Archer is one of the two units who was added to Honkai: Star Rail alongside the Fate Collab that released on July 11, 2025. Right after release, he rose up the ladder as the strongest Hunt character in the game with the highest single-target DPS from his ultimate.
He is also quite free-to-play friendly when it comes to Light Cone choices. However, on the other side of him being free as a unit with free-to-play Light Cones, he is quite strict when it comes to team preferences. There are very specific characters you must have to make the most out of Archer, and here’s a list of teams you should consider running for the character.
Archer Premium Team in Honkai: Star Rail
| Character | Role |
|---|---|
| Archer | DPS |
| Sparkle | Support |
| Cipher | Sub-DPS |
| Gallagher | Healer |
Archer is the main DPS here, but his role is pretty much to receive buffs from everyone else and hit as hard as possible. However, this team is reliant on the performance of all the supports that are present.
Sparkle is the best support for Archer, and he loses a lot of value without her. She provides Skill Points, which are massive, to increase the damage of Archer’s Caladbolg. She also provides Advanced Action, which is a valuable tool to enhance the overall DPS of the team further.
Cipher deals follow-up damage while also providing debuffs, which help out Archer quite a bit. However, if you want, you can go for Tribbie as well, who also provides buffs to the party, while dealing follow-up damage, which makes up for the lack of AoE in the party.
Finally, Gallagher is a Skill Point Positive Healer who helps keep the party healthy. If you want, Luocha can also work here.
Archer All-Purpose Team in Honkai: Star Rail
| Character | Roles |
|---|---|
| Archer | DPS |
| Silver Wolf | Debuffer |
| Sparkle | Buffer |
| Gallagher | Support |
This team functions very similarly to the previous one, where Archer is the main DPS, and Sparkle is the buffer. The latter is mandatory since the SP requirement is a necessity, and there are no other ways to play around it.
However, Silver Wolf is extremely valuable here since she can place Quantum Weakness on enemies that don’t have one. This makes this team usable in all scenarios, while the previous one with Cipher was more valuable when the enemy already had a Quantum Weakness.
Gallagher will be the primary support here since he is Skill Point Positive and makes sure Archer can use them without ever running short.
Archer free-to-play team in Honkai: Star Rail
| Character | Roles |
|---|---|
| Archer | DPS |
| Hanya | Support |
| Trailblazer | Support |
| Gallagher | Healer |
This is the best free-to-play team you can get for Archer since there aren’t many characters who are Skill Point Positive. Hanya is the only one who provides Skill Points, but she does that in exchange for using one.
Remembrance Trailblazer is also good here since they are Skill Point Positive, and Mem’s buffs are quite good for Archer. Finally, Gallagher will be the staple once again due to the heals and being Skill Point Positive.
However, if you just started the game and don’t have Gallagher, you can try using Lynx.
