Honkai Star Rail: A Beginner's Guide

Honkai: Star Rail is a turn-based RPG from the minds behind Genshin Impact and Honkai Impact 3rd. Think vibrant anime vibes, rich worlds, and strategic battles—all packed into one epic space adventure. With fan-favorite characters like Silver Wolf leading the charge, there’s a ton to dive into.

This Honkai: Star Rail beginner guide will help you hit the ground running and make the most of your first ride on the Astral Express.

Honkai: Star Rail Beginners Guide: What Is Honkai: Star Rail?

In a futuristic universe filled with mystery and wonder, Honkai: Star Rail follows the Trailblazer, who travels the stars aboard the Astral Express. Along with a colorful cast of companions, you’ll explore different planets afflicted by Stellarons, which are powerful, destructive artifacts that twist the fate of worlds.

According to HoYoverse, Honkai: Star Rail and Genshin Impact both live within the vast, mysterious Imaginary Tree—a cosmic concept that ties together endless parallel worlds. These worlds float in a chaotic space called the Sea of Quanta. While each game has its own standalone story, longtime fans will catch clever nods and subtle lore connections that link Honkai: Star Rail to the wider HoYoverse universe. So even if the stories don’t directly overlap, the shared universe vibes are definitely there for those paying attention.

Honkai: Star Rail Beginners Guide: Core Gameplay

Combat in Honkai: Star Rail is fully turn-based. During battles, each character and enemy acts based on their Speed stat. On your turn, you can choose between several abilities, making every decision important.

Every character has three basic combat actions:

• Base Attack: Generates a Skill Point.
• Skill: A stronger move that costs one Skill Point.
• Ultimate: A powerful move that can be triggered anytime once the Energy meter is full.

These abilities charge your characters' Energy bars, allowing you to unleash powerful Ultimates at any moment.

Exploration is another major component. You'll roam diverse planets and locations, solve puzzles, discover hidden chests, engage in side quests, and interact with various NPCs. Completing missions advances the story and strengthens your characters.

Performing daily and weekly activities, such as farming resources through Calyxes and completing Daily Training missions, lets you earn rewards that help you grow stronger over time.

Honkai: Star Rail Beginners Guide: Team Building

Team building is the heart of Honkai: Star Rail. Each team consists of four characters who should complement one another through their roles.

Generally, a strong team includes:

• Main DPS: Deals most of the team's damage (such as Seele or Dan Heng).
• Sub-DPS: Offers additional elemental coverage and damage (like Serval or Pela).
• Support or Buffer: Enhances your team's effectiveness through buffs, shields, or energy boosts (examples include Tingyun or Bronya).
• Healer or Tank: Responsible for keeping the team alive during tough encounters (such as Natasha or Gepard).

Enemies often have specific elemental weaknesses, and exploiting these weaknesses leads to Weakness Breaks, which reduce enemy defenses and immobilize them. As a beginner, your team should cover multiple elements.

At the start of the game, you are given a balanced team for free: Trailblazer, March 7th, Dan Heng, and Asta. This team provides offensive power, defense, healing support, and elemental versatility to help you with early progression.

Honkai: Star Rail Beginners Guide: Character Progression Basics

Your characters must progress to tackle tougher enemies and advance through the game. Characters gain experience through EXP materials, leveling up to unlock stronger stats and new abilities called Traces.

However, reaching certain level milestones requires Ascension, which demands specific materials obtained through combat and farming activities.

These materials include:

• Light Cones: Weapons that enhance character stats and skills. Equip matching Light Cones that align with a character’s Path for best results.
• Relics: Relics boost stats like Crit Rate, HP, and Attack. Focus early on simple 2-piece sets like Musketeer of Wild Wheat until you can farm better relics from Caverns of Corrosion.
• Eidolons: Similar to "constellations" in Genshin Impact, Eidolons are unlocked by obtaining duplicate copies of characters, enhancing their abilities further.

With a strong team, you can complete missions and tasks to help gain these relics so your characters can progress throughout the game.

Honkai: Star Rail Guide: Free-to-Play Tips and Gacha System

The Warp system is Honkai: Star Rail's gacha mechanic, allowing players to summon new characters and Light Cones. There are several types of Warps: the permanent Stellar Warp, limited-time Character Event Warps, and Light Cone Event Warps.

As a beginner, it is best to use your early pulls on the Departure Warp, which offers a discounted rate and guarantees a 5-star character within 50 pulls. Afterward, prioritize pulling on Limited Character Banners, as these often feature powerful characters that won't be easily obtainable again for a long time.

Managing your Stellar Jade (premium currency) is vital. Avoid impulsively spending it on every available banner. Instead, save Stellar Jade for high-priority banners featuring characters that fit your team's needs or the current meta.

Honkai: Star Rail Guide: Common Mistakes to Avoid

Upgrading too many characters at once is one of the beginners' most significant mistakes. Materials are limited early on, and spreading resources too thin will block your ability to progress. The best way to avoid this issue is to focus your resources on your main team until you can farm abundantly.

Some other mistakes new players make are:

• Ignoring Element Coverage: Cover multiple elements to counter enemy shields.
• Wasting Stellar Jade: The plan pulls around powerful banners, but not every new release.
• Randomly Upgrading Relics: Focus on high-quality relics with useful main stats (e.g., Crit Rate for DPS).

Avoiding these mistakes can help you continue progressing in Honkai: Star Rail.

Honkai: Star Rail and HYTE

Honkai: Star Rail offers an exhilarating journey through a beautifully crafted sci-fi multiverse. With our Honkai: Star Rail beginner guide, you can travel among the stars aboard the Astral Express while building a team that suits your playstyle.

If you’re a fan of Honkai: Star Rail, HYTE has a wide selection of PC cases in our HYTE collection featuring characters like Silver Wolf! These collections are limited editions, so check them out today to elevate your gaming setup.