The perfect time to start playing Honkai Star Rail is now.
Honkai: Star Rail, for those out of the loop, is the newest game from HoYoverse, who you might know as the folks that brought you Genshin Impact. This title, while part of the Honkai universe, is a little bit Genshin, a little bit Persona, and a whole lot of science fiction.
But you might be wondering, “Oh, geez! Where do I even begin with this game?”. Well, dear reader, that’s what we’re here for. We’ve whipped up this little guide of tips and tricks for getting the most out of your time on the Astral Express.
So why don’t we begin with some treats, then?
Take some codes for your trouble
Treats time! Here are all the currently active Honkai Star Rail codes at the time of writing:
- 2T7BP4JVEBT7 (expires May 7th)
- 3 x Adventure Logs (Character EXP)
- 2 x Condensed Aether (Light Cone EXP)
- 3 x Cosmic Fried Rice (Consumable)
- 5,000 Credits
- STARRAILGIFT
- 50 x Stellar Jade
- 10,000 Credits
- 2 x Traveler’s Guides (Character EXP)
- 5 x Bottled Soda (Consumable)
- HSRVER10XEDLFE
- 50 x Stellar Jade
- 10,000 Credits’
You can redeem codes for Honkai Star Rail either in-game through the phone menu (three dots next to your profile photo) or on Honkai: Star Rail‘s code redemption website. If you’re like me and the redemption code option wasn’t there at all in-game, the website is the way to go! Just make sure you know what region you’re in.
Go everywhere, leave no stone unturned
Honkai: Star Rail is divided up into areas rather than being open world, making it that little bit easier to traverse. That being said, I highly recommend looking around everywhere, as you never know when you’re going to happen upon a chest, a readable item, or even something breakable to get some goodies.
On top of that, every chest you open give you a few Stellar Jades, which are essentially the Primogems of Honkai and the game’s main premium currency. If you’re stuck on chests, the map also shows how many are in each area to make things a little easier.
Don’t run into battle, note the enemy weaknesses
You can have up to 4 characters in your party when it comes to battles, and each character has their very own Element that they use. As you start to approach an enemy, their weaknesses will pop up right under their names at the top of the screen. As well, it will take a few seconds for the enemy to notice you.
In those few seconds, I recommend taking a quick mental note of what’s there and then jumping into your party menu (which is handily in the top row of icons if you’re on iPad like me). Once you’re there, set your team up to best suit the recommended elements, and then go right into it.
Level up wisely
When you’re starting out, you’re not going to be absolutely inundated with Character EXP. The downside of Honkai: Star Rail not being open world is that there are a set amount of chests available in the world, and that set amount isn’t a whole lot.
In that case, I would advise choosing a few favourites, perhaps depending on their skills (check out the Trace menu and look at moves), their stats, and their elemental powers, leveling them up a healthy amount, and working it like that. You’ll get more Character EXP as time goes on, but it’s best to play it smart.
Also! Don’t forget to give your characters Light Cones! And level them up too! They give your characters a hell of a boost!
Save your Stellar Jades
If you’re looking to not spend any money in Honkai Star Rail, I recommend not using your Stellar Jades on anything outside of Star Rail Passes. You can use Stellar Jades to refill your Trailblaze Power, which is used to partake in Golden Calyx battles and other domains, but that refills over time so it’s really not worth the Jades.
As well, if you’re going to go for any Warps, I’d recommend sticking to the limited-character banners ie. the ones with time limits on them. In order to play these, you’ll the Star Rail Special Passes which cost exactly the same as the regular ones and you’ll be better off with them.
Walk past Space Anchors regularly
In your travels, you’ll see these blue glowing crystals around the map. They’re Space Anchors, and they allow you to zip around everywhere right from the get-go. Fast travel is a hell of a gift in these kinds of games, and you’d best take advantage of it.
As well, it’s a very good idea to walk up to these bad boys any time you see them, especially after a battle. As your characters don’t regain health after battles, walking close to a Space Anchor allows them to heal right back up, meaning you’ll use less Consumables.
Spend some time with Peppy
Peppy is the dog that belongs to Asta. Peppy is a sweet little dog that you’ll find pop up here and there in your travels, and may event be vital at times in your journey. While talking to Peppy is completely optional, I highly recommend interacting with the pup as much as you can. Why? Because it’s a little cutie. That’s why.
Go see Pom-Pom
To the untrained eye, one may think Pom-Pom is the new Paimon. First of all, how dare you. Second of all, never say that to me again. Third of all, Pom-Pom is useful as hell and doesn’t even follow you around. Pom-Pom is responsible for your Trailblazer Level Rewards, similarly to how Katheryne was at the Adventurer’s Guild in Genshin Impact.
You’ll want to go and visit Pom-Pom whenever you go up in a Trailblazer Level, as its rewards are nice and meaty. As well, you’ll be given the opportunity every now and then through a Daily Mission to go and see Pom-Pom, who will thank you for visiting and give you a present. Pom-Pom rocks.
Assignments are a goldmine
If you’ve decided to go hogwild on the Warps and bag yourself a metric fucktonne of characters and now you’re sitting there with all these Guys ‘n’ Gals wondering, “What am I to do with all of you?”, don’t worry. While you run around with your Chosen Four, you can send your spares on Assignments.
Similarly to Genshin Impact‘s version of this at the Adventurer’s Guild, you can send up to four characters on two Assignments to go farm materials (two characters in each assignment). Certain characters will bag you extra rewards and when they’re all done with their assignment, a single button press can send those same two characters right back on that assignment. Keep this going and you’ll be swimming in materials.
So is Daily Training
Once you hit Trailblazer Level 11 and get on the next story quest in Belobog, you’ll meet Seele. Seele will set you up with Daily Training, which is a set of tasks to complete to get daily prize packs at every 100 activity points. You should absolutely be doing these as much as possible, they are literally so easy to do.
Why should you do them? Well, the rewards, of course! Once you hit 500 activity points, you’ll have an extra 60 Stellar Jades, 1000 Trailblazer EXP, 30400 credits, 9 Lost Gold Fragments, and 6 Adventure Logs. And some of the tasks are literally just things like beating a certain amount of enemies each day. It’s good!
Don’t rush it, enjoy the dialogue
As Honkai: Star Rail is a live service game with content being added over time, it hasn’t got everything in it just yet. If you rush it, you’re probably going to get to a point where all you can do is daily missions and domains, which is why my last bit of advice is to just take it all in.
The dialogue of Honkai: Star Rail is loose as hell. It’s real funny when you least expect it, and the voice actors are doing the hard yards. I’d advise not just skipping through the cut-scenes and dialogue to get on with it, and really enjoy your time with the game. You might be waiting a bit for the next chunk of it!
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