8 things to know before starting Honkai: Star Rail

Honkai: Starrail is Hoyoverse’s leap into turn-based combat in a mobile (and PC) game that brings out new versions of familiar characters, beautiful art, and an interesting and mysterious storyline.

The game itself is a perfect mix of both of Hoyoverse’s popular titles: Honkai impact 3rd And Genshin effect. Although it is not an open world à la Genshin, the character development, weapons and equipment systems, and the immersive story bring together some of the best things from both games. Sprinkle in turn-based combat, rather than the action combat of the games, and now you’ve got it Honkai: Starrail.

Below we provide a few tips for both those familiar with Hoyoverse’s games and new players looking for something interesting to add to their daily rotation of games to play.

Carefully search for chests and puzzles

Most maps have a set number of puzzles to complete and treasures to find, which you can see in the top left corner of your map. These chests don’t respawn, but they contain tons of useful loot, including premium currency (Stellar Jade). As you run around for the story, don’t be afraid to stray off the wrong corner – you’ll likely find a treasure chest waiting for you at the end of the path.

Weaknesses aren’t just for show

There are many games where you can brute force your way through enemies without focusing on the weaknesses actually provided. Sometimes, Star track is like this. Other times it isn’t. When it comes to boss fights and bigger enemies, you’ll fare better if you have a character or two that can exploit weaknesses.

Big enemy? No problem, just come back later

If you follow the tip above, you’ll see a lot of huge, looming enemies in front of chests. Their names can glow red, indicating that they are much higher level than you. It’s possible to refine and defeat these monsters if you’re lower level, but it’s easier to just come back later. Make a mental note and come take them out after you turn on a bit.

You need a lot of level up characters to complete the end game content

Getting to endgame content like the simulated universe and Forgotten Hall requires a lot of characters to level up. Forgotten Hall actually requires two teams of four (similar to Genshin effect‘s Spiral Abyss), so you’ll need at least eight level-up characters, all with their own gear and light cones, so don’t throw away all your extra gear right away.

Diversify your team with different elements and character types

All of the above said, you must keep at least one fully leveled up character per element. In the early game you don’t have to worry too much about this as you don’t have many characters to work with. However, as you progress and reach end-game content, you’ll want to make sure you can adapt to each enemy type and weakness.

You also want to make sure that your characters do functionally different things in addition to elements. You want supporters to heal and protect your team, keeping them healthy while other characters focus on doing all the damage.

Image: Hoyoverse via Polygon

Don’t forget Techniques before starting a battle

Each character has a special ability called a “technique” that they can use outside of battle. These can enhance a character or attack enemies from afar, causing them to freeze at the start of battle. You can only use these a few times before you need to refill your tech gauge, but you’ll want to make sure you take advantage of these abilities before you get into heavy combat.

Know the difference between the standard gacha banners and event gacha banners

Yes, as expected, Honkai: Starrail uses a gacha system to distribute characters and weapons. Most of the new characters and weapons will only be available for a few weeks.

These banners are labeled as ‘event warps’. If you miss one, don’t worry – they’ll probably return in the future. There is also a set of “standard warp” characters and weapons that you can always get from a separate standard banner.

When converting your Stellar Jade into warp passes, you’ll want to get Star Rail Special Passes to spend on the event’s warp banner. You regularly collect Star Rail Passes to use on the standard banner, but strategically the standard banner should not be your priority to don as it will never disappear. It’s possible to put these stock characters on the event banner, so by playing constantly you’ll end up with a bunch of these characters and weapons anyway.

Honkai: Star Rail is still a gacha mobile game

After you’re done with what’s available in the story, the gameplay loop is the same as in the rest of these games: you spend your stamina grinding for better gear and character upgrades. While you can just play through the story and then sign off until more become available, most of your time in this game will be spent on daily tasks and it’s important to remember that before you even get started.