Honkai: StarRail offers players a series of completely free characters, which are often underestimated compared to the 4-star characters on the banners because they are "given away" by Hoyoverse. Nothing could be more wrong, for example March 7th with the right Light Cone, Relic and team it can prove to be a valid unit both for tackling the main missions and all the secondary activities of the game. Here are our tips for getting it better build for this character.
March 7th uses the Ice element and is part of the path The Preservation, or the class in Honkai: Star Rail specialized in protecting teammates from opponent attacks. While not particularly impressive in terms of offensive potential, this character can provide shields, remove debuffs and even freeze opponents, making her a valid ally in many scenarios.
Trace skill and priority overview
NB: whenever we talk about the values and statistics of Skill, Ultimate, Talents and so on we will always refer to those of the Traces developed at Lv. 9, or the maximum (ver. 1.x of Honkai: Star Rail) without Eidolon bonuses, in order to give an idea of the character's potential once developed.
To give an overview of the peculiarities of March 7th it is best to start from its Skill, on which a good part of his kit revolves. Upon activation, creates a shield capable of absorbing up to 55,1% of DEF (defense) + 717,25 for an ally for two turns. By pumping this statistic it is therefore possible to increase the resistance of the barriers and make them effective enough to mitigate even the strongest attacks of the bosses. In this regard, we suggest you unlock the Trace passive bonuses "Purify", which removes a debuff from an ally when he uses this ability, and "Reinforce", which extends the duration of shields by one turn as soon as possible.
However, there is another effect of the Skill to take into consideration: if the ally protected by the March 7th shield has 30% or more of its maximum HP, the likelihood of being targeted from opponents. This may prove inconvenient in some cases and convenient in others. For example, by giving a barrier to Clara or the Fire element Trailblazer you can emphasize their tanking abilities by helping them attract enemy attention.
When an ally protected by a shield (even those not created by the Skill) is attacked, the Talent, with March 7th immediately performing a counterattack that deals damage equal to 93,75% of its ATK for a maximum of two times per turn. The damage is not particularly high, also because the ideal would be to neglect this statistic to raise the DEF as much as possible, but they add to the total and furthermore this passive is useful for deflating the resistance bar of targets weak to the Ice element and quickly recharge energy.
La Ultimate of March 7th hits all targets on the field with a power equal to 142,5% of the character's ATK and has a base 50% chance to apply the Frozen status for one turn. Opponents in this state cannot act and take additional damage that scales to the archer's ATK stat. Again, don't expect particularly high damage, but the ability to freeze opponents is very useful in practically every situation. In this regard, it is worth mentioning the Trace bonus ability "Ice Spell" which increases the chances of cooling the boiling spirits of enemies by a further 15%.
I Eidolon bonuses of March 7th are useful, but absolutely not essential, although you will probably unlock some of them over time given that the character is available in all banners of Honkai: Star Rail. It is worth mentioning the first, which regenerates 6 energy points every time it freezes an enemy with its Ultimate, and the sixth, which regenerates 4% + 106 of an ally's HP each turn if protected by a shield created by the Skill , transforming March 7th into a sort of healer, but keep in mind that the healing provided in this way alone is certainly not enough to support the team in battles against the bosses.
With regard to the Trace development priorities, it is best to focus first on the Skill to increase the resistance of the barriers, with everything else taking a back seat if you are short of materials, given that the focus of the March 7th kit is on defending the team rather than harming damage.
The best Light Cones for March 7th
At the moment the best Light Cone for March 7th is the 5 star rarity"Moment of Victory", which basically increases DEF and Effect Hit Rate (i.e. the chances of inflicting a debuff, such as freezing) by 24%. It also increases the chances that the bearer will be attacked and when this happens it increases his DEF by a further 24% until at the end of his shift.
There is no shortage of good options even among the 4-star Light Cones. In particular, the best in our opinion is the "Day One of My New Life", which increases DEF by 16% and increases the entire team's damage resistance by 8%, thus emphasizing its support role.
Otherwise you can bet on "Trend of the Universal Market", which offers the same bonus to DEF and also every time the bearer suffers an attack from an enemy he has a base 100% chance of suffering the Burn status, which causes damage equal to 40% of the character's DEF Finally there is "This Me", obtainable with the Battle Pass. It increases the DEF of March 7th by 16% and increases the damage of the Ultimate by 60% of the total DEF, but only once per target.
Best Relics and stats for March 7th
As for the best Relics for March 7th in the Cavern category, the obvious choice is the "Knight of Purity Palace". The two-piece bonus increases DEF by 15%, while the four-piece increases the resistance of created shields by 20%, which flows perfectly with this character's abilities. Alternatively, you can mix this set with two pieces of " Hunter of Glacial Forest", sacrificing the resistance of the barriers in exchange for a 10% bonus to the Ice element, although as previously mentioned the role of March 7th is certainly not to cause damage.
For Ornaments you have two options. The best one on a theoretical level is "Belobog of the Architects" which increases the DEF by 15%, with an additional 15% bonus but which activates only the character's Effect Hit Rate is equal to or greater than 50%. The alternative is the "Fleet of the Ageless" set which increases the HP by 12% and, if SPD (Speed) is 120 or higher, gives an 8% ATK bonus to the entire team.
As you will surely have understood, DEF is one of the most important attributes for March 7th as it increases the resistance of the shields created with the Skill, but it is not the only one to take into consideration. In fact, Effect Hit Rate is also fundamental to increase the chances that the Ultimate will freeze opponents (and activate the second effect of the "Belobog of the Architects" set), and SPD to make the character act more frequently. Consequently these are the Relic main statistics that we recommend:
- Body: Effect Hit Rate to increase the changes to inflict Frozen, alternatively focus on DEF%
- Feet: SPD
- Sphere: DEF%
- Link Rope: DEF% or Energy Regeneration Rate if you have not unlocked the first Eidolon bonus
Same goes for the secondary statistics. So pump DEF% as much as possible, followed by SPD and Effect Hit Rate. Although to a lesser extent, Break Effect and Effect RES% can also be useful.
Top teams for March 7th
Considering its role as Shielder for the team, you can use March 7th on any team that could use shields. Going more specifically, this character has excellent synergy with a tank like Clara, protecting her with barriers and increasing the chances of her being targeted by enemies. Furthermore, she is a valid sidekick for Arlan, a DPS who only fuels when his HP is below a certain threshold and who therefore needs protection to stay alive.
On our pages you will find other guides with advice for the builds of Jing Yuan, Trailblazer (Fire), Sushang and Tingyun.
