Honkai Star Rail PS4, PS5 – Playable Characters, Their Roles, and How to Obtain Them
Honkai Star Rail has a wide array of different characters. With 22 characters at launch, there’s plenty of variety to go around. However, not all characters are automatically obtained. Here’s an overview on who the characters are and how to obtain them.
Each character not only has an element, but each character also follows a path in combat. You succeed by combining these different character paths to overcome enemies. Knowing what to go after helps build your team compositions. Before that, though, it’s best to understand the seven different character paths in Honkai Star Rail:
- The Destruction – Destruction units tend to offer both single target and multi-target damage,
- The Hunt – These characters specialize in single-target damage,
- The Erudition – Characters that target multiple enemies at once,
- The Harmony – Characters that provide buffs and boosts to your team,
- The Nihility – Charaters that debuff enemies,
- The Preservation – Characters that protect allies using their defenses,
- The Abundance – Characters that heal party members.
All 5-Star Characters
Trailblazer – Destruction / Preservation
The Main Character, called the Trailblazer, is made available to you right after you start the game. Initially, your Trailblazer wields a bat and acts as a physical damage Destruction character. Later on, you obtain the option to switch the Trailblazer to the Preservation Fire element. This gives you a bit of flexibility early on when building your teams without needing multiple characters.
The Trailblazer is technically a 5-star unit and, as of this publication, the only 5-star unit provided for free outside of the bonus that comes from pulling 300 times on the Stellar Warp permanent banner.
Bailu – The Abundance
Bailu uses her abilities to heal her teammates and keep them alive. One fantastic bonus to using her is she can revive a fallen ally once per battle. As of this publication, Bailu is the only character in all of Honkai Star Rail to feature such a benefit.
Bailu is one of several 5-star units that can be obtained at any time from the Permanent Banner. Bailu can also be pulled from any featured character banner.
Bronya – The Harmony
Bronya is a support character through and through. Her skill removes a debuff from an ally and increases their overall damage. Then, her ultimate ability increases attack and critical damage for the entire party.
Bronya is one of several 5 star units that can be obtained at any time from the Permanent Banner as well as any future character banner.
Clara – The Destruction
Clara is a physical damage character that utilizes her companion and friend, cyborg Svarog, in battle. Using a combination of defense and counters, Clara maximizes her damage by taunting enemies to attack her and have Svarog retaliate.
Clara is one of several 5 star units that can be obtained at any time from the Permanent Banner as well as any future character banner.
Gepard – The Preservation
Using the ice element, Gepard taunts enemies and applies shields to allies for protection. His most unique ability is being able to survive one fatal blow per battle, giving him added flexibility against deadly enemies.
Gepard is one of several 5 star units that can be obtained at any time from the Permanent Banner as well as any future character banner.
Himeko – The Erudition
Fire user Himeko captains the Astral Express and uses her military technology to assist her in combat. She applies burn with both single and multi-target attacks, and her ultimate drops a devastating beam on enemies. She also builds up charges to inflict follow up fire damage between turns.
Himeko is one of several 5 star units that can be obtained at any time from the Permanent Banner as well as any future character banner.
Jing Yuan – The Erudition
As the commander of the illustrious Cloud Knights of Xianzhou, Jing Yuan needs to be both strong and capable. His skill sets match that expectation. Using lighting, his basic attacks target single targets, and his skill and ultimate attack all enemies on the field. His greatest strength comes from his ability to speed himself up as fights go on, allowing him to attack more and more.
Jing Yuan is a featured unit that, as of this publishing, is available exclusively from the specific banner, Swirl of Heavenly Spear. He is only available from April 26, 2023, to May 17, 2023.
Kafka – Nihility
One of the five notorious Stellaron Hunters, Kafka does not rely on others to get results: She rigs the variables in her favor. Her potency lies not in single attacks but dealing damage over time. This also includes damage from other party members. Not only can she apply her own lightning passive damage, but she can also trigger all passive damage applied to the entire enemy line.
Kafka is a featured unit that, as of this publishing, is available exclusively from the specific banner, Nessun Dorma. She is only available from August 9, 2023, to August 30, 2023.
Seele – The Hunt
Seele is a featured unit that, as of this publishing, was available exclusively from the specific banner, Butterfly on Swordtip. She was only available from April 26, 2023, to May 17, 2023.
While she specializes in single-target damage, she has the added benefit of executing additional attacks. Defeat an enemy with an attack, and she immediately takes another turn, letting you use an attack or a skill. Her element is Quantum, which, as of now, leaves her as the only 5-star Quantum character.
Welt – The Nihility
Welt bends time and space to slow enemies down and even imprison them, hindering enemies on multiple fronts. His abilities also deal heavy damage to enemy stagger bars, inhibiting enemies further. As of launch, Welt is the only character to uses Imaginary damage.
Welt is one of several 5 star units that can be obtained at any time from the Permanent Banner as well as any future character banner.
Yanqing – The Hunt
Yanqing beats down single targets with ice. He also increases his own critical rate and attack as well as gains chances to attack multiple times in a row. While not defensive, he manages to reduce attention on him, reducing changes that enemies will hit him.
Yanqing is one of several 5 star units that can be obtained at any time from the Permanent Banner as well as any future character banner.
Four Star Characters
Arlan – The Destruction
Arlan is the only character in Honkai Star Rail that does not use skill points to use skills. Instead, he sacrifices health to execute his lightning attack skill. This can be a liability if not properly managed, but pairing him with a healing ally opens up his potential to continuously deal lightning damage.
Arlan is available in every banner in the game. His drop rate is lower when he is not featured in a Warp Banner.
Asta – The Harmony
Asta plays the role of a hybrid support and damage dealer. Using her fire element, she inflicts burn and fire damage to multiple targets. Her ultimate is her major support ability, increasing speed for the entire party.
Asta is available in every banner in the game. Her drop rate is lower when she is not featured in a Warp Banner. All players receive a copy of Asta when they encounter her in the story.
Dan Heng – The Hunt
Dan Heng specializes in single target combat, using his spear and wind to attack enemies. He increases his own damage with skills, and he slows down enemies when he lands critical hits.
Dan Heng is available in every banner in the game. His drop rate is lower when he is not featured in a Warp Banner. All players receive a free copy of him when they meet him in the story.
Hook – The Destruction
Hook is a dedicated combat character that takes full advantage of the fire element she uses. Strictly a single target combatant, she deals fire damage and inflicts burn, an ailment that increases in damage based on her attack stat.
Hook is available in every banner in the game. Her drop rate is lower when she is not featured in a Warp Banner.
Herta – The Erudition
Herta commands the ice element in combat, dealing major damage to multiple targets at once. Her biggest advantages come later in fights, as she does more damage when enemy health sits below 50%. She also activates a follow-up attack the moment that an enemy’s health drops below 50%.
Herta is available in every banner in the game. Her drop rate is lower when she is not featured in a Warp Banner. Players can earn free copies of her from her challenge event, Simulated Universe.
March 7th – The Preservation
March 7th protects her teammates but applying ice shields to party members, though she only applies one at a time. When a shielded ally is attacked, Match 7th counters with a free attack, dealing ice damage. Her ultimate hits all enemies with an arrow volley of ice, with a chance to inflict Frozen to opponents.
March 7th is available in every banner in the game. Her drop rate is lower when she is not featured in a Warp Banner. All players also receive one free copy of her when they meet her in the story.
Natasha – The Abundance
Natasha is one of the two dedicated healing units. She uses both her rifle and her potions to remove debuffs on allies and heal their HP. Her skill heals one ally while her ultimate heals the entire party.
Natasha is available in every banner in the game. Her drop rate is lower when she is not featured in a Warp Banner. All players receive a free copy of Natasha after meeting her in the story.
Pela – The Nihility
Pela combines her ice damage with the ability to remove enemy buffs and reducing their defenses. She also can reduce enemy resistance to ice damage while dishing out some ice damage of her own.
Pela is available in every banner in the game. Her drop rate is lower when she is not featured in a Warp Banner.
Qingque – The Erudition
Quinque is a risktaker through and through, and her gambling nature carries over into combat. She draws jade tiles, which give her opportunities to deal quantum damage to either single enemies or multiples. Knowing what cards she holds is key to success with her, because the payoff is worth the effort.
Quinque is available in every banner in the game. Her drop rate is lower when she is not featured in a Warp Banner. All players receive a copy of her over they reach Trailblazer level 21 as part of a new player event.
Sampo – The Nihility
Sampo uses the power of the wind to both damage and inhibit enemies. He can deal damage to either single targets or multiple targets, and he can also inflict Blind and Wind Shear to opponents, respectively stunning them and inflicting wind damage over time.
Sampo is available in every banner in the game. His drop rate is lower when he is not featured in a Warp Banner.
Serval – The Erudition
Serval channels lightning through her electric guitar, capable of both single and multi-target attacks. Alongside her damage, she also can inflict shock, adding extra damage over time and stunning enemies occasionally.
Serval is available in every banner in the game. Her drop rate is lower when she is not featured in a Warp Banner. All players receive a copy of her when they meet her in the story.
Sushang – The Hunt
Sushang is a unique physical damage dealer in that a fair portion of her potential damage only triggers a third of the time. At the same time, if an enemy is staggered, that additional damage is guaranteed to activate, dealing devastating damage to weakened enemies. To boot, she also increases her own attack stat, improving her overall potential automatically.
Sushang is available in every banner in the game. Her drop rate is lower when she is not featured in a Warp Banner.
Tingyun – The Harmony
Tingyun is the epitome of a support character. She buffs the attack state for ally characters through Benediction, which also grants that ally additional lightning damage to enemies. The only limitation to Benediction is it can only be applied to one ally at a time. She also grants allies, and even herself, additional energy to keep using their ultimate attacks.
Tingyun is available in every banner in the game. Her drop rate is lower when she is not featured in a Warp Banner.
