Welcome to the Honkai Star Rail global launch tier list! With the game coming out on April 26th, here are the top units you want to look out for that were really good in closed beta test. The list is based around their performance in various game modes. Please check out Moon's video if you want to listen/watch instead.
S Tier
Bronya is one of the best supports available in the game. She is a wind character that can cleanse a debuff off allies and also advance action bar by 100%. This type of support is super valuable in giving turns to your units, which is the best for turn based games. Overall, increasing action bar units are always sort after. Being able to let your DPS units go many turns means a lot of damage. If you have a fast team, you can go twice.
Welt is one of the few imaginary characters in global launch. He is a control/debuff character that can slow enemies. He can also imprison enemies, which reduces enemy action speed. Basically, he is the debuff version of Bronya. While Bronya increase team action speed, Welt cripples enemy action speed. Both units are very powerful as they can control the flow of battle. He also fits well in any team.
Silverwolf is another amazing debuffer that can reduce their attack or defense or speed with her normal attack. This allows her to deal more damage overall. Her skill allows her to apply weakness of your allies element type, giving them more DPS boost. Her ultimate can delay enemy action speed, which is vital. She is a mix of Welt and Bronya and is a very good pickup once she is released.
Luocha is the premium healer in the game and probably one of the best. He gets stacks of Abyss Flowers when he uses his skill that heals. When an allies hp drops below a certain threshold, it will heal them. This protects your squishy DPS or any unit that is in danger of dying. He can dispel 1 enemy buff and deal damage. Quite good if you would ask me. He can then also consume his Abyss Flower stacks to create a field and any enemy that is attacked by an ally within the field will heal that ally immediately. That is a lot of sustain.
Jingyuan is a lightning AoE attacker. His kit is based around the lightning lord, which he gets stacks when he uses his skills. Once stacked, the lightning lord will have follow up attacks. Do keep in mind that when knocked down or stunned, the lightning lord is also unable to do anything.
A Tier
Himeko is a fire AoE damage dealer with her skill being able to hit adjacent enemies and her ultimate hits everyone and it can also recover her energy. When the enemies white bar is broken, she gains 1 charge. Upon gaining 3, she unleashes a follow up AoE attack. If you are looking for a AoE damage dealer, she can do the job well. Since she doesn't have any buffs aside from dealing damage, that puts her in the A Tier.
Kafka is a damage over time (DOT) lightning specialist. The more damage over time stacks the enemy has, the more damage she will deal. She pairs well with other DOT characters like Sampo and also debuffers to increase her damage output. As good as a damage dealer she is, she does rely a lot on being able to stack DOTs. If not, her damage may take time to ramp up.
Seele can buff her own speed and attack. She is a bit of a snowball character. Upon defeating an enemy, she can go again. She does a lot of damage though, but because of the conditional factor of needing to kill an enemy to snowball, she may not do as well compared to other pure DPS units.
Gepard is an ice attacker that can freeze enemy for a turn via his single target attack while taking ice DOT damage. His ultimate and technique provides a shields to all allies. Compared to March 7th, he is the better shielder since he gives it to all allies rather than just 1.
Yanqing is a strong burst DPS. Skill kit wise, it is all about increasing crit rate and crit damage via sword link. He is less likely to be attacked when sword link is active. As a self buffer DPS, he offers a lot. If you want to see big DPS numbers, he is the one to go for.
Bailu is also a very good healer that can give individual or team heals. Her heals are based on her max HP, so it works better when healing DPS units or any low HP units. Her technique gives invigoration and therefore gaining healing from Bailu when an ally get hit or knocked down. She can also resurrect, but only once per battle.
B Tier
Clara is more of a wall type character that can taunt and do counter attacks. She can also reduce damage taken to her. She is a bit niche as you are much better off using pure DPS alongside supports in your team.
Fire Trailblazer is slightly better than the physical version and does decent DPS and can hit adjacent enemies. She can get damage reduction and taunt, which is pretty good all things considered. Unlike Clara, she has no counterattack, but is still useful for PvE content.
C Tier
Probably the weakest 5 star unit and rightly so as he is free. You wouldn't expect Mihoyo to give you an OP free character. Stats are skills are rather average, but still usable for sure.