HSR Memory of Chaos: Pillar of Genesis review – I missed you, DoT

by

Honkai: Star Rail’s Memory of Chaos is getting a refresh on August 15, 2025! The Pillar of Genesis will take the place of Gambler’s Plight, and you’ll face a new set of enemies.

In the latest version of HSR’s endgame mode, your team’s damage to enemies is calculated at the end of each round. The enemies hit are chosen at random, and the damage amount depends on how often you use skills and deploy Memosprites. Like a similar bonus from the last MoC event, this benefit is helpful for many different team compositions, which gives us flexibility in how we approach the mode.

Just like before, I’m going to share what I learned from completing MoC: Pillar of Genesis, hoping it will help you with your own playthrough.

For the first part of the challenge, prioritize dealing Wind damage – it’s the most effective way to defeat the toughest enemies. If Saber isn’t available, teams built around Anaxa, Feixiao, or Blade work just as well. I needed to choose which team to pair Huohuo with, since both would benefit from her, and ultimately chose the Saber team because she really boosts Saber’s Energy, making her more valuable there.

There are a lot of different team options that can work well in the second half of this battle. I chose a team focused on Damage over Time effects because it was strong against the enemies’ weaknesses, but characters like Phainon, Mydei, Acheron, Aglaea, or Jing Yuan could also be effective. Think of this fight as practice for Stage 12, where Gepard will return.

For the first half of Stage 10, Physical or Ice teams work best. I used to only have Clara as a 5-star Physical damage dealer (as I mentioned in my last MoC review), but now that I have Hysilens, I went back to my Damage over Time team, this time with Huohuo. If I hadn’t gotten Hysilens, I would have built a team around Herta. However, characters like Jingliu, Phainon, or Yunli can also easily succeed.

It looks like we should focus on building a team that breaks enemy defenses in the second half of the game. I picked Firefly first, but Boothill and Rappa would also work well against these enemies. If you have Silver Wolf, a team built around Xueyi as the main damage dealer should be able to earn three stars.

You could also use a Firefly team early in Stage 11, but my damage-over-time team was performing really well, so I decided to stick with it. Since Physical Weakness is common, Phainon is a strong choice, especially if you’ve already been leveling him or Hysilens recently.

It’s almost a relief to see Nikador again, as he adds some much-needed variety to the challenges. Teams built around Ice characters like Herta or Jingliu, or Quantum damage dealers like Castorice or Archer, are both effective against the Titan of Strife. I chose to use Castorice because my Archer team felt too fragile at higher Memory of Chaos levels, and Archer’s focus on single targets isn’t ideal for Nikador’s unique ability. While Castorice doesn’t excel at single-target damage either, he does boost the special damage mechanic in this Memory of Chaos stage, so it’s a worthwhile trade-off.

Pillar of Genesis – Stage 12

  • Team 1: Kafka [E1], Hysilens, Black Swan, Lingsha
  • Team 2: Saber [E2], Bronya [E6], Cipher, Huohuo
  • Cycles: 6 (3/3 Stars)

I predicted Gepard would return, and he’s definitely gotten bigger! Our Damage over Time team really excelled in the first half of Stage 12, quickly reducing Gepard’s health, even though Huohuo was assigned to the opposing team again. This time, I chose Lingsha over Gallagher because the enemies in Stage 12 deal a lot of damage, and Lingsha provides more frequent and reliable healing. Managing Skill Points was trickier, but we managed to keep everyone alive. Phainon remains a solid choice for this stage, and characters who deal Lightning damage, such as Acheron and Aglaea, are also effective.

Zandar presents a unique challenge because his minions have different weaknesses than he does, and they can be frustrating to deal with. The Black Tide creatures, in particular, hit very hard. While Zandar himself is the main threat, it’s smart to bring a team that can quickly defeat groups of enemies – teams built around characters like Saber, Herta, or Phainon work well. The battle also has an element of luck: Zandar can sometimes restore your characters’ energy, letting them use their powerful Ultimate abilities, but at a significant cost to their health.

I often benefited from getting extra powerful abilities from Huohuo and Saber, which greatly increased my damage. Huohuo really shined in this fight, with her healing saving me multiple times and letting me fully utilize Zandar’s risky power-ups. If possible, I’d suggest bringing a healer to keep your team alive during this fight instead of a protector – it makes using those challenging abilities much easier.

I’m really excited about getting Dan Heng – Permansor Terrae in the next update! I’ve heard he’s amazing for boosting Physical DMG, which should be a huge help in battles.

If you own Silver Wolf, she can be a great addition to a team built around Cas (Castorice Memosprite). Cas benefits from taking damage, and the Memosprites help by absorbing some of it, keeping your team safer and making Cas even more effective with her HP-based ability.

With Map of Chaos, don’t worry about trying to complete it perfectly on your first try. Aim for the ten-cycle goal to earn three stars and unlock all the available rewards.

Read More

2025-09-15 16:19