Another Special Program has aired for Honkai: Star Rail, which means a whole new patch is on the horizon with plenty of new content for Trailblazers to engage with, including new characters! Launching this July 31st, 2024, Honkai: Star Rail’s 2.4 update is on the horizon. With the end of the Penacony story, we see the Astral Express crew setting off to return to a familiar locale, the Xianzhou Luofu. Arriving here, we’ll participate in the Wardance ceremony, spending time with old friends and new friends. Also, to the surprise of literally everyone, Honkai: Star Rail will be getting a collaboration with the Fate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works] anime in Q3 of 2025!
A new area is being released for us to explore, full of new story about the Xianzhou called the “Shackling Prison”. The Shackling Prison is inhabited by wolf-like creatures known as “Borisin”, known for their ruthless nature and innate Moon Rage. Trailblazers will have to be careful when navigating the new area, and make sure they are prepared for combat!
We’ll be introduced to two new five-star characters: Yunli, a physical Destruction character, and Jiaoqiu, a Fire Nihility character. Yunli specializes in taking a counter stance and dishing out extreme amounts of damage to enemies that attack her, hitting for physical damage. Her ultimate state puts her in a “parry” state and draws aggro from enemies even more than normal as well as boost her critical damage, and when she retaliates puts out insane damage.
Jiaoqiu specializes in inflicting the Burn status effect, as well as his own unique debuff called “Ashen Roast”. He’ll be stacking burn damage and using his ultimate to further increase that damage, and gives your units an Ultimate DMG boost. Both characters are quite formidable, and can help boost teams that desire physical damage or debuffs/status effects.
Upon returning to the Xianzhou Luofu, you’ll have the opportunity to assist March 7th in training her swordplay alongside Yunli and Yanqing. As she masters it, she’ll become a new 4 star Imaginary Hunt character capable of wielding swords instead of a bow. Her skill designates a party member as her Shifu, and that status helps give her and your character buffs based on what path they follow, as well as giving March herself an enhanced basic attack..
With a new patch means a new set of banners, and this patch is no exception. For the first half, you’ll be expecting to pull on the banners of Yunli and Huohuo alongside their Light Cones. The four-stars on this banner for characters are Hanya, Yukong, and Lynx. For phase 2, your banners are Jiaoqiu and Sparkle with their Light Cones, and your four-stars for that phase will be Hook, Guinafen, and Arlan. The first half Light Cone four-stars with rate ups are “The Birth of Self”, “The Moles Welcome You”, and “Perfect Timing”. For phase 2, your four-star Light Cones are “A Secret Vow”, “Eyes of the Prey”, and “Poised to Bloom”! Poised to Bloom is a new Harmony Light Cone featuring March 7th’s new Swordmaster form on the cover.
In addition to the Special Program, we were also given a 2.4 trailer that went over and showcased some of the new events and story beats to be expected in 2.4. The trailer was dubbed “Finest Duel Under the Pristine Blue” and is worth a watch for any Trailblazer eager to see what awaits them on the night of July 30th. The trailer can be found here:
Version 2.4 Trailer — “Finest Duel Under the Pristine Blue” | Honkai: Star Rail:
Honkai: Star Rail 2.4 screens:
