Tag: Honkai: Star Rail

Fuzzy critters, a free man, and everything else new in the Honkai Star Rail 1.6 update

HoYoverse announced the Honkai Star Rail 1.6 banners in the RPG’s latest livestream along with plenty about what to expect in the next update

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HoYoverse announced the Honkai Star Rail 1.6 banners in the RPG’s latest livestream along with plenty about what to expect in the next update – and there’s quite a bit. The next major story update is still over the horizon, but while we wait, HoYoverse is cooking up an animal nurture event – using the term “animal” loosely – and a new Echo of War boss fight, among other things. The battle system gets even more complex with the introduction of two characters who ignore enemy toughness, and two old favorites return for another round of banners.

Honkai Star Rail 1.6 goes live on Dec. 27, 2023, and lasts for the usual six weeks.

HoYoverse is stuffing Honkai Star Rail’s Dr Ratio in your mailbox for free

You can get Honkai Star Rail’s Dr Ratio for free in the version 1.6 update, and you don’t have to do anything to claim the 5-star character

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You can get Honkai Star Rail’s Dr Ratio for free in the version 1.6 update, and you don’t even have to do anything to claim the 5-star character. HoYoverse is sending him to every player’s in-game mailbox after the 1.6 update goes live on Dec. 27, 2023, and you only need to complete the Warp tutorial mission in Star Rail’s early hours to be eligible.

The in-game message containing Dr Ratio will remain available until Honkai Star Rail version 2.1, so you’ll have plenty of time to scoop him up.

HoYoverse made the announcement alongside a reminder that Honkai Star Rail won best mobile game at The Game Awards 2023, best game of 2023 in the Google Play Awards, and iPhone Game of the Year, and they even added a small in-game reason for Dr Ratio inserting himself into your life.

“The current arrangements for this Warp are pitiful! Zero points!” HoYoverse has the character saying in the announcement tweet. “The dissemination and sharing of knowledge, as well as truth, is imperative. I, in my esteemed capacity, demand that every trailblazer be given access to a proper education! With lessons delivered by me in person!”

This marks the first time HoYoverse made a 5-star character free in Star Rail, and it’s something the studio has never done in Genshin Impact either. It’s good news for anyone keen on saving some Stellar Jade, of course, and even better for new players or those who missed out on Welt and Imbibitor Lunae. The only other free or easily obtainable Imaginary character is Yukong, who operates in a support capacity – not something you can do much with against high-level enemies in the Forgotten Hall.

You can still spend Jade on Dr Ratio’s banner, if you want to try for extra copies of him, though you may want to store that Jade up for the 2.0 characters, Black Swan and Sparkle.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

Honkai Star Rail codes: All active codes for December 2023

Honkai Star Rail codes can let you get free Stellar Jade. Here’s a list of all currently working codes.

Honkai: Star Rail is the new free-to-play game by the developers of Genshin Impact. Like its predecessor, you’re going to need some hard-to-find currency if you want to try your luck at getting your hands on the new characters. You can spend real money on this currency if you want, but as it’s launch week, there are currently some codes out there that will give you free Stellar Jade.

We’ll give you the full list of Honkai Star Rail codes and how to redeem them.

HoYoverse teases Honkai Star Rail’s Black Swan and Sparkle

Honkai Star Rail 1.6 is just around the corner, but HoYoverse is already teasing the next round of Honkai Star Rail characters

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Honkai Star Rail 1.6 is just around the corner, but HoYoverse is already teasing the next round of Honkai Star Rail characters – Black Swan and Sparkle. There’s also a new 4-star character.

While this is the first time HoYoverse publicly announced these characters, devoted Star Rail fans have known about them for months. Dataminers found evidence of these and many more characters planned for release during the Star Rail 2.0 series of updates set in Penacony, the Land of Dreams.

Black Swan is a 5-star Nihility character with wind as her element, but current leaks point to her working like a wind Pela instead of another Sampo. She’s meant to reduce enemy effect resistance and possibly defense, and her talent applies Fate Cards to enemies. These activate when foes take damage over time and trigger different effects depending on the circumstances, which seems similar to Dr Ratio’s talent, which triggers different kinds of follow-up attacks.

Despite her fireworks-themed name and appearance, Quantum is Sparkle’s element. She follows the Harmony path, and leaks suggest her kit resembles something like a turbo-charged Hanya and Bronya combo. Sparkle’s skill is meant to boost an ally’s attack and move their action forward, not unlike Bronya’s skill.

Her ultimate reportedly recovers four skill points, or, if your skill point meter is full, it adds two temporary points. It also grants a mask to all allies, which bumps up Sparkle’s talent power and increases a character’s damage when they use a skill point.

That sounds almost too good to be true, especially for skill point-hungry characters such as Imbibitor Lunae and Qingque, so I’d be surprised if that doesn’t change before launch.

Finally is Misha, a 4-star Destruction character with ice as his element whose kit centers on powering up when allies use more skill points – a perfect fit for Sparkle, in other words.

Given how HoYoverse’s character teases worked in the pass, it seems safe to assume Star Rail 2.0 will come after version 1.6 sometime in February 2024.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

Honkai Star Rail 1.6 livestream time and where to watch

The Honkai Star Rail 1.6 livestream is just about here, with new characters, modes, improvements, and more

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The Honkai Star Rail 1.6 livestream is just about here. HoYoverse announced the next Star Rail version update overview will air on Dec. 15, 2023, introducing three new characters, including a long-awaited member of the Genius Society; a new mode; some welcome quality-of-life changes, and more ways to earn high-demand rewards such as Stellar Jade and Self-Modeling Resin. While it’s unclear whether we’ll actually get any news on the next major step of the Trailblazer’s journey, there’s still plenty to look forward to.

The Game Awards 2023 winners

We’ve rounded up all The Game Awards 2023 winners, including Game of the Year 2023 and more

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The Game Awards 2023 winners are in, and while some of the usual suspects walked away with the accolades we figured they would, there’s a few surprises in the mix as well. The likes of Alan Wake 2 and Baldur’s Gate 3 won big this year, and it looks like everyone is – unsurprisingly – looking forward to Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth more than anything else.

We’ve rounded up all The Game Awards 2023 winners below, and if you’re looking for recaps and announcements as well, check out our TGA 2023 roundup for everything you missed.

HoYoverse outlines Zenless Zone Zero’s roguelike exploration feature

HoYoverse published a deep dive about one of the features players can expect to see in the free-to-play game: Hollow Exploration

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The second Zenless Zone Zero beta test starts near the end of November 2023, and ahead of that, HoYoverse published a deep dive about one of the features players can expect to see in the free-to-play game: Hollow Exploration. These are one of Zenless Zone Zero’s roguelike elements, with randomized progression and even a splash of Darkest Dungeon thrown in the mix.

You start Hollow Explorations to complete a commission and choose the rooms you want to enter, each with a different set of challenges to face and, maybe, some ways to help you get even better rewards. Some items give you combat advantages in that particular Hollow, though if you’re lucky enough to find Observation Data sets, you’ll get top-notch rewards when you’re finished exploring.

Every room you enter in Hollow Exploration puts Pressure on your party, and at a certain point, that Pressure turns into a Corruption effect – a debuff that hampers your party in some way. You can end up with five Pressure effects before maxing out Pressure just starts reducing your HP. 

There’s a lot to explore – 12 mechanisms, seven terrain types, eight resource rooms, and 10 formidable threats. Sticking it out is worth the trouble, though. Aside from the rewards you get at the end of your time in a Hollow, you can also find character ascension materials and other resources to use back in the city.

That’s just during the beta. Like Genshin Impact’s Domains and Honkai Star Rail’s Simulated Universe, HoYoverse will likely add more Hollow Exploration zones as the game grows after the RPG launches in 2024 – though HoYoverse hasn’t announced when yet.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

Everything new in Honkai Star Rail 1.5

Honkai Star Rail 1.5 is just around the corner, and it’s bringing a lot more than just new banners to the free-to-play game

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Honkai Star Rail 1.5 is just around the corner, and it’s bringing a lot more than just Huohuo and Argenti banners to the free-to-play game. The 1.5 update introduces a new Luofu event, alongside several quality-of-life updates that should make the Forgotten Hall more convenient and battle pass more rewards.

One of the most useful changes is that, once version 1.5 goes live, you can finally use consumable items in the Simulated Universe. Health items, buffs, and energy-replenishing items are all on the table now, which should make dealing with some of the Universe’s more challenging foes a bit less frustrating.

You’ll need to spend 700 ability points to unlock it, though.

The new Star Rail battle pass will have 60 levels instead of 50, and while HoYoverse originally planned on launching it in 1.6, they bumped up their plans. You’ll get the level 40 reward of 680 Jade as soon as you purchase the battle pass, and at level 50, you get a Molded Resin, used for creating a Relic to your specifications.

During Forgotten Hall challenges, you can restart without having to pick your teams again and start just one half of the challenge instead of having to defeat both enemies again.

There’s also a raft of new voice lines in battle and while exploring, along with a guest book for the Astral Express, where you can find records of past visitations in case you missed them in person.

Honkai Star Rail’s only been out for roughly half a year, but HoYoverse has already optimized the experience to a significant degree, including the option to let players replay missed events in an archive. Hopefully, we’ll see a similar level of thoughtful consideration when Zenless Zone Zero launches sometime in 2024.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

Honkai Star Rail 1.5 banners: Huohuo, Argenti, and Hanya

The Honkai Star Rail 1.5 banners introduce Hanya, Argenti, and Huohuo to the Star Rail roster, a healer, fighter, and support unit, respectively

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HoYoverse announced the Honkai Star Rail 1.5 banners during the RPG’s latest livestream, and they feature some pretty big shakeups to the character roster. Honkai Star Rail goes live on Nov. 15, 2023, and it looks like the 1.4 banner rerun is a new standard now, as Silver Wolf makes a comeback in the second half. We’re getting two new 5-star characters – a healer and a physical Erudition fighter – and a new 4-star support unit, ahead of version 1.6’s  Ruan Mei. Unlike with Genshin Impact, HoYoverse announced the 4-star characters running alongside 1.5’s newcomers as well, though they’re a bit on the underwhelming side.

New Honkai Star Rail character is Dr Ratio, and yes I’m serious

HoYoverse announced the Honkai Star Rail 1.6 characters, including Dr Ratio, a new Imaginary character, and a new Harmony character.

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HoYoverse unveiled the Honkai Star Rail 1.6 characters, and leading the pack is Dr Ratio. That is an entirely serious sentence. Dr Ratio and two other characters will headline the first Star Rail banners of 2024, and silly names aside, they’re actually a pretty interesting bunch.

First up, the doctor. He’s part of the Intelligentsia Guild, the same broad body of knowledge-seeking beings that Herta belongs to, and like Herta, he has a blunt way of getting his point across. 

“The most annoying thing about idiocy is that you can’t explain it to an idiot,” is the quote HoYoverse introduced him with. Unlike Herta, however, he believes everyone can and should learn and better themselves. 

On the practical side, Dr Ratio follows the Hunt path and has Imaginary as his element, the first combination of that kind that we’ve seen since the free-to-play game launched in April 2023. Your choices for serious Imaginary damage as of the 1.4 update include Welt, who specializes in status effects, and Imbibitor Lunae, who sucks up all your skill points. A single-target damage dealer who isn’t skill point negative is a pretty attractive prospect.

Next on the 5-star side is Ruan Mei, who follows the Harmony path – Star Rail speak for support – and has ice as her element, and she’s even more intriguing. Ruan Mei collaborated with Screwllum and Herta on the Simulated Universe and is known for her “terrifying perseverance.” Star Rail only has four Harmony characters right now, but their support skills create a range of new opportunities for how you can build your team.

Finally is Xuyei, a 4-star Quantum character who follows the Destruction path and spends her time hunting down criminals. When she isn’t wrapping ne’erdowells in chains, Xuyei enjoys a bit of quiet embroidery. Quantum and Destruction are another new combination, but better still is the fact that Xuyei is a 4-star character. Arlan is the only 4-star Destruction character at the moment, and he’s, well, there’s a reason he’s not a top pick on our Star Rail tier list.

Honkai Star Rail 1.6 should launch sometime early in January 2024.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF