeating the first wave boss of every stage. Make sure to complete this event while it’s still available so you may level upNameless Honor, too.
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.
