Best Yao Guang Light Cones HSR 2026
If you’re looking for the best Yao Guang Light Cone, this guide lists out every top-tier option, starting with her best-in-slot pick down to the best F2P alternative, so you don’t waste any resources chasing the wrong ones.
Before you pick the best Yao Guang Light Cone for your build, there’s one important fact to keep in mind – Yao Guang walks the Elation Path. While she can physically equip a Light Cone from any Path for its base stats, its unique passive abilities and skill effects will only trigger if she’s equipped with an Elation Light Cone.
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Best Yao Guang Light Cones Ranked (TL;DR)
| Rank | Light Cone | Why It Ranks Here |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | When She Decided to See | Her signature pick, built for SPD and Energy Regen, with a party-wide CRIT buff on Ultimate cast. |
| 2 | Mushy Shroomy’s Adventures | The best F2P pick that you can get from the Forgotten Hall store. |
| 3 | Today’s Good Luck | A strong 4-star option with CRIT Rate and a stackable Elation buff for a fraction of the cost. |
| 4 | Sneering | A budget 3-star pick that boosts her Elation during Aha’s Instant windows. |
When She Decided to See – Best in Slot

When She Decided to See is a genuinely strong pick for Yao Guang, but it’s not a required pull to make her work. Her kit already functions well on the 4-star alternatives below, so treat this cone as a quality-of-life upgrade rather than a hard requirement.
The main draw is the SPD boost and Energy Regen it grants the wearer, which directly helps Yao Guang’s Ultimate come online sooner. Her Energy economy is one of her weaker points, and this cone is one of the few tools that fixes it outright. On top of that, using her Ultimate on party members boosts the whole team’s CRIT Rate and CRIT DMG, which stacks nicely with her role as an Elation support.
The higher SPD also matters for her Aha, since it needs to reach its own SPD thresholds to act reliably during a turn. If you already own it, equip it. If not, don’t feel pressured to pull for it before finishing her build with the F2P and 4-star options below.
Best Alternatives to When She Decided to See

Today’s Good Luck is a genuinely competitive alt Light Cone for Yao Guang that you can run long-term if you don’t have or plan to pull for her signature. It carries CRIT Rate as its base stat, and its passive gives Yao Guang a stackable Elation buff, which keeps her contributing more Aha Instants across a fight.

Sneering is the cheapest option on this list. As a 3-star cone, it’s easy to max out early, and its passive boosts Yao Guang’s own Elation specifically during Aha’s Instant windows. It won’t outperform the two picks above, but it’s a fine stopgap while you’re building towards something stronger.
Best F2P Light Cone for Yao Guang

Mushy Shroomy’s Adventures is the best F2P Light Cone for Yao Guang, and it’s obtainable directly from the Forgotten Hall store. Its passive increases the Elation DMG Taken debuff on enemies, which pairs well with her own Elation-focused kit.
The trade-off is that it offers no Energy utility, so your Ultimate uptime will have to lean more on your relic and team choices.
Verdict: Which Light Cone Should You Give Yao Guang?

When She Decided to See is the best pick for Yao Guang if you already own it or can pull it without sacrificing another character’s build, thanks to its SPD, Energy Regen, and team-wide CRIT buff on Ultimate.
If you’d rather save your pulls, Today’s Good Luck gets you most of the same value for a fraction of the cost, and Mushy Shroomy’s Adventures covers the F2P route without leaving her build incomplete.
FAQs
The best F2P Light Cone for Yao Guang is Mushy Shroomy’s Adventures, since it’s obtainable for free from the Forgotten Hall store and directly boosts the Elation DMG Taken debuff her kit relies on.
Yes, When She Decided to See is worth it for Yao Guang if you already have it, because it’s the only cone here that solves her Energy problem while also buffing the whole team’s CRIT stats on Ultimate. It’s a luxury pick, not a required one, since her F2P and 4-star options already cover her core rotation.
Yes, Yao Guang can use Meshing Cogs, but its Energy Regen passive won’t trigger since it’s a Preservation-Path Light Cone. She can equip it for its base stats alone, but you’ll get far more value from an Elation-Path pick like her signature cone or Mushy Shroomy’s Adventures.
Yao Guang’s signature Light Cone is When She Decided to See, built around SPD, Energy Regen, and a team CRIT buff tied to her Ultimate.
Yes, Yao Guang is strong enough without her signature Light Cone. Both Today’s Good Luck and the F2P Mushy Shroomy’s Adventures cover her core Elation playstyle.