Usually I don't just make short guides but the fact that people are so terrible at gearings lol. Like apparently some people use 4* relics with terrible stats just to get 4pc effects is beyond my imagination.

Like yes, I know relics farming is painful, I suffered from it too. But doing it inefficiently on top surely doesn't help, and it's certainly easier when you stop caring about forcing 4-sets even if the sub stats aren't optimal.

Comparison can only be made when the sub stats are equal

This means that when someone says set A > set B / no set, this comes with the assumption that both A and B are carrying the same amount of sub stats weight and CV, not A having like 10 CV each pc while B having 30 CV each. You thought it's overblown, but in reality the restriction of 4pc vs not makes these gaps far likely to happen. We probably all have those random godly pieces but comes from the wrong set at some points.

Currently, most 4pc effects are not worth it.

Unlike Genshin where artifacts have both higher 4pc values (Blizzard Strayer provides whooping 40% crit rate against Frozen Enemies) and the potential to off-piece, Star Rail 4pc generally has lower values (Ice set in comparison gives 25% crit damage 2t after Ult, which is just 12.5% crit rate in comparison value wise while having uptime issue).

The most obvious examples is the 'iconic' Lightning set with the following effects.

• 2 pc: Increases Lightning DMG by 10%.
• 4 pc: When the wearer uses their Skill, increases the wearer's ATK by 20% for 1 turn(s).

So with the assumption that you skill every turn, that's essentially perma 20% atk.

Now let's go with its cousin aka 2 Lightning 2 Musket, you will instead get:

• 2 pc Lightning: Increases Lightning DMG by 10%.
• 2 pc Musket: Increase ATK by 12%

In other words, you are losing 8% atk for more gear flexibility due to the fact that Musket can drop in many other places. The gap becomes so much smaller when factor in teammate and other stuff (Asta TY can easily stack over 120% atk buff).

It's important to note that many Genshin 4pc sets provide unique effects that can not be replicated anywhere else, the most iconic is VV with its massive 40% shred, or at least something like Emblem with its ability to convert %ER into burst damage. Star Rail current set effects mostly just provides extra raw stats which can be compensated by having better sub itself (outside of case like Quantum).

Diminishing Return and the Opportunity Cost of overfarming

Did you know, the more energy you spend on a dungeon, the less effective it is. Assume a relic with 4-subs at start with 6 CV base (either 3% crit or 6% crit damage), a 18 CV gear need only around 2 land on crit / crit damage out of 5 upgrades (3-6-9-12-15), while a 24 CV needs to land 3 time, making the odd lower and lower the higher you want to climb.

For your first, say, 1-2000 energy, it's quite possible to earn a piece of 20 CV or two if you are lucky enough. Climbing to 30 CV is another whole story however, and it may you months and months of farming to no avail. Basically you are spending a fuck tons more energy for less gain (2000 En / 20 CV, then idk >10k EN to get 30 CV / 10 increase from before)

And since Energy doesn't grow on tree, you are wasting it for something else. Such as farming other gear sets, planar, and trace materials. The last one needing an equally enormous amount of energy to farm for to make up for guarantee and permanent improvement of the character.

There will be better sets in the future

It's just classic Hoyo at work, roughly every 3 patches there will be a new set with better specialization. MHY wants you to keep farming after all. The new FUA set is looks like it almost caters specifically for JY for example, and many of those who over farm the 'not even that good' Lightning now have to refarm it anyway.

So what's to actually farm for, and what's the good stopping point?

At the moment I would say only Quantum is truly worth to try hard for due to its unique and power effect of Ignore �F. Disciple 4pc also decent, and it sharing the same domain with Hackerspace helps a tons, and even in the scenario you can't find 4pc just 2-2 of them are universally great for all supports and healers. New 1.5 sets are also on the strong side but they are also naturally more specifically designed and only fit for a few DPS.

The rest of the element sets can just go 2-2 (either Musket or Speed) and it's fine. Mine JL is using 2 2 and she still wipes MoC 0 cycles perfectly, what matters is the subs really. Heck there was a Kafka using ice sets somewhere and still dominated MoC lol.

Now I'm not saying that you should not aim for 4-pc at all. Like if you somehow manage to have god RNG on your side and managed to earn 4-pc with 25 CV while having the right main stats, go ahead. It's mostly about having the right mindset, and knowing sometime to just settle with what you have, along with the fact that 2-2 is perfectly viable if not even optimal for some chars right now.

https://youtu.be/7GF9SNoipjc?si=3YiZcJjx94dlEESu

Want an example? Here is an example from Dreamy clearing MoC 0 cycles BOTH sides (which is a ridiculous feat mind you) while using 2-2 on everyone outside of Seele which is Quantum. Himeko was using 2 fire 2 break and Topaz was 2 fire 2 musket. Pretty much all her supports use 2-2 here or even Bronya who only needs 2 spd cause that's the only thing that matters.