Honkai Star Rail: Pity & Gacha System Explained

Here is everything you should know about the Honkai Star Rail Pity and Gacha System

Honkai Star Rail is not just a game of thrilling adventure but also possesses the entice of luck and chance. This article will delve into the Pity and Gacha System in the game that allows you to build your roster of Characters and Light Cones, shaping your journey as a trailblazer.

Pity & Gacha System Explained

Games like Honkai: Star Rail which are free-to-play have a gacha system. You need to spend in-game currency (or real money to purchase it) to receive a virtual item, which in this case can be characters or Light Cone, in a lottery structure. Pity is a way to ensure that you get a higher rarity item after a certain number of attempts or as players call it ‘pulls’ so that it’s not a long futile streak of bad luck.

Soft Pity is an unofficial term, a point where the chances of receiving a 5-star begin to increase significantly. Although the exact number when this happens is not explicitly stated by Hoyoverse, the player base has come up with their own estimation from experience. Hard Pity is the maximum number of summons that guarantee a high-rarity item.

Stellar Jades are a form of currency that you can use to obtain Star Rail Passes and Star Rail Special Passes. You need 160 Stellar Jades to purchase 1 pass. These passes are required to pull on the game's warp banners. The game features four types of warp banners, each with its own set of rules and item pools.

Departure Warp

Credit: Honkai: Star Rail Wiki – Fandom

This is the first banner you should be pulling on when you start the game. This is designed for newbies as a beginner-friendly banner, which offers a selection of non-promotional characters and Light Cones. You can only summon 50 times on this banner and after that, it will automatically expire and disappear permanently from the options.

You can only summon the banner with 10-pull sets as the cost is reduced by 20%. This means each 10-pull set costs only 8 Star Rail Passes instead of the usual 10. This discount makes it more accessible for new players and allows them to collect characters and items early in the game.

Every 10-pull set guarantees at least one 4-star object or higher. Additionally, a random 5-star character is guaranteed within the total 50 warps. Therefore, beginners can get a high rarity character early on, to tackle the monsters in the cosmic realm of Honkai.

The Departure Warp is an excellent way for new players to build their initial team and get familiar with the game's gacha mechanics. The banner’s unique features and guarantees are tailored to provide a positive experience and jumpstart your summoning journey!

Stellar Warp

Credit: Honkai: Star Rail Wiki – Fandom

Stellar Warp is the permanent standard banner without any deadline. The pool consists of all characters and Light Cones, except for the event-exclusive 5-star characters and 4-star or 5-star Light Cones. New 4-star characters only join this pool after their debut banner has ended.

There's no increased chance of obtaining any specific item in the banner. Each of them has equal chances based on their rarity. The hard pity for a 4-star is 10 pulls, which means in every 10 pull, you are guaranteed to get a 4-star. Similarly, the hard pity for a 5-star item is 90 pulls. The counter resets upon obtaining any 5-star item.

Since the Stellar Warp is permanent, players can use it to gradually increase their collection without the pressure of time-limited banners. It is strongly emphasized and recommended to not waste your Stellar Jades to purchase Star Rail Passes. The game will reward you with many of them and this same pool of items is available in other event-exclusive banners. Therefore, you should consider your goals and resource availability when deciding how to engage with this warp.

Character Event Warp

Credit: In Game Screenshot

This is a time-limited banner that you should be saving your Stellar Jades for. It features an exclusive 5-star character every few weeks (generally 21 days) with boosted chances of getting three 4-star characters.

When you pull a 5-Star character from the Character Event Warp, there's a 50% chance it will be the featured character. This is popularly known as winning or losing the 50/50. If the 5-Star character pulled is not the featured character and instead, you get one of the standard 5-star characters, the next 5-Star character the player pulls from the banner is guaranteed to be the featured one. Popularly known as having a ‘guarantee’.

Same as Stellar Warp, the hard pity for 4-star and 5-star is 10 and 90 respectively. The soft pity for 5-star is believed to start from 75 onwards. The pity is carried over to the next banner. This means if you make a certain number of pulls without receiving a 5-star character in the current banner, those pulls will still count towards the pity for the next Character Event Warp.

Event-exclusive characters have unique play styles that can significantly improve your gaming experience, crucial for certain game modes or team compositions. Therefore, Character Event Warp, especially with its limited availability and exclusivity, is the banner you need to seek after.

Light Cone Event Warp

Credit: In Game Screenshot

If you are a Genshin Impact player who ventured into Honkai Star Rail, you would be wary of the Light Cone Event Warp but there’s no need to be scared! This banner is much more free-to-play friendly than Genshin’s weapon banner. Similar to Character Event Warps, the Light Cone Event Warp is time-limited, changing its featured items periodically.

In the Light Cone Event Warp, a 5-star item is guaranteed with the hard pity of 80 pulls. Soft Pity usually begins around 68 pulls. The warp counter resets upon obtaining any 5-star item. Each time a 5-star item is obtained, there's a 75% chance it's the promotional 5-star Light Cone. If not, the next 5-star item is guaranteed to be the promotional Light Cone. This means a maximum of 160 warps is required for a promotional 5-star Light Cone. Pity and Guarantees are also carried over to the next banner. The banner also features exclusive 4-star Light Cones from time to time and follows a similar pattern of chances as the 5-star featured Light Cone, with the hard pity being 10.

Consider pulling on this banner only if the featured 5-star is the signature Light Cone of one of your characters, or if it offers broad utility across various characters. While signature Light Cones significantly boost performance, it is recommended to get a substantial number of characters first before you opt for this warp.

In Honkai Star Rail, success in battles requires careful strategizing, but managing your resources, especially Stellar Jade, is equally crucial. How you allocate Stellar Jade for banner pulls significantly influences your progression in the game as a trailblazer. It is tempting to use your Stellar Jades for random summons but try to hold off on that. Saving them up and then getting exactly the characters and Light Cones you're looking for? That's a lot more satisfying. It's all about playing it smart with your resources and making choices that align with your preferences. Keep those Stellar Jades for the good stuff!