Honkai: Star Rail 1.3 arrives 30 August, will feature new area and Simulated Universe expansion

Honkai: Star Rail version 1.3 'Celestial Eyes Above Mortal Ruins' will be releasing on 30 August, featuring three new characters added to the game's roster: the 5-stars Imbibitor Lunae and Fu Xuan as well as the 4-star Lynx!

But before we get to the nitty-gritty of the new update, here are the livestream codes! Make sure to redeem them before they expire to get Stellar Jade and other rewards.

Free Stellar Jade codes

• LANPVGET8HFT - 100 Stellar Jade, 50,000 Credits

• BA7NCHFA9HWX - 100 Stellar Jade, 5 Traveler's Guide

• ASN6CHXBRHW3 - 100 Stellar Jade, 4 Refined Aether

Aside from those new characters, there's also a new area, an expansion to the Simulated Universe alongside a new event, and an increase to the total amount of Trailblaze Power available to players!

The new area, known as Aurum Alley, is a new location in the Xianzhou Luofu and will be the centre of recovery efforts in the worldship following the Ambrosial Arbor crisis and the defeat of the Lord Ravager Phantylia during the events of version 1.2.

The Simulated Universe will also be expanded through 'The Swarm Disaster' event, named after a crisis caused by Tayzzyronth, the fallen Aeon of Propagation. This event will see players navigate dynamically generated domains and challenges to uncover the myster of this disaster. After completing this event, players will be able to use the Path of Propagation in Simulated Universe gameplay.

There will also be four new Companion Quests and another daily log-in event, where players can get 10 Special Star Special Passes to help them acquire new characters and Light Cones.

But we all know that the most exciting thing about every new version are the new characters we can add to our parties!

Imbibitor Lunae is the 5-star version of the Astral Express Crew's Dan Heng, who has tapped into his heritage as the reincarnation of the High Elder of the Vidyadhara in the Xianzhou Luofu. On the other hand, Fu Xuan is the Master Diviner of the Xianzhou Luofu's Divination Commission, guiding the worldship in its voyage across the stars and through whatever crisis may befall it.

Meanwhile, Lynx is the youngest of the Landau siblings, choosing to explore the snow plains of Belobog while her older siblings Serval and Gepard serve in the city's government.

Imbibitor Lunae, Fu Xuan, and Lynx are sure to become valuable additions to your teams, so here's everything you need to know about these upcoming characters!

Imbibitor Lunae

Dan Heng as the Imbibitor Lunae wields the Imaginary element and follows the Path of Destruction, summoning a watery dragon to empower his attacks and lay waste to enemies.

Imbibitor Lunae can consume multiple skill points to use his skill, Dracore Libre, to empower his basic attack up to three times and turn it into Transcendence, Divine Spear, and Fulgurant Leap.

Transcendence unleashes 3 hits that deal Imaginary DMG to a single target. Divine Spear unleashes a 5-hit attack that deals Imaginary DMG to a single enemy target, with the fourth and fifth hits also hitting adjacent enemies.

Meanwhile, Fulgurant Leap unleashes a powerful 7-hit attack that deals Imaginary DMG to a single target target, with the fourth hit onward also dealing damage to adjacent enemies.

In addition, unleashing Divine Spear or Fulgurant Leap gives Imbibitor Lunae 1 stack of Dominating Roar before every hit, with each stack increasing his Crit DMG by 15%, up to a max of 4 stacks. These stacks last until the end of his turn.

Imbibitor Lunae's ultimate, Azure's Aqua Ablutes All, unleashes a 3-hit attack that deals Imaginary DMG to a single target and any adjacent enemies. In addition, it also grants 2 stacks of Squama Sacrosancta, with a max of 3 stacks, that he can consume to use his skill instead of skill points.

Imbibitor Lunae's Talent, Righteous Heart, further boosts his damage output by giving him 1 stack of Righteous Heart for each hit unleashed during an attack. Righteous Heart increases his DMG, up to 6 stacks, until the end of Imbibitor Lunae's turn.

Meanwhile, Imbibitor Lunae's major Traces give him some valuable utility to keep him in the thick of battle.

Imbibitor Lunae's A2 Trace, Star Veil, gives him 15 energy at the start of battle while his A4 Trace, Aqua Reign, increases his chance to resist Crowd Control debuffs by 35%. His A6 Trace, Jolt Anew, increases his Crit Rate by 12% when dealing DMG to enemies with an Imaginary Weakness.

Finally, Imbibitor Lunae's Technique, Heaven-Quelling Prismadrakon, puts him in the Leaping Dragon state for 20 seconds to move forward rapidly, attack all enemies he touches, and block incoming enemy attacks. Starting a battle while in the Leaping Dragon universe deals Imaginary DMG to all enemies and gives Imbibitor Lunae 1 stack of Squama Sacrosancta.

Imbibitor Lunae is a very powerful damage-dealer that can sweep the entire field clean of enemies, provided players can successfully manage their skill points to give him enough to empower his basic attacks.

Fu Xuan

Fu Xuan wields the Quantum element and follows the Path of Preservation. While other Preservation characters in the game protect their allies by putting up shields, Fu Xuan does it by redirecting part of the damage allies receive to her — all while providing healing, debuff resistances, and Crit Rate buffs.

Fu Xuan's skill, Known by Stars, Shown by Hearts, will be her primary means of protecting her allies. When used, it activates the Matrix of Prescience and causes allies to redirect 65% of the damage they receive to Fu Xuan for 3 turns.

In addition, all party members affected by the Matrix of Prescience will gain the Knowledge effect, which increases their Max HP (based on a percentage of Fu Xuan's Max HP) and Crit Rate.

Fu Xuan's ultimate, Woes of Many Morphed to One, and her Talent, Bleak Breeds Bliss, work hand-in-hand to increase her own and her allies' survivability.

Bleak Breeds Bliss applies the Misfortune Avoidance buff to allies as long as Fu Xuan is not knocked down. While affected by Misfortune Avoidance, allies take less damage. Meanwhile, if Fu Xuan's HP to 50% or half of her Max HP, she will trigger HP Restore to restore her HP based on the amount she is currently missing.

HP Restore has 1 trigger count by default and can possess up to 2 maximum. Using Fu Xuan's ultimate will give her 1 count of HP Restore while dealing Quantum DMG based on her Max HP to all enemies.

Fu Xuan's major Traces further increases her defensive utility. Her A2 Trace, Taiyi, the Macroscopic, regenerates 20 energy for her when she uses her skill if Matrix of Prescience is already active.

Fu Xuan's A4 Trace, Dunjia, the Metamystic, heals allies by 5% of Fu Xuan's HP + 133 whenever she uses her ultimate. Meanwhile, her A6 Trace, Liuren, the Sexagenary, lets her and her allies resist all crowd control debuffs applied by an enemy in one action. This effect can only be triggered once for every use of Fu Xuan's skill and can be refreshed by using it again.

Finally, using Fu Xuan's Technique, Of Fortune Comes Fate, to start a battle grants all party members a barrier for 20 seconds that blocks all enemy attacks and prevents enemies from starting a battle with an Ambush. Starting a battle yourself with the barrier active automatically activates Matrix of Prescience for 2 turns.

Fu Xuan embodies the Path of Preservation to a T. While she cannot summon shields, she does everything else: damage mitigation, debuff resistance, and healing. And she does all this with some of the best animations in the game, what's not to love?

Lynx

Lynx wields the Quantum element and follows the Path of Abundance, supporting her teammates by providing healing, debuff cleanse, and Max HP buffs.

Lynx's skill, Salted Camping Cans, restores the health of a single ally. In addition, it also applies the Survival Response buff to the target ally and increases their Max HP based on Lynx's Max HP for 2 turns.

If the target ally of Lynx's skill follows the Path of Destruction or Preservation, the chance that they will be targeted by enemy attacks will also be greatly increased.

Should the entire party's health be brought low, then Lynx can use her ultimate, Snowfield First Aid, to restore their health based on her Max HP and remove 1 debuff from them.

Lynx's Talent, Outdoor Survival Experience, boosts her healing capabilities by making her skill and ultimate provide continuous healing for 2 turns. It also boosts the healing effect for allies affected by Survival Response.

Lynx's major Traces boosts her healing utility. Her A2 Trace, Advance Surveying, regenerates 2 energy for her if an ally with Survival Response gets hit by an enemy attack while her A4 Trace, Exploration Techniques, increases her chance to resist crowd control debuffs by 35%.

Meanwhile, Lynx's A6 Trace, Survival in the Extreme, extends the duration of the continuous healing from her Talent by 1 turn.

Finally, Lynx's Technique, Chocolate Energy Bar, grants all allies the continuous healing effect from her Talent for 2 turns at the start of the next battle.

Lynx will be a valuable addition to any team in need of a healer and debuff remover. Characters that need to draw enemy aggro like Clara and Blade will find her especially useful as a teammate.

Honkai: Star Rail version 1.3, featuring the debuts of Imbibitor Lunae, Fu Xuan, and Lynx, will be released on 30 August. You can find out more about what's to come in Honkai: Star Rail version 1.3 here.

Honkai: Star Rail is currently in the second half of version 1.2, featuring the beautiful Stellaron Hunter Kafka as the featured 5-star.

After version 1.3 comes version 1.4, which will see the debuts of new 5-stars Jingliu and Topaz as well as the new 4-star Guinaifen. Honkai: Star Rail version 1.4 is expected to be released in early October.

Yan Ku is a full-time dog parent, part-time (gacha) gamer, and part-time writer.

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