Ashveil is a 5-star Lightning character on the Path of The Hunt, confirmed for Honkai: Star Rail's Version 4.1. He operates as a follow-up attack–oriented main DPS who marks enemies, shreds their DEF for the entire team, and converts ally aggression into repeated bonus strikes. He was first introduced in the game's story during Version 3.8 and officially revealed as a playable character on February 7, 2026.
Quick answer: Ashveil is expected to debut on the Phase 1 banner of Version 4.1, which will be a shortened four-week patch with likely only one banner phase.
Ashveil Release Window
HoYoverse's official drip marketing post on X/Twitter labeled Ashveil as the "character preview for Version 4.1," placing him squarely in the first — and possibly only — banner phase. Version 4.1 is confirmed to run for four weeks instead of the standard six, which strongly suggests a single banner window rather than the usual two or three phases. No exact date has been announced yet for the Version 4.1 launch.
Character Profile and Lore
Ashveil calls himself the "ace detective of the Ashen Detective Agency," an outfit based on Planarcadia. His commissions range from mundane tasks like finding lost pets and impersonating parents at school events to high-stakes jobs such as capturing interstellar fugitives and tracking the whereabouts of Aeons. His online alias is "Just Your Average Passing Detective," and he carries a handful of colorful titles, including No. 1 "Legendary Reaper Constitution" and the dubious honor of 1st Place for "There's Definitely Something Wrong With the Detective I Hired."
His official description paints him as someone who operates on whims and relies on intuition rather than methodical deduction, yet somehow cracks bizarre cases repeatedly. A monkey serves as his assistant, and retirement appears to be his only real goal. His splash art prominently features ghostly wolves, and his introduction references a "vile beast" howling under the Phantasmoon — imagery that has fueled community speculation about lycanthropy or a beast-related transformation, somewhat reminiscent of Feixiao's fox nature. Some players have also noted visual similarities to Boothill, sparking theories that Ashveil may be connected to the Galaxy Rangers' missing leader, La Mancha.
Combat Role and Key Mechanics
Ashveil functions as a self-sufficient Hunt DPS whose damage scales with how often his teammates act and focus fire on a single target. His kit revolves around three interlocking systems.
Bait is the central mechanic. Ashveil marks one enemy as Bait using his Skill or Ultimate. While Bait exists on the field, all enemies suffer a DEF reduction, benefiting every member of the team — not just Ashveil. If the marked enemy dies, Bait automatically transfers to the lowest-HP enemy remaining, so the pressure never drops.
Charge and Follow-Up Attacks form his damage engine. When allies hit the Bait target, Ashveil spends Charge to launch a Follow-Up ATK and gains Gluttony stacks in the process. His Ultimate cashes in those Gluttony stacks for a burst of enhanced damage, fires an enhanced follow-up that doesn't consume Charge, and can chain further if kills occur mid-sequence.
On-field FUA amplification is his team-support layer. While Ashveil is in the active party, allies receive a significant CRIT DMG boost, and their own Follow-Up ATKs gain a large damage multiplier. This makes him especially potent in compositions that already lean into follow-up strategies.
The main friction point is Charge economy. Action-heavy teammates can burn through Charges faster than Ashveil refills them, and SP-starved rotations force more basic attacks, which reduces follow-up triggers. He rewards teams that are both hit-happy and SP-stable.
Trace Upgrade Priority
| Trace | Priority | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| Skill | Highest | Sets up Bait, reloads Charge, and scales the teamwide DEF reduction. Re-targeting an existing Bait refunds SP. |
| Talent | High | The actual follow-up engine — triggers off ally actions hitting Bait, making it the most frequent damage source. |
| Ultimate | Medium | Burst cash-out window that converts Gluttony into spike damage. Powerful but less frequent than Skill/Talent. |
| Basic ATK | Low | Simple single-target tap used mainly on SP-starved turns. Invest spare materials into Bonus Abilities first. |
Best Light Cones
The Finale of a Lie is Ashveil's signature 5-star Light Cone. It provides 30% CRIT Rate passively and grants "Umbra Devourer" at the start of battle (or every four Follow-Up ATKs), which increases ATK by 80% and reduces all enemies' DEF by 24% for three turns. Because Ashveil constantly fires follow-ups, the buff cycles reliably and stacks with his innate DEF shred from Bait.
For alternatives, Worrisome, Blissful offers clean crit consistency on follow-ups and rewards the whole team for focusing the Bait target. Baptism of Pure Thought synergizes with Ashveil's built-in debuff uptime, and its Disputation window after using an Ultimate amplifies follow-up–heavy turns through DEF ignore. On a budget, Swordplay stacks quickly because Ashveil repeatedly hits the same Bait target, though it loses value in multi-wave cleanup scenarios.
Best Relics
The 4-piece The Ashblazing Grand Duke set is a natural fit. The 2-piece bonus increases Follow-Up ATK DMG by 20%, and the 4-piece bonus stacks ATK with each hit of a Follow-Up ATK, rewarding Ashveil's multi-hit patterns. Alternatively, Pioneer Diver of Dead Waters works well if you lean into Ashveil's debuff uptime — his Bait keeps enemies DEF-down, satisfying the set's conditions for CRIT Rate and CRIT DMG bonuses.
For Planar Ornaments, Duran, Dynasty of Running Wolves is strong in any team with another Follow-Up attacker, since Merit stacks accumulate fast and culminate in a 25% CRIT DMG bonus. City of Myriad Forms provides easy ATK uptime from his constant follow-ups and a snowball CRIT DMG buff on first kill.
Relic Main Stat Targets
| Slot | Main Stat |
|---|---|
| Body | CRIT Rate or CRIT DMG |
| Feet | SPD |
| Planar Sphere | Lightning DMG Bonus (ATK% as fallback) |
| Link Rope | Energy Regen Rate or ATK% |
For sub stats, prioritize SPD first to keep Bait uptime smooth and Charge refills frequent, followed by CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG, and ATK%.
Ascension and Trace Materials
If you want Ashveil ready to go on day one, you can pre-farm most of his materials. The full list to reach Level 80 with all Traces maxed totals roughly 3,887,800 Credits along with the items below.
| Material | Total Needed |
|---|---|
| Whimsy Wax | 56 |
| Dreamweave Steel | 71 |
| Lucid Awl | 73 |
| Thunder Strum (new boss material) | 65 |
| Grit of Strife | 18 |
| Resin of Valor | 69 |
| Lance of Retribution | 139 |
| Vanquished Flow's Reticence | 12 |
| Tracks of Destiny | 8 |
Thunder Strum is a new ascension material arriving with Version 4.1 content, so it cannot be pre-farmed. Everything else — the Whimsy Wax / Dreamweave Steel / Lucid Awl enemy drop line and the Grit of Strife / Resin of Valor / Lance of Retribution Calyx line — can be stockpiled now.
Recommended Team Compositions
Ashveil + Sunday + Dan Heng · Permansor Terrae + Tribbie is built for concentrated burst windows. Sunday accelerates the main DPS turn, Dan Heng delivers heavy single-target damage, and Tribbie provides supportive utility and extra triggers. Ashveil ties the comp together with focus-fire marking and teamwide shred.
Ashveil + Sparkle + Robin + Aventurine is a comfort-oriented engine team. Sparkle keeps SP flowing so rotations don't stall, Robin buffs the entire squad so every small hit contributes, and Aventurine handles survivability while adding extra actions. Ashveil converts the team's high-action tempo into a steady stream of follow-ups.
Feixiao + Ashveil + Topaz & Numby + Dan Heng · Permansor Terrae is a pure focus-fire composition. Topaz maintains pressure with follow-up pokes, Feixiao and Dan Heng deliver fast multi-hit bursts, and Ashveil turns all that concentrated targeting into bonus follow-ups and DEF shred for the whole squad.
Voice Actors
| Language | Voice Actor | Notable Other Roles |
|---|---|---|
| English | Blythe Melin | Lygus (HSR), Rerir (Genshin Impact) |
| Chinese | Zhang Pei (张沛) | Thoma (Genshin Impact), Lighter (Zenless Zone Zero) |
| Japanese | Koyasu Takehito (子安武人) | Sett (League of Legends), Harvey (Octopath Traveler II) |
| Korean | Kang Soo-jin (강수진) | Mystic Messenger, Halo series |
Ashveil occupies an interesting niche as a Hunt carry who doubles as a teamwide amplifier for follow-up–heavy squads. His Bait mechanic keeps single-target pressure consistent even through enemy deaths, and his DEF shred benefits every ally on the field. The main consideration before pulling is whether your roster already supports the fast, SP-stable tempo he demands — if it does, he has the potential to be a strong anchor for both dedicated follow-up teams and more general single-target compositions in Version 4.1 and beyond.
