Honkai: Star Rail team designs characters with story first, combat second

Honkai: Star Rail just celebrated its fourth anniversary on April 25. In those four years, the game has amassed more than 80 playable characters and five unique areas for players to explore. With its unique turn-based combat – which is a bit different from the other action RPGs that now flood the mobile game market – it can be hard to come up with unique playstyles for these characters, as well as gimmicks for these new areas to introduce each year.

Alongside the addition of the two most recent planets, Amphoreus and Planarcadia, new "paths" were introduced. You can think of paths like a unique playstyle or class for the characters. The Hunt path usually features single-target DPS characters, the Abundance path focuses on healers, Preservation characters give their allies shields, and so forth. While not all paths have clear rules and gimmicks, the new paths introduced definitely do. Amphoreus introduced Remembrance characters, which use summons to help them battle, and Planarcadia added the latest path: Elation, a class that relies on Aha Instant, a special being who takes its own turn to deal damage, and allows your characters to use their special Elation skills.

While all of these new additions can make your head spin, to Honkai: Star Rail players, it's not a big deal at all. The top players are constantly running calculations to determine which characters fit together in a team and who the cream of the crop is. Unfortunately, as is par for the course with gacha games, the newest characters tend to be among the strongest.

The development team has tried to combat this by buffing old characters occasionally – to mixed results. In the most recent round of buffs, characters that launched in 1.0, like Seele, moved up the commonly used Prydwen.gg tier list, but she's still far from the "Tier 0" cream-of-the-crop characters that have been released more recently. In previous buffs, other old characters, like version 1.2's Kafka, were beefed up to the top of the tier list.

Before the release of Honkai: Star Rail’s latest update, we asked the development team to talk about how they design new characters and paths, as well as how they decide to buff characters. You can see the full Q&A below.

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Polygon: In Amphoreus, we got Remembrance, and now in Planarcadia we have Elation. I play a lot of turn-based games, and I feel like making a fresh combat style in this genre can be difficult. Can you talk a little bit about the design process for when you make a new Path/playstyle? Is it difficult to keep things within Star Rail's identity or within bounds so it's not too strong but not too weak?

Honkai: Star Rail development team: Whenever we set out to create a new Path or combat experience, our first thought isn't "Let's make the most complex mechanic possible." Instead, we ask ourselves whether it can bring a fresh yet natural feel to the overall combat framework of Honkai: Star Rail. For us, every Path needs a clear identity. This includes its role within the team, how it shifts the rhythm of battle, and its synergy with other characters.

At the same time, we also place a huge priority on the characters themselves. More often than not, we don't start with the gameplay and then try to fit a character into it. We look at the character's personality, background, and role in the story, then work backward to find the combat style that fits them best. We want players to feel that a combat style is an extension of the character, rather than just mechanic design. We want players to feel that the reason a character fights a certain way isn't just because the mechanics demand it, but because "that's exactly how this character should be."

We're constantly exploring how to give new Paths their own distinct features without disrupting the original combat rhythm, bringing surprises without simply overriding the existing system. Designing a new Path is really about continuously adding new layers and forms of expression to our existing foundation, allowing the combat experience to grow and evolve while staying true to the style and boundaries of Honkai: Star Rail.

Moze, the last four-star character, was released almost a year and a half ago. Is there any particular reason why Hoyo has moved away from more four-star characters?

Thanks for the question! We've always deeply cherished every single character in the game. To us, characters aren't just a part of combat, they also play a vital role in conveying the worldview, driving the story forward, and building an emotional connection with the player. Because of this, character releases are typically planned with careful consideration of the version's theme, the pacing of the story, and the overall experience.

Since Version 1.0, many 4-star characters, like Qingque, Misha, and Gallagher, haven't just left a vivid impression in the story, they've also garnered a lot of love from players thanks to their unique personalities and gameplay. At the same time, we're always paying close attention to player feedback and expectations regarding how characters are obtained. With this in mind, we'll keep exploring more diverse ways to acquire characters. We hope to maintain the current rhythm of the game while making it easier and more natural for players to get their favorite characters and gradually build their own team. Moving forward, we'll continue optimizing and experimenting in this direction, so please keep an eye out for future updates!

Since version 3.4, older characters have gotten buffs via "Novaflare." (I'm super excited for Welt's update, as he was my favorite character to use in 1.0!) Is there a process for picking which characters get buffed? Can you talk about the design process and how you decide on what type of changes characters get to bring them up to par with current meta?

Good question. We've been taking a very systematic approach to evaluating how older characters perform in the current environment. In terms of our overall thought process, we are continuing our long-standing design direction. Rather than relying on easy stat boosts to "even out the power levels," we want to ensure that different characters remain viable within new systems.

When we select characters for adjustment, we don't simply base it on power gaps or specific external metrics. Instead, we focus more on how well the character fits into the current combat system. For instance, we examine whether their core mechanics still operate smoothly, if they've been restricted by shifts in the environment, and if there's any design space that can be further expanded. For us, the most important thing is helping these characters re-establish themselves in the current environment.

When it comes to the specific design, we lean towards choosing to enhance the character's original role and core gameplay, rather than altering their fundamental identity. By refining and optimizing crucial mechanics, we allow the original design intent to shine through more clearly, making it easier for them to contribute to team synergy and pacing.

Overall, we hope this approach allows characters to be naturally selected and used across different phases of the game, ensuring that players can always see their favorite characters thriving on the battlefield.

Kafka and Blade in Fortnite!!! I was very excited for this collaboration, since I play Fortnite. Can we expect to see any other characters join the Fortnite roster?

For us, a collaboration is always a highly meaningful endeavor. It not only brings fresh experiences to the table but also allows a character to gain recognition in a whole new manner among a broader base of players. However, pulling off a partnership like this is never a solo mission. It requires coordinated teamwork from multiple departments within the IPC, along with massive amounts of communication and fine-tuning with external partners—spanning the early stages of creative brainstorming, the development pipeline, content presentation, all the way to the later stage of implementation. From a dev perspective, the goal isn't just an easy "drop-in" for the character. It's about making sure they keep their iconic vibe in a totally new product environment, while seamlessly blending into the partner's gameplay and overall experience.

As for whether we'll roll out more collaborations in the future? We're keeping our doors wide open! As long as the right opportunities pop up to bring an experience of truth and genuine fun to the player, we'll keep exploring the cosmos of possibilities. Stay tuned!

I'm a big fan of Yae Sakura and Yae Miko, so I have been patiently waiting for her Star Rail version to show up since the game launched. She seems to play a fairly big role in the story, as a bit of an omnipresent watcher over the games, at least in the 4.0 story. Can you talk to us about her or give us any hints to the role she plays?

You're remarkably perceptive. Within the narrative structure of Version 4.0, Evanescia truly serves as a highly unique anchor. During a trailblazing expedition, the Express Crew typically intervenes in a planetary crisis as a turner of tides (a variable). Evanescia's existence, however, perfectly provides an alternative POV: exactly what you called an "observer." She remains detached from the overt and covert struggles of the various factions. She seems to know everything, yet maintains a subtle sense of distance.

The original intent behind this setup was to provide a higher narrative dimension to Version 4.0's massive and complex ensemble story. She isn't just observing the Express Crew; she's also observing the underlying laws governing this world: Could she even possess the strength to break the fourth wall and communicate with the players? In the upcoming Version 4.2 (which will be live by the time this interview releases), she will also experience numerous narrative highlights. We hope the player looks forward to her standout moments and future performances!

There's a lot of social chatter about how Evanescia's aesthetic and theme were supposed to be different, but had to be changed. Some others point to these alleged changes and say it's why she has a "bad" kit (according to leaked videos). Is there any truth to this? Can you share any of the design process for Evanescia?

Regarding the rumors on social media, we understand everyone's interest in Evanescia, and we truly appreciate players taking the time to discuss character design.

What we can share is that the creation of every character, and not just Evanescia, involves extensive, ongoing discussions across multiple teams, including IP, Narrative, Art, and Combat Design. Design adjustments don't mean they were "forced changes." Instead, they are made to ensure a character's personality and lore perfectly align with their combat experience. Therefore, we hope players will experience Evanescia's complete charm for themselves in the official release.