HSR Gilgamesh Build Guide - Best Light Cones, Relics, Teams, and Skills

Gilgamesh is coming to Honkai Star Rail as part of the Fate/Stay Night collaboration in version 4.4. He is a 5-star Lightning Destruction character, and what makes him genuinely exciting is that he comes as a free option through a special login event. His banner goes live on July 24, 2026, and you can claim him for free anytime between then and the end of version 4.6. Version 4.4 is a loaded patch overall, with Himeko Nova also joining the roster alongside him. So yes, you get a fully functional Lightning carry without spending a single Stellar Jade.

That said, free does not mean simple. His kit has real nuance, and building him wrong will leave a lot of damage on the table. Let us break everything down properly.

Gilgamesh Quick Build Reference

If you want a fast answer before diving into the full breakdown, here is everything condensed into one place.

Gilgamesh Character Overview

His 600 energy cost is the first thing you need to wrap your head around. It shapes every single team decision you make with him.

Gilgamesh Kit: How the Interest Mechanic Works

Before touching weapons or relics, you need to understand Interest. This is the engine that drives everything Gilgamesh does.

Every time any ally takes an action, he gains 1 point of Interest. At 10 points, he immediately takes an extra turn. The first time this triggers, he enters the "Interest Piqued!" state and can only use his Skill on that turn. After that, each time he hits 10 Interest again, he gets another free extra turn.

The practical implication here is important. Gilgamesh does not need to be fast himself. He generates extra turns by keeping active teammates around him. Teams with high-speed characters or characters who act frequently naturally feed him more turns. That is where his actual damage ceiling lives.

Alongside Interest, whenever any ally uses their Ultimate, Gilgamesh gains King's Burden. This increases his Ultimate damage by 40% for 3 turns. In a well-built team, he is almost always sitting on this multiplier before he fires Enuma Elish.

Gilgamesh Skill Priority

Focus your upgrade materials in this order:

1. Talent - Interest stacks, extra turns, and King's Burden all live here. Max this first without exception.
2. Skill (King's Treasure) - His primary damage tool on extra turns. The 30% DEF ignore from King's Acknowledgement makes every hit land noticeably harder.
3. Ultimate (Enuma Elish) - Massive AoE with 10 random bounce hits. Scales significantly with King's Burden stacks your team builds before it fires.
4. Basic Attack - Filler before the Interest loop gets going. Low priority throughout.

Gilgamesh Key Traces to Unlock

Three traces meaningfully change how Gilgamesh plays, and all three are worth unlocking as fast as possible.

Epic's Opening gives him 3 extra Interest and regenerates energy equal to 80% of what an ally spent whenever that ally uses their Ultimate. This creates the feedback loop. Allies ult, Gilgamesh gets closer to another extra turn, and those allies get a chunk of energy back to cycle ultimates again faster. This is why high-energy teammates like Saber are so valuable on his team specifically.

Hero's Hauteur lets him overflow up to 120 energy instead of the normal cap. When he fires Enuma Elish, the overflow clears and converts back into usable energy, so going over the cap is never wasted. Every Interest point he gains also increases his CRIT DMG by 10%, up to 12 stacks. That means 120% extra CRIT DMG from Interest alone at maximum. Stack Interest before firing his Ultimate whenever possible.

Hegemon's Strife is the teamwide buff trace. All allies gain 30% ATK and 30% CRIT DMG passively. For characters with Max Energy above 100, every excess point adds an additional 1% ATK and 1% CRIT DMG, capped at 100% bonus each. A character with 200 Max Energy gets the full 100% bonus on top of the base 30%. This is one of the strongest passive team buffs in the game and makes Gilgamesh genuinely valuable even when he is not the primary damage dealer.

Signature Light Cone for Gilgamesh

Increases the wearer's ATK by 18% and Energy Regeneration Rate by 10%
When the wearer uses their Ultimate, increases the Ultimate DMG dealt this time by 0.2%
 for every 1 Energy consumed, up to 72%
When the wearer enters combat or uses their Ultimate, the wearer gains "King's Entertainment," lasting for 3 turn(s). While the wearer has "King's Entertainment," increases all allies' CRIT DMG by 24%. Effects of the same type cannot stack.

Alternatives:

One honest note on his signature: the 25% team CRIT DMG it provides is genuinely useful, and the energy regen smooths out his 600-energy rotation meaningfully. His Eidolons still change his kit far more than the light cone does, so do not feel pressured to chase it if Stellar Jades are tight. If you are running low on Oneiric Shards ahead of his banner, you can top-up Honkai: Star Rail to stock up before July 24.

Best Relic Sets for Gilgamesh

Four-piece Scholar Lost in Erudition is the clear best-in-slot. The 4-piece bonus increases DMG dealt by Skill and Ultimate by 20%, and after using his Ultimate, additionally increases the DMG dealt by the next Skill by 25%. This lines up perfectly with his natural rotation of Ultimate into Skill spam on Interest-triggered extra turns.

For the ornament slot, Cosmic Life Sciences Institute is the strongest option. When his Max Energy hits 200 or above, it increases his damage dealt by 0.2% for every point above that threshold, up to 32% total bonus. Because Gilgamesh has one of the highest Max Energy values in the game, this set reaches its cap naturally and provides a massive unconditional damage increase.

Band of Sizzling Thunder works as a transitional relic set while you farm the better option. The 20% ATK bonus after using Skill has solid uptime given how frequently he casts it through Interest turns.

Gilgamesh Main Stats and Substats

Main Stats:

• Body: CRIT Rate
• Feet: ATK%
• Sphere: Lightning DMG Bonus
• Rope: ATK%

Substat Priority:

1. CRIT Rate (target 70% or above before investing elsewhere)
2. CRIT DMG (aim for roughly 2x your CRIT Rate as a baseline)
3. ATK%
4. Speed (134 to 140 is a useful range)

The reason CRIT Rate matters so much here is the Hero's Hauteur trace. That trace already gives up to 120% CRIT DMG from Interest stacks alone. If your CRIT Rate is sitting at 40%, all that bonus CRIT DMG is producing far less than it should. Get Rate high first, then pile on CRIT DMG.

Speed around 134 to 140 helps, but understand that Gilgamesh generates extra turns through Interest rather than raw speed. He does not need to be extremely fast to function. Do not sacrifice CRIT stats chasing speed.

Stat Benchmarks and Self-Check

Knowing what stats to build is only half the picture. You also need to know when you have enough. These are the thresholds to aim for before calling a build complete.

A quick self-check before endgame content: multiply your CRIT Rate by your CRIT DMG. If the result is below 100, CRIT balance is your weakest link, and fixing that will beat any other improvement you can make. If total ATK is already above 2,600 from percentage sources alone, further ATK% rolls start losing value fast compared to CRIT or Lightning DMG Bonus.

Common Gilgamesh Build Mistakes to Avoid

These are the errors we see most often on Gilgamesh builds, and all of them quietly cost real damage.

Ignoring Energy Regen entirely. Enuma Elish costs 600 energy. Without at least 110% Energy Regen, his rotation falls apart and King's Burden stacks stop arriving at the right time. One rope with ATK% and a couple of Energy Regen substats solves this for most builds.

Stacking ATK% from every source without balancing CRIT. ATK% bonuses are all additive with each other. Going from 100% to 150% bonus ATK is only a 25% relative damage increase. Meanwhile, adding Lightning DMG Bonus or CRIT DMG when those are low produces full multiplicative gains. Balance matters more than raw numbers.

Running low CRIT Rate with high CRIT DMG. A build at 30% CRIT Rate and 220% CRIT DMG looks impressive on paper but only crits roughly one in three hits. Redistributing that stat budget toward 65% Rate and 140% CRIT DMG outperforms it in every real fight.

Skipping Skill upgrades because Enuma Elish feels like the main ability. King's Treasure is what he spams on Interest-triggered extra turns. Leaving it underleveled noticeably reduces his output in the parts of the rotation that fire most often.

How Your Team Changes Your Gilgamesh Build

Your teammates directly affect which stats you need on Gilgamesh personally. This is the adjustment most guides skip entirely.

Running Saber: Saber's frequent attacks and joint follow-up attack feed Gilgamesh energy through Epic's Opening at a very fast rate. This reduces your personal Energy Regen requirement from around 120% down to 110% or lower. You can safely drop one Energy Regen substat and invest those rolls into CRIT instead.

Running Mortenax Blade: His DEF shred stacks with Gilgamesh's own 30% DEF ignore from King's Acknowledgement. Combined, you get 60% total DEF reduction before any other sources. If you want to get the most out of this pairing, check our full Mortenax Blade build guide to make sure he is set up correctly on his end too. Because of this combined DEF reduction, Lightning DMG Bonus and CRIT become even more impactful on Gilgamesh's personal build since the enemy's defense is already significantly stripped.

Running without a dedicated battery: If your team has no strong energy funnel, keep Energy Regen at 120% minimum. Missing a single Enuma Elish cast per fight cycle means losing King's Burden stacks at exactly the moment you need them most.

Best Gilgamesh Teams Comps

Team 1: Gilgamesh + Saber + Mortenax Blade + Huohuo

This is his highest-ceiling team and the one built around their unique joint follow-up attack. Every 3 Saber attacks trigger a combined assault dealing massive AoE Lightning and Wind damage, granting Gilgamesh 3 extra Interest while helping Saber recharge energy. Mortenax Blade's DEF shred stacks with King's Acknowledgement for 60% combined DEF reduction. Huohuo covers healing, cleansing, and energy generation for both damage dealers, keeping the cycle of ultimates and Interest running smoothly.

Team 2: Gilgamesh + Mortenax Blade + Tribbie + Huohuo

This is his dedicated hypercarry setup for players who do not own Saber. Gilgamesh handles all damage output while Mortenax Blade and Tribbie stack multiple amplification layers simultaneously. Tribbie provides 24% All-Type RES PEN through her Skill and her frequent follow-up attacks generate additional Interest stacks for Gilgamesh. Huohuo keeps the rotation stable and energized throughout.

If you are pairing Gilgamesh with Rin Tohsaka in a third team slot for content like Starward Mode, her frequent Skill Point generation and Ultimate cycling can also build Interest stacks for him at a solid rate.

Gilgamesh Eidolon Value

E0 is the correct stopping point for most players. His kit works well at base and covers all current content. E1 is worth serious consideration because team-wide DEF ignore is a significant power jump, especially alongside Mortenax Blade already on the team. E2 is where things get exciting since starting the fight at 11 Interest with his Technique means an immediate extra turn, which matters hugely for zero-cycle content.

Gilgamesh Materials to Pre-Farm

If you plan to pull Gilgamesh and fully build him, farming these materials before his July 24 banner saves significant time after release.

Ascension Materials:

Trace/Skill Materials (for full trace unlock):

Start stockpiling credits and Weekly Boss drops immediately if you plan to max his traces. The credit cost for fully tracing a character in HSR is genuinely painful if you are not prepared for it.

Is Gilgamesh Worth Building?

For a free character, Gilgamesh offers exceptional value. He sits around solid A-tier as a carry, not at the very top of the current meta, but fully capable of clearing Memory of Chaos, Pure Fiction, and Apocalyptic Shadow with the right supports. If you are preparing for the Starward Mode 3-team challenge, he slots in cleanly as your dedicated Lightning team anchor without costing you a single pull.

What pushes him above most free units is Hegemon's Strife. He is not just selfish damage. He actively makes your entire team hit harder, especially characters with high Max Energy. Characters like Phainon run high Max Energy costs and benefit directly from Gilgamesh's passive ATK and CRIT DMG buffs, making them natural teammates in multi-team endgame setups.

The only real decision you face is between him and Archer in the free selector. Outside of that choice, and if you are also considering the other 4.4 collab unit, we cover Rin Tohsaka's full build separately since she fills a completely different role as a Quantum Erudition DPS. He is an easy recommendation for new accounts, mid-game players, and anyone who wants a Lightning option without spending Stellar Jades. Take him, build him with the right stats, and he will carry you through all current endgame content without complaint.