[Guide] Honkai Star Rail’s Gacha System Explained

Honkai Star Rail released earlier this week, and after spending much time with the game and gacha rolling on the different types of banner trying to get Himeko, here’s what I believe every Free-To-Play player jumping into Honkai Star Rail should know and probably practice.

Do take note that this guide is based on version 1.0 of the game and would reflect the current state of the Gacha System which may change over time during the course of the game’s lifespan and will not include the Departure Warp banner (which you should roll on first) that guarantees you a 5-star character after 50 pulls.

The System Explained

Honkai Star Rail’s gacha system has two types of banners that uses two types of currency which are:

• Stellar Warp – Star Rail Passes
• Event Character and Light Cone Warp – Special Star Rail Passes

Stellar Warp System

Lets start with Stellar Warp, this is the permanent Warp event that will regularly be available to draw on. It has the potential to give you 5-Star Characters and Light Cones at a rate of 0.600%. Once you hit that 0.600% rate, you will then be subjected to a 0.300% rate for either a Light Cone or Character appearing in your draws.

Every 90 draws in this banner will also guarantee you a 5-star character or Light Cone which does sound great when compared to other Gachas like Epic Seven, until you realize it also includes Light Cones as well, which you might not want at that current time.

On the 4-Star Characters and Light Cones side of things, the probability of getting these are at 5.100% with the base chance between the two split down the middle at a rate of 2.550% respectively. Every 10 pulls on the banner does result in you getting a 4-star Character or above character or Light Cone. But the rates do look less than friendly, as 4-star type draws have a 99.400% chance of appearing while 5-star types are at a rate of only 0.600%.

Starlight Exchange Store

Luckily not all is lost from my less than favorable roll pictured above, as these Light Cones give back resources that lets you exchange for items or characters in the Starlight Exchange store. The resources are Undying Starlight and Undying Embers.

• 5-star Light Cone – 40 x Undying Starlight
• 4-star Light Cone – 8 x Undying Starlight
• 3-star Light Cone – 20 x Undying Embers

Undying Starlight can be exchanged for both type of Rail Passes, 5-star Light Cones, as well as 4-star Characters like Asta and Arlan. All of these items refreshes monthly so I would encourage you to purchase some of these items (if you have the currency for them) just to ensure you’re putting the resources to good use.

Undying Embers however lets you purchase both types of Rail Passes at a limit which refreshes monthly as well. You may also purchase levelling up materials for Characters, Light Cones and Traces.

This system also applies to characters but only when you have gotten the character multiple times:

For 5-star Characters, from your 2nd till 7th copy of the character, the game will reward you with 1x Eidolon and 40x Undying Starlight and any subsequent duplicates after that would be converted to 100x Undying Starlight.

With 4-star Characters, the game will reward you with 1x Eidolon and 8x Undying Starlight while any subsequent duplicates after that would be converted to 20x Undying Starlight.

This system overall benefits everyone, especially players who are going for a more free-to-play approach. This is due to the fact that it makes full use of our Rail Passes that are quite difficult to come by while also making those impulsive rolls hit less harder when they turn out unfavorable.

On top of that, Honkai Star Rail also offers the ultimate pity system for its Stellar Warp banner in the form of a 5-star character selector. This selector is only available for those who have spent 300 Warps in the Stellar Warps and is only claimable once per account.

Character Event Warp System 

In Honkai Star Rail, the limited characters are put in a separate banner where you will need to use Special Rail Passes to roll for them. During this time the limited 5-star character alongside promotional 4-star characters will have boosted rates. The limited 5-star character has a 100% chance of appearing provided that you managed to hit that 5-star character rate of 0.600% twice in a row.

This is due to the fact, that the first 5-star character you get within the Character Event Warp banner will have a 50% chance to be the limited character, while the second time around guarantees it to be the limited character. The promotional 4-star characters follow the same rules as the 5-star character in terms of appearance rate whereby you are guaranteed a 100% chance to get the promotional 4-star character if the first one was not a promotional character.

In terms of exchangeable currency such as the Undying Starlight and Undying Embers, they are similar to that in the Stellar Warp System with 4-star Light Cones giving 8x Undying Starlight and 3-star Light Cones giving 20x Undying Embers. This also extends to the characters as well which is also similar to the Stellar Warp System.

It is important to take note that every 90 Warps in this banner will guarantee a 5-star character, and the Warp Count for Guarantee will be carried over to other Character Event Warps. For example, if I had 80 more Warps till guarantee of a 5-star character, this value will remain the same for the next Limited Character Banner if I decided to wait on the next one.

The rates for the characters in the Limited Character Event Warp are similar to that of the ones in the Stellar Warp, with the exception that you will not get a 5-star Light Cone during the 90 Warp 5-star guarantee.

Light Cone Event Warp System 

For the Limited Light Cones Event Warp, the rates are different as the base chance of obtaining a 5-star Light Cone is 0.800% with every 80 Warps guaranteeing a 5-star Light Cone.

The base chance of obtaining either a 4-star Light Cone or Character sits at 3.300% while every 10 Warps in this banner guarantees a 4-star or above as a reward. Within this guarantee the chance to obtain a 4-star character or Light Cone will be 99.200% while the 5-star Light Cone drop rate sits at 0.800%.

Much like the Character Event Warp, the Light Cone Warp also has a boosted rate which gives you a 75% chance to get the promotional 5-star Light Cone if you managed to hit the 0.800% rate. If you did not get the promotional Light Cone the first time, the second time will guarantee you the promotional 5-star Light Cone.

In terms of exchangeable currency such as the Undying Starlight and Undying Embers, they are similar to that in the Stellar Warp System with 5-star Light Cones giving x40 Undying Starlight, 4-star Light Cones giving 8x Undying Starlight and 3-star Light Cones giving 20x Undying Embers. This also extends to the characters as well which is also similar to the Stellar Warp System.

Summarizing The Above

Judging by the rates and mechanics of Honkai Star Rail’s gacha system, I believe the most effective way in utilizing the Rail Passes is to only Warp on Limited Character Event Banners/Light Cone Banners. While the rates remain similar to the ones in the Stellar Warp, at the very least if you do manage to hit the 5-star rate of 0.600% you will only get either a Character or a Light Cone on their respective banners which primes you for a 100% guarantee the second time you hit that 0.600% rate.

While I do understand that the currencies between the two are different, I would still save the Star Rail Passes for perhaps an upcoming promotion or when more 5-star characters enter the pool. This is of course provided that you are comfortable with your current lineup of characters and Light Cones.

Personally, I only have Bailu as my 5-star character which came from the Departure Warp guarantee (roll on this) and so far I have been clearing content quite well with her and my team. While it could have been made easier if I had an all 5-star team, you could still tackle content relatively well with the right lineup and strategy.

Hopefully this guide helps you understand the system better and gives you a much clearer picture on how you would want to utilize your Star Rail Passes. For more information regarding the characters and their overall performance in game, check out our tier list.

You may also learn more about the Honkai Star Rail at their official website.

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