Honkai: Star Rail’s version 2.0 will arrive at the start of February, adding a new area, three playable characters and new missions to the gacha space game, HoYoverse have revealed.
]]>And thus, we arrive at the end of another year. A year filled with some very excellent games, and some very not excellent games. And through it all, the RPS guides team has been quietly toiling away, appeasing The Beast That Is Google with medium-rare slabs of SEO meat, and providing the answers to oft-asked gaming questions.
It's important to me to have a moment in the year where we can step into the light for a little bit and celebrate everything the guides team has accomplished this year. Usually we stay well out of the spotlight, because people only like seeing guides if they're actively searching for it. But today, we're staging a coup. We're taking centre stage, and threatening the lighting technician with all manner of disagreeable bodily experiences unless they keep the spotlight fixed firmly on us for the duration of this post.
2023 has been an amazing standout year for guides. Let's take a look at the games that have defined the year for us, and celebrate some of the fantastic work our team has published.
]]>At last, every door on the RPS Advent Calendar has been ripped open, leaving nothing but foil wrapper remnants, and the odd pixel crumb of the digital delights once contained within them. But that doesn't festivities are over! Like a Boxing Day bubble and squeak, we've gathered together all of our favourite games of the year once again, this time in one handy location. If you've been following along with our Advent goings-on, you'll already know what our game of the year picks are for 2023, but just in case you missed them, here's the list in full. Enjoy!
]]>Congratulations! You've opened another door on the RPS Advent Calendar! That deserves a reward. Head to our rewards screen to collect it! No, not that one. Not that one either. Look, just follow the exclamation marks.
]]>Honkai: Star Rail has dropped a release date and details for its 1.5 update, taking the anime sci-fi RPG to a spooky new region with new events and three new characters along for the ride.
]]>What should you do in the Navigation Meeting in Honkai: Star Rail? Honkai: Star Rail may be best known for its turn-based battles and large roster of playable characters, but there is actually a story going on as well, and at times you can't ignore it. One of those times is during the Navigation Meeting at the end of the Jarilo-VI storyline, which locks you — the player — into the Astral Express's Parlor Car and won't let you leave until you've finished having an important conversation with your crewmates.
One reason for this urgency is that there's going to be a vote on where the Astral Express heads to next, and your input is required. This has all the trappings of an important branching choice, and you might be wondering what the best decision to make is. Read on below for everything you need to know to decide how to vote, but of course beware spoilers for HSR up to the very end of the Jarilo-VI storyline!
]]>How do I unlock different paths and elements for the Trailblazer in Honkai: Star Rail? In Honkai: Star Rail, your main protagonist has the unique ability to switch out their elemental alignment and the path that they follow. However, for quite a long period at the start of the game, your Trailblazer will be locked into a Physical/Destruction path, which might leave you wondering how you get access to the other types.
The only alternate path for the Trailblazer at the time of writing is the Fire/Preservation alignment, but if we know our HoYoverse, there'll be more on the way in future updates. For the time being, though, read on to learn how to switch between the two Trailblazer paths in Honkai: Star Rail.
]]>When will Imbibitor Lunae debut in Honkai: Star Rail? Honkai: Star Rail has thrown us a bit of a curveball with the announcement of Imbibitor Lunae, a 5-star playable character whose story is deeply intertwined with that of existing character Dan Heng.
]]>Don't look now, but we're almost halfway through 2023. How is that even possible? I hear you cry. Well, I'm not entirely sure either. The last time I checked it was freezing cold outside and the sun went down at 3pm, but here we are with long, sunlit evenings and that sticky sheen of an early, muggy summer. Or at least it's been quite clammy in the RPS Treehouse this month, as we've all been sweating over our favourite games of the year so far.
]]>How do I take photos in Honkai: Star Rail? Honkai: Star Rail is a good-looking game, and you may find yourself wanting to snap a few shots of some of its particularly pretty locations. You will also occasionally be prompted to take a photograph to complete a Daily Training Activity. However, the game doesn't do a great job of signposting its photo mode option, leaving many players wondering just how exactly they're meant to fulfil the activity's conditions.
Fortunately, HSR actually does have a photo mode, and it's quite fun to use, as well as netting you some easy Trailblaze EXP every now and again for Daily Training. Read on below for a quick primer on how to take photos in Honkai: Star Rail.
]]>How do you open the triple authentication door in Herta Space Station Base Zone in Honkai: Star Rail? Most puzzles you encounter in Honkai: Star Rail are part of a larger mission, and even if you need to think about their solutions a little, they will at least be fairly well-signposted. But the locked door in the Base Zone of Herta Space Station is an anomaly: you'll only know about it once you try (and fail) to enter it, and the clues as to how to open it aren't tracked in your mission checklist, making it easy to get lost and confused.
Luckily, we've worked out how to get through the triple authentication door and claim the goodies behind it. Read on for details of every step to getting that pesky door open and information on what you can expect to find within.
]]>How do I unlock 4-star Light Cones to Superimpose in Honkai: Star Rail? While every character in Honkai: Star Rail carries a unique cosmetic weapon that they wield impressively as part of their combat animations, Light Cones are the actual weapons in the game from a mechanical perspective. These are the items that you, the player, can equip to a character to influence their combat stats and buffs, and therefore it's Light Cones you need to think about when putting together a character build.
Light Cones can be enhanced in a couple of ways, including Superimposing them together. This is a brand-new system that even experienced HoYoverse players haven't seen before, and therefore benefits from an extra explainer. Read on for everything you need to know about Superimposing Light Cones in HSR, including how to unlock higher-rarity items for Superimposition.
]]>What is the Honkai: Star Rail pity system and how does it work? In a gacha game like Honkai: Star Rail, the pity system is there to ensure that you eventually get a few of the game's most desirable characters and weapons, even though the base odds of any given loot box containing even one of them are really very low.
Whether you regard this as a kind gesture to reward loyal players or a cynical ploy to ensure you're permanently kept just on the right side of "too frustrated to keep gambling", it's worth understanding the pity system of a gacha game you're invested in. While as ever I don't recommend or endorse spending real-world money on gachas, HSR's pity system applies just as much to F2P players plugging in the freebie currencies they've managed to save up.
Read on for everything you need to know about how pity works in Honkai: Star Rail, including details of how this system influences all of the game's different banners.
]]>When is the Honkai: Star Rail Version 1.1 livestream? Long-time fans will know that HoYoverse love a livestream — or "special program" to use their preferred terminology — to get players hyped for what's next in their games. As we all suspected, Honkai: Star Rail will be no different, with the inaugural Special Program for the upcoming Version 1.1 taking place on Friday, May 26th.
HoYoverse livestreams are a reliable source of news for upcoming character and weapon banners, in-game events, and other happenings that put the "live" and indeed the "service" into their live service titles. HoYoverse have also made a tradition during their streams of giving out three very time-limited codes which players can redeem for in-game freebies if they act fast enough, so it's well worth tuning in or at least catching up with the VOD on the same day! So read on below for information on when and how to watch the Honkai: Star Rail Version 1.1 livestream, as well as some idea on what to expect from the show.
]]>How can I increase my Trailblaze Level in Honkai: Star Rail? Honkai: Star Rail features a few different levelling systems for things like individual characters and equipment, but your Trailblaze Level is arguably the central one. Trailblaze Level represents the overall progress of your user profile through the game, and you'll intermittently need to level up to a certain point before you can continue on with the story or unlock a new gameplay feature.
If you just mainline your way through the story, your Trailblaze Level will usually keep up with the pace, but you'll hit a few spots where you need to gain a few more levels before you can carry on. Luckily there are a few different ways you can gain Trailblaze EXP in order to level up, so read on below for every method you can use to increase your Trailblaze Level in Honkai: Star Rail.
]]>How do you use Findie to locate mine cart parts in Honkai: Star Rail? During the Honkai: Star Rail main story mission "Ones Fallen Into the Abyss" you'll gain the help of Findie, a "Home-Use Object Finder" robot who can help you track down some missing mine cart parts you need in order to proceed. Findie assists you a few times during the Jarilo-VI questline, and you'll be prompted to call on him again for story beats during companion missions and other side-quests.
Problem is, Findie is incredibly annoying. The game doesn't do a very good job of tutorialising how to use him, and on top of that there's an audio glitch that causes him to spout his voice lines both more frequently than he should and even when the game is paused on a menu. It's frustrating stuff, which is why we've put together this quick guide to help you get through Findie's section of the mission as quickly as possible.
]]>What happens on your birthday in Honkai: Star Rail? When setting up your player profile in Honkai: Star Rail, you're given the option to give your Trailblazer a birthday. Using the YYYY-MM-DD date format, you can indicate when your main player character was born — and, if you're anything like me (incurably honest), you might be tempted to use your real-life birthday. Or, alternatively, you might elect to claim that your birthday is the day you started the game. What an amazing coincidence.
So what are the benefits of setting your birthday in Honkai: Star Rail? You can't change it once you've selected it, so you presumably want to know what you stand to gain before lying and saying it's today. Read on below for an overview of what you get on your birthday in Honkai: Star Rail.
]]>How can I add another player to my friend list in Honkai: Star Rail? Honkai: Star Rail doesn't feature multiplayer, but you can still buddy up with other players and add them to your friends list in the game.
There are some real benefits to doing this, which we'll go into below, but before you can do anything, you need to know how to make contact in the first place. So read on for instructions on how to find new friends and contact players you already know in Honkai: Star Rail.
]]>How do I get all the free characters in Honkai: Star Rail? Honkai: Star Rail is a gacha game, meaning that it's monetised via a lootbox-esque system that allows you to essentially gamble for new characters. However, it's important to understand that Honkai: Star Rail can absolutely be played for free, and in fact, eight of the characters in Version 1.0 can be added to your party permanently without needing to take a chance in the gacha. That's around one-third of V1.0's total available characters, and is plenty to be going on with if you just want to play the game for free and ignore the temptation to spend money.
Unlocking most of these characters is fairly straightforward, but so that you know exactly what you're getting, we've detailed below when and how every free character in Honkai: Star Rail will become available to you.
]]>What is the best build for Qingque in Honkai: Star Rail? Qingque is the eighth and final free character you can claim in Honkai: Star Rail, "final" being the operative word. She's given away as a reward for clearing the Forgotten Hall, which is Star Rail's endgame challenge as things stand in Version 1.0.
You're unlikely to see Qingque for a while, in other words, and if you interact with the gacha the odds are good that you'll pull her before receiving her free unit (in which case, you'll receive some of her special levelling materials instead upon finishing Memory Stage 3). But if you're an F2P player, unlocking Qingque will be an important expansion of your team composition potential, especially since she's the only Quantum-aligned character out of all the freebies. So read on for our best Honkai: Star Rail Qingque build advice, including relics, light cones, and more.
]]>What is the best build for Herta in Honkai: Star Rail? Herta is an easily-obtainable free character in Honkai: Star Rail, unlocked when you complete the technically optional but highly recommended Simulated Universe tutorial missions that become available towards the end of the prologue. These roguelike dungeon crawls are worth participating in for a number of reasons, not least of which is that you get a Herta unit for free early on, after clearing World 2.
Herta isn't the best character in Honkai: Star Rail, but F2P players will want to make the most of those free characters early on. And since there really are no bad units, only sub-optimal builds, it's really just a matter of getting hold of her best equipment. So read on for our best Honkai: Star Rail Herta build advice, including relics, light cones, and more.
]]>What is the best build for Natasha in Honkai: Star Rail? Natasha is one of Honkai: Star Rail's surprisingly large roster of free characters. Unlocked partway through the first post-prologue story chapter, Natasha is notable for being the only free character who acts as a healer, and in fact she's the only 4-star healer in the game at launch.
A good Natasha build is, therefore, a very good thing to have in Honkai: Star Rail, unless you're the sort of daredevil who likes riding out every combat encounter with just the health points your party turned up with. So read on for our best Honkai: Star Rail Natasha build advice, including relics, light cones, and more.
]]>What is the best build for Serval in Honkai: Star Rail? Serval is a bonus starting character in Honkai: Star Rail, given to the player for free once they gain access to their in-game mailbox in celebration of the milestone number of pre-registrations the game reached before launch.
The good news is that you get hold of Serval without ever having to interact with the gacha, and that as a follower of the Erudition path she makes a decent 4-star replacement for Himeko if you don't fancy adding Asta to your party. The bad news is that, while perfectly serviceable, she's one of the lowest-rated playable characters in the game right now.
Still, if you're an F2P player, Serval has a lot going for her, especially with the right build in place. So read on for our best Honkai: Star Rail Serval build advice, including relics, light cones, and more.
]]>What is the best build for Asta in Honkai: Star Rail? While Asta isn't technically a starter character in Honkai: Star Rail, she's a guaranteed pull from the game's gacha tutorial, which means that you'll almost certainly end up with her in your roster by the end of the prologue. Once temporary party member Himeko leaves your team, Asta is poised to take her place, as a Fire-aligned character who can round out the initial playable quartet alongside the Trailblazer, March 7th, and Dan Heng.
Asta isn't the most outstanding character in the game, but she does round out the starter team nicely, and F2P players in particular will probably find themselves wanting to keep her in play. So read on for our best Honkai: Star Rail Asta build advice, including relics, light cones, and more.
]]>With 30 million-odd pre-registrations under its belt prior to coming out, Honkai: Star Rail was always going to be a pretty big deal when it eventually launched. The turn-based anime RPG did exactly that earlier this week, and it's already been downloaded over 20 million times in just a single day, according to a tweet from analyst Daniel Ahmad. Perhaps not surprising for a free-to-play game, but still. That's a lot of people. I must admit, I could never quite gel with Genshin Impact, another very anime RPG made by the same developers, but Honkai's turn-based battles look a lot more up my street. So I downloaded yesterday, which I guess makes me part of that enormous 20 million number. Are you planning on giving it a go as well?
]]>Want to know how to access Honkai: Star Rail's interactive map? In an effort to put guides writers everywhere out of a job, HoYoverse have surprise-dropped an interactive map tool to accompany the release of their new turn-based RPG Honkai: Star Rail. This detailed companion lists the locations of fast travel points, treasure chests, and various other points of interest and collectibles to be found in the game at launch.
Gnawing fear for my own livelihood aside, this map is an incredibly welcome surprise, and undeniably useful for Star Rail players. Just about the only thing that isn't crystal-clear is how to open it from within the game in the first place. Read on below for a quick overview of how to use the interactive map in Honkai: Star Rail.
]]>Looking for an up-to-date Honkai: Star Rail character tier list? Honkai: Star Rail has a total of 22 playable characters so far in version 1.0, and that number is only going to increase over the next few months of Star Rail's infancy.
Even more so than its cousin, Genshin Impact, each of the characters in HSR can be extremely useful if used in the right ways at the right moments, in the right situations. But even so, the meta has now had time to settle and there are some characters that are head and shoulders above the rest.
Read on to view our current Honkai Star Rail tier list, ranging from the very best characters in the game right now to the least impressive For more information on each of these characters and our reasoning behind their rankings in our tier list, scroll further below the tier list table for our write-ups on each of the 22 units in the game - including limited event character Seele!
]]>What is the best build for Dan Heng in Honkai: Star Rail? Dan Heng is one of the starter characters the game hands out to you for free during the prologue of Honkai: Star Rail. Along with his fellow Astral Express crew member March 7th, he quickly joins the Trailblazer's party in-story, and also becomes a permanent fixture of your playable character roster.
This brooding bookworm isn't the strongest character in the game, being a freebie, but he'll be with you at least for the game's opening sections, and potentially a lot longer if you're an F2P player who won't be pulling from the gacha all that often. A good build to make the most of his kit is therefore essential. So read on for our best Honkai: Star Rail Dan Heng build advice, including relics, light cones, and more.
]]>What is the best build for the Trailblazer in Honkai: Star Rail? The Trailblazer is your nominal player character in Honkai: Star Rail, at least in as much as they provide your point-of-view throughout the story. In practice, as a starter character in a HoYoverse game, they're likely to lose their spot on your team as soon as you've got a few better options in hand. But it's never a good idea to dismiss your initial crew entirely — especially if you're an F2P player who doesn't expect to pull a huge roster from the gacha.
Upon starting Honkai: Star Rail for the first time, you'll be given the option to choose the gender and name of your Trailblazer. From then on this baseball-bat-swinging artificial humanoid will be your constant companion throughout the game's cutscenes, if nothing else. But if you do decide to keep them around for the long-haul, you'll want to know how to make the most of them. So read on for our best Honkai: Star Rail Trailblazer build advice, including relics, light cones, and more.
]]>What is the best build for March 7th in Honkai: Star Rail? As a member of the Astral Express crew and a frequent adventurer on their planetside excursions, adorable amnesiac March 7th is one of the party members who'll join your team in Honkai: Star Rail's prologue. From that point on she's unlocked permanently, meaning that you'll be seeing a lot of her not only in cutscenes but likely fighting on your side throughout the early parts of the game — especially if you're an F2P player with limited opportunities to pull from the gacha.
As a starter character, March is far from the strongest on the game's roster. But she's a good utility character and fun to have around to boot, meaning that it's well worth equipping her with the best build for her kit. So read on for our best Honkai: Star Rail March 7th build advice, including relics, light cones, and more.
]]>Looking for details on the next Honkai: Star Rail Banner? Warp Banners are the key to expanding your character and weapon collection in Honkai: Star Rail. Banners act like loot boxes in some ways: you can spend your Star Pass currency to "Warp" for exclusive characters and high-end Light Cone weapons.
Head to the Warp screen in Honkai: Star Rail and you'll see a selection of Banners that you can use to "Warp" in new characters and items. The really important one is the limited-time Character Event Warp Banner. Every 3 weeks, a new Character Event Banner appears to replace the old one, bringing with it a different selection of 5-Star and 4-Star characters that you can obtain. Some of these characters can only be obtained through these Character Event Banners, so if you want them, you'll need to Warp them in before the current Banner disappears and the next Banner arrives!
Stay updated with the current and next Banner in Honkai: Star Rail with this comprehensive guide on all past, present, and future Warp Banners in the game.
]]>Looking for the latest Honkai: Star Rail codes? Redeeming active codes in Honkai Star Rail will grant you oodles of free rewards like Stellar Jade, Credits, and EXP materials this January 2025. Whether you want to accumulate Stellar Jade for more Warp tickets without spending real money, or you want to level boost your characters as much as possible for version 2.6, codes are an easy and effective solution.
]]>Honkai: Star Rail throws you into the body of an amnesiac protagonist with unknowable hidden powers who has been awakened from a deep slumber by someone called Kafka. This woman is something of a mystery and seems to have a flair for the dramatic as she kicks off the whole game by playing an invisible violin along to the classic Baroque epic Pachelbel’s Canon as massive, intergalactic monsters invade a spaceship.
It’s an incredibly cool opening, the kind of thing that John Wick would watch to get pumped up before, well, John Wick-ing all over the place. It’s pretty clear that Kafka isn’t a hero, but they’ve woken you up, and since you’ve got no memories, you must be one of the good guys. This setup feels familiar, but there are enough changes to make it feel new and get the blood thoroughly pumping.
]]>Honkai: Star Rail has been hinting at an April 26th release date for months, but now it's official. The free-to-play, turn-based Genshin Impact spin-off will be available for pre-download from April 23rd and will be available via its official site and the Epic Games Store come the 26th. A presentation streamed yesterday also revealed its first two banners.
]]>What do all the currencies in Honkai: Star Rail actually do? Free-to-play games like Honkai: Star Rail have a tendency to throw a lot of different currencies at the player, the idea being to confuse you to the point where you're not entirely sure what you've really spent and/or how much time you're going to have to put in to get the stuff you want for free. Honestly, HoYoverse's gacha games aren't the worst offenders I've ever seen, but they are still ridiculously over-complicated.
If you're unsure as to what all the various tokens in your digital wallet actually do, here's an explainer as to what every Honkai: Star Rail currency can be used for in the game.
]]>Can my PC run Honkai: Star Rail? Honkai: Star Rail is the latest release from the mobile gaming specialists at HoYoverse. You might expect this to mean that it'll run like a dream on more or less any PC, but HoYoverse's titles are becoming notorious (I'm looking at you, Genshin Impact) for being surprisingly greedy with their system requirements.
Take a look below to ensure that your device's specs meet the requirements to play Honkai: Star Rail. Please note that these are the system requirements from the final closed beta, and are still potentially subject to change in the final release.
]]>Who do you play as in Honkai: Star Rail? As a gacha game, Honkai: Star Rail will feature a large roster of playable characters for you to collect. Early previews suggest that engaging with those gacha mechanics will be a bit less optional than in HoYoverse's previous title Genshin Impact, which is honestly not great news for F2P fans. However, even if you limit yourself to judiciously plugging in your free currencies, you'll roll a new character pretty frequently.
On this page we'll go over the key details of every playable character confirmed for Honkai: Star Rail's release, as well as explaining what some of those attributes mean in more depth. We'll keep this page updated with more information as we learn more from the game's final beta and upon its full launch.
]]>When can I play Honkai: Star Rail? Honkai: Star Rail is HoYoverse's hotly-anticipated follow-up to Genshin Impact. Switching out the studio's signature ARPG style for a more strategic (but still very roleplay-oriented) gameplay approach, Honkai: Star Rail promises a whimsical trip through a sci-fi galaxy aboard the titular space train.
If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, the good news is that you don't have long to wait before you can experience Honkai: Star Rail for yourself. Read on for the latest details about Star Rail's release date, preload date, how and why you should pre-register for the game, and more.
]]>Over the last few weeks I've spent a number of hours with Honkai: Star Rail's closed beta, and it certainly seems that MiHoYo's upcoming free-to-play RPG is hoping to capture a similar audience to Genshin Impact. Star Rail's turn-based battles and JRPG leanings might be a bit of a departure from Genshin's open-world adventuring, but it's definitely, 100%, without a doubt, anime as heck. Oh, and very gacha. There's a lot of currencies. So many currencies. Still, I think it's shaping up to be a decent time.
]]>Honkai: Star Rail is the first turn-based RPG in the Honkai / Genshin Impact universe, and its final beta started earlier today on PC and mobile. Pre-registration has now closed, but you might be able to gain access through the game’s FAQ page. While HoYoverse haven’t announced a release date for their cosmic fantasy adventure, eagle-eyed fans have spotted a potential April date on the IOS App Store.
]]>When will Honkai: Star Rail be released? Honkai: Star Rail is an upcoming tactical RPG from HoYoverse, known for their surprisingly high-quality free-to-play gacha games, including 2020's breakout hit Genshin Impact. They have a couple of other games in the works along the same lines, one of which is this: a sci-fi journey through the stars by train that looks rather charming.
We're keeping a close eye on Honkai: Star Rail's development, so if you're keen to know all the details of the next closed beta, or want information about gameplay or the story, you're in the right place. Read on below for everything we know about Honkai: Star Rail!
]]>Honkai: Star Rail, the intergalactic interrailing RPG from the makers of Genshin Impact, is gearing up for its final closed beta. It'll leave the station on February 10th and you can sign up to take part now. Or you can just watch a new trailer below.
]]>Every Honkai: Star Rail trailer I watch focuses entirely on its many characters and their interpersonal drama, and the latest is no different. Dark pasts? Dark dreams? Dark academia bedrooms? It has all three. As per usual, I am just here for the fun of an old-fashioned train that can fly through space.
]]>I rarely feel as conflicted about a game as I do about Honkai: Star Rail. It's a turn-based RPG and I like those; but it's a JRPG and I dislike those. It's got a spacefaring train in it, which I always think is cute; but also it's got anime waifus in it and those make me cringe. Its new trailer, which you'll find below, is dynamic and exciting and well-edited; but... it's got cringy anime waifus in it.
Watch it and make up your own mind.
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