Much like sister series Genshin Impact, it seems that Honkai: Star Rail is moving straight from Update 1.6 to 2.0 in the coming months. Revealed to be released for the big occasion is Black Swan, a character who might just be the new favorite of the fanbase.
Our first introduction to the Wind-type Memokeeper, who walks the Path of Nihility, was back in May. Expertly voiced by Arryn Zech, most well-known for her portrayal of Blake Belladonna in Rooster Teeth’s RWBY, Black Swan narrated the Myriad Celestia trailer Fables About the Stars Part 1. Most recently, she appeared in Star Rail’s candidacy trailer for The Game Awards 2023, teasing her entry into the story. Perhaps we should have expected an announcement sooner rather than later.
The community has gone into overdrive on social media, indicating that this may be the most anticipated release since Kafka earlier this year. Her design is stunning if bearing similar hallmarks to many other characters that came before. This is a point of contention against miHoYo at present—some suggesting the studio has run out of ideas for feminine fashion options—although it hasn’t stopped many from sharing their excitement.
“PLEASE GIVE US F2P [players] TIME TO SAVE STELLAR JADES,” begged Enviosity, one of Star Rail’s most popular North American content creators. This was in response to the official reveal on X and was a request liked by over 2000 people at time of writing. Although miHoYo has been very generous with the distribution of Premium Star Rail passes, Stellar Jade (the game’s key currency) has been in slimmer supply recently. Version 1.4 was notably shorter than the previous 1.3 or current 1.5 versions.
Concern is especially valid in this case since users intent on not spending may be forced to choose between Black Swan and another upcoming release. Players swooned in the wake of Ruan Mei’s full reveal on Oct. 31. As an Ice-type Harmony character, she will be the first of her kind and will be a must-have for those looking to collect Genius Society members to complement Herta.
Black Swan, on the other hand, already has competition within her niche. Although not the most popular character, Sampo Koski is a DoT (Damage over Time) demon when built properly. As a base game 4* release, most will already have him as a part of their roster if not invested in. “Sampo at C6 is quite strong and I wonder how they’d make Black Swan even stronger than that,” mused one Reddit user.
Decisions, decisions.
