Honkai: Star Rail terms and mechanics explained

Honkai: Starway is a mobile gacha game through and through, and uses a ton of the same mechanics that you’ll see in other games of the same genre.

While the game has tons of similar UI elements and general mechanics to Hoyoverse’s other games, Honkai Impact 3 And Genshin Impactit’s actually a lot easier to understand once you know what all those mumbo-jumbo terms mean.

Below we list all the terms and mechanics and explain them for the modern gacha player to get up to speed.

Account Information

• Pioneering level: Your account level. As you rank up, you can claim rewards from Pom Pom and increase your balance level.
• equilibrium level: The difficulty level of your game. You need to increase this to further strengthen your characters.
• Breakthrough Power: Your endurance. You can only complete certain game elements by spending them. It is capped at 180. It takes six minutes to regain a Trailblaze Power and 18 hours to refill all 180.

characters and equipment

• paths: Character types classified into defensive, healing, AoE, etc. roles. There are seven classifications and each uses different cones of light.
• cone of light: Weapons. These are the main gears that your characters will use. You can draw after them in gacha or farm some of lower rarity from different fights.
• Sense: Character skill levels. Increase your characters’ damage output by upgrading them with basic materials.
• relics: sub-equipment, similar to Genshin Impact artifacts. They have set bonuses and roll random substats.
• Eidolon: If you drag duplicates of the same characters, you can improve their stats and skills by increasing their eidolon.

Image: Hoyoverse via Polygon

• talent: A passive skill that can strengthen the character, prompt follow-up attacks, etc.
• Capability: An ability that requires skill points to use.
• Ultimate: A powerful ability that requires a full Ultimate Gauge to use.
• Technology: An ability used out of combat to complement an incoming combat.

daily and weekly newspapers

• nameless honor: The Battle Pass. You can get it to level 50 for free by completing daily and weekly tasks, but you can expand the rewards by paying money.
• Daily training: A set of five tasks you can complete to earn “Activity”. For every 100 activity you earn, you will receive a handful of Stellar Jade.

Image: Hoyoverse via Polygon

• assignments: Send characters to get you various materials. The longer you send them away, the more materials they bring back. The sent characters can still be used in battle.
• synthesize: Craft Healing Food with this simple crafting system, combining small materials into larger materials.
• Simulated Universe: A roguelite combat mode in which you travel to different “worlds” and take different paths to fight enemies and earn buffs that are only active in this mode. It’s very similar Honkai Impact 3‘s Elysium Realm, albeit on a simpler scale. There are rewards that reset every week.
• Forgotten Hall: A battle mode where you have to eliminate enemies within a few turns to get rewards. It’s similar to Genshin Impact‘Spiral Abyss.

Gacha and currency

• Stellar Jade: The main premium currency that you earn by opening chests, completing quests, etc.
• Star Rail special pass: The currency you use to roll on the event gacha banner. These cost 160 Stellar Jade each.
• Star Rail Pass: The currency you use to roll on the default gacha banner. These cost 160 Stellar Jade each.
• Immortal Starlight: Currency earned by earning at least four stars through Gacha. You can spend this on more passes, four-star characters, or five-star light cones.
• Immortal Embers: Currency obtained for getting three stars through gacha. You can spend this on more passes and upgrade materials.
• Dreamlike shards: Premium currency that you can only buy with real money. You can convert this into Stellar Jade at a 1:1 ratio or use it to purchase special bundles.
• Credits: The common currency used to level up characters, buy items in NPC shops, etc.

Agricultural materials and implements

• Chalice (golden): Farming levels for character and Light Cone EXP materials and credits. It costs 10 Trailblaze Power to operate.

Image: Hoyoverse via Polygon

• Chalice (Crimson): Farming levels for Trace and Light Cone ascension material. It costs 10 Trailblaze Power to operate.
• standing shadow: Small bosses that drop character advancement materials. It costs 30 Trailblaze Power to operate.
• Cave of Corrosion: Farming levels for relics. It costs 40 Trailblaze Power to operate.
• Echoes of War: Major weekly bosses that drop four-star weapons and trace materials. It costs 30 Trailblaze Power to run, and you can only do this three times a week.