The turn-based combat itself is also an immediate joy, with seamless animations making the initial battles feel flashy and impactful even while they’re largely getting players up to speed on Star Rail ‘s gameplay systems. There are seven elements that serve as means to break enemy weaknesses, and balancing a team that’s spread out with these elements while also functional represents a significant challenge. Traditional roles like tank and healer are somewhat subverted here – though there’s obvious representations of both – and flexibility seems to be the name of the game when it comes to Honkai: Star Rail. The ability to swap teammates after previewing an enemy’s weaknesses on the map helps ensure there are a minimum of ill-prepared fights that feel unwinna
There are also boss fights, advanced material elite encounters, and the Simulated Universe for players looking for more to do. The Simulated Universe in particular is an addictive addition to play options that plays like a roguelite with progression – and rewards for players who engage with it. Equipment and crafting materials drop from enemies within, and players will be able to accumulate a collection of boons from deities in the Star Rail universe, like those who lord over the Path of Destruction or Path of Remembrance. While levels and character builds still matter, the Simulated Universe puts an emphasis on clever team building and the luck of a key boon as players progress. It’s easily going to be one of the most enjoyable facets of Honkai: Star Ra
As a turn-based RPG, one of the most important aspects of the game for new players to grasp is how to build effective teams comps in Honkai: Star Rail , for which there are several factors to consider. Elemental coverage, for example, is vitally important, as exploiting the elemental weaknesses of enemies forms the crux of Star Rail ‘s combat. Equally important to consider are the character’s Paths – essentially, their character classes, which determine their roles in battle, from damage dealing, to buffing/debuffing, to shielding/healing. Luckily, Honkai: Star Rail ‘s free characters have enough variety in elements and Paths for players to build effective teams without pulling other characters – but some are certainly more effective than oth
The entire concept of the game, from the way it tackles content variety to its battle system, also feels significantly more mobile-friendly. Whereas Genshin Impact can sometimes feel difficult to navigate during time-intensive ability swapping and movement-based boss fights, Honkai: Star Rail doesn’t run into this issue. It’s a bit of a battery drainer to be sure, but it’s well-suited to mobile in a way that makes it feel significantly better to play on the
If there are any issues in Honkai: Star Rail , they stem from its status as a gacha game. Drop rates are predictably pretty stingy for 5-star characters, which is further complicated by the presence of Star Rail Light Cones , the game’s version of weapons from Genshin Impact . These also need to be rolled on, which can make finding an optimal build quite expensive unless someone gets lucky. Energy requirements also make it feel like Honkai: Star Rail is unnecessarily gating players away from its content – limited runs of the Simulated Universe or for materials can feel like a negative element. This is compounded by the fact Star Rail isn’t open-world, which means players won’t have the same ability to wander around and simply find things that they have in games like Genshin Impact when their energy system is deple
A Fire Harmony character, Asta’s skills primarily center around buffing allies, granting a stacking attack boost whenever she hits an enemy, with extra stacks being granted against fire weaknesses. Although the stacks fall off quickly, the boost is still consistent and useful for increasing a team’s damage output, especially in combination with Asta’s speed-boosting ultimate. As a slight downside, however, Asta is one of the few free characters in the live service Honkai: Star Rail whose element overlaps with another, which has her competing somewhat for a team slot with Fire Trailblazer – although, on the other hand, one of her ascensions does increase the fire damage of other characters, further increasing her usefulness against fire-weak enem
Exploration in Honkai Star Rail livestream: Star Rail is linear, but maps are littered with things to do – collectibles, treasure chests, elite enemies, and puzzles populate most of them, which are closely equivalent to traditional JRPG dungeons. The cities that make up hubs for each world visited are interested and diverse, with plenty of lore scattered throughout for those who want to know more about what the universe the Trailblazer inhabits looks l
Players can also use the Genius of Brilliant Stars Relic set for Seele’s best build. While it does not build on top of her Speed stat, it does boost The Hunt’s powers. With two pieces, her Quantum DMG is increased by 10%. Four pieces see that she ignores 25% of the DEF stat when attacking weak enemies against Quan