How StarGuide Calculates 0-100 Scores, Team Ratings & Character Rankings

Where does StarGuide's character data come from?

StarGuide is built in two layers. The research layer draws on public HSR community analysis, creator testing, community spreadsheets, and official patch notes: base kit info, eidolon and light cone mechanical effects, character-specific strategic context, starting score placement, relic build recommendations, and official patch context. The underlying mechanical truth about characters is shared community knowledge, and every write-up on StarGuide is cross-referenced against multiple independent references.

On top of this research foundation, StarGuide calibrates, authors, and builds: teammate synergy grades (the S/A/B decisions between every DPS and their candidate teammates), composition archetypes (which teams count as canonical prebuilts), every numeric point value (eidolon and LC score bonuses calibrated to the scoring scale), team generator and whole-team cohesion formulas, relic grading math and threshold calibration, every personalization algorithm on the site, and curated multi-character team investment paths. The research layer is shared community knowledge; the calibration and algorithmic layer is what makes StarGuide's numbers its own. If you ever find something on StarGuide that reads like a copy-paste from another site, use the feedback button (visible in the corner of every page) and it will be fixed. No exceptions.

What features are free on StarGuide?

Anything that can be learned from public community sources is free on StarGuide, permanently, with no paywall. This includes character pages, ranked score lists, team recommendations, kit analysis, eidolon and light cone guides, pull advice, banner info, investment paths, and per-character relic grading. Per-character relic grading is free on StarGuide and free on tools like Fribbels.

Supporter and Trailblazer passes fund the systems built on top of that research: the Endgame Planner (non-overlapping team pairs optimized per stage), the Next Best Action simulator (every possible upgrade ranked by efficiency), Relic Insights (farming domain priority ranked by your roster's actual needs plus team readiness checks), and the Strategy Coach (tool-orchestrated roster advisor). These systems require roster-aware computation that does not exist elsewhere.

How does StarGuide calculate character investment scores?

Each character starts with a headline 0-100 score for each endgame mode (Memory of Chaos, Pure Fiction, Apocalyptic Shadow). StarGuide deducts the assumed best-in-slot S1 light cone bonus from this headline score to reveal the true E0 + no LC baseline. Eidolon bonuses and light cone bonuses are then added on top. The formula is: baseline = headlineScore minus bisSignatureBonus; finalScore = baseline + sum(ownedEidolonBonuses) + lcBonus.

Eidolon bonuses are direct score points calibrated by mechanical impact: kit-transforming effects (new mechanic, role change, major scaling) default to 3.3 points, significant upgrades (notable multiplier or utility) default to 1.7, modest gains (real upside, limited scope) default to 0.9, and trace-level stat boosts default to 0.6. Each value has an override range (typically plus or minus 0.5 to 3 points) to reflect actual mechanical gaps on a per-character basis.

Light cone bonuses: a best-in-slot signature LC at S1 is worth approximately 10 points. Strong alternatives are approximately 7.2 points, decent alternatives approximately 5.4, and budget 4-star options approximately 4.3. LC values at S2 through S4 are linearly interpolated between S1 and S5. The methodology page includes a live investment score calculator where you can pick any character, set their eidolon level and light cone, and watch the score update in real time.

What are StarGuide's score bands?

Scores run from 0 to 100. Meta is 80-100, Strong is 60-79, Solid is 40-59, Niche is 20-39, and Weak is 0-19. The number is always the source of truth; the band is a quick-reading label for lists, cards, and summaries. Meta is intentionally investment-earned rather than a default E0 + no LC baseline. The methodology page includes an interactive score calculator with the same thresholds used across the app.

How are team scores calculated in StarGuide?

Team scoring starts from base power, the weighted average of every member's effective score (baseline plus eidolon and light cone investment). On roster-generated teams, the effective fit ratings displayed on the non-focal TeamCard slots are averaged into one cohesion multiplier for the entire formation. Authored prebuilt previews instead show each slot's investment ceiling on the badge while scoring from your current effective rating. The formula is: basePower = Σ(effective_i × weight_i) / Σ(weight_i); cohesion = arithmeticMean(fitFactor_j); teamScore = basePower × cohesion × partnerPenalty.

Fit factors by grade: PARTNER and S+ = 1.00, S = 0.90, A = 0.83, B = 0.70, C = 0.52, D = 0.32, with unauthored fit falling back to 0.40. Because cohesion applies to the whole formation, an all-A lineup realizes 83% of its nominal base power, while one A teammate alongside two S+ teammates in a single-carry team produces 94.33% cohesion.

Weights affect base power: every DPS-slot member gets weight 1.5 and supports get weight 1.0. The focal is always excluded from cohesion because its TeamCard displays no teammate rating. Every non-focal member contributes the selected focal's effective rating under the active composition; roster-generated cards display that same value, while prebuilt preview badges show the slot ceiling described above. This rule is identical for single-, dual-, and triple-carry teams: reverse ratings from another DPS are not merged, and an unauthored focal view uses the 0.40 fallback.

Missing-PARTNER penalty: each missing or under-threshold authored PARTNER multiplies the final score by 0.84. One missing PARTNER is a 16% whole-team squash; two stack to 0.84 × 0.84 = 70.56%. This is what makes PARTNER mechanically distinct from S+ even though both use a 1.00 fit factor.

Authored prebuilt teams enter generation first, but receive no hidden runtime S+ promotion. They normally win because their composition-scoped teammate ratings directly author the canonical pairings. The methodology page includes a live team score calculator that breaks down base power and cohesion.

Key property: cohesion is bounded at 1.00, so team fit can only squash base power downward and can never inflate the score above the weighted average of the characters' effective scores.

Supports do not rate DPS in the data model. Only DPS characters author teammate ratings. A support like Sparkle or Ruan Mei has no opinion on who should run them. All support-to-DPS synergy is computed at query time by reversing the DPS's authored ratings.

How does StarGuide's relic grading work?

Relic grading evaluates three axes multiplied together. Axis 1, set match: primary 4-piece gets weight 1.0, fallback 2-piece combos get 0.4 to 0.8, wrong set gets 0.15 (steep penalty, not zero). Axis 2, main stat fit: recommended main stat gets 1.0, first alternative gets 0.9, mismatched gets 0.3, applied per slot then averaged across all four stat slots. Axis 3, substat weighted effective rolls: each substat's accumulated value is divided by its minimum roll value, multiplied by the character's priority weight for that stat (four tiers: 1.0, 0.5, 0.25, 0.1), and summed across all 6 pieces.

Grade thresholds in weighted effective rolls: S at 20.0 or above, A+ at 18.0, A at 16.0, A- at 14.0, B+ at 12.0, B at 10.0, B- at 8.5, C+ at 7.0, C at 5.5, C- at 4.0, D below 4.0. A dynamic scaling factor normalizes scores across character archetypes so CRIT DPS characters with two top-priority stats are not penalized against healers with just one. Per-character relic grading is free on StarGuide. Relic Insights (farming domain priority and team readiness, a premium feature) uses these grades as inputs.

How does StarGuide's Best Teams generator build teams?

The Best Teams builder does not try every possible combination of four characters. It uses a focused composition-guided pipeline. For each DPS character you own, the generator checks that character's authored compositions (team archetypes with defined structures, core characters, and path constraints). Compositions that require conditions your roster cannot meet are skipped entirely.

Authored prebuilt teams are scored first: if you own all four characters in a canonical prebuilt team, it goes straight to the top of the list and receives the S+ synergy boost. If not enough prebuilt teams are available, the generator fills remaining slots from ranked candidate pools. For each role (Amplifier, Sustain, Sub-DPS), candidates are gathered in priority order: characters the DPS explicitly rates (highest synergy first), characters who rate the DPS from their own data (reverse lookup, lower priority), and highest-scored characters of that role as a general fallback.

The generator then assembles teams within the composition's defined structure (hypercarry: 1 DPS + 2 Amplifiers + 1 Sustain; dual-carry: 2 DPS + 1 Amplifier + 1 Sustain; sustainless: 1 DPS + 3 Amplifiers). Every candidate combination is checked against hard filters: no duplicate Trailblazer variants (cannot run two versions of the same base character), and must meet any remaining composition path requirements. Candidate pools are capped at the top 5-6 per role to keep the search bounded. Every team that passes the filters gets scored using the team scoring formula, and the top teams across all compositions for every DPS are merged into the final ranked output.

What algorithms power StarGuide's personalized recommendations?

StarGuide uses seven independent personalization systems that all require your actual roster data to function. Best Teams uses composition-aware bidirectional synergy scoring to rank formations from the characters you own. The LC Optimizer uses the Hungarian algorithm to maximize authored light-cone value across the roster, with confirmed-team characters prioritized by 10% and a retention bias suppressing marginal churn; verified team-score effects are evaluated separately. The Endgame Planner uses balanced pair optimization for non-overlapping team selection per stage, trying every Team 1 times Team 2 pairing and picking the combined maximum. The Pull Advisor uses slot-gap coverage analysis weighted by DPS score. Next Best Action ranks every possible upgrade by pull-cost divided by power-delta efficiency. Investment Paths track progress against curated multi-character build sequences with roster-aware step completion. Relic Insights ranks relic domains by how many of your favorite teams and characters benefit, and grades each team member slot by slot.

What is the Strategy Coach and how does it work?

The Strategy Coach is a conversational strategy advisor available on Trailblazer-tier passes. Coach operates in two layers. The first is context: it receives imported data for the pinned roster (owned characters with eidolon levels, equipped light cones, and available relic data), the broader public character catalog for pull analysis, current endgame rotation boosts, and the same authored character knowledge the rest of the site uses. Coach can also retrieve selected memories from previous coaching sessions.

The second layer is tools. Coach has 20+ callable tools that work against roster and StarGuide data: the team generator, pull advisor, endgame planner, LC optimizer, relic grader, pity calculator, investment path tracker, account power analyzer, score breakdown, character profile lookup, composition details, banner schedule, farming priorities, and more. Coach can call tools in parallel and combine multiple tool calls when a complex question requires it.

Where Coach gets it right: team recommendations run the same roster-aware team generator documented on the methodology page. Pull advice can compare simulated upgrades, investment paths, and banner availability. Relic feedback references imported equipped gear through the relic grading engine. Pity and probability math uses StarGuide's published model. Coach uses current authored character data within StarGuide's public-coverage boundary and can retain selected goals and preferences across sessions.

Where Coach gets it wrong: in tool-grounded answers, the main failure mode is misquoted numbers when compressing large tool outputs into readable responses. In ungrounded answers (meta opinions, future characters, fuzzy questions), Coach can sound more confident than the data supports, and can underrate or overrate edge-case compositions that the authored data has not reviewed in depth. Coach cannot see character levels, trace levels, ascension status, or material inventory. Anomaly Arbitration data is preliminary. When a pattern of mistakes shows up, the fix lands in the tool responses or character data upstream, which fixes every future Coach response that touches it.

What are the limitations of StarGuide's scoring system?

Scoring is steady-state, not turn-by-turn. The system does not simulate energy regen cycles, rotation timing, or stage-specific mechanics. A team that scores high generally performs well, but edge cases (long boss phases, specific enemy patterns, strict SP economies) can flip the ranking.

Calibration reflects the current meta. When a patch shifts an archetype (new support, nerfed trace, buffed light cone), scores shift with it. Data is updated with every patch, but there is a lag between "the meta changed" and "every affected character has been recalibrated."

Relic grades do not measure team damage contribution. A perfectly-graded Pela still does negligible damage compared to an A-graded Acheron. The grade measures how well a character's specific build matches their ideal, not how much that build contributes to team output.

Edge-case compositions can get missed. With 90+ characters and a long tail of niche synergies, the authoring layer prioritizes common meta teams. The feedback button sits in the corner of every page on StarGuide for exactly this reason.

StarGuide is maintained by a solo developer. Calibration is a judgment call. Every rating, every score placement, every composition pick has been reviewed at least once, but review is not proof. The methodology page exists because transparency is the best safeguard against human error.

How often is StarGuide updated?

StarGuide has been updated daily since December 2025 with character data updates, meta recalibrations, and feature additions. The methodology page shows recent updates from the changelog. Corrections driven by user feedback are the single biggest reason the numbers on the site get more accurate over time. The feedback button is visible in the corner of every page on StarGuide at all times.

Found something wrong with StarGuide's data?

Every rating, every score, every number: if it looks off, report it. The feedback button sits in the corner of every page on StarGuide, visible on every view at any time. Every submission is read personally. Corrections driven by user feedback are the single biggest reason the numbers on this site get more accurate over time. The methodology page exists because transparency is the best safeguard against human error.