HSR 4.0 Pure Fiction Tier List: E2 Sparkle Guide (2026)

Understanding Pure Fiction 4.0: Why This Mode Changes Everything

Pure Fiction differs from Memory of Chaos through its Grit mechanic and multi-wave structure. The scoring system awards 5 points per enemy defeat, requiring 20 defeats to reach 100 Grit. At maximum Grit, characters gain 100 Action Value and deal 50% increased damage. Three-star completion demands 60,000 points across two nodes (40,000 each).

Stage 4 features Level 85 enemies across multiple waves, demanding consistent damage output. The 12-star clear rewards 800 Stellar Jades and 600 Jade Feathers.

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Why Skill Point Economy Matters

Skill point management determines Pure Fiction success. A typical four-wave clear requires 16-20 character actions, with skills consuming 1 SP each. Teams starting with 3 SP and generating only through basic attacks face severe limitations.

E2 Sparkle breaks this economy. Her skill costs 1 SP but E2 provides 50% refund chance, effectively halving consumption. Combined with E4 Ultimate recovering 1 SP, she transforms from SP-neutral to SP-positive—enabling previously impossible team compositions.

E2 Sparkle Explained: The Eidolon That Broke Pure Fiction

Sparkle's Eidolon 2 Purely Fictitious ignores 8% DEF per Talent stack and provides 50% skill point recovery on skill use. This creates cascading advantages across multi-wave combat.

Level 80 Sparkle: 1397 HP, 523 ATK, 485 DEF, 101 Speed. Ultimate costs 110 energy with 5 energy per use, Skill generates 30 energy. This allows Turn 4 Ultimate casts at 100 energy.

50% Skill Point Recovery: Math Behind the Dominance

Standard rotation: Sparkle uses skill (costs 1 SP), has 50% chance to recover 1 SP (net cost 0.5 SP average). Over 10 skill uses, she consumes 5 SP instead of 10. This 5 SP difference enables five additional DPS skill casts—potentially 200-300k additional damage.

E0 Sparkle teams exhaust SP by wave 3, forcing basic attacks. E2 Sparkle teams maintain skill rotations through wave 4, preserving the 50% Grit damage bonus throughout combat.

With E4 adding 1 SP recovery on Ultimate (twice per run), you get 2 additional SP, further extending skill usage windows.

Action Advance Synergy with Multi-Wave Combat

Sparkle's skill provides 50% action advance, effectively granting 1.5 actions per action consumed. This acceleration allows DPS to eliminate enemies before they act.

The action advance synergizes with Grit by enabling faster enemy defeats. Reaching 100 Grit in 3-4 cycles instead of 5-6 cycles means activating the 50% damage bonus earlier, creating exponential scaling.

Speed tuning amplifies advantages. Maintaining Sparkle at 143+ speed ensures she acts before most enemies. Primary DPS at 120-130 speed receive action advance precisely when needed.

HSR 4.0 Pure Fiction Tier List: Complete Character Rankings

Prydwen's June 2026 tier list ranks Sparkle T0.5, while ldshop's V3.8 analysis maintains T0.5 placement. Mobalytics categorizes her as S-tier Support.

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S+ Tier: E2 Sparkle and Elite Meta Picks

E2 Sparkle occupies S+ tier alongside premium DPS who capitalize on her buffs. Her CRIT DMG scaling (60% from signature Earthly Escapade at S5) transforms strong damage dealers into Pure Fiction dominators.

Top pairings:

• Sparxie (Fire Elation DPS, launching March 6-26, 2026): Pairs with Yao Guang, Dan Heng, Permansor Terrae
• Jing Yuan: Benefits from action advance (accelerating Lightning-Lord attacks) and CRIT DMG buffs
• Seele: Quantum synergy with exceptional CRIT DMG scaling

Teams featuring Jing Yuan, Clara, Elation Trailblazer, and Sparkle achieve 60,000-point clears through coordinated follow-up attacks.

S Tier: High-Performance Characters

Characters who function well with Sparkle but don't fully capitalize on all mechanics. Topaz-based teams featuring Gallagher and flex DPS demonstrate 60,000-point capability with more flexibility.

A Tier and Below

A-tier characters require specific team configurations. Skill point-hungry DPS lacking innate SP generation fall here—they benefit enormously from E2 Sparkle's refunds but struggle without her.

B-tier: Characters with minimal CRIT DMG scaling or self-sufficient SP generation. Break effect-focused characters gain minimal benefit from CRIT DMG buffs—they prefer supports like Ruan Mei.

Why E2 Sparkle Dominates: Performance Analysis

E0 Sparkle with 4-star light cones achieves 60,000+ points. E2 upgrades push this to consistent maximum-score clears with reduced investment in other team members.

Clear time comparisons reveal 2-3 cycle advantages over alternatives. Where Bronya-based teams require 6-7 cycles for 60,000 points, E2 Sparkle teams achieve identical scores in 4-5 cycles.

E2 Sparkle vs Other Supports

vs Bronya: Bronya offers 100% action advance vs Sparkle's 50%, but costs 1 SP with no refund, creating negative SP economy. E2 Sparkle's 50% refund maintains skill rotations across all waves.

vs Robin: Robin provides team-wide ATK buffs benefiting all characters. E2 Sparkle's targeted CRIT DMG buffs concentrate power into one character. In hypercarry teams (one DPS contributes 70%+ damage), Sparkle's focused buffs outperform Robin's distributed advantages by 15-20%.

vs Ruan Mei: Ruan Mei specializes in break effect enhancement, providing minimal benefit to CRIT-focused hypercarries. Pure Fiction 4.0's enemy lineup favors burst damage over break mechanics.

Real Testing Results

Community testing confirms E2 Sparkle's accessibility:

• F2P accounts (E0 Sparkle + 4-star light cones): 60,000 points
• Moderate spenders (E2 Sparkle): Maximum scores with suboptimal relics
• Whale-tier accounts: Sub-3 cycle clears with signature light cones and premium DPS

Best E2 Sparkle Team Compositions for Pure Fiction 4.0

Optimal structure: 1 primary DPS (CRIT DMG scaling), 1 sustain, 1 flex slot. This maximizes buff uptime while maintaining survivability.

Hypercarry Setup: E2 Sparkle + Single DPS Core

Focus 70-80% team damage through one character. Optimal DPS: Seele, Jingliu, Jing Yuan.

Rotation:

• Turn 1: Sparkle technique, then basic attack (generate SP)
• Subsequent turns: Alternate Sparkle skill (advance DPS) and DPS skill
• Turn 4: Sparkle Ultimate at 100 energy (team buffs + 1 SP recovery via E4)

Speed tuning: Sparkle 143+, DPS 120-130. This ensures Sparkle acts immediately before DPS, maximizing buff uptime.

Dual DPS Configuration

Distribute damage between two characters. Topaz, Gallagher, Flex DPS, Sparkle composition demonstrates this approach.

SP management becomes critical—without E2's 50% recovery, dual DPS teams exhaust SP by wave 2. With E2, they maintain rotations through wave 4.

F2P Friendly Teams

Budget players achieve 60,000-point clears using 4-star light cones. Dance! Dance! Dance! provides 24% Advance Forward at S5, offering 80-85% of signature effectiveness while costing zero limited pulls.

Target stats (achievable without perfect substats):

• 160+ Speed (143+ minimum)
• 119%+ Energy Regeneration
• 4000-4500+ HP
• 175-210%+ CRIT DMG

Whale-Tier Compositions

Premium accounts combine E2 Sparkle with signature light cones, E6 DPS, and optimized relics. Earthly Escapade's 60% CRIT DMG at S5 provides unmatched buff scaling.

Sub-3 cycle clears achieved through overwhelming damage concentration. The 100 Grit threshold is reached in cycle 2, activating 50% damage bonus for remaining combat.

Optimal E2 Sparkle Build for Pure Fiction

Priority: Speed > Energy Regeneration > CRIT DMG.

Target stats:

• 160+ Speed (143+ minimum for Pure Fiction 4.0 breakpoint)
• 119%+ Energy Regeneration (consistent Ultimate uptime)
• 4000-4500+ HP (survivability)
• 175-210%+ CRIT DMG (maximum buff scaling)

Best Light Cones

1. Earthly Escapade (signature 5-star): 60% CRIT DMG at S5, optimal choice

2. Dance! Dance! Dance! (4-star): 24% Advance Forward at S5, F2P-friendly, maintains 80-85% effectiveness

Relic Sets and Stats

Messenger Traversing Hackerspace (4-piece): Speed bonuses and team-wide Speed buffs. The 12% Speed buff after Ultimate accelerates team rotation.

Main stats:

• Body: CRIT DMG
• Feet: Speed
• Planar Sphere: HP% or Quantum DMG%
• Link Rope: Energy Regeneration Rate

Substat priorities: Speed (160+ total) > Energy Regeneration (119%+) > CRIT DMG > HP%/DEF%

Speed Tuning Breakpoints

143+ Speed ensures Sparkle acts before most enemies. 160+ Speed provides additional turn frequency.

DPS at 120-130 Speed receive action advance precisely when needed. This 30-40 Speed gap maintains consistent turn order across waves.

Advanced tuning: Sparkle at exactly 143 Speed, DPS at exactly 120 Speed creates predictable 3-turn cycles for perfect SP management.

Character Synergy Guide: Who Works Best with E2 Sparkle

E2 Sparkle synergizes with skill point-hungry DPS who scale strongly with CRIT DMG.

Top 5 DPS Characters

1. Jing Yuan: Lightning-Lord benefits from action advance (accelerating attacks) and CRIT DMG buffs. Skill costs 1 SP, making E2 refunds critical.

2. Seele: Quantum synergy with exceptional CRIT DMG scaling. SP-hungry rotation makes E2 refunds transformative.

3. Jingliu: Transcendence state consumes HP instead of SP, but setup phase requires SP investment that E2 subsidizes.

4. Qingque: Requires extreme SP investment for tile manipulation. E2 uniquely enables consistent enhanced basic attacks.

5. Sparxie (launching March 6-26, 2026): Fire Elation DPS designed around CRIT scaling with exceptional Sparkle synergy.

Element and Path Considerations

Quantum element: Mono-Quantum teams with Seele and Sparkle enable element-specific buffs.

Elation path: Sparxie and Yao Guang (both Elation, Version 4.0) create new team possibilities around path-based mechanics.

Element matters less than mechanical synergy—Sparkle's buffs apply universally.

Common Mistakes and Misconceptions

When E2 Sparkle Isn't the Best Choice

• Break effect teams: Gain minimal benefit from CRIT DMG buffs. Use Ruan Mei instead.
• Multi-target DPS teams: Damage distributes across 3-4 characters. Robin's team-wide buffs outperform Sparkle's targeted enhancements.
• Sustain-heavy compositions: Don't capitalize on offensive buffs.

Skill Rotation Errors

• Casting skill on sustain/sub-DPS wastes targeted buffs
• Using Ultimate before 100 energy delays subsequent casts
• Spending to 0 SP without reserves—maintain 1-2 SP buffer for refund failures

Team Building Pitfalls

• Multiple SP-hungry characters exhaust reserves despite refunds
• Neglecting sustain results in team wipes
• Ignoring speed tuning creates inconsistent buff application

Advanced Strategies: Maximizing E2 Sparkle

Action Value Manipulation

Characters with 100 Speed have 10,000 action value. Sparkle's 50% action advance reduces target's AV by 5,000.

Time Sparkle's skill to interrupt enemy turn orders. If enemy sits at 1,000 AV and DPS at 3,000 AV, Sparkle's advance moves DPS to -2,000 AV (immediate action), eliminating enemy before it acts.

Wave Reset Timing

Cast Ultimate on first turn of new waves, ensuring full buff duration applies to combat. Avoid casting immediately before defeating final enemy—wastes buff duration on transition screen.

Synchronize Sparkle's Ultimate with 100 Grit activation for multiplicative scaling: her buffs enhance base damage that Grit amplifies by 50%.

Multi-Character Speed Tuning

Complex teams require precise thresholds:

• Sparkle: 160 Speed
• Primary DPS: 120 Speed
• Sub-DPS: 110 Speed
• Sustain: 100 Speed

Creates predictable 4-turn cycles where each character acts once in optimal order.

Investment Analysis: Should You Pull for E2 Sparkle?

Cost-Benefit Breakdown

Worst-case cost: 360 pulls (180 for E0, 180 for E2) = 57,600 Stellar Jades or $300-400. Average costs: 240-280 pulls.

Performance gain: 1-2 cycle reduction, 25-30% improvement in clear consistency. For players at 50,000-55,000 points with E0, E2 enables consistent 60,000-point clears.

ROI calculation: If E2 enables maximum rewards for 10 Pure Fiction cycles, that's 8,000 Stellar Jades gained. The 57,600 Jade investment returns 8,000 Jades (14% direct return) plus improved gameplay experience.

Alternative Investments

• New premium DPS + signature: Creates entirely new team (team diversity vs optimization)
• Multiple E0 supports (Robin, Ruan Mei, Bronya): Enables flexible team construction (adaptability vs peak performance)
• Signature light cones for existing characters: 20-30% damage increases at 160 pulls each (broad improvements vs concentrated enhancement)

Future-Proofing

E2 Sparkle's mechanics (SP generation, CRIT DMG buffs, action advance) represent fundamental game mechanics unlikely to become obsolete. Future DPS will continue scaling with CRIT DMG and benefiting from action advance.

However, Version 5.0+ may feature Harmony characters that outperform E2 Sparkle, reducing relative value.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is E2 Sparkle so strong in Pure Fiction? E2's 50% skill point recovery enables sustained skill rotations across multi-wave format, while CRIT DMG buffs and action advance maximize damage output. Teams maintain aggressive rotations without exhausting SP, achieving 60,000+ point clears consistently.

What does E2 Sparkle's eidolon do exactly? Eidolon 2 provides 50% chance to recover 1 skill point when using skill, and allies ignore 8% DEF per Talent stack. SP recovery averages 0.5 SP return per skill cast, effectively halving consumption from 1 to 0.5 per use.

Is E2 Sparkle worth pulling for Pure Fiction? Worth pulling if you struggle to achieve 60,000-point clears with E0, use skill point-hungry DPS (Jing Yuan, Seele), or want to optimize performance. Players already clearing comfortably with E0 gain marginal improvements that may not justify 360 pulls worst-case.

Which characters benefit most from E2 Sparkle? Jing Yuan, Seele, Jingliu, Qingque, and Sparxie benefit most through skill point-hungry rotations and strong CRIT DMG scaling. These characters transform from SP-negative to SP-neutral with refunds while capitalizing on targeted buffs.

How does E2 Sparkle compare to Bronya in Pure Fiction? E2 Sparkle offers superior SP economy (50% refunds vs Bronya's SP-negative usage), making Sparkle better for multi-wave format. Bronya provides stronger action advance (100% vs 50%) but exhausts SP by wave 3, forcing suboptimal basic attacks.

Can E0 Sparkle work in Pure Fiction or do you need E2? E0 Sparkle achieves 60,000-point clears with 4-star light cones and proper team construction. E2 significantly improves clear consistency and reduces cycle counts by 1-2 through enhanced SP generation, making challenging clears more accessible.