Honkai: Star Rail’s Version 1.6 is less than two weeks away, set to hit devices on Dec. 27. According to the latest Special Program that was released on Dec. 15, detailing what we should expect, it could be the best update by a country mile.
As we learn during the program, players shall be able to enjoy brand new story content featuring a return to Herta Space Station and one of the upcoming Event Warp characters Ruan Mei. She is ready to star on the update’s first banner alongside the new four-star damage dealer, Xueyi, before making way for Dr. Ratio. This good doctor, sensationally, is being given to all players for free as thanks for Star Rail’s success during awards season. Alongside the new trio, Stellaron Hunters Blade and Kafka return with respective Event Warps and their 5-star Light Cones.
Here’s where things start to get juicy. New Trace materials are on the way and a new Echo of War is heading to Herta Space Station as part of the new area accessible through the Trailblaze Continuance missions. This area plays host to the most adorable event in Star Rail yet—Critter Pick. Described as a gene-mixing experiment of sorts, you’ll try and catalog the various critters, of which there are many. These cute creatures may not even be the best part of the event, however, as players get the chance to play as the charming Peppy, Asta’s pet dog.
Herta’s Simulated Universe is also receiving attention in the form of new “DLC” akin to the testing Swarm Disaster mode. Gold and Gears’s setting is fascinating, focusing on the demise of super-computer Emporer Rubert. Featuring a skill tree much like its predecessor but with customizable dice faces offering different buffs, Gold and Gears is set to be another brilliant addition to spice up the Simulated Universe experience.
Besides smaller events to look forward to, it was the unveiling of Pure Fiction that last caught the eye. Running concurrently with Memory of Chaos, this addition brings with it challenging gameplay different from that which fans have seen previously. Instead of focusing on taking down enemies in a limited amount of time, the name of the game in Pure Fiction is to keep going for as long as possible against a group of respawning opponents.
All in all, that’s a lot of Stellar Jade to line the pockets and hours of content to tide us over until Version 2.0.
