Honkai: Star Rail – Sampo build and ascension guide
Make your opponents a surprise present with the best Honkai: Star Rail Sampo build and infect them with your enthusiasm. Love him or hate him, Sampo Koski certainly leaves an impression when you meet him in the game. He’s a follower of the Path of Nihility and deals Wind Damage.
His Skill, Ricochet Love, is an attack that deals Wind Damage and bounces between enemies up to four times.
Sampo’s Ultimate, Surprise Present, affects all foes with Wind Damage and has a 100% base chance to increase the damage they take from damage-over-time effects for two turns. Such effects include Wind Shear, Freeze, Bleed, and Shock. His Talent, Windtorn Dagger, plays right into this as it gives every one of his attacks a 65% base chance to inflict Wind Shear for three turns.
Sampo is one of the Masked Fools, a group following the Aeon Aha.
HoYoverse
You can upgrade Sampo even further by getting duplicates of him and raising his Eidolon level. Level 1 increases the amount of bounces from his Skill by one. Level 2 allows Sampo to trigger his Talent against all enemies whenever an opponent with Wind Shear is defeated. His fourth level allows him to do extra damage when attacking enemies that have at least five stacks of Wind Shear on them, while his sixth and final Eidolon boosts the damage of Wind Shears caused by his Talent by another 10%.
If you like the classic ‘death by a thousand cuts’ playstyle, Sampo might be an interesting unit for you.
Honkai: Star Rail – Sampo: best Light Cones
In the same manner as with many other 4-Star characters in the game’s release version, Sampo does have a signature Light Cone (Eyes of the Prey) that works well for him, but his very best option is Solitary Healing, the 5-Star Light Cone for The Nihility available in Herta's Store. It increases the Effect Hit Rate and buffs the DoT inflicted by this character, which is perfect for Sampo.
Best Light Cones for Sampo:
- Solitary Healing (5-Star)
- In the Name of the World (5-Star)
- Eyes of the Prey (4-Star)
- Good Night and Sleep Well (4-Star)
- Fermata (4-Star)
- Void (3-Star)
There are rare moments when Sampo is nifty to have around, like when you need a smoke bomb.
HoYoverse
Honkai: Star Rail – Sampo: best Relics
Sampo does not necessarily need to inflict Weakness Break to cause Wind Shear, making his Break Effect a less important stat than it might seem at first glance. Attack and Effect Hit Rate are crucial, however, as they will increase his overall damage the most.
Best Relic Sets for Sampo:
- Prisoner in Deep Confinement (4) – +12% Attack, the wearer ignores 6% of the enemy's Defense when dealing damage to them for each DoT affecting them. This effect is valid for up to three DoT effects.
- Eagle of Twilight Line (2) + Musketeer of Wild Wheat (2) – +10% Wind Damage, +12% Attack.
Best Planar Ornaments for Sampo:
- Firmament Frontline: Glamoth (2) – +12% Attack, +12%/18% more damage when the wearer's Speed reaches 135/160 or higher.
- Pan-Galactic Commercial Enterprise (2) – +10% Effect Hit Rate, Attack increases by up to 25% of Effect Hit Rate.
Prioritize the following Relic and Planar Ornament stats for Sampo:
- Head – HP (Primary), Attack %, Effect Hit Rate %, Speed, Critical Hit Damage
- Hands – Attack (Primary), Attack %, Effect Hit Rate %, Speed, Critical Hit Damage
- Body – Effect Hit Rate % (Primary), Attack %, Speed, Critical Hit Damage, Critical Hit Rate
- Feet – Speed (Primary), Attack %, Effect Hit Rate %, Critical Hit Damage, Critical Hit Rate
- Planar Sphere – Attack % (Primary), Effect Hit Rate %, Speed, Critical Hit Damage, Critical Hit Rate
- Link Rope – Energy Regeneration Rate % (Primary), Attack %, Effect Hit Rate %, Speed, Break Effect %
Honkai: Star Rail – Sampo: best teams
As mentioned above, Sampo needs some time in a battle to really unleash his full power, as his damage mainly comes from damage-over-time effects.
This DoT-focused team will destroy any enemy, if you give it time. Kafka can trigger DoT effects early, getting more damage out of them, while Luka and Sampo provide additional types of DoT for her to work with. Luocha is a great healer for the team, who doesn't require a lot of Skill Points to work.
Since Sampo’s Ultimate increases the amount of damage enemies take from damage-over-time effects, choosing a Main DPS with such effects at their disposal is a great way of creating some synergy. Clara, who as a Physical Damage character may inflict Bleed, is such a choice. She is acting as a tank at the same time, supported by March 7th and Bailu.
Characters like Serval, Hook, Trailblazer (Physical), Sushang, and Himeko are good options to accompany Sampo as well. In those cases you could do away with the shielder and fill that slot with Bronya, Tingyun, Yukong, or Asta to buff the team.
Honkai: Star Rail – Sampo: ascension materials
Here’s everything you need to know to get Sampo ascended to the maximum level and upgrade all of his talents.
Sampo requires the following ascension materials to get to level 80 in addition to the necessary XP:
- Credits x246,000
- Ancient Part x12
- Ancient Spindle x13
- Ancient Engine x12
- Storm Eye x50
You can collect Ancient Parts, Ancient Spindles, and Ancient Engines from enemies in the Robot Settlement or the Great Mine as well as the Simulated Universe. You can create or exchange them through the Omni-Synthesizer on the Astral Express, too. Ancient Parts are one of the base materials you can easily farm through the Daily Assignments to your characters, making for a steady income of the material.
Storm Eyes are dropped by the Stagnant Shadow in Rivet Town or gained through the exchange of similarly rare materials. The best source of Credits is the Great Mine's Golden Calyx.
Just be careful not to get scammed when hanging around Sampo.
HoYoverse
Sampo requires the following materials to upgrade her combat abilities and Traces:
- Credits x2,400,000
- Ancient Part x28
- Ancient Spindle x42
- Ancient Engine x42
- Arrow of the Beast Hunter x12
- Arrow of the Demon Slayer x54
- Arrow of the Starchaser x105
- Guardian’s Lament x12
- Tracks of Destiny x5
For the materials already mentioned, check above. Arrow of the Beast Hunter, Arrow of the Demon Slayer, and Arrow of the Starchaser are available from the Crimson Calyx in the Outlying Snow Plains. As usual, you can create the high-level materials by using lower-level materials in the Omni-Synthesizer on the Astral Express.
Destroyer’s Final Road is a boss material only gained from the Echo of War (Supply Zone) domain, while Tracks of Destiny can be obtained during time-limited events, the Embers Exchange, the Nameless Honor, or as a Simulated Universe Points Reward.
