Honkai: Star Rail Aventurine Waveflair vs Ashveil: Who Should You Pull in Version 4.5 Phase 2?

Honkai: Star Rail Version 4.5 Phase 2 is scheduled to begin on September 12, 2026, and run through September 27, putting Aventurine • Waveflair and Ashveil on the same short decision window. Waveflair is a new 5-star Quantum Elation damage dealer built around Punchline, Fervor, and repeated Elation Skills. Ashveil is a returning 5-star Lightning Hunt character who combines powerful single-target follow-up attacks with teamwide DEF reduction and CRIT DMG support. Players preparing Oneiric Shards for pulls can use Topuplist as a game recharge platform and check the Honkai: Star Rail top-up page, but deciding which banner fits the account should come before spending.

The short answer is conditional. Waveflair is the stronger target for an account that already wants to play Elation and can surround him with frequent attackers or dedicated Elation partners. Ashveil is the broader account upgrade because his Bait debuff, Skill Point refund, follow-up frequency, and passive team buffs work in more lineups. If both characters are equally appealing and the account has no established Elation core, Ashveil is normally the lower-risk pull. If the account already owns Robin • Summeretto, Yao Guang, or another developed Elation shell, Waveflair can deliver the more transformative upgrade.

Version 4.5 Phase 2 Banner Facts

The banner period is unusually important for resource planning because Phase 2 lasts only until September 27. Players should count current pity, guarantee status, tickets, and realistically obtainable Stellar Jade before choosing a plan. A guarantee spent on one character cannot be treated as available for the other, and a 50/50 loss near the deadline may leave too little time to rebuild enough pulls.

What Aventurine Waveflair Actually Adds

Waveflair is not a Preservation sustain and should not be evaluated as a replacement for the original Aventurine. His 4.5 form is an offensive Quantum Elation unit. At Trace level 10, his Skill deals 240% ATK to all enemies and grants 4 Punchline plus 4 Fervor. His Ultimate deals 400% ATK to all enemies, grants 6 Punchline and 8 Fervor, and raises his SPD by 30% for four turns. Those two actions establish his basic rhythm: take conventional turns to load resources, then let the Talent convert Fervor into repeated Elation damage.

After any teammate attacks, Waveflair gains 1 Fervor and 1 Punchline. At 10 Fervor, he launches Cheers! To Summer's Blaze using a fixed 20 Punchline, and the next Elation Skill during Aha Instant becomes All In! To Summer's Blaze. The normal version deals 60% Quantum Elation damage to all enemies plus ten random-target hits at 18% each. The enhanced version retains that pattern, consumes all Fervor, and adds one 21% random-target hit for every Fervor consumed. Frequent allied attacks therefore increase both how soon he fires and how hard the enhanced sequence lands.

His kit also carries support value. The Ascension 6 Trace grants Waveflair 48% CRIT DMG and can increase all allies' CRIT DMG by 48% for three turns after teammates use attacks, with its trigger cycle resetting when he uses Skill. This is valuable, but it does not turn him into a pure support. Most of the pull value still comes from his own Elation damage, so an account unwilling to build around his resource cycle should not pull him merely for the CRIT DMG line.

What Ashveil Actually Adds

Ashveil marks one enemy as Bait with his Skill. At level 10, the Skill deals 200% ATK; if the target is already Bait, it deals another 100% ATK and refunds one Skill Point. The action still requires one Skill Point to press, so the refund makes the repeated Skill neutral rather than usable at zero SP. While Bait exists, every enemy on the field suffers 40% DEF reduction, even though Ashveil's own attacks remain strongly single-target focused. His Ascension 2 Trace also grants one Gluttony from each Skill and two from each Ultimate.

His Talent starts with two Charges and holds up to three. When another ally attacks the Bait, Ashveil recovers 8 fixed Energy, consumes one Charge, and launches a 200% ATK follow-up against that target. He then gains two Gluttony stacks. The trigger is simple, predictable, and compatible with fast allies, follow-up attackers, and units whose actions hit several enemies while still touching the marked target.

Ashveil's 150-Energy Ultimate deals 400% ATK, refreshes Bait, restores three Charges, and immediately launches an enhanced follow-up without consuming Charge. The enhanced follow-up begins with the Talent's 200% ATK hit, and every four Gluttony stacks add another 200% ATK portion. At the normal twelve-stack cap, it can therefore reach four 200% portions, while kills can move the continuing attack to a new Bait. His Ascension 6 Trace further grants the team 40% CRIT DMG and adds another 80% CRIT DMG specifically to allied follow-up attacks. This package explains why Ashveil can function as the main carry, a dual-DPS partner, or a damage-dealing debuffer.

Immediate Damage Versus Account Utility

Waveflair's advantage is concentrated power inside the system built for him. AoE Skill and Ultimate damage give him better natural coverage against multiple enemies, while random extra hits can concentrate on a lone boss after other targets disappear. His 140-SPD Ascension threshold also converts speed investment into Elation, so optimized gear and the Ultimate's SPD buff feed directly into his damage engine.

Ashveil's value is distributed across more functions. The team keeps his 40% DEF reduction regardless of which enemy allies attack, provided a Bait remains on the field. He supplies large CRIT DMG buffs simply by being alive, uses repeated Skills at net-neutral SP after the first application, and contributes his own follow-ups. That combination is valuable even when another unit remains the nominal main DPS.

For a new account, distributed value is usually easier to use than a specialized engine. For an established account, however, specialization can be exactly what is missing. A roster with excellent generic supports but no modern Quantum or Elation carry may gain more from Waveflair than from adding another flexible damage slot.

Team Requirements Compared

Waveflair rewards attack frequency. Robin • Summeretto is a natural partner because she supports frequent team actions and belongs to the Elation ecosystem. The in-game recommendations also place him with options such as Tribbie, Yao Guang, Mortenax Blade, Ashveil, Sparkle, Sunday, Robin, Cipher, Jiaoqiu, or Tingyun depending on the exact core. A sustain such as Hyacine, Huohuo, Dan Heng • Permansor Terrae, Lingsha, the original Aventurine, Fu Xuan, Luocha, or Gallagher completes the team.

The important distinction is not owning one exact premium lineup. It is whether the account can generate enough useful attacks while still buffing Waveflair's damage and surviving. Another Elation unit activates the branch of his Ascension 4 Trace that increases all allies' Elation by 20% and Waveflair's by another 80%. Without another Elation character, the alternate branch treats his Elation Skill as a follow-up attack and gives additional Certified Banger, Punchline, and Aha SPD. He remains functional, but the team behaves differently.

Ashveil needs allies to attack Bait, but those allies do not need to belong to a new Path. Feixiao and Robin form an obvious follow-up direction; conventional hypercarry supports also work because Ashveil lacks large ATK% self-buffs and benefits sharply from them. In dual-DPS teams, his universal DEF reduction and low net SP use leave room for another damage dealer. His team floor is consequently easier to meet, even if his best compositions still use premium partners.

Light Cone Pressure and Free-to-Play Value

Waveflair's signature Light Cone, Summer Rides the Surf, supplies CRIT Rate, a large SPD increase after using an Elation Skill, additional Elation when alternating skills, and periodic Skill Point recovery. Every part of it supports his kit. However, Today's Good Luck provides CRIT Rate and stacking Elation after an Elation Skill, while A Little Getaway provides Elation and DEF ignore during Elation Skills. These alternatives reduce the need to chase the signature immediately.

Ashveil's signature, The Finale of a Lie, adds CRIT Rate, ATK-related value, and a 20% damage vulnerability debuff for the team. It is strong, but his alternatives are unusually practical. Baptism of Pure Thought works with his debuffs and enhanced follow-up timing, Worrisome, Blissful supports follow-up damage and team CRIT DMG taken, and Cruising in the Stellar Sea S5 is the accessible Herta Store option. The free cone has conditional CRIT Rate and wants Ashveil to secure kills, but it keeps an E0 build operational without another limited banner.

For strict free-to-play planning, compare character-plus-available-cone rather than character-plus-signature. Ashveil has the clearer zero-premium-cone route. Waveflair can still use 4-star Elation cones, but a player with weak Elation inventory may need to build both a new character and a new weapon category at once.

Relic Farming Cost

Waveflair prefers Ever-Glorious Magical Girl because its 4-piece effect lets Elation damage ignore DEF and scales further with accumulated Punchline. Genius of Brilliant Stars remains a usable Quantum alternative. Punklorde Stage Zero is the direct planar choice, adding Elation and CRIT DMG thresholds. His recommended main stats are a CRIT body, SPD boots, Quantum DMG sphere, and Energy Regeneration Rate rope, with CRIT and SPD prioritized in substats. Reaching at least 140 SPD is a meaningful breakpoint, not a cosmetic target.

Ashveil's most direct cavern set is The Ashblazing Grand Duke because his multi-hit follow-ups stack its ATK effect. Pioneer Diver of Dead Waters is a strong alternative because Bait supplies a debuff. Duran, Dynasty of Running Wolves suits a main-DPS build, while City of Converging Stars trades some personal focus for team CRIT DMG after a kill. His common main stats are CRIT Rate body, ATK% or SPD boots, Lightning DMG sphere, and ATK% rope; substats favor balanced CRIT, then ATK%, then SPD.

A roster already holding strong Duke, Duran, Hunt cones, and follow-up supports can finish Ashveil cheaply. A roster that farmed the new Elation sets and cones during Phase 1 may finish Waveflair more efficiently. Inventory changes the real cost more than a theoretical best-in-slot list.

E0 Value and Eidolon Pressure

Both characters are complete at E0. Waveflair's E1 adds 24% All-Type RES PEN and causes his Talent to trigger at 10, 20, and 30 Fervor, which meaningfully increases his Elation frequency. E2 raises the Fervor cap to 50, adds more trigger thresholds, and refunds Fervor after Elation Skills. These are strong damage upgrades, but they do not repair a broken E0 kit.

Ashveil's E1 adds 24% damage vulnerability to all enemies, rising to 36% below half health. It is an exceptional team upgrade layered on top of DEF reduction. E2 raises the Gluttony cap to 18 and refunds part of the stacks consumed by enhanced follow-ups. Again, E0 already provides Bait, SP refunds, follow-ups, energy recovery, and team buffs.

Most players deciding between two missing characters should secure the preferred E0 before considering E1 on either banner. A new role and team option normally adds more account value than a larger multiplier on a character whose roster support is still incomplete.

Which Character Is Better for Each Account?

A Practical Pull Order

1. Check pity, guarantee, tickets, Stellar Jade, and the September 27 deadline.

2. List two teams already usable without borrowing the new character.

3. Choose the missing function: Elation AoE carry or flexible follow-up damage and support.

4. Check whether a suitable Light Cone and relic set already exist.

5. Pull E0 first; test the character before considering a signature Light Cone or Eidolon.

This sequence prevents a common resource mistake: selecting the most exciting damage showcase without counting the supports and gear that produced it. Waveflair and Ashveil are both powerful, but they solve different roster problems. The correct pull is the one that can enter a complete team immediately or unlock a team the account genuinely intends to build.

Final Verdict

Choose Aventurine • Waveflair when the account is committed to Elation, needs a modern Quantum AoE carry, and can feed him frequent attacks. His resource engine, 140-SPD breakpoint, and enhanced Elation Skill reward deliberate team construction. He is the more specialized choice, but specialization is valuable when the matching roster is already prepared.

Choose Ashveil when the account needs the safest broad upgrade. He can lead a hypercarry team, support a follow-up carry, or share damage in a dual-DPS lineup while providing 40% DEF reduction, large CRIT DMG buffs, frequent follow-ups, and neutral repeated Skill use. For players starting from no Elation infrastructure, that flexibility gives him the stronger general recommendation.

Players who want both should normally stop at E0 for the first character and reserve the remaining pulls for the second banner. Only pursue a signature or Eidolon after the second target is secured or deliberately skipped. The banners end on September 27, so the plan should include a hard stopping point rather than depending on last-day currency.

FAQ

When do Aventurine Waveflair and Ashveil banners begin?

Honkai: Star Rail Version 4.5 Phase 2 is scheduled to begin on September 12, 2026, and continue through September 27. Check the in-game Warp screen for the exact server-specific opening and closing time.

Is Aventurine Waveflair a sustain character?

No. Aventurine • Waveflair is a Quantum Elation offensive character. He is a separate playable form from the original Preservation Aventurine and should be built as a damage dealer.

Is Ashveil only a support DPS?

No. Ashveil can support follow-up teams with DEF reduction and CRIT DMG while dealing his own damage, but his multipliers and self-buffs also make a main-DPS or hypercarry setup viable.

Who is better without a signature Light Cone?

Ashveil has a slight accessibility advantage because Cruising in the Stellar Sea S5 is available from Herta's Store. Waveflair still has usable 4-star Elation options, including Today's Good Luck and A Little Getaway.

Should free-to-play players pull E1 or a second character?

For most accounts, two useful E0 characters create more team options than one E1 character. Consider E1 only when the other banner is an intentional skip and the first character already has a complete team and functional Light Cone.

Where can I prepare Oneiric Shards for the banners?

Players who choose to recharge can use Topuplist as a game top-up platform and review available options on the Honkai: Star Rail recharge page. Always confirm the correct account, region, and live in-game price before purchasing.