Summary
- Honkai: Star Rail's characters have special abilities tied to elements and Paths bestowed by the Aeons.
- Players can explore and utilize different Path Blessings in the Simulated Universe to enhance their runs, introducing buffs and abilities from various Paths.
- Paths in the game's lore are philosophical concepts linked to godlike figures called Aeons, with different combat styles and personalities.
Just like any RPG, Honkai: Star Rail's characters are assigned with special abilities that add value to a team. They range from strong damage dealers who can eliminate opponents swiftly to support characters who provide shields and healing. Each Honkai: Star Rail character's abilities is not only tied to an element, but also a Path bestowed upon them by the Aeons.
In Honkai: Star Rail's gameplay, Paths are used as a class system for each character's play style. But in lore, Paths are philosophical concepts linked to the Aeons, who are godlike figures that are often mentioned and occasionally appear in the game. So far, there are seven playable Paths in Honkai: Star Rail main gameplay, but there are a lot more that have yet to show up.
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What Honkai: Star Rail Fans Need to Know About Paths
Honkai: Star Rail has a total of 18 Aeons who preside over Paths, with seven being playable across the game's roster of characters. Although most characters don't necessarily worship the Aeons they're associated with, the Paths they follow showcase their distinct combat styles inspired by the gods' personalities and dispositions.
Destruction: The fearsome Nanook watches over the Path of Destruction. Known for destroying their own world, the Aeon inspired many people, including villainous groups like the Annihilation Gang, to cause destruction wherever they go. Characters who follow the Path of Destruction usually have high DEF and HP, and often gain more ATK DMG whenever they consume their HP.
Erudition: Nous the Erudition is an astral supercomputer followed by the greatest minds of the universe. All Erudition characters in Honkai: Star Rail inflict AoE damage. The Path also includes some of the most intelligent characters, such as Herta from the Genius Society and Xianzhou Luofu's Arbiter-General Jing Yuan.
The Hunt: Also known as the Reignbow Arbiter, Lan the Hunt was a mortal-turned-god who led the Xianzhou army. Characters who follow this Path are mostly DPS fighters who exhibit the same determination as the Aeon.
Nihility: Known as the Path that inflicts debuffs and DOT, Nihility is presided by IX, a mysterious and docile Aeon. Despite being a "peaceful" figure, it's believed that they can be deadly when threatened.
Harmony: Presided by the Aeon Xipe, those who follow the Path of Harmony believe in spreading joy. This is evident in Honkai: Star Rail's Penacony arc, where The Family worships Xipe, and how Harmony characters can buff allies' stats.
Preservation: Qlipoth the Preservation is a powerful protector of planets, whose purpose is to prevent living worlds from being destroyed. Characters following this Path have similar abilities as they provide shields to their teammates.
Abundance: Yaoshi the Abundance is a polarizing figure as they are known for blessing people with immortality, but also responsible for cursing them to become undead abominations. Fortunately, Abundance characters are effective healers, who sometimes give buffs to allies.
Paths in Honkai: Star Rail's Simulated Universe
If players want to learn more about Paths, Honkai: Star Rail's Simulated Universe is the right place. Here, players can utilize different Path Blessings with corresponding buffs to complete their runs. These include most of the playable Paths, plus others that introduce other Aeons.
Elation: The Aeon Aha inspires their followers to delight in the joys of life. Their devout followers from the Masked Fools believe that the ultimate meaning of life lies in laughter, which is why they resort to tricks in order to accomplish their missions. In the Simulated Universe, this Path Blessing buffs follow-up attacks.
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Remembrance: It's believed that Fuli the Remembrance existed before the universe was formed, which is why they have a record of every happening to prepare for the universe's destruction. Because of Fuli's crystallized appearance, their Path Blessing freezes enemies and also buffs freeze damage from Ice-type characters.
Propagation: One of the newer Path Blessings, Propagation is under Tayzzyronth's watch. They're known for creating the horrifying Swarm, which players faced in Honkai: Star Rail's Swarm Disaster mode. In the Simulated Universe, the Path of Propagation increases basic ATK DMG and causes enemies to receive damage from tiny Swarms.
Other Mentioned Paths
It's still unknown if the remaining Honkai: Star Rail Paths will eventually become permanent fixtures in the main game or the Simulated Universe. However, many of them have been mentioned in character dialogues and reading materials, such as Trailblaze (Akivili), Beauty (Idrila), and Permanence (Long). Honkai: Star Rail is still a relatively young game that might introduce more character features, so it wouldn't be a surprise if future characters would follow brand-new Paths when the time comes. On the other hand, it's also likely that the remaining Paths will just exist as Simulated Universe Blessings.
Honkai: Star Rail
- Released
- April 26, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Teen / Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes, Simulated Gambling, In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items), Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- HoYoverse (Formerly miHoYo)
- Publisher(s)
- HoYoverse (Formerly miHoYo)
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PC, Android, iOS
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Turn-Based RPG
