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Every new and returning character coming with the update
The Honkai: Star Rail update 2.0 release date is almost upon us, bringing with it our arrival on the brand-new planet of Penacony. Naturally, this will lead to encounters with a host of fresh faces – and some of those will become playable characters in the mobile game.
Version 2.0 includes a trio of additions to the roster in the form of Black Swan, an archivist and soothsayer from the Garden of Recollection, Sparkle, a member of the Masked Fools, and Misha, who works at Penacony’s most renowned hotel. In addition to the trio of newcomers, reruns of several already released characters await you. You know what that means: You’ll have some tough decisions to make.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Honkai: Star Rail 2.0 character and Light Cone banners.
Starting on February 6, 2024, with update 2.0’s release, you’ll be able to call upon two new characters:
- Black Swan (5-Star character, Wind, The Nihility), Misha (4-Star character, Ice, The Destruction), Tingyun (4-Star character, Lightning, The Harmony), and Guinaifen (4-Star character, Fire, The Nihility).
- Imbibitor Lunae (5-Star character, Imaginary, The Destruction), Misha (4-Star character, Ice, The Destruction), Tingyun (4-Star character, Lightning, The Harmony), and Guinaifen (4-Star character, Fire, The Nihility).
- Reforged Remembrance (5-Star Light Cone, The Nihility), Indelible Promise (4-Star Light Cone, The Destruction), Dance! Dance! Dance! (4-Star Light Cone, The Harmony), and Resolution Shines as Pearls of Sweat (4-Star Light Cone, The Nihility).
- Brighter Than the Sun (5-Star Light Cone, The Destruction), Indelible Promise (4-Star Light Cone, The Destruction), Dance! Dance! Dance! (4-Star Light Cone, The Harmony), and Resolution Shines as Pearls of Sweat (4-Star Light Cone, The Nihility).
Black Swan
Black Swan is a damage dealer specializing in DoT effects. Not only can she inflict massive amounts of damage over time by herself, she maximizes DoT effectiveness for the entire party. As such, she is going to work together extremely well with Kafka, Sampo, Luka, and Guinaifen.
Imbibitor Lunae
Imbibitor Lunae, of course, is a very Skill Point-hungry character, making Sparkle a perfect support to accompany him. He is an incredibly strong hyper carry for all kinds of content, so players looking for an offensive powerhouse should consider pulling for Imbibitor Lunae and, ideally, Sparkle as well.
Misha
Misha has an interesting mechanic that allows him to increase the number of hits his Ultimate, a bouncing attack, dishes out. Thanks to a chance to Freeze hit enemies, this has the potential to greatly disrupt the entire opposing team.
Tingyun
Though she got some competition recently (with more coming up), Tingyun remains one of the best support characters in the game due to her ability to fill someone's Energy and provide offensive buffs.
Guinaifen
Guinaifen has established herself as an excellent DoT support and debuffer, that can consistently weaken the enemy and make it more susceptible to damage from every source.
Honkai: Star Rail 2.0 banners: Phase 2
Phase 2 will begin on February 29, 2024, and run for a bit more than three weeks from that point on. You’ll be able to get one brand-new character in this time period:
- Sparkle (5-Star character, Quantum, The Harmony), Sampo (4-Star character, Wind, The Nihility), Qingque (4-Star character, Quantum, The Erudition), and Hanya (4-Star character, Physical, The Harmony).
- Jing Yuan (5-Star character, Lightning, The Erudition), Sampo (4-Star character, Wind, The Nihility), Qingque (4-Star character, Quantum, The Erudition), and Hanya (4-Star character, Physical, The Harmony).
- Earthly Escapade (5-Star Light Cone, The Harmony), Under the Blue Sky (4-Star Light Cone, The Destruction), Geniuses' Repose (4-Star Light Cone, The Erudition), and Planetary Rendevouz (4-Star Light Cone, The Harmony).
- Before Dawn (5-Star Light Cone, The Erudition), Under the Blue Sky (4-Star Light Cone, The Destruction), Geniuses' Repose (4-Star Light Cone, The Erudition), and Planetary Rendevouz (4-Star Light Cone, The Harmony).
Sparkle
Sparkle is an incredibly interesting type of support character, as she increases the amount of Skill Points available to the team in addition to being able to recover several of them at once. Other than that, she specializes in boosting her team’s Attack and Critical Damage and can Advance Forward an ally’s action.
Jing Yuan
Jing Yuan deals a lot of area-of-effect damage and can call upon the summoned Lightning Lord for follow-up attacks. He’s especially strong in the Pure Fiction mode, though he has certain weaknesses compared to other follow-up attackers – the biggest of which is that Lightning Lord skips his attack if Jing Yuan is stunned.
Sampo
Sampo is the game's original DoT support and becomes ever more valuable. No matter if you use him with Kafka or Black Swan (or both), he can maximize their damage.
Qingque
The gambling queen from the Xianzhou Luofu greatly benefits from Sparkle's Skill Point shenanigans as well as her Quantum-specific damage buffs. Qingque stocks are rising ever higher!
Hanya
Hanya is a more recent addition to the roster, so it's nice that she's already coming back to the banners. She specializes in providing offensive buffs and recovering Skill Points.
Three weeks after the second phase of version 2.0 begins, the next update will be released – introducing Acheron, Aventurine, and Gallagher to the game.
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