In any gacha game, the primary mechanism is typically the pulling phase, where players use in-game currency to roll for characters and gear. This also holds true for MiHoYo’s latest game, Honkai: Star Rail, but new players might find it confusing due to some unique aspects. Luckily, this guide will focus on warping and re-warping in version 1.0 of Honkai: Star Rail.
Before diving into the specifics, clarifying the game’s terminology is important. Instead of pulling or rolling, Honkai: Star Rail refers to it as warping. The passes used for warping are known as Star Rail Passes, which can be divided into two categories.
The first is the Star Rail Special Pass, which allows warping on limited-time character banners, while the second is the Star Rail Pass, which permits warping on the standard banner. Two other banners are also worth mentioning: the Departure Warp (which we will explain in detail below) and the light cone banner, where players can warp for gear rather than characters.
Is Warping or “Re-Warping” Worth it in Honkai: Star Rail?
If you’re not familiar with the concept of re-warping, it involves restarting your game to obtain a more favorable character from the beginning. Many people wonder whether re-warping is worth it in Honkai: Star Rail, and the simple answer is no. Several significant factors contribute to this conclusion:
- Every Honkai: Star Rail player must create an account with MiHoYo, which is shared between all their games, such as Honkai Impact 3rd and Genshin Impact. If you want to warp without spending money, you must create an entirely new account every time, with a new email address and password, which can get super annoying.
- You don’t get introduced to the warping mechanic until almost an hour into the game’s tutorial, and this is a game where there are tons of unskippable dialogue and cutscenes. Honkai: Star Rail lacks a dialogue skip option in its entirety, not just the tutorial.
- The game disincentivises you from re-warping because it showers you with plenty of warp tickets at the beginning and even features a beginner Departure Warp banner that guarantees you a 5-Star Rarity character after 50 warps. This banner is only for new players and disappears after you finish it. For reference, I did not get any 5 Star Rarity warps and relied on the 50 warp special, which granted me Clara.
- The probability that you warp a desired 5-Star Rarity character is exceptionally low (less than 1 per cent), so it might take several rinses, repeats, and hours before you get someone you like. Simply playing the game and progressing will reward you with plenty of warp opportunities.
How to Unlock The Gacha Element, Warping, in Honkai: Star Rail?
If you are still committed to warping for a character that you really want in the game, then you should do the following:
- Create an account with MiHoYo with an unaffiliated email address
- Go through the lengthy and unskippable tutorial that may take upwards of an hour. You will get 20 warp tickets to use (called Star Rail passes)
- Decide whether or not you want to level up more to get some extra tickets
- Spend your warp tickets on the Departure Warp Banner (don’t use it on the Standard one or any other)
- Probably not get any good warps
- Cry and go back to step 1 and repeat
Honkai: Star Rail uses a pity system where the game guarantees you a 5-Star Rarity character after 50 warps. This is the aforementioned “beginner departure warp banner”. After taking advantage of this, that number goes up to 80. For 4 Star Rarity characters and light cones, that pity number is set to 10. So, if you’re super unlucky, know that you are guaranteed something good as long as you keep warping.
Your Wallet Can Help You Out in Honkai: Star Rail
This guide is aimed at players who want this game to remain a F2P (Free-to-play) experience. You can, of course, top up on your in-game Star Rail Passes with real money. The in-game top-up shop contains a wide range of Oneiric Shards to purchase with your local currency. The conversion of Oneiric Shard to Stellar Jade to Star Rail Passes is as follows:
- 1 Oneiric Shard = 1 Stellar Jade
- 160 Stellar Jade = 1 Star Rail Pass or 1 Star Rail Special Pass
If you don’t want to open your wallet, did you know you can actually get 8 characters guaranteed for free? Check out our straight-to-the-point guide to see how for yourself.
