How Strong Is Black Swan/Kafka? | Honkai Star Rail Best Black Swan Showcase & Guide [0 Cycle] 

Its unbelievable how strong DoT team has become. They’re silently aging like wine. They got a 5 star LC in Herta shop, got a dedicated set that’s comparable to quantum set, and is relatively easy to build. Kafka team has already been competitive and flexiblenwith just 4 star companions. BS is just her first 5 star DoT teammate and it dominates the game

The heavens bless me with Kafka and Black Swan back to back after losing 50/50 4x in a row on a 77+ hard pity. Feels good man.

Kafka will make all future DoT units stronger, she does something unique - that's why she's S+

Bro my Black Swan and Kafka are the reason why I was able to beat so many things that I struggled so hard with!! I love them both! An awesome dup to have for DOT teams. Kafka/Black Swan/Ruan Mei/Loucha.

BRO I LOVE U EXPLAINING IT ALL CUZ U ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT UR TALKING ABOUT, RESPECT TO YA MAN 😎🤘

I agree with most points but taking away black swan does not make kafka incredibly mid at all, esp if we are counting ruan mei.

That was fun to see and to have you go over things about the fight. Also awesome new mic!! Enjoy the new 2.0 story, it’s crazy good 😁

Damn Black Swan''s normal speed ultimate sounds a lot better than double speed.

That break effect Kafka build is something. Now I want to try that one. Kafka is such a fun character to play and build, hypercarry, dot, follow-up, break effect she does everything.

Love this new format of videos

This is the reason why I pulled for Topass and Kafka. 1. They'll age like fine wine when more FUA and DoT characters get released 2. They're hot 3. They're so hot 4. They're hot, have I already told you they're hot? 5. Just love how the devs gave them 2 huge personalities. But tbh, about Kafka vs BlackSwan, ye they're the same value. Its like Kafka raises the damage ceiling while Blackswan raises the damage floor if you get what I mean.

bro this was an amazing eye opening video, I´ve been sleeping on Break effect Kafka, if I get the chance I will try this out

Awesome sustainless clear Smack! I want to try this team comp now too. Definitely liking the uninterrupted showcase and the explanation afterwards :D

he always finds a way to fit in the break effect builds 🤣 love it

love your videos and content man. Thanks for another banger.

Kafka is more valuable than Black Swan because Kafka's kit will work for any future 5 star DoT releases as well. But I do agree putting them together is perfect synergy.

i hit a 2.4mill kafka alt in golden gears. im really enjoying black swan

Really like that you show some other than standard builds, valuable idea to play around with. That Kafka energy regen was nuts.

Can we take a second to appreciate the production quality Smack put into this video. Definitely going from great to amazing with your video content can quality. Salute sir, well done

I 100% get what you are saying about their "value" being equal, I will say, that if you release another dot dps like black swan, in another element, if it does not retrigger its own dots or retrigger at all, "SPECIFICALLY FOR RUNNING DOT", i would say having kafka on your account probably holds more value, unless its like a dot support to replace ruan mei, then you run the 3 dot units. The way I personally look at it, as stand alone units for the future, black swan offers more general value as she is a debuffer (with damage) and a wind dps, but for dot comps, I would say Kafka will be more versatile, as she can use future 5 star dot dps like she did with luka, sampo and guianfen. overall tho, as it stands, they make each other amazing

Love this new format :)

I find it interesting that a build I thought of for kafka is shown on this video lmao only difference is that I have my kafka as a hybrid 100% EHR and 90% BE with 135 SPD while in the video she if full BE. Great video Gacha Smack! keep up the amazing work!

Honestly Kafka being so versatile is what makes her so fun. Honestly probably gonna farm for an ER rope after seeing this, getting the arcana stacks up and keeping the energy flowing is nuts.

U dont need their sig light cones u just need knowledge and understanding of the game, Ur my fav CC in this game cuz Ur Characters builds r reasonable and U dont just whale on the game and make F2P builds with godly relics, and I like Ur honesty very much, I hope u keep Ur content this way.

I like this new video format better ❤

Kafka is more value just cuz the simple fact that there will be more Nihility 5⭐ characters.

after getting kafka on my alt account during her rerun, i’ve had so much playing her. my main is the standard crit build characters, no kafka/actual dot play. so when black swan’s banner came out i was hoping to get enough to pull for her. luckily, i was able to get her 43 pulls after getting kafka! i’m so excited to build her and pair them up. i’m now just waiting for a ruan mei rerun and my dot team will be complete! i will get kafka on my main account too during her 3rd rerun!

I dont see much people commenting about this but i really love how you did the timestamps!! ❤ im more on the strategy side

Great content & music.

Loving this breakdown smack, I heavily invested in Kafka because I like the idea that she just helps dot characters pop off, so when i saw Black swan's kit early my jades were ready

W content creator

2:30 Hey smack! I go by either one, but the channel is Moon haha. Loved the showcase also. Swan and Kafka are awesome! 😄

I was afraid to do a sustainless comp on second side of moc floor 11 but tried it after watching this video. Eventhough I can't 0 cycle it it's amazing that I managed to clear it without a sustainer.

Kafka is definitely more valuable than black swan, she is the bread in the pb&j, black swan is an amazing character and certainly helps Kafka and vice versa. Until Kafka gets power crept, She is the irreplaceable in DOT teams and when new DOT characters come out, Kafka will still be the driving force of those teams.

Is that a lil careless whisper remix in the background my friend Very fitting for this duo

It's literally new meta, hoyo is adding more and more comp variety to the game besides the hypercarry supremacy, after they did some novel stuff with main DPS mechanics like Blade, Dan IL and Jingliu. Now there's Ruan Mei for dual DPS, improved DoT and follow-up attack meta, and soon Acheron for nihilty-based DPS comps. I like where this is going.

Excellent yappin enjoyed it

Quick question: Do you know if DoT damage is timestamped at the time of application or is it based on character stats at the time the DoT goes off (I.e. if benediction was on BS when she applied the DoT but then it falls off before enemy turn, is DoT based on her current Attack or based on her Attack when she applied the DoT)?

Those relics are insane

was saving for acheron.. ended up pulling for e1 BS and still going for her lc.. bcuz of them, for the first time ever, I've managed to clear memory of chaos 36/36

Black Widow team is insane

6:13 hey gacha smack would you use that relic set for Kafka & Black Swan in general to clear all content? Or is that relic set just for MOC? Cause honestly I don’t want to grind for different relic sets for different content. I just want one relic set to clear all content. I’m just a casual player I hope u understand why it’s frustrating when u have to grind for different sets for different content When I just want to hop in to clear all events & MOC.

But if I have S5 Good Night Sleep Well, would Solitary Healing still be better? And also, after all this time I still don't have Dance Dance for Tingyun. Is Meshing Cog a good alternative?

your personality is cool and your content on point, im glad the channel numbers are growing

i feel black swan is in a way the ruan mei of the dot character, blck swan with any other dot unit will make wonder and with kafka it's crazy... both become stronger together. it's like a perfect match at this point. plus if you add ruan mei this is like a dream team.... in some content they can simply break the balance at this point.

Really love how all the damage types are becoming almost like factions relevant in the meta - there's the follow up nation, hypercarry annihilation, DoT domination, and dual dps demise

Im glad i have both of them and their own LC. Building crit and critdmg is always a nightmare in both genshin and hsr lol

As someone who has all of the DoT characters with their Sig LC i can only imagine the damage. Can't wait to find the final piece i need for my BS. She does 100k dmg with just level 7 skills. Thanks for the demonstration, smack. Gotta try this out.

I agree with u they are both really solid units on there own and extremely versatile units in different formats. BS being a solid supportive unit with her def shred and Kafka as dps unit as she is very consistent. Now in general use BS is probably more valuable with her supportive capabilities since she has def shred, but if we are talking about dot teams then I am of the camp that Kafka is the more valuable unit. This is because Kafka will most likely be the best partner for every dot character going forward because no one does what Kafka does. So if u are investing in dot teams she is the most important unit as she drives all of them. They work well without her in the team but she elevates them to new heights with her on them. Now having her and BS u are basically winning because I believe her to be and Incredible support for dot characters that is elevated further by having Kafka. I can definitely see a future where we have a meta mono dot team with the core units being Kafka and BS. Just because there kits mesh so well and probell each other to amazing hights. I do wanna correct u on the Dr. Ratio bit. Kafka does work with Dr. Ratio. I use them quite frequently together as she is able to ably 2 debuffs in her kit and u can get a 3rd with her signature or using Lukas. Works very well as cleans up ads and enables Dr. Ratio to deal with the elite enemy. Have not tried it with Black Swan yet as she is still under construction but I believe she will probably be the better pair with Dr. Ratio due to her def shred which will increase Dr. Ratios personal dmg

Disagree with you on this one, Kafka is definitely a much much better pull just by being the enabler of a specific playstyle. Every single future dot character that comes later in future that doesnt have the ability to trigger their dots Kafkas value will keep increasing tremendously while for a dps type character like Black Swan will relatively stay the same, Kafka still is and will be the most optimal dps partner for the future dps characters, where characters like black swan depend on her for their max dps potential.

Eventhought that im not really read skills, or do calculations etc...but i always follow & copy build guide from several CC's.. Really Thx Smack... I dont have any DoT chars except my blackswan is E1... Now i will saving jade till Acheron release... Its not DoT becoz its mommies...

didnt expect to see a 4k graphic Gacha Smack when i clicked the video

The bass goes hard ⚡️

Hey man I would really love to see you do an updated video on light cones. I was looking at the new ones in the forgotten Hall store and they look very very impressive. Would love to see your opinion on these. Keep up the great work! Love your videos!

Great video, I just got Black Swan after too many pulls and can now pair with my Kafka. How did this team perform on MoC Level 12?

How do you pick who to use Tingyun effects on between Kafka and BlackSwan? Here, Blackswan, coz Kafka is already on ERR and break build. But suppose both run the prisoner set. Does it matter who Tingyun buffs? Does the damage equalize in the grandscheme of things? Or is it always Blackswan coz you want her Arcana not reduced longer?

Did a run of GNG with BS kafka huohuo and ruan mei. Dropped 2m damage and i was flabbergasted.

Damn it! I'm not sure anymore between saving for Sparkle or just pulling Blackswan instead. Any advice?

I play both of them together and my gawd it's so good. The fact that arcana can be inflicted on the enemy as soon as they appear means that I don't have to worry about applying a DOT for Kafka to trigger before her turn. She can just detonate arcana immediately. ❤

Loving my Kafka/Black Swan/Ruan Mei/Fu Xuan team. I use them mainly overworld and SU and this team felt so good lol

I just found your content and I’m unsure if you answer questions like this, is break effect set on Black Swan good without Ruan Mei? I’m a new player who started 3-4 months ago (grinded 109 hours so far) and I finally have what I thought was a good relic set on Black Swan after BRUTAL farming which was the full break set, but a friend of mine clowned on me saying that I’m stupid for farming break set when I don’t have Ruan Mei yet and it really put a dent in my pleasure in farming the game (I’m not gonna quit, I got Kafka and Black Swan + Kafka’s signature I got too lucky to quit)

can you make a video tips on clearing moc 11 and 12? :3

I think both are similarly positioned in a way to take advantage of a less versatile version of their counterpart; either a BS that can't turn her DoT into all other DoT types and perhaps sacrifices her debuffer utilities for more personal damage or a Kafka that only retriggers one basic DoT type and maybe sacrifices personal DoT damage for higher DoT retrigger %. Which is more likely to occur is completely up to you. Something that might become relevant is BS's DoT is always Wind damage no matter what type of DoT its being treated as where as Kafka doubles any type of damage so long as its a DoT. So Kafka might be positioned in a way to handle different damage types better than BS. But then again BS gets resist pen for her E1 😅

I know ppl are on the black swan hype rn but I was wondering what ur thoughts on the new break relics and who it could be good on

Can’t wait see a bleed 5 star unit in future

Does Break effect stacks with weakness break effect? for example ruin me has weakness break effect so if i put break effect new relics which gives 30% to party when using ultimate does that stack with her skill

Would you say SU S5 outperforms Good night and sleep weel S5 aswell for kafka or nah ?

What is better Blackswan LC for non 0-cycle player ? LC sampo + rope %Atk or LC Tutorial + rope err to make 3 turn ultti ?

I got E2 Kafka on her first run and didn't pull for her LC because I had S5 GNSW. After seeing BS leaks I decided to get Kafka's LC since it works so well with BS. Was originally going to just get E1S0 BS with S5 EotP, but ended up just dumping everything for E2S1 because Kafka was already my most used character and I'm super down bad for BS. They work absurdly well together. Went into MoC11 and with that amount of vertical investment I basically only take like .5 cycles per wave for the easiest 0 cycle I've ever done, DoT explosions are a lot of fun.

I’m not sure if I’m yapping or on to something here but when black swan ults her stacks count as all type of DOT including burn which mean quin can brac them with her ult I tested it and keep getting different numbers so I’m not sure 😅😂 plus idk if ppl have already tested or confirmed it haha just wanna see if it’s real as it can help f2ps a lot

I've just melted Level 8 VirtualR with Kafka and Swan without any eidolons, some skillpoints missing and Musketeer equip. Those were just 2 DOT ticks enough to complete final phase

Its even more crazy with a ruan mei added to kafka and black swan

I mean, Kafka is 5* DoT team enabler with her gimmick with DoT detonation. So I get why people call her more valuable in long term.

yo you actually tried full energy regen Kafka, I was wondering how well it'll work with BS, good stuff!

Best part of the combo is that Kafka’s dot burst skill and ult also ad Aracana stacks which is why both are really strong together

Who’d be best replacement for Ruan mei if u don’t have her? I’m using silver wolf and Luocha instead of Huohuo. I don’t have ruan mei and huohuo

if I do not have kafka can I use any other like guinaifen? and if so is she supposed to go after black swan or before

ive never tried peanut butter and jelly ? is it really good ??

QUESTION: I know you are running Ruan Mei with an E1 Eidolon. And this, of course, is very effective and beneficial in running Dot-Teams. Both with Black Swan and Kafka. Now you were mentioning (and showcasing) a Break Effect Kafka, and I do see the value of that. But the question to me is: Is this flexibility maybe the result of you having a Ruan Mei with E1, and for us who are still left with Equipment that is, say, stat-wise better than the Prisoner in Deep Conefinement relic, should we stay with that, or would you recommend us to switch over to a sub-par equipment, because the Def Shred is worth it? I mean, the difficulty is really: how much do we owe to the def-shred and are sets like the Band of Sizzling Thunder still up to the task, if we have the possibility to substitute them with equipment and characters that enhance our def-shred? I admit, this is a long post, but I really would appreciate an answer to this.

A guide about characters that utilize DOT, my favorite mechanic, from my favorite, based content creator? This day starts off good. And i can't believe people think Black Swan NEEDS Kafka. You're really telling me they would make a 5 star limited character depend on ANOTHER 5 star limited character? Nah, some people just needs to sit still for 2 minutes and think about what they're saying.

great video as always but where is your shirt from please mister smack

I just got black swan. I started playing a few days ago. What are my options? She doesn't seem noob friendly.

What’s the music in uninterrupted?

I honestly like your 0 cycles more than Mr chokke because you actually explain things and not have to use s5 BiS light cones in every single scenario. But I would like your opinion on some speed thresholds and tuning that I should aim for with Kafka, Black Swan, Ruan Mei and Luocha for general MoC clears. Does Kafka have to go after black Swan if Kafka has hyperspeed (162 Speed on Kafka and 137 on Black Swan)? What exactly should be the proper tuning for good efficiency. I use Ruan Mei with vonwaq so she still goes first but after that Kafka goes next then Luocha and Black Swan at last. I feel like this is scuffed so I would like to understand what speed to achieve for each unit. Also I don't have Kafka's sig lc. I use GNSW. I just don't know if I should drop the speed on Kafka so that she can go after Black Swan and increase Swan's speed to 150. Something like 150 speed Black Swan and 147 speed Kafka sounds better. Then luocha at 143 so he can re trigger kafka's follow up.

So if I have 136 speed without speed boots.... then will it be better for ATK boots or speed boots for 161 speed?

yah i like the steps by step. you said it 12:00 , kafka the "most" versatile, maybe thats why they put her above blackswan.

I am just really glad Kafka got the respect she deserved, DoT was really lacking behind. I am interested in seeing as to why Acheron is Nihility as well

You don’t even need to worry about the right elements for toughness break in sim uni gold and gears. Max suspicion stacks just melts everything

Just got immense luck. Got Kafka in the last banner, and this banners, over the course of around 35 pulls, I got Black Swan, E1 Bronya and and DHIL. After that, the next standard pull I got Bailu's Light cone (ok, I was at around 75 pity but its was still a fun experience). Now I have too many characters to focus on...

what is a good replacement for ruin Mei I don't have her xd

What if i don't have kafka? Who is the best alternative option? I recently got bs

Honestly I been using Kafka since she was out and now that black swan is here I can say that she really made dots feel more reliable to use, and as someone who doesn’t get s1 I’m seeing truly amazing results. I would say that the dmg and debuffes from swan with how kafka make dots go faster it’s unbeatable. Both of them are amazing fr.

W Ayanokoji background Smack 🤣😮‍💨

Was running a team of Huo Huo, Gepard, BS, and Welt in swarmers max difficulty with Nihility path and hit a 2.3 million damage dot damage. Welt was amazing with her because of his speed manipulation, allowing her to easily get two skills off and her ult. I'm leveling up my 4 star Dots because i never got Kafka so i had no real reason to use them besides liking the characters. BS is amazing. Im running her with 3200 atk, 1100 def, 137 spd, 18/89% cr/cd, and 119 ehr. Not perfect but its good enough!

I really enjoy your videos thanks I would like to see a showcase with any other character, since I couldn't get ruin me 😅

This possible without Ruan Mei? I'm kind of sick of seeing these teams because I skipped Ruan Mei to save for Kafka and Black Swan.

I'm very confuse what should I do archeron or black swan love both of them but I can only have 1 char

I cannot wait until we get a sustain that is fire or phys that either wants break effect or just can apply DoTs regularly. Kafka and Black Swan is already so nasty but I want the rainbow explosion.

The main reason I like Black Swan so much is because of how she improves Kafka. I didn't really use Kafka too much when she came out. Now I get to use her on my main team. Of course I like all the other stuff too lol

I hope Sam or Gallaghar or whatever his name is, to become a Fire Abudance that can leave a burning field or some shi… Imagine stacking all BS Arcana whenever somebody takes turn, but of course it will be a healer a not a dmg dealer. Kafka, BS, Ruan Mei and an abundance fire character that can constantly proc burn is a chef’s kiss.