Honkai: Star Rail – Swarm Disaster Difficulty V Preservation Path Blessing Recommendations

Overcoming the Swarm Disaster in Honkai: Star Rail’s Simulated Universe takes a lot of work, especially as you start increasing the difficulty with every subsequent clear. Elite enemies are suddenly much scarier, the final boss will be much tougher, and you’ll need to be more particular about your Blessing choices. 

Preservation is just one of eight Paths you’ll be able to pick when attempting Version 1.3’s Swarm Disaster, and it’s focused on making your team as tanky as possible with shields and damage reduction. In the standard Simulated Universe, Preservation is by far one of the stronger Path options, however, it’s not quite as strong in Swarm Disaster. That said, it’s still viable for clearing Difficulty V of Swarm Disaster, no lucky rolls or code-abuse needed, as long as you keep a general game plan in mind – specifically with Blessings in particular. 

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The Core Blessing Build

Before getting into individual Path Blessing recommendations, let’s go over the core ‘concept’ behind a Preservation build in Swarm Disaster. Essentially, the most optimal build will be centered around the idea of using Quake damage to steadily chunk down enemies while your team barely takes any real damage.

On top of that, it’s also focused on using the Path Resonance to deal large bursts of damage when ally Shields are at their highest. In particular, any Blessings that have the words Shield, Shielded, Quake, and Disassociation are worth grabbing. 

Blessing Recommendations & Priority Order

In order of priority of Blessings for a Preservation Swarm Disaster run, Preservation is first by far, followed by Remembrance, then Nihility, then Propagation, Abundance, Hunt, Destruction, and finally Elation. 

We’ve ordered each table in the sections below from highest to lowest priority of Blessings to grab, but the top priority Remembrance Blessing would still be lower in priority than most of the higher priority Preservation Blessings. Essentially, you’ll want to get Quake Damage activated, then general Shield Efficiency, and Disassociation, get enough Preservation Blessings for at least 2 Resonance Formations, get both Resonance Interplays activated, and then you can focus on all the other basic Blessings.

Path Resonance Formation & Resonance Interplay

The Resonance Interplay options for Preservation are critically important to grab if you want to make it through Difficulty V of Swarm Disaster. To get both, you’ll need to grab at least 3 Remembrance Blessings and 3 Nihility Blessings, with the Nihility Interplay being of a higher priority.

Additionally, for the Path Resonance Formation unlock order, Isomorphous Reaction is almost always worth grabbing first, then Zero-Dimensional Reinforcement, & finally Eutectic Reaction.

However, if you’re struggling with survivability, grab Eutectic Reaction earlier and if you’re struggling with Damage output you can grab Zero-Dimensional Reinforcement earlier.

Preservation Blessings

First up are the Preservation Blessings. You should grab as many of these as possible in your run, and will likely have 12+ or even 20+ by the End Result screen. Quake Damage is the priority to focus on, then Shield Effectiveness, and then the more general Blessings.

Icon	Name	Tier	Effect
	Divine Construct: Metastatic Field	★★★	After a character is hit, deals Quake Damage to the attacker, equal to 340% of the character’s current Shield effect. This Damage cannot defeat the enemy.
	Divine Construct: Resonance Transfer	★★★	After a character launches an attack, deals Quake Damage equal to 100% of the character’s current Shield to the hit enemies.
	Interstellar Construct: Solid Solution	★★☆	Deals increased Quake Damage to enemies. The amount of Damage increased is equal to 80% of the character’s current Defense.
	Divine Construct: Macrosegregation	★★★	At the start of the battle, characters gain a special Shield that can absorb Damage equal to 1% of their Max HP. Whenever another Shield is gained, this special Shield will also strengthen in equal value. For every 2 turns, this will be removed, and then this special Shield can be regained.
	Interstellar Construct: Sanctuary	★★☆	At the end of the turn, there is 80% fixed chance for characters to gain a Shield equal to 12% of their Max HP, lasting for 1 turn.
	Interstellar Construct: Shear Structure	★★☆	Characters deal 10% increased Quake Damage to their target enemy, and enemies adjacent to it also take Quake Damage equal to 25% of Damage dealt to the target enemy.
	Interstellar Construct: Burst Lattice	★★☆	When a character deals Quake Damage to an enemy target, there is a 65% base chance to cause the target to Bleed.
	Interstellar Construct: Quadrangular Pyramid	★★☆	Increase the max Damage that can be absorbed by Shields created by characters by 30%.
	Construct: Rotation	★☆☆	When a character gains a Shield, there is a 20% fixed chance to dispel 1 debuff that is currently placed on the character.
	Construct: Firmness	★☆☆	Shielded characters take 16% less Damage.
	Interstellar Construct: Safe Load	★★☆	Shielded characters increase their Attack by 40% of the Shield effect on them, up to a maximum of 120% of their Base Attack.
	Interstellar Construct: Hypoeutectoid	★★☆	When a character provides Shields to allies, this character gains a Shield that can absorb Damage equal to 24% of the provided Shield for 2 turns.
	Construct: Compensation	★☆☆	After applying Weakness Break on an enemy, characters gain a Shield that can absorb Damage equal to 14% of their Max HP, lasting for 2 turns.

Remembrance Blessings

Remembrance has synergy with Preservation, given that Disassociation lets you deal set amounts of damage to enemies regardless of how few attack-type Blessings you have. Since most Preservation teams will run March 7th and Gepard in their composition, freezing is going to happen.

Icon	Name	Tier	Effect
	Perfect Experience: Innocence	★★★	After a character Breaks an enemy’s Weakness, there is a 100% base chance to apply Dissociation on the enemy for 1 turn.
	Ultimate Experience: Dizziness	★★☆	Increases the Damage taken by enemies with Dissociation by 36%. This effect will remain for 1 turn after Dissociation is removed.
	Perfect Experience: Fuli	★★★	When attacking Frozen enemies, there is a 100% base chance to inflict Dissociation for 1 turn.
	Perfect Experience: Reticence	★★★	After an enemy is attacked 6 times, they have a 120% base chance to become Frozen for 1 turn.
	Experience: Primordial Hardship	★☆☆	Increases the Damage taken by Frozen enemies by 16%.
	Experience: Responsive Excitement	★☆☆	When a character applies Freeze to an enemy, the character gains a Shield that can absorb Damage equal to 16% of their Max HP for 3 turns.

Nihility Blessings

What counts as a DoT or Debuff in Honkai: Star Rail can be a bit confusing at times. Thankfully, both Bleed and Frozen count as Debuffs, making Nihility Blessings a good grab for some extra damage, enemy attack reduction, and Weakness Break efficiency.

Icon	Name	Tier	Effect
	The Man in the Cover	★★★	Every time an enemy is afflicted with a DoT, apply 3 stacks of Suspicion.
	Night Beyond Pyre	★★☆	Increases Weakness Break efficiency by 30%.
	Funeral of Sensory Pursuivant	★★★	Every time an enemy takes Damage from a DoT, apply 1 stack of Suspicion.
	Emotional Decluttering	★☆☆	Every time an enemy target is afflicted with a DoT status, the Damage taken by them increases by 3%. This effect can stack up to 4 times.
	Call of the Wilderness	★★☆	For every stack of Suspicion the enemies have, reduce their Attack by 0.3%, up to a max of 30%.
	Questioning of Purpose	★☆☆	Increases characters’ Break Effect by 50%.
	Tragic Lecture	★☆☆	Increases DoT taken by enemies by 10%.
	Sensory Labyrinth	★☆☆	Extends the duration of Wind Shear, Bleed, Shock, and Burn on enemies by 1 turn.

Propagation Blessings

Typically you’d only invest heavily into Propagation if you’re running Dan Heng: Imbibitor Lunae on your team or maybe even Qingque. However, there are also a few general Propagation Blessings that buff Preservation defense even higher and make sure allies, such as Gepard, can always use their Skills to get their Ultimate charged as often as possible.

Icon	Name	Tier	Effect
	Excitatory Gland	★★☆	If the team has 0 Skill Point when an ally uses their Basic ATK, additionally recovers 1 Skill Point.
	Conjunctiva	★☆☆	After characters use Basic Attacks, their Defense increases by 40% for 1 turn.
	Spore Discharge	★★★	For each Skill Point a character consumes, all enemies will gain 1 Spore.
	Fungal Pustule	★★★	For each Skill Point recovered, apply 1 Spore to 2 random enemy targets.
	Compound Eye	★☆☆	After entering battle, recover 1 Skill Point after each ally’s turn. This effect can be triggered up to 3 times across all allies.
	Catalyst	★★☆	After a character uses their Skill and if the Skill did not unleash an attack, all allies’ Damage dealt increases by 20% for 1 turn. This effect can be stacked up to 3 times.
	Intersegmental Membrane	★★☆	For each Skill Point a character consumes, the Damage received by them reduces by 8% for 1 turn. This effect can be stacked up to 2 times.
	Lytic Enzyme	★★☆	Increases the Damage caused by Spores bursting. The Damage increased is equal to 35% of the original Damage. After the target enemy was defeated, the Spores they were carrying will spread to targets adjacent to them.
	Osseus Blade	★☆☆	For each Blessing of Propagation in possession, increases all characters’ Basic Attack Damage by 9%. This effect can stacked up to 6 times.
	Sporangium	★☆☆	For each Skill Point a character consumes, the character regenerates 3 extra Energy.

Abundance Blessings

Abundance Blessings might seem like a bit of overkill to stack on top of Preservation. Thankfully, some Abundance options give your team more attacks when their health is full or even reduce the damage taken when their health is full.

Additionally, Dewdrop is a great extra bit of damage that, with the Salvation From Damnation Blessing, can often save allies who would have been stuck in the Outrage Debuff against the True Sting (Complete) final boss.

Icon	Name	Tier	Effect
	Clear Lucite Body	★★☆	When a character’s HP is full, reduces their Damage taken by 36%.
	Aversion to Suffering	★★☆	After launching attacks, characters deal Additional Damage equal to 36% of their current HP.
	Mudra of Blessing	★★★	Charges Dewdrop at the beginning of a character’s turn. The Charge value is equal to 60% of their current HP.
	Salvation From Damnation	★★☆	When a Dewdrop breaks, there is a 65% fixed chance to remove 1 debuff on the character.
	Mortals of the Buddha-Field	★★☆	When the character’s HP is full, increases the Charging Efficiency for Dewdrop by 80%.
	Being of Abundance, Becoming One Mind	★★★	When the character provides healing, allies other than the healed target will also gain HP equal to 30% of the Outgoing Healing.
	Prosperity, Longevity	★★★	Charges Dewdrop when a character’s HP is restored. The Charge value is equal to 100% of the amount of healing received.
	Dispel Disaster	★☆☆	After a character is healed, increase their Defense by 24% for 1 turn.
	Blessing	★☆☆	After a character provides healing, there is a 30% fixed chance to recover 1 Skill Point. This effect can only trigger once per action.

The Hunt Blessings

The Hunt’s Blessings aren’t nearly as useful on a Preservation build as they are on just about every other Path. However, Auspicious Star is almost always worth grabbing on any run in any area of the Simulated Universe.

Preservation teams tend to struggle with their Speed (especially Gepard) and this can lead to the tank or healer getting completely targeted by 5+ enemies before their turn even comes around. Thankfully, some key Hunt Blessings help negate some of the Speed disadvantages.

Icon	Name	Tier	Effect
	Thundering Chariot	★☆☆	When a character Breaks the enemy’s Weakness, delays the enemy’s action by 20%.
	Auspicious Star	★★☆	When a character defeats an enemy, regenerates Energy equal to 60% of the character’s Max Energy.
	Celestial Annihilation	★★★	When a character Breaks an enemy’s Weakness, their action Advances Forward by 100% and increases the Damage dealt by their next attack by 50%.
	Constellation Surge	★☆☆	Upon entering battle, characters’ Speed increases by 30% until they are attacked.
	Ejecting the Borisin	★★☆	After every 6 turns conducted by all allies, the current character’s action is Advanced Forward by 100%. The effect cannot be triggered repeatedly by the same character.
	Vaulting Ambition	★☆☆	At the beginning of a character’s turn, they regenerate 4 Energy.

Destruction Blessings

You’ll primarily be grabbing Destruction Blessings on a Preservation run to help with your survivability rather than what the Destruction Path is usually used for – raw damage. Reflection is a must-have when it pops up since it can save a run. Hazardous Lucent Residue also gives you another avenue for generating more Shields.

Icon	Name	Tier	Effect
	Reflection	★☆☆	When struck with a killing blow, instead of becoming downed, characters immediately restore HP by 1% of their Max HP. The allied team can only trigger this effect 1 time per battle.
	Hazardous Lucent Residue	★★☆	After a character uses their Ultimate, they gain a Shield that can absorb Damage equal to 25% of the HP difference between their Max HP and current HP, lasting for 2 turns.
	Orbital Redshift	★☆☆	Increases Max HP by 16%.
	Sentinel Satellite	★☆☆	When the character’s HP is lower than 50%, they gain a Shield that can absorb Damage equal to 20% of their Max HP for 2 turns. This effect can only be triggered 1 time by each character per battle.
	Instability Strip	★☆☆	When characters are hit or lose HP, regenerate 4 Energy.

Elation Blessings

The Elation Blessings are the only branch of Blessings with a pre-requisite for a Preservation run. If you’re not running March 7th on your team, it’s typically not worth grabbing any Elation Blessings. However, if you are running March 7th, the Twenty-First Military Rule Blessing will make it so that you’ll always have Skill Points to use.

Icon	Name	Tier	Effect
	Twenty-First Military Rule	★★☆	After a character launches follow-up attacks, there is a 65% fixed chance to recover 1 Skill Point.
	Platinum Age	★☆☆	After characters launch follow-up attacks, increase their Defense by 40% for 1 turn.
	Back to the Lighthouse	★☆☆	When a character deals Damage to an enemy with a follow-up attack, increases their Energy Regeneration Rate by 24%.
	Aiden Gravitational Rainbow	★★☆	When a character launches follow-up attacks on enemies, the enemies’ action is delayed by 12%.
	Mostly Harmful	★☆☆	Increases the Weakness Break efficiency of follow-up attacks by 35%.