Honkai Nexus Anima Team Building Guide: 5 Aspect Boards the Ranked Roster Supports

How to read the boards

Each board lists six Anima and the row we would start each one in. The sixth is marked Flex, because once a cluster is past the threshold, another unit of the same Aspect adds less than the best unit of any Aspect. Protector, Striker and Biggun go forward, Gladiator and Explorer sit in the middle, and Blaster, Mastermind, Spook, Cherubim and Mascot go to the back. Hothead goes either way, which is why Mesmerith starts in front on Board 1 and at the back on Board 5. The Trait is only the starting point: where a skill needs a different row, a board says so, as with Hoppelon on Board 3 and Chowpownd on Board 4.

These are the conventions our guides use, and the same ones behind the suggested row on each Anima’s page. The game enforces none of them, and it has not confirmed how many units each row holds, so check them again when official row data is published.

Each board also has a link that opens it in our Formation Builder, which counts Aspects and Traits as you move units around. The builder holds two Anima per row, so a board with three in one row opens with one of them moved to the middle; the counts are the same either way.

Board 1: Dark Wall

Lumehart (5★ A, Cherubim) can replace Mesmerith for MR shred, but that version requires moving one non-front Trait unit forward and is not represented by the linked Builder setup.

Open the Dark Wall in the Formation Builder. Mesmerith fills the Flex slot in the front row.

Felinoxie’s shroud lowers the damage enemies inside it deal, and Lumeridon’s wave raises the damage its targets take. The two effects sit on different units and only overlap while both are active, but when they do, the board trades much better than it would with either one alone. Waxula’s Count arrives where enemies are densest, which is usually where Noctumbra’s mark and Lumeridon’s line have landed too. Five Dark units clear the threshold with one to spare.

The weak point is the carry. Waxula is a B-tier 5-star whose damage comes through a summon on a timer, so if the Dark bonus turns out small at launch, the board has no S- or A-tier carry of its own and leans on the Flex slot. It also has no healing, which makes a long fight against steady damage its worst case. Under the current Traits only Felinoxie is a natural front-row unit, so the front line is thin in the Lumehart version.

Board 2: Memory Snapshot

Open the Memory Snapshot in the Formation Builder. Chowpownd opens in the middle row; move it next to Camcorgi if you want its Attack SPD on the same row.

Inkicorn’s stun and Faeflux’s imprison both count as control, so each one refunds Camcorgi 5 Energy and makes its next volley crit. Cinechel holds the front, heals through the opening burst, and then shreds Armor within 2 hexes, which helps Camcorgi’s photos because they deal physical damage. Framamba sits in Camcorgi’s row and gives it 30% Attack SPD and 30% basic-attack damage for 5 seconds. Put Chowpownd in the same back row and its 24% Attack SPD joins in: 54% on paper, past the 50% step that adds a photo, although we have not seen whether the two buffs stack that simply. The Memory count is three: Cinechel, Camcorgi and Framamba. Inkicorn now counts as Oblivion and stays for its stun and shield.

The board depends on control by design. Against enemies that resist or cleanse it, Camcorgi plays like an ordinary damage dealer and the plan goes with it. Cinechel is the other soft spot: our database lists its enhanced flashes at 1.0% Physical DMG each, which looks low, so if that figure is right, Cinechel is a durable shredder rather than a source of damage. C’locked can take its slot and keep the count at three, at the cost of a tier. With only three Memory units, losing any one of them drops the board below the threshold.

Board 3: Competition Arena

Open the Competition Arena in the Formation Builder, with Lumehart in the Flex slot. Hoppelon is an Explorer, but it starts in front because its shield and split are built to absorb the opening hits; that is a skill-based exception, not the Trait default. Lumehart opens in the middle only because the builder holds two Anima per row.

Hoppelon has to be killed twice, Eggnok knocks enemy formations apart in the space Hoppelon holds, and Cumulon finishes whoever is lowest. The Competition count is three, all B tier: Furrari, Marshalbird and Eggnok. Hoppelon and Cumulon are off-Aspect 5-stars. Pomparrot is also Competition and is left out on purpose; the 5-star ranking explains why.

All of its damage is physical and most of it comes from Cumulon. If Cumulon gets focused, or the enemy has high Armor and the Flex slot went to Lumehart instead of Heartcease, the board holds the line and never finishes the fight. Competition is also exactly at the threshold, so losing Furrari, Marshalbird or Eggnok drops the bonus; Eggluvs (C) is the only other Competition unit besides Pomparrot.

Board 4: Light Sustain

Open Light Sustain in the Formation Builder. Chowpownd is now a Protector, but it stays at the back so its row shield covers Lumehart.

Light has three quality units, so this board stops at the threshold and spends its other slots on magic damage that Lumehart’s shred keeps amplifying. Mesmerith, Chowpownd and Glampa all deal magic damage, and Glampa fits a board that plans to go long.

That plan is also the risk. Glampa contributes nothing for its first 8 seconds, so content with a timer, or enemies that burst a back-row unit before the shred stacks, can beat the board before it gets going. It also runs three 5-stars, which most players will not own early.

Board 5: Mesmerith Splash

Open Mesmerith Splash in the Formation Builder.

This board is for players who took Mesmerith at Level 18 and want the Hate bonus without a Hate roster. It reaches three Hate units and three Dark units. It is also the board where Parayaya fits as the Animaster, since her ultimate scales with a 5-star Hate Anima.

Hate has only two good units, so the third slot goes to Taileep, a C-tier unit holding a back-row spot. If the Hate bonus at launch is small, this board is strictly worse than the Dark Wall with Mesmerith in the Flex slot. Swap Taileep and Rosfurcate for Vixemourne and Waxula and you have the Dark Wall.

Aspects not to build around

Satiation has six units, but Vulberry, Nomnom, Pupanoo, Frigull and Hamburgoof are all C tier, so use Puddlipup inside other boards. The one experiment worth trying is Hamburgoof in Chowpownd’s row for the Attack SPD, which the 5-star ranking covers.

Beauty and Insatiability have one good unit each, Plumelune and Chowpownd. Strength now has Bladehound and Cumulon plus three C-tier units, so it can reach a count with one C-tier filler, but neither 5-star needs the bonus to do its job. Reality has two units (Hoppelon and Mimoo), and the single-unit Aspects (Joy, Peace, War and Ugliness) cannot reach a count at all, which is fine for Scorscythe. Hate, as covered above, is better used as a splash than as a build.

What would change these boards

1. Row data. Our database has no verified row for any Anima yet, so every placement above follows a Trait convention. Confirmed rows could move units between Front and Back and change which Flex picks make sense.
2. The Aspect threshold and bonus size. If the launch threshold is above three, the Light and Mesmerith Splash boards stop reaching it. If the bonus is small, the Dark Wall gains little over a mixed board of the best units.
3. Skill data for the 18 Evolution Test Anima. Five of them are Reality, so confirmed kits would take Reality from two units to seven and give Hoppelon a cluster. Those 18 are tracked in the Evolution Test roundup.

Honkai Nexus Anima team building FAQ

Which Aspect should I build around first?
Dark. It is the only Aspect with five units at B tier or better (Waxula plus four 4-stars), so a Dark board fills every slot without a C-tier unit.

Can I mix Aspects on one board?
Yes, and most boards here do. Once a cluster passes the count threshold, the sixth slot is a Flex pick: the best unit available, whatever its Aspect.

What about the 18 Evolution Test Anima?
None of them are ranked yet because they have no confirmed skill data. Five are Reality, so once their kits are confirmed they could give Hoppelon a cluster; until then they are tracked in the Evolution Test roundup.

Sources

• Counts, tiers, Aspects and Traits: our Anima Database and Anima Tier List, checked October 17, 2026, updated November 10, 2026. How Aspect and Trait data are sourced: Official Sources: Anima data.
• Test period and access: HoYoverse, Evolution Test recruitment announcement and Evolution Test FAQ, HoYoLAB.
• Board links open in our Formation Builder, which tallies Aspects and Traits as you place units.