UPDATE · Honor of Kings: World — Alpha recap
Hou Yi

Hou Yi

后羿

S Farm
Difficulty

Marksman

DPS Marksman Crowd Control/Initiate Late Game Easy

Also known as

Hou Yi's Chinese name is 后羿.

后羿

Quick summary

Hou Yi is a top-tier Farm Marksman who wants to output sustained ranged damage. Public guides recommend a build starting with Boots of Dexterity. Watch for Agudo-style counters in the enemy draft.

Current patch decision guide

When to pick Hou Yi, when to avoid them, and how to adapt your build.

Updated 2026-06-04

Hou Yi is a top-tier Farm Marksman who wants to create engage windows with stuns and slows. Public guide data shows a build centered on Boots of Dexterity, Twinblades of Destruction, Vampiric Scythe, used to farm the safe side, scale into late game, and protect priority targets. Pick him when the draft lets Hou Yi reach targets that aren't built around Agudo-style answers; avoid when the matchup denies the windows his kit needs.

Pick Hou Yi when

  • Your team needs a setup hero whose Afterglow creates kill windows for the carry
  • The enemy team has front-line targets that Hou Yi can chip down with sustained ranged damage
  • The enemy draft includes Cirrus, Mulan, and Xuance, who appear in counter data as matchups Hou Yi can pressure.

Avoid Hou Yi when

  • The enemy team is loaded with cleanse, dashes, and immunity that bypass crowd control
  • The game is decided early before the marksman can hit core item spikes
  • The enemy already drafted Agudo, who counter data identifies as direct answers to Hou Yi.

Power spikes

Early game: farm safely behind the support, surviving lane phase to reach the marksman scaling window.
Ultimate online: Burning Sun Arrow extends control duration, making team fights snowball off a single hit
Late game: full build online, Hou Yi reaches the spike public guides describe — extended fights favor him once items are completed.

Build decisions

Default farm path

Public build references for Hou Yi recommend Boots of Dexterity, Twinblades of Destruction, Vampiric Scythe, Shadow Ripper, Eternity Blade, and Doomsday. Use this as the baseline marksman plan before adapting to the enemy draft.

Situational item pivots

Spare options listed in build data include Daybreaker's Virtue, Sunchaser, Sage's Sanctuary, Destiny, and Haste - Sunpool. Treat these as situational swaps when the default path is not enough — for example, swapping in defensive items against burst comps or penetration items against stacked armor.

Matchup logic

Versus Agudo

Agudo is flagged in counter data as a direct answer to Hou Yi. Position behind the front line, save flash for the dive, and let the support set vision rather than walking forward to look for fights.

Versus mobility

Dashes and immunity skills bypass Hou Yi's control. Force the enemy mobility before committing Burning Sun Arrow, and aim control on stationary targets like channeling carries.

Synergies

Public synergy data lists Wuyan, Dun, and Menki as strong partners for Hou Yi. Plan engages around Wuyan's setup window, then second-engage with Burning Sun Arrow.

Common mistakes

  • Throwing Afterglow on the front-line tank instead of saving it for backline carries.
  • Auto-attacking instead of repositioning when the enemy assassin is missing — losing the marksman loses the fight.
  • Ignoring Agudo on the enemy team when picking fights — counter data flags them as direct answers, so engage timing must respect their cooldowns.
  • Auto-attacking through enemy dive instead of repositioning — losing the marksman in early fights collapses the late-game win condition.

Background

Solarus

The First Lands
“Finally, awake! It's time to hunt!”

Hou Yi is the only heroic marksman in the world to be made an by superbeings and trusted to carry out their will. He was ordered to destroy the Sun Tower as atonement for the superbeings' enslavement of the ferali. In his pursuit of destruction, the power-seeking sharpshooter felt inevitably drawn to the Sun Tower's brilliance and thus absorbed the Wonder's power, which cursed him to a deep slumber. When he woke up, the world was truly Hou Yi's hunting ground.

Race:
Enforcer
Height:
183 cm
Style:
Martial Arts
Nation:
Sun Tower
Title:
Enforcer

Source: Official Honor of Kings — canonical lore for Hou Yi.

Base Stats

Source: in-game capture (HoK Global v11.x, 2026-04-20)

Survivability

3362
Max HP
150
Phys DEF
75
Mag DEF
41
HP/5s

Offense

166
Phys ATK
10%
Atk Speed
200%
Crit DMG

Utility

370
Move Speed
600
Max Mana
15
Mana/5s
Ranged
Range

Current patch rates

Source: Camp API

Farm lane

Win rate
48.7%
Pick rate
2.8%
Ban rate
0.2%

Rates are role-specific snapshots from the current Honor of Kings Camp data refresh.

Build

How to choose a build

Start with the safe default badge if the draft looks normal, then swap to burst, anti-tank, sustain, or utility builds when the matchup clearly calls for it.

Crit attack speed

Safe default

Start here if the draft looks standard and you want the safest all-around setup.

Position 4

Critical strike

Burst damage

Best when you can reach squishier targets and convert quick kills.

Position 4

Populer

Critical strike

Burst damage

Best when you can reach squishier targets and convert quick kills.

Position 4

Critical strike

Burst damage

Best when you can reach squishier targets and convert quick kills.

Position 4

Critical strike

Burst damage

Best when you can reach squishier targets and convert quick kills.

Position 4

Critical strike

Burst damage

Best when you can reach squishier targets and convert quick kills.

Position 4

Critical strike

Burst damage

Best when you can reach squishier targets and convert quick kills.

Position 4

Critical strike

Burst damage

Best when you can reach squishier targets and convert quick kills.

Position 4

Teratas

Crit attack speed

Burst damage

Best when you can reach squishier targets and convert quick kills.

Position 4

Presets

Recommended Build

Spells

Flash

Skills

passive Chastising Shot

Basic Attack hits grant Attack Speed and 1 stack of enhancement.At 3 stacks, enhanced Basic Attacks shoot 3 arrows, dealing more totaldamage than a regular Basic Attack.

skill1 Arrow Volley

Enhances Basic Attacks for 5s to deal heavy damage. At the same time, HouYi shoots arrows to hit two other enemies in front of him, dealing 50%damage.

skill2 Afterglow

Inflicts damage and slow on enemies in the target area while also gaining vision of the area.

ultimate Burning Sun Arrow

Fires an arrow in the target direction. Deals AoE damage upon hitting a hero inflicting stun and slow.

Skins

8 skins
Hou Yi skin: Cosmic Curator

Cosmic Curator

Hou Yi skin: URYU ISHIDA

URYU ISHIDA

Hou Yi skin: Starshooter

Starshooter

Hou Yi skin: Ranger Sagebow

Ranger Sagebow

Hou Yi skin: Perfect Calculation

Perfect Calculation

Hou Yi skin: Glorious Dawn

Glorious Dawn

Hou Yi skin: Golden Sagittarius

Golden Sagittarius

Hou Yi skin: Strike Team Alpha

Strike Team Alpha

Playstyle

Land control on the enemy carry, not the front-line tank — chain follow-up damage from teammates immediately after. Position behind your front-line, save flash for the dive, and let the support set vision.

Patch History

S13 Feb 2026 Stat Buffs

Increased skill damage

S13 Dec 2025 Stat Changes

Adjusted Skill Damage

S11 Aug 2025 Stat Nerfs

Skill Damage Adjustments

S10 May 2025 Stat Nerfs

Passive Attack Speed reduced

S6 Jul 2024 Stat Nerfs

Increased Basic Attack interval slightly

Show details

Hou Yi's stable Basic Attack and ability to target multiple enemies at once make it hard for other marksmen to compete with him, so we've lowered the frequency of his Basic Attacks slightly to give his enemies time to catch their breath.

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