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The arrival of Honkai: Star Rail (HSR) brings a new host of characters to pull for, each with their own specific sets of skills and combat roles that fit. While it’s still too early in the game’s lifespan to fully understand the direction that HSR’s meta is going, you can start building teams based on each Honkai: Star Rail characters’ Path.
What are Paths in Honkai: Star Rail?
Honkai: Star Rail’s character Paths are the game’s version of character classes or jobs. The Path your character belongs to determines what roles they’re meant to play in a team as well as which characters they have the best synergy with. Compared to HoYoverse’s previous game, Genshin Impact, the character roles of Honkai: Star Rail are more rigid and have a bigger influence on your team’s strategy than your characters’ elements. This is despite Honkai: Star Rail also having an elemental system.
From what we know about Honkai: Star Rail, each Path is patterned after an Aeon, god-like beings who ascended from regular people into powerful entities that embody concepts. The Aeons preside over the Paths, and the Paths are a manifestation of their power.
All the Paths in Honkai: Star Rail
Honkai: Star Rail has seven paths in total. These Paths are the Destruction, the Hunt, the Erudition, the Harmony, the Nihility, the Preservation, and the Abundance.
- The Destruction: Generalist DPS. Characters of the Destruction Path are formidable damage dealers that serve as a party’s generic damage dealer. Other offensive Paths specialize in a specific kind of damage, but the Destruction’s characters are jacks of all trades.
- The Hunt: Single-target DPS. Characters that follow the Hunt Path are specialized single-target damage dealers.
- The Erudition: Crowd Control, AoE. Characters that follow the Erudition Path excel at AoE damage.
- The Harmony: Buff Support. Characters from the Harmony Path buff their allies, sacrificing personal damage to boost the overall damage dealt by the team.
- The Nihility: Debuff Support. Characters of the Nihility Path are the opposite of the Harmony Path. They give their allies an advantage by weakening enemies through debuffs.
- The Preservation: Shield. Characters of the Preservation Path have defensive kits that let them shield their teammates from incoming damage.
- The Abundance: Healer. The Abundance Path’s characters are healers.
Who are the Aeons of the Paths in Honkai: Star Rail?
The Paths each correspond to an Aeon, but not much is known about the Aeons of Honkai: Star Rail. In-game lore claims that the Aeons were once regular humans and other alien species, but they ascended to godhood and became embodiments of universal concepts. It’s unclear how people ascend to be Aeons or what the Aeons themselves are, but what we do know is that these Aeons correspond to the following Paths.
- Nanook (The Destruction): Nanook presides over the Destruction Path and is the embodiment of entropy.
- Lan (The Hunt): Lan is nicknamed the “Archer Lord of Fate,” a being who indiscriminately hunts down life forms as vengeance for what the undead did to their homeworld.
- Nous (The Erudition): Nous was a computer before they ascended. It’s not clear how Aeons are made, but Nous is known to have ascended because of the upgrades made to their system.
- Xipe (The Harmony): Xipe isn’t one Aeon, but multiple Aeons joined as one, each of which are said to come from harmonious worlds of song.
- IX (Nihility): Not much is known about IX as of the moment, other than that they’re rather elusive.
- Qlipoth (The Preservation): Qilipoth, or “The Amber Lord,” is famed for building celestial walls that protect the worlds of Honkai: Star Rail.
- Yaoshi (The Abundance): Yaoshi is the Aeon who nurtures life and wants to preserve it at all costs. They are the enemy of Lan.
The Paths of Honkai: Star Rail Characters
There are currently 27 Honkai: Star Rail characters, with 14 being 5-stars and 13 being 4-stars.
- The Destruction:
- 5-star: Blade, Trailblazer, Clara
- 4-star: Arlan, Hook
- The Hunt:
- The Erudition:
- The Harmony:
- The Nihility:
- 5-star: Welt, Silver Wolf, Kafka
- 4-star: Pela, Sampo
- The Preservation
- 5-star: Fu Xuan, Gepard, Trailblazer
- 4-star: March 7th
- The Abundance
Will there be more Paths in Honkai: Star Rail?
There are currently only seven Paths in Honkai: Star Rail, but it’s possible that new ones may be added further down the line due to how Paths are connected to their Aeons. We have heard of Aeons in the game with no known Paths that have characters of that Path.
Some Aeons we’ve heard of that have no playable Path characters are:
- Akivili: The Trailblaze
- Oroboros: The Voracity
- Aha: The Elation
- Idrila: The Beauty
- The Propagator: Tazzyronth
- The Enigmata: Mythus
- The Remembrance: Fuli
Can you change your Trailblazer’s Path in Honkai: Star Rail?
Yes, it’s possible to change your Trailblazer’s Path in Honkai: Star Rail. You will need to complete the game’s storylines to get additional Paths and elements. The game will start you off on the Destruction path. You will get the Fire element and The Preservation Path after completing the Jarilo-VI questline.
