HoYoverse has unveiled the details for Honkai: Star Rail Version 3.4, and it includes quite a bit of content and updates, including the Fate/stay night banner (which comes with a special Penacony story), the continuation of Amphoreus’ story, highly-beloved characters, new features, and more.
Honkai: Star Rail Version 3.3 ended with Phainon leaving the Trailblazer as he goes to return the last Coreflame to the Vortex of Genesis. Now, the story picks up as things get complicated and the dawn of the Era Nova potentially on the horizon. Players will venture through Phainon’s past to help him.
With this comes Phainon as a playable character. He’s a five-star Physical character on the Path of Destruction who uses a Coreflame system to power his Ultimate.
After using his Ultimate, Phainon transforms and creates a Territory, which will cause allies to leave the battlefield (though their bonus effects stay active). After transforming, Phainon will unlock new abilities and take on enemies himself.
Phainon also has a unique Technique where he instantly defeats normal enemies that are in range, skipping combat completely. While he’s on the team, the team will have an increased Technique Point max.
Phainon isn’t the only new character coming to Honkai: Star Rail in Version 3.4. The Fate/stay night collaboration is bringing Saber and Archer to the game in long-term banners.
Saber is a five-star Wind character on the Path of Destruction. Her Ultimate, Excalibur, deals AoE Wind damage and converts her basic attacks, which also hits all enemies.
In combat, Saber can increase her Core Resonance through her own Technique and basic attacks, along with allies’ Ultimates. At a certain point, she’ll be able to gain an immediate extra action. If she uses her Skill here, then her Skill damage is increased and her Ultimate is recharged.
Additionally, Archer will be a free five-star Quantum character on the Path of the Hunt. Players can log in between July 11 through the end of Version 3.6 to get him for free.
His kit is focused on targeting enemies and dealing high damage with his Skill. When his Skill is active, he goes into the Circuit Connection state. This makes it so that his Skill doesn’t end his turn, and he can keep using his Skill until he’s out of Skill Points.
When Archer uses his Ultimate, he’ll gain a Special Charge, which he can consume to trigger a follow-up attack after an ally’s attack and restore a Skill Point.
Saber and Archer, along with Lancer, are arriving in Honkai: Star Rail with the Sweet Dreams and the Holy Grail War story in Penacony. This story will see the return of other characters like Aventurine, Robin, and Boothill.
This special entertainment program invites seven characters to summon Penacony’s historical figures to fight with them.
Saber and Archer will have their own Character and Light Cone banners outside of the traditional banners players are used to. In the first half of Version 3.4, Phainon will be available with Tribbie, Sunday, and Sparkle. The second half will feature Firefly, Jingliu, and Blade.
The second half of the banner features characters who are getting more love from HoYoverse. Firefly’s new outfit, Spring Missive, will be released in Version 3.4.
Additionally, Silver Wolf, Blade, Kafka, and Jingliu will receive updates to their battle mechanics and Eidolons. Keep in mind that players will be able to switch between classic and Enhanced combat modes for these characters after Version 3.4.
Version 3.4 is also releasing the highly requested skip dialogue feature. It’s also bringing back the fan-favorite Origami Bird minigame.
Fans can watch the Honkai: Star Rail Version 3.4 trailer to get a visual idea of what’s coming when it’s released on July 11, 2025.
