Whether you love him or found him mildly annoying, there’s no denying that Sampo is one of Honkai: Star Rail‘s most eccentric personas in its diverse roster.
This eloquent mercenary from Belobog’s Underworld is the quintessential Path of Nihility character, stacking debuff after debuff and dishing out the pain to his enemies over time.
Trade deal. You give Sampo your resources today, and in return, we’re giving you a crash course on all the things you should know when building him. As the Boss-ki would say, it’s a pretty sweet deal.
Best Relic Set and Ornament for Sampo
Most characters usually equip all four pieces of a relic set in order to make use of its specific yet powerful niche effect. Sampo is not one of those characters, as there’s currently no set that specifically caters to Damage Over Time (DoT) dealers like himself. For now, a combination of Eagle of the Twilight Line and Musketeer of Wild Wheat will do. These relics can be obtained from the Cavern of Corrosion in the Path of Gelid Wind and Path of Drifting, respectively.
This mixed relic setup gives Sampo these bonuses:
- 2-Piece Eagle of the Twilight Line – Increases Wind DMG by 10%.
- 2-Piece Musketeer of Wild Wheat – ATK increases by 12%
As a merchant that travels freely between the Overworld and Underworld of Belobog, Sampo is in the business to get fat stacks…of ATK, that is. The Space Stealing Station ornament set enables him to do exactly that, and you can get this planar ornament as a reward in World 3 of the Simulated Universe.
For reference, the Space Stealing Station ornaments grants these effects:
- Increases the wearer’s ATK by 12%. When the wearer’s SPD reaches 120 or higher, the wearer’s ATK increases by an extra 12%.
Stats to Prioritize for Sampo
The ideal main stats for Sampo’s relics are:
- Body: ATK%
- Feet: SPD or ATK%
- Orb: Wind DMG
- Line: ATK%
Sampo’s damage relies on being able to apply Wind Shear, a type of DoT effect triggered by Wind DMG. DoT effects trade initial damage for the ability to deal damage over multiple turns and continuously stack debuffs on enemies. Since all of Sampo’s skills scale from his ATK, ATK% pieces on him are ideal. You can also improve his Wind Shear by using a Wind DMG orb for his ornament. Players may also consider SPD boots if their team composition does not have a SPD buffer like Asta.
His substats demand the same stats, more or less. You’ll need ATK% for better scaling and SPD to attack more often. Another notable substat to get would be Effect Hit Rate to ensure better application of his DoT effects.
Best Light Cone for Sampo
The 5-Star Light Cone ‘In The Name of the World’ is a DoT dealer’s best friend. Along with giving its wearer a hefty amount of stats, its ability, Inheritor, perfectly suits Sampo’s needs.
This Path of Nihility light cone has the following effects::
- Increases the wearer’s DMG to debuffed enemies by 24/28/32/36/40%. When the wearer uses their Skill, the Effect Hit Rate for this attack increases by 18/21/24/27/30%, and ATK increases by 24/28/32/36/40%.
Since DoT effects are considered a form of debuff, the overall DMG increase is already a freebie to someone like Sampo. He also appreciates the increase it gives to his ATK stat and his skill’s Effect Hit Rate for bigger and more consistent Wind Shear applications. You can get ‘In The Name of the World’ from either Warping or by buying it from the Starlight Exchange for 600 Undying Starlight.
Budget Alternative
Unless you’ve got some S-tier luck in Warping so far, your 5-Star Light Cone options may be limited or non-existent. Sampo mains should rejoice, though, as there are a lot of great 4-Star options to choose from, namely the light cones ‘Good Night and Sleep Well’ or ‘Eyes of the Prey’.
Here’s what ‘Good Night and Sleep Well’ does:
- For every debuff the target enemy has, the DMG dealt by the wearer increases by 12/15/18/21/24%, stacking up to 3 times. This effect also applies to DoT.
To compare, Eyes of the Prey grants you the following buffs:
- Increases Effect Hit Rate of its wearer by 20/25/30/35/40% and increases DoT by 24/30/36/42/48%.
If your team composition runs multiple sources of debuffs and DoT effects like Burn or Shock, ‘Good Night and Sleep Well’ will be the more valuable pick for Sampo. His complementary light cone, ‘Eyes of the Prey,’ would be good if you’re using Sampo as a secondary damage dealer, abusing his easy-to-apply passive damage along with being a competent Toughness breaker. Both light cones can be obtained through Warping.
Sampo Skill Priorities
Here’s what Sampo’s skills do:
- Dazzling Blades (Basic ATK) – Sampo’s Basic ATK deals Wind DMG equal to 50 to 110% of his ATK to a single enemy.
- Ricochet Love (Skill) – Sampo’s skill deals Wind DMG equal to 28 to 62% of his ATK to a single enemy and further deals DMG for 4 extra times, with each time dealing Wind DMG equal to 28 to 62% of Sampo’s ATK to a random enemy.
- Surprise Present (Ultimate) – Sampo’s Ultimate deals Wind DMG equal to 96 to 172% of his ATK to all enemies and increases the target’s DoT taken by 20 to 32% for 2 turns.
- Windtorn Dagger (Talent) – Sampo’s attacks have a 65% base chance to inflict Wind Shear for 3 turns. Enemies inflicted with Wind Shear will take Wind DoT equal to 20 to 57% of Sampo’s ATK at the beginning of each turn. This can stack up to 5 times.
- Shining Bright (Technique) – Sampo’s technique blinds enemies in a set area for 10 seconds. Blinded enemies cannot detect your team and will delay all enemies’ actions by 25% if fought.
This is how we would prioritize Sampo’s skills
- Ultimate (Surprise Present)
- Skill (Ricochet Love)
- Talent (Windtorn Dagger)
- Basic (Dazzling Blades)
Sampo’s Ultimate is the priority skill to level up just for that increase on the DoT multiplier for 2 turns. This is crazy good if your team applies different types of DoT effects, as it will also amplify those damage too. Leveling his Skill and Talent would mostly improve the amount of Wind Shear damage he deals per turn. Sampo’s Basic ATK can be left for last due to its minimal increase per level and the lowest impact brought to his kit overall.
Stock up on these resources if you’re leveling his skills up::
| Ancient Part (Tier 1) | Obsidian of Dread (Tier 1) | Lots of Credits |
| Ancient Spindle (Tier 2) | Obsidian of Desolation (Tier 2) | Guardian’s Lament |
| Ancient Engine (Tier 3) | Obsidian of Obsession (Tier 3) | Tracks of Destiny |
Nihility characters use their path-specific trace material, the Obsidian of Obsession, in leveling their skills which require Trailblaze Power to acquire. Trailblaze Power regenerates every 6 minutes, so choosing which domains to farm is crucial for efficient character building.
Best Sampo Team Compositions
Sampo is one flexible damage dealer. Whether you’re using him as your main DPS or a pure DoT effect dealer, this charming merchant is going to dish out amazing damage, and he’s only gonna get better with the right teammates by his side.
Sampo would love to have these characters in his company:
- Trailblazer (Fire) (To redirect enemy aggro)
- Natasha (To heal but also to inflict Bleed)
- Serval (To apply Shock)
- Hook (To inflict Burn)
- March 7th (For shielding and Freeze)
You didn’t hear this from Sam-po Kos-ki, but there might be a certain Stellaron Hunter coming down the line that would be the perfect member for a pure DoT team composition. Trust that with Sampo on the team, you’re always assured to profit.
