Honkai: Star Rail features classic MiHoYo visuals mixed with a tactical twist on traditional turn-based combat. Players join the star-traveling Astral Express, chugging between worlds on their journey as Trailblazers. In the first major world the crew stations at, Jarilo-VI, players are immediately thrown into combat.
Things get worse for the team before they come face-to-face with the major boss of the world: Cocolia.
How To Defeat Cocolia (Stage 1)
By now, the crew of the Astral Express has toppled their fair share of difficult battles, including Cocolia’s loyal head-of-guard, Gepard, but nothing has prepared the team for the battle against Cocolia. Her first form, however, is deceptively simple. She is weak to lightning, quantum, and fire damage types, but this first form does not necessarily require a party full of her weaknesses to topple it.
Any team should be able to dish out chunks of damage at a regular clip, even if they cannot drain Cocolia’s shield. After this version falls, however, comes the big battle (and one that can be challenged repeatedly for rewards later as an Echo of War). Do not forget to bring along a healer if the party is not filled with characters able to drop Cocolia’s shield. The lengthier ensuing battle may consume a considerable amount of healing. Natalia is a pretty useful F2P character.
How To Defeat Cocolia, Mother Of Deception
Here is where the real challenge begins, especially when first crossing blades with Cocolia in the story. Fortunately, players are pushed into a party selection screen in order to adjust the party with a catch: the Trailblazer is a mandatory addition in this phase of the fight. Since Cocolia, Mother of Deception retains the same weaknesses as before, this should be beneficial (as the Trailblazer unlocks their fire damage type and uses their trial mode in battle, meaning the character may be more powered up than they already may be). The battle begins with just the physical damage type Trailblazer before unlocking the preservation path. Once that happens, the trial version is available and the rest of the party can be brought in.
Keeping a healer in the party is vital, and, if stuck with F2P characters, a powered-up Dan Heng or Serval will help. Characters with high defense are useful, too, particularly in the first fight with the Mother of Deception, as she is capable of dealing massive damage. If desperate, March 7th can be useful as a shield spammer, since she innately counter-attacks any enemy that damages an ally with her shield. Cocolia has two health bars able to absorb a ton of damage, so be careful to heal and attack in moderation. Conservation in this first attempt is key, as most players will likely not be overpowered for this battle.
The good news is that during the initial battle, the party gains access to the Engine of Creation attack. As characters utilize their basic attack or skill, the bar fills (much like the Path Resonance in the Simulated World). Trigger this ability as soon as it’s charged every time to deal significant damage to Cocolia and any additional Lances of Eternal Freeze she may have summoned. These ice Lances temporarily disable her weaknesses, so the party cannot chip away at Cocolia’s shield until the Lances are dispersed. Future iterations of Cocolia, Mother of Deception as seen in her Echo of War battle include the Engine of Creation from the onset. Use this as often as possible, too, to topple her. In both scenarios, a strong Fire character is extremely useful in vanquishing the Ice Lances and Cocolia’s shield, and the Trailblazer’s ultimate deals excellent AoE Fire damage to all enemies. Additionally, their shield skill will taunt Cocolia while increasing defense, making them a useful addition that is F2P. Whittle away her shield and health bar before bringing her down for good.
Cocolia, Mother Of Deception’s Skillset
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Bone-Shattering Cold |
Deals Ice damage to one target. This is essentially her basic attack. |
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Icy Rain of Annihilation |
Deals Ice damage to the entire team. |
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Heartless Annihilator Call |
Summons the Lances of Eternal Freeze, which protect Cocolia from taking weakness damage. |
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Genesis Chord |
Deals Imaginary damage and imprisons its target, which slows down the ally by 50% for one turn. |
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Harbinger of Annihilation |
This is the first step in a greater ability. It will lock onto a single target, preparing its next attack (Soulrend Coldstream). Using Trailblazer’s skill to taunt Cocolia will have her focus her attention on them, saving other allies from this attack. Breaking her shield will also cancel the lock on and charge. |
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Soulrend Coldstream |
Deals incredible damage (nearly three times normal damage) to the locked-on target with a 100% chance to Freeze them, too, which skips a turn. If Bronya is in the party, her upgraded skill can remove one status ailment for the ally she targets, which would eliminate Freeze and allow that character to have a turn. |
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The Creation’s Prelude |
This is a one-turn charge for Last Choir of Genesis. Again, breaking Cocolia’s shield will stun her out of the cast. |
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Last Choir of Genesis |
Deals approximately double Imaginary damage to the entire team. Shields will help absorb some of this damage, and using Natalia’s special before or after to preserve life will also help. |
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Creator’s Resolve |
When Cocolia changes to a different phase, Cocolia’s speed increases and she deals Imaginary damage. |
Best Party Compositions
- An ideal party to take out Cocolia, Mother of Deception would consist of the Trailblazer, Seele, Bailu, and Jing Yuan. Each will deal increased damage due to targeting Cocolia’s weaknesses, and Jing Yuan and the Trailblazer have great AoE damage when needed. Seele deals massive Quantum damage to single targets. This combination should deplete Cocolia’s shield with haste while dealing the largest amount of damage to her HP bar. In the Echo of War battle, find a ‘friend’ who has Jing Yuan as a support unit and slot him in the final team spot.
- A more realistic party (especially for the first encounter) will likely consist of the Trailblazer, Serval, Natasha, and/or Dan Heng. While only Trailblazer and Serval will deal damage to Cocolia’s shields, Dan Heng can eliminate the Ice Lances quicker than most, especially if he has been invested in them.
With that, Cocolia, Mother of Deception should fall eventually. She can absorb a significant amount of damage, so the early encounter could turn into a battle of attrition. If the base party is weak or right around the suggested level, shielding and healing will be of utmost importance. Mix in the Engine of Creation as the gauge fills, and Cocolia should face defeat on the first attempt. If her Echo of War is too simple, remember to change the difficulty level before engaging in combat.