HSR Version 3.4 Apocalyptic Shadow: Full Guide to “Ichor Beast”

Hey, Trailblazers! Every time a new “Apocalyptic Shadow” stage drops in Honkai Star Rail, I can’t wait to dive in—but Version 3.4’s “Ichor Beast” really cranked up the difficulty! I took a deep dive into it—mechanics, Toughness break timing, buff synergy, and team comps—and compiled it all into this complete guide.

Whether you’re looking to steamroll FlameFlame Reaver of Doomsday Led Astray with action-forward bursts, or break through Starbane Doombringer’s layers with quick multi-hit strategies, this guide has everything you need in one place!

Ruinous Embers

When an enemy with "Steadfast Safeguard" is Weakness Broken, the control states for all allies are dispelled, their Skill Points are recovered, and their Ultimates are activated.

The Skill DMG taken by all enemies increases by 25%.

 

Node 1: Flame Reaver of Doomsday Led Astray

Recommended Combat Types: Physical, Ice, Lightning, Quantum

Core Mechanics

The Flame Reaver features dual-layer toughness, a unique Summon Cycle centered around “Long-Shattered Vessels” and “Complete Vessels”, as well as the gradual buildup of “Calamity Power”. By controlling the spawn rhythm of these vessels and prioritizing the elimination of “Complete Vessels”, players can ente r a sustained high-damage loop and effectively suppress the boss’s power-scaling process.

• Dual-layer Toughness: The boss has two separate toughness bars, each reduced through different mechanics. Each vessel killed reduces the first bar by 25%, and the second by 10.5%.
• Broken Vessels: Constantly summoned during the fight. Defeating them reduces the boss’s toughness and removes stacks of Calamity Power.
• Complete Vessel: A special summon. If you defeat it before it takes action, the killer gains an extra turn and a +50% DMG buff.
• Calamity Power: A stacking buff that powers up the boss’s attack. Each Broken Vessel you kill removes 1 stack. The higher the stacks, the more hits its attack will deal.

 

Stage 1 Strategy

At the start of the battle, the boss summons four Long-Shattered Vessels and immediately takes two actions. Focus all firepower on clearing these summons to fully break the first toughness bar (4 × 25% = 100%). Once the first bar is broken, the boss will immediately take an extra action and summon a Complete Vessel. Defeat it before its turn to grant the attacker a +50% DMG buff and an extra turn.

During the second toughness bar phase, the boss alternates between summoning vessels and unleashing its burst attack. For every two Long-Shattered Vessels defeated, the next summon will be replaced with a Complete Vessel instead.

 

Stage 1 Tips

• AoE or blast skills are great for clearing Long-Shattered Vessels fast.
• Let your main DPS handle Complete Vessel kills to fully capitalize on the extra turn and damage boost.
• Speed buffs and crowd-control units help you control the flow and keep your rotation clean..

 

Stage 2 Strategy

Once Stage 2 begins, the boss retreats and becomes untargetable—your attacks can no longer hit the boss directly. Instead, it summons four Long-Shattered Vessels. The core mechanics remain largely the same as in Stage 1: players must defeat these Vessels to reduce the boss’s toughness bar and suppress the buildup of Calamity Power. Once the two toughness bars is fully broken again, the boss becomes vulnerable to direct damage.

 

Stage 2 Tips

There will always be four Vessels on the field. If you can keep clearing 3–4 per cycle, Complete Vessels will keep spawning—letting you chain extra turns and stay in a constant high-damage loop.

 

Finality's Axiom Buffs

Bold Leader

The DMG dealt by the character in position 1 in the lineup increases by 60%. For every 4 Skill Points consumed, 1 Skill Point is recovered.

— Boosts the frontliner’s burst potential—great for main DPS. Bonus SP recovery improves team rotation efficiency.

No Turning Back

After any ally target consumes their own HP, increases their DMG dealt by 40% for 3 turn(s).

— Perfect for HP-draining units like Castorice. Rewards self-sacrifice with strong, lasting damage buffs.

Tarsus Infection

After an ally target deals DoT to an enemy, 6 Energy is regenerated. DoT of all allies have 30% All-Type RES against enemy targets.

— Tailor-made for DoT teams—speeds up ultimate cycles and pierces resistance for stronger damage over time.

 

Team Recommendation

Team Phainon — Bold Leader

Phainon + Sunday + Bronya + Sparkle

Explosive damage right from the start. Bronya and Sparkle empower the Phainon for a powerful opener, using Bold Leader to burst down key targets before they act.

Team Castorice — No Turning Back

Castorice + Trailblaze(Remembrance)+ Sunday + Tribbie

Castorice trades HP for massive damage, supported by Trailblazer and Sunday for Skill Point economy. Tribbie ensures stable procs of No Turning Back, keeping damage output high and consistent.

Team The Herta — Bold Leader

The Herta + Herta + Robin + Tribbie

Dual-DPS setup with The Herta and Herta scaling damage over time. Robin accelerates the team’s cycle, while the first-slot DPS benefits fully from the +60% damage buff to shred tanky enemies.

Team Kafka — Tarsus Infection

Kafka + Black Swan + Robin + Tribbie

A top-tier DoT comp. Kafka and Black Swan apply continuous damage while Robin and Tribbihelp with energy regeneration and resistance shredding. Tarsus Infection enhances DoT damage that continuously pressures all enemies.

 

Node 2: Starbane Doombringer

Recommended Combat Types: Physical = Fire > Ice = Wind

Core Mechanics

The Starbane Doombringer consists of Mirage and three parts: Disaster's Right Hand, Dawn's Left Hand and Antimatter Engine's. Each part has its own HP and shares Weakness types. Defeating Disaster's Right Hand or Dawn's Left Hand will transfer the Weakness Type back to Antimatter Engine and weakens it. The Mirage starts in an invulnerable state and cannot be directly targeted. To force it into a Weakness Break state,, you must break all three parts.

At the start of each stage, your team members are randomly inflicted with a "Quantum Infusion" or "Imaginary Infusion" states. While infused, a character should prioritize targeting the enemy part matching their infusion types to cleanse the effect. If the infusion state is not removed, the character will take massive damage and trigger a Break effect upon being hit.

Node 2 is split into two stages, but the core mechanics remain the same: focus on managing and breaking the three parts.

 

Strategy

You can only deal damage to the Mirage when all three parts are staggered simultaneously, triggering a Weakness Break state during which the boss takes 100% increased damage—this is your key burst window. While damage dealt to the individual parts is proportionally reflected onto the main body, failing to manage timing properly may cause missed opportunities. Additionally, make sure to cleanse Infusion effects as soon as possible to avoid crowd control and taking heavy punishment from triggered break effects.

 

Tips

The boss generally has low aggression, but if you take too long, broken parts will self-recover, resetting the fight and putting the boss back into an invulnerable state.To avoid draggy turns, it's strongly recommended to bring a high-break, high-damage, no-healer comp — push tempo, burst fast.

 

Finality's Axiom Buffs

Teaching and Learning Go Banana in Peel

Increases all allies' Skill DMG and Ultimate DMG dealt by 50%.

— Strong universal boost to Skill and Ultimate damage—ideal for burst-heavy teams.

Hunter's Stride

When an ally breaks an enemy target's Weakness, Advances Action Forward by 25%.

— Speeds up rotations when breaking Weaknesses, great for high-break teams and tempo control.

Turn of Luck

Follow-up ATK DMG dealt by characters ignores 15% of the enemy target's All-Type RES and can also reduce the Toughness of targets that do not have the corresponding Weakness, with the effect being equivalent to 50% of the original Toughness Reduction from the ability.

— Lets Follow-up attacks punch through RES and even chip non-Weakness Toughness.

 

Team Recommendation

Team Firefly — Hunter's Stride

Firefly + Fugue + Ruan Mei + Gallagher

Hunter's Stride allows Firefly to take action quicker after breaking Weaknesses. With Sparkle’s high-frequency Skill use breaking multiple Toughness bars, it perfectly suppresses the boss with fast tempo and strong control.

Team Phainon — Teaching and Learning Go Banana in Peel

Phainon + Sunday + Bronya + Sparkle

Teaching and Learning Go Banana in Peel greatly boosts Phainon’s Skill and Ultimate DMG, helping to quickly reduce the HP of high-HP, high-Toughness boss and enabling focused burst to finish it off.

Team Jingliu — Teaching and Learning Go Banana in Peel

Jingliu + Tribbie + Sunday + Hyacine

Jingliu paired with Teaching and Learning Go Banana in Peel can stack up to her DMG cap, allowing her Ultimate to land massive bursts directly on weak points—perfect for quick executions.

Team Feixiao —— Turn of Luck

Feixiao + March 7th(The Hunt)+ Robin + Trailblaze(Remembrance）

Turn of Luck allows follow-up attacks to break Toughness even when the target doesn’t match the Weakness. Feixiao and March 7th, with their frequent follow-up attacks, can steadily chip away at Toughness, making it effective against the boss’s high RES and long Toughness bars.

 

Conclusion

And that wraps up the full guide to the “Ichor Beast” in Version 3.4’s “Apocalyptic Shadow”! Feeling more confident about taking down the boss now? As long as you understand the boss mechanics and build your team wisely, earning full stars will be a breeze.

Need extra resources during the fight? Don’t forget to top up your Oneiric Shard at LDShop—grab tons of it at better prices and power up your squad faster. Ready to go? Let’s get out there and crush it, Trailblazers!