Honkai: Star Rail’s newest 4.0 update will be arriving very soon after an unfortunate delay. Players have been scrambling and aching for this update for a while for its new characters and map.
This new map, Planetarcadia, has a bunch of interesting views, features, and characters new and old making their appearances here. This is an overview over every confirmed character coming to Planetarcadia and what that means for future updates.
Table of Contents
- ⏰ When Will Version 4.0 & Planetarcadia Be Dropping?
- ⚜️ Yao Guang
- ✨ Sparxie
- ⚔️ Blade SP
- 🌸 Evanesia
- 🖊️ Nihilux
- 🐺 Silver Wolf SP
- 💥 Ashveil
⏰ When Will Version 4.0 & Planetarcadia Be Dropping?
Honkai: Star Rail’s 4.0 version suffered a major delay which caused it to be pushed back way further than the usual weekly cycle. This gives players extra time to pull from the 3.8 rerun banners, but otherwise, most are saving their pulls for the new update and characters.
Besides that though, there’s also the wait for the long-awaited Planetarcadia map with its recent images getting lots of players hyped. Want some more character materials and wishes? You can buy hsr top up right now today.
The new 4.0 version update is planned to release on February 12th or 13th depending on where you live and your time zone. When that happens, players will have access to the brand new banners and story missions that introduce the newest Planetarcadia map.
While we already have confirmations over the future 5-star units, they won’t be appearing until much later phases throughout the year.
⚜️ Yao Guang
Yao Guang has been talked about the most recently by the fanbase since she’ll be the first character to debut for version 4.0. She is the General of the Xianzhou Yuque faction and is a Physical element and Elation Path follower.
Almost all brand new Planetarcadia characters will be following the newest Path, which focuses on buffing their Follow-Up Attacks. For Yao Guang, this means buffing her team through those attacks as a Sub-DPS.
✨ Sparxie
The main 5-star unit that will be headlining the second Phase of update 4.0 is Sparxie. Sparxie is a very interesting character already lore-wise, as she’s actually a variant of Sparkle.
Sparkle was a character known for how untrustworthy and unpredictable she was from always shifting between personas and lives. Sparxie is just an example of such, so we’ll be sure to see some interesting stuff from her in the story.
As for Sparxie’s kit, she’ll be a Fire element based unit also following the Elation Path. Instead of being a Sub-DPS by providing buffs through every Follow-Up Attack like Yao Guang, Sparxie will be a Main DPS instead.
She’ll be buffing herself and growing stronger as more Follow-Up Attacks occur, so synergizing her within teams will look pretty interesting.
⚔️ Blade SP
Blade will be making a shocking reappearance in future banners for Planetarcadia while also wearing a special new outfit. Considering this new look and teaser shown from the Honkai: Star Rail livestreams, he likely won’t be just another rerun.
He might have the same situation as Sparxie where he takes on a brand new kit, look, and maybe even Path or Element. That could completely change how Blade plays potentially, but also tell us where he is in the story now.
🌸 Evanescia
Evanescia will be the next debut character making an appearance within Planetarcadia. Since she was only just teased a little while ago, we don’t know when exactly she might show up.
It could very well be in the second Phase of the update or much later. Either way, she looks to be themed around Cherry Blossoms. Besides that though, there aren’t many other key details to note about how she might play just yet.
🖊️ Nihilux
Nihilux is a more interesting case here, as she might not actually become a playable character in the next update. During the Honkai: Star Rail teaser livestream about 4.0, players quickly took notice that she did not appear amongst the silhouette reveals for the future banners.
This means that Nihilux may just show up as an important NPC in the story instead. However, we do know more about her plot relevance compared to other characters.
Originally from Aha, Nihilux is considered a “strict mother of the Aeons.” This hints to her having a close relationship to the mythical beings, though it could also just be a saying about her strict personality. She’s also known as a free-spirited comic artist who tends to not adhere to deadlines. This sometimes results in staff searching for her whenever her manuscripts are late.
🐺 Silver Wolf SP
Silver Wolf, just like Blade’s reappearance, will also be getting a special new variant for Planetarcadia. She also appeared in the silhouette teasers, so she’ll be likely making a rerun as well in future banners.
Just like Blade and Sparxie, she could very well be getting a new kit and Path to coincide with the theme of differing personas and masks in this new storyline and map.
💥 Ashveil
Ashveil is the final character that was confirmed to be coming to Honkai: Star Rail’s version 4.0. He will also be a playable character if the silhouette assumptions are true from the last livestream. However, there is something important that was revealed in another trailer by Hoyoverse.
In the Myriad Celestia trailer, we learn that Ashveil is actually a mercenary or bounty hunter. We see that someone tries to hire him to eliminate an Aeon, but he refuses due to the low price tag.
