HSR Relic Farming Guide: When to Farm Caverns, Planars, or Traces First

When starting Honkai Star Rail as a beginner, you will be mostly stuck at your limited Trailblaze Power. Most players struggle to learn where they must push that crucial Trace upgrade or debating to risk another Cavern run hoping for the perfect Crit Rate chest. Daily stamina that is being provided from the game is too valuable to waste, and wrong choices can slow your account by weeks. Learning the best HSR relic farming methods in this case can give you a clear, progression-based roadmap. So, let’s learn when to farm Caverns, Planars, or Traces first from this HSR Relic farming guide today.

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Guaranteed Progress vs. RNG Gamble

Trailblaze Power in Honkai Star Rail regenerates at 1 every 6 minutes for a maximum 240, forcing hard daily decisions. Traces can offer fixed, permanent power with no luck involved, and upgrading Major Traces can often deliver noticeable damage, survivability, or utility jumps you are seeking for.

Relics and Planar Ornaments, on the other hand, are considered as the high-variance. You can burn dozens of runs and walk away with mediocre main stats or useless sub-stats. So there is one Golden Rule that everyone must follow: Secure your character’s baseline strength through levels, Light Cones, and Traces before heavily investing in the relic gamble.

The Efficiency Rule in HSR Relic Farming

For a maximum efficiency in the HSR relic farming, there are few key rules:

• Traces Equals to the Safe Bet: This is because they provide reliable upgrades to Basic ATK, Skill, Ultimate, and Talent. At Trace levels 8–10, many characters can have massive spikes. These improvements stay with you forever and turns into some good relics even stronger later.
• Relics (Caverns & Planars) Equals to the Endgame Gamble: A perfect 4-piece set with ideal sub-stats like SPD, Crit DMG, ATK%, Break Effect and more can dramatically boost your performance. But there is a risk of wasting stamina especially in the early stages.  
• Golden Rule of Efficiency: Always lock in guaranteed power like Traces with ascension before you are chasing high-variance relic upgrades.

Precise Progression Roadmap: When to Farm What

In HSR relic farming, the same plan does not go well with all early, mid and late game stages. You have to adjust them based on the stage you are in:

Early Game (Trailblaze Level 1–40 / Equilibrium 1–2)

In the early game, you must focus almost entirely on Traces, character ascension, and Light Cone upgrades.

At this stage, Caverns of Corrosion give poor returns and it will be mostly 3-star and 4-star relics with low 5-star chances. You can have far better value from story rewards, exploration chests, and assignment relics. Just dump the Trailblaze Power into Calyxes (EXP/Credits), Stagnant Shadows (ascension materials), and Trace domains.

Relic farming here is not ideal here as it can be a trap. Use whatever decent main-stat pieces you have from quests and focus on clearing the main story to unlock higher difficulties.

Mid Game (Trailblaze Level 40–59 / Equilibrium 3–4) — The Transition Phase

This is when the transition starts and serious relic farming becomes viable.

• At Equilibrium 3 (unlocked around TL 40): You will start getting at least 1 guaranteed 5-star relic per Cavern run.
• At Equilibrium 4 (TL ~50): Drop quality and quantity is further improving here and there is a higher chance of 2 golds to collect at this moment.

Recommended Priority Order

1. Max your Main DPS core Traces and raise them to Level 80 with a strong Light Cone.
2. Farm a usable 4-piece Cavern set with correct main stats (Crit Rate/DMG Body, SPD Boots, matching Elemental DMG Sphere, ATK%/HP%/DEF% Head & Hands).
3. Upgrade important Support Traces.
4. Only then chase better sub-stats or start Planars.

Note that this phase revolves around building functional teams that can comfortably handle Simulated Universe and weekly bosses.

Endgame (Trailblaze Level 60+ / Equilibrium 5–6) — The Relic Optimization Phase

With everything you collected, the optimization phase stars here:

• TL 60 / EQ 5: Guaranteed 2 five-star relics per Cavern run in most cases.
• TL 65+ / EQ 6: Best efficiency is in this phase with a higher chance for 2–3 five-star relics, no 3-star drops, and better overall sub-stat quality.

Here you can finish maxing final crucial Traces, then enter full relic “jail.” Ideal sub-stat rolls should be focused here like SPD for supports and speed tuners, Crit stats + ATK% for DPS, and defensive or Break Effect stats for sustain and break teams.

Caverns vs. Planars: Which Should You Farm First?

In HSR relic farming, Caverns of Corrosion take a clear priority. This is mostly because they provide the 4-piece sets that define a character’s core playstyle like their speed tuning, damage bonuses, break efficiency, etc. With four slots to fill, you will have more opportunities to land strong main stats.

You have to farm Caverns until your main carries have decent +15 four-piece sets with proper main stats. After accomplishing this goal, you can shift focus.

Planar Ornaments are the second to be prioritized and they can be farmed best during Planar Fissure events. These are limited-time events and will allow you to have double drops from Simulated Universe Worlds. Drops can be up to 12 double-reward opportunities per event, and sometimes triple during anniversaries. This makes them extremely efficient for stocking up on Energy Regen ropes, ATK% spheres, or specific set bonuses.

Pro Tip: Always use strong temporary relics from events or assignments. Don’t chase perfection too early and “good enough” main-stat pieces let you clear content and progress faster.

Daily Stamina Formula & Actionable Checklist

Before spending your 240 Trailblaze Power, ask yourself:

• Is my Main DPS at Level 80 with a promoted 5-star or strong 4-star Light Cone?
• Are key Traces at least level 8+ (especially Skill and Ultimate)?
• Do my core team members have functional main-stat relics?
• Are there any active double-drop events for Caverns or Planars?

If yes → Farm Relics or Planars. If no → Prioritize Traces, ascension materials, or character levels.

Quick Daily Priority Checklist

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Conclusion

That completes our HSR relic farming guide. It is not easy especially when you have to take different approaches to different stages. But we hope that this guide has cleared your way for that and now oyu are ready for collecting your best relics.