A new Honkai: Star Rail leak reveals details about gameplay mechanics that will be released in version 2.0 in early February.
Highlights
Honkai: Star Rail leak reveals new combat mechanics, including Mutation and Quake Counter, that provide buffs and shields against challenging enemies in the Penacony region.
Players will encounter unique enemies in Penacony, such as mecha dinosaurs and TV creatures, requiring different strategies and party setups to defeat them.
Version 2.0 of Honkai: Star Rail will offer bountiful rewards through the Penacony offering system, similar to Genshin Impact's Tree of Dreams, giving players a chance to claim valuable items and materials.
A recent Honkai: Star Rail leak details a brand-new combat mechanic players will use in challenging encounters against Penacony-based enemies. Over the course of the story, Honkai: Star Rail players will explore a dreamlike region called Penacony, which used to be a prison for the most notorious criminals in the game's universe. After the Stellaron Outbreak, this ominous planet hosted some secretive groups and a powerful entity, Xipe. Presently, not only does Penacony hold many secrets about the ongoing story, but it also features playable characters, including the likes of Sparkle and Acheron.
Every character players will meet in Honkai: Star Rail's Penacony belongs to a distinctive function; for example, Sam operates as a member of the Stellaron Hunters, while Hanabi is affiliated with an eclectic group called Masked Fools. It's safe to predict that the upcoming destination will feature a number of social groups and promote cultural diversity in the main story. Besides characters, the Penacony region will introduce new types of mobs, such as trash cans and mecha dinosaurs. Based on leaks, they will have unique attacks and designs that set them apart from other regular enemies.
The latest Honkai: Star Rail leak from c2tr has revealed that players will take advantage of a combat mechanic, the Mutation, which provides buffs under different circumstances. In an example, when Trailblazers deal DoT(damage over time) to Penacony-based mecha dinosaurs, the Mutation: Combo Blast will grant Stove overheating stacks that regenerate energy for all allies. Also, there is the Quake Counter mechanic, which gives active characters a shield and allows them to rebound from enemy attacks in combat against a giant, scary-looking golem.
Honkai: Star Rail players will encounter new enemies that look like televisions with human limbs, and they will trigger the Grin Sweep mechanic to make them switch between two channels. According to the leaked description, when at least three of these TV creatures on the Surprise channel are adjacent to each other, they will immediately be executed. It will be interesting to see if these combat mechanics will encourage players to tweak their party setup.
Each Penacony-based enemy in Honkai: Star Rail requires players to form their team with characters that have different specialties. For instance, Dino-type mobs are easier to defeat with DoT teams, while TVs have a weakness against single-target attackers.
With the release of version 2.0, Honkai: Star Rail players will claim bountiful rewards through Peneacony's offering system that works similarly to Genshin Impact's Tree of Dreams. Ranging from Light Cones and enhancement materials to Stellar Jades, they will get these freebies by completing a series of tasks. As per the six-week patch schedule, update 2.0 will arrive in early February.
The fourth entry in HoYoverse's Honkai franchise, Honkai: Star Rail is a free-to-play sci-fi RPG. Utilizing a turn-based combat system, the game includes dungeons, multiple planets, and a gacha system for unlocking new characters. Debuting on April 26, 2023, on PC and mobile, Honkai: Star Rail has also been announced for the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4.