Honkai Star Rail fans, get ready for some exciting changes on the horizon. During their latest livestream, HoYoverse announced a series of character reworks for HSR 3.4 that are set to bring a fresh breath of life into some of the game’s well-loved but currently overshadowed characters. In response to these persistent fan requests, Kafka, Silver Wolf, Blade, and Jingliu are slated for updates to make them relevant once more. While the specifics of these changes remain a mystery, the anticipation is definitely building.
If everything stays on track, we can expect this update to land in early July 2025. Back in 2023, when each of these characters made their debut, they were top contenders in the Honkai Star Rail roster. Kafka even had a resurgence in 2024 alongside Acheron’s arrival. Unfortunately, over time, they’ve seen a decline in their effectiveness, with factors like less impactful damage output and suboptimal team compositions. Take Jingliu, for instance—despite requiring a lot of resources to optimize, the output still lags behind her peers. Kafka hasn’t seen compatible damage-over-time characters lately, and the new addition, Mydei, is often seen as a mere upgrade of Blade.
This phenomenon known as “powercreep,” where older characters lose their edge, is pretty typical in gacha games. Yet, it’s worth noting that HoYoverse’s other games have managed to avoid this trap more effectively. For instance, Genshin Impact still has characters from its early days performing exceptionally well in current tier lists. And Zenless Zone Zero lets players face formidable foes using the initial trio of free characters, proving that old doesn’t necessarily mean obsolete.
Despite the promising reworks for some, it seems there aren’t immediate plans for characters like Bailu, Yanqing, Natasha, Hook, and Welt, who remain less competitive in present gameplay. However, there’s something to look forward to with version 3.2. Players can choose a free 5-star character, either Ruan Mei or Luocha, adding even more excitement to the mix.
Overall, these updates could potentially reshuffle the competitive landscape and breathe new life into characters that many players have loved from the start.
