How to get free characters in Honkai: Star Rail

By James On Apr 26, 2023

Honkai: Starrail has a plethora of characters to use, and while you’ll probably have to rely on the gacha system to shape your parties, you actually get a ton of free characters by advancing early in the game.

Every character has one path, which classifies what kind of character they are, whether they specialize in defensive strategy, multi-target attacks, healing, or other combat methods. Each character also has one type, which is the element they attack with. All enemies have a weakness that you want to exploit.

Every character has one base attacka skill which requires skill points to use, and a Ultimate that requires a full power meter to run. In addition, characters are called passive skills talents and out-of-combat skills you can use before entering a battle called techniques.

You’ll want to fully utilize each character’s skills, path, and type to create a balanced party. Fortunately, you get a large number of characters to build with for free.

There are eight characters you can get for free: Asta, Dan Heng, Herta, March 7th, Natasha, Qingque, ServalAnd the Trailblazer.

Below we discuss how to get these characters and what they do.

The Trailblazer (The Destruction/physical, The Preservation/fire)

Image: Hoyoverse via Polygon

This is your main character, named as however you set them up. As you play through the game’s story, you’ll unlock multiple forms for them. Initially, they start with The Destruction path and physical type, but at the end of the Jarilo-VI storyline you will unlock another form. This second form is the Burn Type Preservation path. You can freely switch between the forms by selecting “switch” under their light cone.

Overall, the Trailblazer is strong and worth using, especially in the beginner character pool. Their physical damage form allows them to deal an extra large wave of damage to the enemies and their fire form allows them to provoke and deal damage to your allies.

March 7 (The Preservation/ice cream)

The March 7 in-game Honkai: Star Rail model next to her splash art. March 7 is a young girl with pink hair and a blue outfit

March 7 unlocks shortly after starting the story.

She serves as a prop that can freeze enemies and protect allies. She will react to allies being shielded, and she can freeze enemies at the start of battle by using her technique, which makes her quite valuable.

Dan Heng (The Hunt/Wind)

Dan Heng's Honkai: Star Rail in-game model with its splash art. Dan Heng is a tall man with dark hair and a white and green outfit

Dan Heng will be unlocked next to March 7 very early in the story.

It deals massive wind damage to one target. He can also improve himself by using his technique before a fight, making him even stronger.

Asta (the harmony/fire)

Asta's Honkai: Star Rail in-game model with her splash art. Asta is a red-haired girl in a white and pink outfit

Asta is who you are guaranteed to get from the gacha pulling tutorial.

She is a fire-type buffer and increases her allies’ speed and attack with her abilities. Her technique allows her to start the fight with some AoE fire damage.

Serval (The erudition/lightning)

Serval's in-game Honkai: Star Rail model with her splash art. Serval is a punk aesthetic woman with blond hair and a white, black and blue outfit.

Serval is a free character, given out because players reach a certain number of pre-registrations. You can claim her from your inbox once you access that menu.

She specializes in multi-target lightning strikes. Her ability can also deal shock damage to targets over time, and she will do even more damage if her targets are shocked. Her technique allows her to deal lightning damage to any enemy and shock all enemies.

Natasha (The Abundance/Physical)

Natasha's in-game Honkai: Star Rail model with her splash art. Natasha is a woman with dark teal hair and a white, black and teal outfit.

You unlock Natasha as you work your way through the Jarilo-VI story shortly after meeting her.

A healer at heart, she focuses primarily on restoring HP to allies. If you’re not running on March 7, you’ll probably need to run Natasha to get some healing and defense options. Her technique hits an enemy and applies a weakness debuff to all enemies.

Herta (The Erudition/ice cream)

Herta's in-game Honkai: Star Rail model with her splash art. Herta is a little brown-haired girl in a black and white dress.

You can unlock Herta for free by clearing World 2 from Simulated Universe. You get extra Eidolons for completing World 4 and 6.

Herta is another multi-target attacker, but she specializes in ice. She launches follow-up attacks when enemies fall below a certain percentage of their max HP. Her technique improves her attack, similar to Don Heng’s.

Qingque (the erudition/quantum)

Qingque's in-game Honkai: Star Rail model and splash art. Qingque is a short girl with light brown hair in a teal shirt and white skirt.

You get a copy of Qingque by completing Memory Stage 3 of Forgotten Hall, Honkai: Starrail‘s endgame.

Qingque fights using mahjong-like tiles that do different things to complement her multi-target quantum attacks. She randomly draws tiles during battle, and if she gets a four-of-a-kind, she gains an attack buff. Her technique allows her to start with two tiles.