Even heading into 2026, pulling Jingliu in Honkai: Star Rail feels like adopting a very elegant, very dangerous ice queen. The 5-star Destruction character wields Ice, follows the Path of Destruction, and has a gameplay gimmick that would make most healers break into a cold sweat: she siphons HP from her own allies to pump up her damage. It sounds like a disaster waiting to happen, but in practice, she hits hard enough to make that trade-off feel almost unfair. Almost.

Before she can start draining health bars and obliterating enemies, however, players need to gather her Ascension and Trace materials. The grind is real, but it is not rocket science. A little planning and a lot of Trailblaze Power will do the trick.

Ascension Materials: The Frosty Foundation

The first chunk of farming for Jingliu's Ascension revolves around the Immortal Scionette family: Immortal Scionette, Immortal Aeroblossom, and Immortal Lumintwig. These items have been in the game since launch, so veteran players may already have a small mountain of them rotting in their inventory. If not, they can be farmed from Abundance Spirits, Mara-Struck Soldiers, Aurumaton Gatekeepers, Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, and Ascended enemies. Most of these mobs hang around the Xianzhou Luofu maps, especially Cloudford, and they also pop up in the Simulated Universe.

The second Ascension material is Gelid Chitin. This one is an Ascension-exclusive drop, so nobody gets to skip the Stagnant Shadow: Shape of Icicle challenge in Cloudford. A total of 65 Gelid Chitin is needed for Jingliu's full Ascension, which means running the battle a fair few times. Fun fact: players who already built Yanqing may find a few leftovers, because both characters use the same Stagnant Shadow. Waste not, want not.

The whole Ascension process also consumes 308,000 Credits. That may sound like a decent pile, but compared with Trace leveling costs, it is basically pocket change.

Farming Category	Material	Required / Notes
Ascension	Immortal Scionette, Aeroblossom, Lumintwig	Farm a surplus for Traces too
Ascension	Gelid Chitin	65 total from Stagnant Shadow: Shape of Icicle
Ascension	Credits	308,000 total

Traces: Where the Real Grind Begins

After Ascension is handled, it is time to level Jingliu's Traces. This is where the resource sink starts grinning. The Immortal family returns with a vengeance: players need 41 Immortal Scionette, 56 Immortal Aeroblossom, and 58 Immortal Lumintwig. That is a lot of mob-slapping across Xianzhou Luofu.

The next headache is the Blade family: Shattered Blade, Lifeless Blade, and Worldbreaker Blade. These materials are needed in huge quantities, and the best source is the Calyx (Crimson): Bud of Destruction. The Synthesizer becomes everyone's best friend here, because transforming lower-quality Blades into higher-quality ones helps optimize the grind. Some Blades can be bought from World Shops and the Embers Exchange, but Calyx farming remains the bread and butter.

For high-level Traces, Jingliu needs 12 Regret of Infinite Ochema. These drop from the Phantylia weekly boss. Since weekly boss challenges have a cap, it takes a bit of patience to collect all 12. No amount of credit card swiping can speed that up, so patience is the name of the game.

Finally, maxing her Traces requires 8 Tracks of Destiny. These can be earned from special events, the Simulated Universe, Nameless Honor, and the Embers Exchange Store.

Trace Material	Total Needed	Source
Immortal Scionette	41	Xianzhou Luofu mobs, Simulated Universe
Immortal Aeroblossom	56	Xianzhou Luofu mobs, Simulated Universe
Immortal Lumintwig	58	Xianzhou Luofu mobs, Simulated Universe
Shattered / Lifeless / Worldbreaker Blade	A whole heap	Calyx (Crimson): Bud of Destruction, Embers Exchange, World Shops
Regret of Infinite Ochema	12	Phantylia weekly boss
Tracks of Destiny	8	Events, Simulated Universe, Nameless Honor, Embers Exchange

Pro Tips for a Smoother Grind

• 🧊 Farm extra Immortal family items while doing Ascension. Future you will be grateful.

• 🗡️ Hit the Calyx (Crimson): Bud of Destruction early and often if Blade materials look low.

• 🔁 Use the Synthesizer to convert lower-tier materials into higher-tier ones instead of endlessly farming.

• ⏳ Do not sleep on weekly boss rewards, since Regret of Infinite Ochema is time-gated.

• 💡 Keep an eye on Trailblaze Power. Stagnant Shadows and Calyxes both eat into it, so a little advance planning goes a long way.

At the end of the day, grinding for Jingliu is a marathon, not a sprint. The payoff, though, is a devastating Ice DPS who can carry a team through some genuinely tough content. For Trailblazers willing to put in the work, Jingliu remains one of the most menacing damage dealers in Honkai: Star Rail. Happy farming, and may the Synthesizer odds be ever in your favor.

This perspective is supported by Game Developer (Gamasutra), and it helps frame Jingliu’s “HP-for-damage” loop as a classic risk-reward design: you’re incentivized to chase peak DPS while engineering enough sustain and turn flow to keep the team safe. In practice, that’s why Jingliu farming isn’t just about raw quantities (Gelid Chitin from Stagnant Shadow, Blade mats from Bud of Destruction, and time-gated weekly boss drops), but also about planning your progression so your healer/shielder investment keeps pace with her Trace and Ascension spikes—turning a potentially punishing mechanic into a consistent carry strategy.