Honkai: Star Rail Plans to Enhance Older Characters

Honkai: Star Rail has announced plans to reinvigorate older characters that have struggled amid the challenges of power creep. As one of the most successful and lucrative gacha games available, HSR continues to engage players with a substantial 3.0 expansion, introducing a new planet and playable Path. Players will also benefit from enhancements that streamline the often tedious character-building process, providing new boons and customizable relics.

However, like many other gacha titles, HSR has not escaped the clutches of power creep, arguably emerging as one of the more notable titles affected within the HoYoverse realm. Unlike Zenless Zone Zero, which has managed to circumvent this issue, HSR’s depth complicates any reversal of power trends. While older characters retain their enjoyment factor and can still hold their own, ongoing content increasingly emphasizes newer characters, who boast escalating damage capabilities.

Strengthening Old Characters in Honkai: Star Rail

Recognizing Existing Challenges

On the official HoYoLAB blog, the development team outlined their commitment to revitalizing older characters who struggle in the increasingly challenging endgame scenarios. Notably, certain boss battles cleverly catered to newer characters suggest that adjustments may be imperative. To alleviate these challenges, recent updates have featured trial characters during story missions, creating opportunities for players to familiarize themselves with various character dynamics.

“In addition, issues close to Trailblazers’ hearts, including difficulty deploying older characters on the battlefield and the strengthening of these older characters, are already on the schedule.”

This initiative becomes crucial as power creep continues to impinge on gameplay.Newer characters consistently deliver higher damage outputs, making it increasingly difficult for their older counterparts to compete. Even well-liked characters like Jing Yuan face challenges keeping pace with new releases. Another layer of complexity arises with endgame content like the Memory of Chaos (MOC), Shadows, and Pure Fiction, frequently tailored around new character specialties and optimal builds.

Possible Inspirations from Genshin Impact

A Proven Approach

Genshin Impact characters Mavuika and Citlali — Image credit: Katarina Cimbaljevic

Star Rail may look to Genshin Impact for potential solutions to improve older characters. Within Genshin, the Imaginarium Theater regularly features a select group of ongoing characters each update, who receive various buffs.These enhancements extend beyond the theater, impacting gameplay across all modes.

A similar system in Star Rail could implement seasonal stat boosts for select older characters, helping them feel more competitive against newer entries.This strategy would not hinder HoYoverse’s revenue flow, allowing new characters to remain dominant while still granting older characters a rotational spotlight.

Challenging Gacha Norms

Innovative Directions

Honkai Star Rail's Aglaea reaches for the sky. — Image credit: Bruno Yonezawa

A dramatic yet unlikely change could see Star Rail break the traditional gacha mold by actively buffing older characters. While substantial kit reworks may be improbable, simple numeric scaling could enhance the competitiveness of older DPS units compared to their newer counterparts.

Historically, gacha games rarely engage in buffing old characters. The exception within HoYoverse came with Zhongli, whose initial gameplay was deemed underwhelming. This adjustment was strategically beneficial, given his status as an Archon and potential revenue generator. Nonetheless, enhancing older characters might not directly align with financial incentives unless paired with rerun schedules, potentially aiming to quell player dissatisfaction.

The most probable outcome aligns with a model similar to Genshin Impact. This approach would ease the developers’ task by leveraging existing frameworks and minimizing adverse impacts on revenue. Ultimately, whatever strategy HoYoverse adopts, the effort to revitalize older characters within Honkai: Star Rail should prove advantageous. Players who have invested time and resources in these characters will be glad to see them regain significance.

Source: HoYoLAB

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