Honkai: Star Rail, HoYoverse’s latest game, had been a smash hit amassing over 20 million downloads worldwide during its first week. Afterall, HoYoverse has already built a reputation for creating beautiful, story-rich games with the likes of Genshin Impact and Honkai Impact.
However, although Honkai: Star Rail also has the familiar visuals and crisp gameplay, the similarities end there. Honkai: Star Rail is so much different that it can be daunting for those who’ve played Genshin Impact.
Don’t let this deter you from experiencing the game, though. If you’re interested in boarding the Astral Express in the coming days, we got a few tips to help get off to a flying start:
1. Familiarize Yourself With Characters and Their Roles
One of the big changes players will notice in Honkai: Star Rail is the introduction of character classes called Paths. These Paths are important as these are quick indicators of what role a certain character will occupy on your team. There are currently seven Paths available.
- The Destruction: These are your classic bruiser characters–strong damage capabilities and good survivability.
- The Hunt: These are main DPS units capable of dealing amazing single-target damage.
- The Erudition: These characters are DPS units who specialize in AOE or multi-target damage.
- The Harmony: These characters focus on buffing up your party to improve combat capabilities.
- The Nihility: The opposite of The Harmony, these characters apply debuffs but on enemies to give your team an advantage.
- The Preservation: These characters are defense-focused specialists, either tanking damage or applying shields to protect allies.
- The Abundance: These are your mainstay healers who restore the team’s HP, keeping everyone alive.
Turn-based combat usually requires building a well-balanced team to win. A classic team usually includes a DPS, a buffer, and a healer, with the fourth spot being an interchangeable slot based on the content you’re tackling. Fortunately, the game provides you with free 4-star Abundance, Harmony, and Erudition characters early on, allowing you to build a team.
2. Master the Battle Mechanics Early On
For a turn-based game, Honkai: Star Rail utilizes a large number of mechanics in its combat system. Although this keeps the turn-based combat fresh, it can be dizzying for newcomers. Here is a quick rundown on some of the more important mechanics:
- Each character has a special ability or “technique”. These are important, as using these before entering battle can give your team the upper hand. Some techniques will buff your party, while others will deal damage or status effects. Make sure you’re familiar with your character’s skills.
- In combat, characters share a communal pool of skill points. These points are used to activate a character’s skills. You regenerate a point every time a character uses their basic attack, up to a maximum of five points. Since everyone shares the point pool, managing your skill points is vital if you want your team to function at peak efficiency.
- Like any good RPG, Honkai: Star Rail makes use of elemental advantages and disadvantages. What makes this mechanic unique in this game is what is known as a break bar. Hitting enemies with an element they are weak to will whittle down this bar. Once depleted, the enemy will be “broken”, pushing their turn back and increasing the damage they take.
3. Don’t Be Afraid to Level Up Your Relics
Relics are your characters’ equipment. Leveling these pieces will increase the amount of stats they grant a character. However, you will only have low-level relics in the beginning and won’t be able to farm 5-star relics until at least Trailblaze Level 40. Don’t let this deter you from leveling up your early-game relics, though. You still want the additional stats to progress through the story. Once you’ve found better pieces, you can always use old relics to level up new ones.
4. Always Complete Your Daily Quests
If you’ve played Genshin Impact before, you’ll know the importance of regularly completing your daily quests. These quests provide you with a decent amount of EXP to increase your Trailblaze Level, as well as a small amount of Stellar Jade, the game’s premium currency. Fortunately, the daily quests in Honkai: Star Rail can be completed in as little as 10 minutes, which can be a boon for those of us who are busy during the weekdays.
5. Regularly Challenge Simulated Universe and Forgotten Hall
Simulated Universe and Forgotten Hall are two special game modes currently available in the game. You want to challenge these regularly because both are a great way to collect free Stellar Jade. At the same time, these game modes are a great measuring stick for your account progress. Just keep in mind that both modes are classified as end-game content.
And since these game modes are classified as end-game content, they are designed to be challenging. Don’t let that discourage you, though, because even unsuccessful runs can yield rewards that will help you become stronger.
6. Save Your Stellar Jade for Characters You Like
As the game’s premium currency, Stellar Jade is necessary if you want to pull for new characters in the gacha system. While the game will shower you with Stellar Jade early on, this does dry up eventually. Taking this into account, it’s best to save up your Stellar Jade for future 5-star characters who you really like. Fortunately, the game is very free-to-play friendly. You can clear difficult content with free characters, plus the game will give you a guaranteed 5-star summon at the very beginning. This makes it easier to save up for future character banners.
7. Play With Stable Internet or Data Connection
Lastly, make sure you play on a stable internet or mobile data connection. The last thing you want to happen is for your progress to go unrecorded due to an unexpected drop in the middle of a Forgotten Hall run. Trust us, no one wants to be one hit away from finishing a run only to have to redo it due to dropped connection. That said, make sure you stay connected with Smart Bro WiFi devices and game with confidence.
With HoYoverse’s reputation for creating amazing and immersive gaming experiences, Honkai: Star Rail is definitely a title worth giving a go. By following the tips above, you can embark on your journey with confidence and maximize your enjoyment of the game.
Happy trailblazing!
