HSR 3.3 Apocalyptic Shadow Best Teams & Buff - Cutting Mistral Guide

Hello, Trailblazers! The new challenge Apocalyptic Shadow -- Cutting Mistral in Honkai Star Rail 3.3 has just refreshed. This round's bosses feature the Annihilator of Desolation Mistral and Soulhook Sovereign. Wondering how to defeat these formidable foes? Don't worry - here we provide a detailed analysis of enemy mechanics and best team compositions to help you achieve that perfect full-star clear! Keep reading！

 

Challenge Buff

• When an enemy unit with "SteadfastSafeguard" is Weakness Broken, dispelscontrol states for all allies, recoverstheir Skill Points, and activates theirUltimates.
• Increases all allies' HP restored by50%.

This challenge is divided into two parts.

The first half focuses on breaking shields and dealing with groups of enemies. You need to clear summons quickly and shift the weakness back to the main boss.

The second half is about handling shifting weaknesses, pressure from summons, and team-wide damage reduction.

Both parts have Ice resistance, with no Ice weakness at all. There's also no buff that works well for The Herta. Even with Anaxa, it's still tough.

You could say that the top-tier DPS from last version, The Herta, is now out of a job in the 3.3 “Apocalyptic Phantom” update.

 

Node 1: Annihilator of Desolation Mistral

Boss Mechanic & Counterplay

Core Mechanic:
The boss can summon and protect herself. These summons can give shields or taunt your team, so it's best to deal with them first. The boss can also shift its weakness to other enemies. When the target with the weakness is defeated, the weakness goes back to the boss and also lowers its toughness more.

All enemies have 20% damage reduction, but the more weakness types they have, the more damage they take.

Best Elements:
Quantum = Lightning > Fire = Wind

 

Counterplay:

• Phase I — Annihilator of Desolation Mistral
  Boss Mirage will use abilities to Freeze and deal DMG to targets. Gepard can Shield his team.
  • Strategy:
    Take out the summons first. Defeating all of them will send the weakness back to the boss phantom. When Cocolia acts for the first time in Phase 1 or 2, she summons 2 or 4 Iceblades and splits her weakness between them. Defeat the summons to return the weakness to Cocolia and break more of her toughness.
  • Ignore Gepard. His HP is higher than his shield value, so it's better to focus on breaking Cocolia's toughness. When Phase 2 starts, Gepard will leave on his own. During the fight, Gepard uses his shield skill on his second turn, so try to break Cocolia's weakness before that. At that moment, she becomes 100% more vulnerable to damage, which helps you break through the shield faster.
  • If Gepard casts a full team shield, break it quickly and take him down fast.
• Phase II — Annihilator of Desolation Mistral: Mother of Deception.
• Boss Mirage will keep using Last Choir of Genesis to deal massive DMG to everyone, as well as abilities that will restrict the team's actions.
  • Strategy:
    Take down the summons first, then break the boss phantom's weakness as soon as possible. Bring a survival support who can clear crowd control effects.
  • In Phase I, enemies freeze your characters. In Phase II, they imprison them. Since this fight is all about managing your action turns, losing control of key characters can really hurt your chances. You can't rely only on the group cleanse that comes from breaking weaknesses—having a reliable debuff remover is important.

 

Node 1 Buffs

Call of Dawn：Increases memosprite's Weakness Break Efficiency by 50%. lgnores 20% of the target's DEF when memosprite deals DMG.

— A damage boost for memosprites. Great for teams that use memosprite-based damage dealers like Castorice, Jing Yuan, or Hyacine. Also works well with characters on the Memory Path.

Barren of Life：When characters attack Weakness Broken enemies, all DoTs currently applied tothe enemies will immediately deal DMG equal to 80% of the original DMG. Thiseffect can trigger a max of 2 time(s) on each character in a single turn.

— A strong boost for DoT teams, especially Imaginary-type or characters who focus on damage over time. Great for those who deal burst damage when enemies are Weakness Broken.

Sweeping Force：Increases the CRIT DMG of Ultimate DMG dealt by 30%, with an additionalincrease of 30% against enemy targets that are Weakness Broken.

— A crit damage buff for characters who rely on their Ultimate for big damage. Best for those who can hit harder when enemies are Weakness Broken

 

First Half Team Recommendations

(First number = Eidolon level, second number = Signature Light Cone)

Castorice Team —— Call of Dawn (buff 1)

01 Castorice+ 00 Tribbie+Trailblazer+ 00 Hyacine

This team makes the challenge super easy. The ice pillars that stress other teams are actually helpful here—they just trigger Castorice's dragon summons faster. Every wave of summoned dragons clears all the pillars. Once the weakness returns to Cocolia, the dragons and Call of Dawn buff make breaking her toughness fast and smooth. After that, it's an easy ride.

Aglaea Team —— Call of Dawn (buff 1)

01 Aglaea+Sunday+Robin+Huohuo

Aglaea also works well here. She's a Memory Path DPS and can use Call of Dawn too. While she's not great at full AoE clearing, her fast normal attacks make up for it—just hit more, and the pillars go down. Once Cocolia's weakness is broken, Aglaea's damage is enough to finish the job. 

Kafka Team —— Barren of Life(buff 2)

01 Kafka +10 Black Swan+ 10 Ruan Mei+ 00 Hyacine

Core Strategy:
Use Kafka's Ultimate to quickly weaken the two side pillars, then break Cocolia's toughness before Gepard casts his shield. With Barren of Life, DoT damage explodes, helping you smash Gepard's shield quickly. After that, just focus on keeping your team alive.

Feixiao Team —— Sweeping Force(buff3)

01 Feixiao + 10 Robin+ March 7th+Aventurine

Feixiao has a tough time finishing enemies off here. If you have E1 Robin, it gets much easier. Without her, Feixiao needs maxed gear and high investment to perform well. You also need some RNG—Gepard's taunt shouldn't target and one-shot your key units. If you have Hyacine, she can replace Aventurine for better results.

 

Node 2: Soulhook Sovereign

Boss Mechanic & Counterplay

Node 2 is a long fight focused on weakness shifting, summon pressure, and teamwide damage reduction. You need to clear the summons first to get the boss's weakness back and create a chance for a big break-and-burst moment.

Best Elements: Physical = Fire = Wind = Imaginary

 

Counterplay:

• Phase I: Cryopyre Duet
• Boss Mirage will summon Blaze Out of Space and Ice Out of Space to assist it in battle, and transmit its own Weakness Type to the summons.
• In Phase I, the Outer Ice can charge up and might freeze your team. 
  • Strategy:
  • Prioritize defeating the summons. Defeating all summons will make the Weakness Type transmit back to the Boss Mirage.
  • Summon priority: Some teams can ignore weaknesses or add new ones, but if you're handling them directly, here's the priority:
• Phase II: The Game Is On
  • Boss Mirage will summon Dreamjolt Troupe's Beyond Overcooked and Memory Zone Meme "Shell of Faded Rage" to assist it in battle, and transmit its own Weakness Type to the summons.
  • In Phase II, the Seventeen Seared (from the Dream Theater) attacks multiple times to cancel its own charge and then does AoE damage plus 50% DEF debuff to enemies.
  • Strategy: Prioritize defeating the summons. Defeating all summons will make the Weakness Type transmit back to the Boss Mirage. 

Node 2 Buffs

Crimson Tide: Increases Physical DMG dealt by all allies by 50%. When a unit uses a Skill, restores 20% of that unit's HP.

—Great for Physical teams. It boosts damage and helps with healing too — makes things smoother and safer.

Turn of Luck: Follow-up ATK DMG dealt by characters ignores 15% of the enemy target'sAll-Type RES and can also reduce the Toughness of targets that do not have thecorresponding Weakness, with the effect being equivalent to 50% of the originalToughness Reduction from the ability.

——Helps follow-up units hit harder and still break Toughness even without the right element.

Rime Piercer: Increases all enemies' Break DMG taken by 10%. After Breaking an enemy'sWeakness,increases all allies' SPD by 20% for 2 turn(s).

—— Perfect for Break teams like Feixiao or Topaz. More damage on breaks, and speed boost helps keep up momentum.

 

Second half Team Recommendations:

Mydei Team —— Crimson Tide( buff 1)

Mydei+Sunday+Tribbie+Luocha

Buff 1 works well with three supports and one healer. Survival is pretty easy with this team.

FeixiaoTeam —— Turn of Luck (buff 2)

01 Feixiao+March 7th+ 00 Robin+ 00 Aventurine

Feixiao is great at single-target damage. Control her manually to clear the summons one by one. When only Kafka is left, Feixiao can finish easily.

FireflyTeam —— Rime Piercer (buff 3)

01 Firefly+ 00 Fugue+ 10 Ruan Mei+Lingsha

Firefly team feels smooth to play. Even though Kafka spreads the weakness out, Firefly can still apply Fire Weakness to her. Firefly hits 3 targets at once, so she can damage summons while breaking Kafka's toughness.

AnaxaTeam —— Rime Piercer (buff 3)

01 Anaxa+ 01 Sunday+ 00 Robin+ 00 Aventurine/Hyacine

Anaxa team is easy if you manage survival well. Hyacine can replace Aventurine if needed. This team also scores pretty well.

 

This concludes our comprehensive guide for Apocalyptic Shadow -- Cutting Mistral guide in Honkai Star Rail 3.3. With these mechanics mastered and proper team compositions, we're confident you'll secure that full-star clear!

For those needing to grab more resources, LDshop offers the most cost-effective HSR top-ups—get more Oneric Shard at better prices and dominate the challenge! The battlefield awaits—deploy your strategy now!