Hoyoverse is famous for not only the major success of their games, the stories they create, but also for their marketing strategies. The drip marketing utilized by both Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail reveals which characters will be added to the game very shortly. In Honkai: Star Rail’s case the week before the next version livestream is accented with the drip marketing of the characters coming to the game in the version after next. Some believe this strategy is to get ahead of leakers, by releasing character art before the beta. It also generates a lot of hype, and this past week two new characters have been shown for version 2.3.
The first is Firefly, a five star fire character following the path of Destruction. After her reveal at the end of the 2.1 mainline quest that she is also Sam, the Stellaron Hunter, Firefly seems like she’ll play a big part in the 2.2 mainline quest. As a fire destruction character Firefly will probably be very strong, since she has to live up to precedent set by top tier dps units like Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae from version 1.3, and Jingliu from version 1.4. Both of those units have also had their rerun banners in 2.0 and 2.1 respectively, meaning players who picked up one of them might be less inclined to pull for Firefly. However, Firefly’s immense popularity, shown by her eclipsing Acheron in terms of post interactions within two days, might just mean the developers will make her too powerful to skip. To players who didn’t pick up Acheron, need a fire dps, or just really like Firefly then they might want to skip the upcoming 2.2 characters in order to save for her.
The other character is Jade, a five star quantum erudition character, who appeared briefly in one of Aventurine’s flashbacks during the quest, and had some extra lines that imply she’ll be a major character in 2.2. Jade is a member of the Interastral Peace Corporation (IPC) like Topaz and Aventurine, and is part of their unofficial team the Ten Stonehearts – who are all named after gemstones. Jade is higher ranked than both Topaz and Aventurine though, being able to speak on Diamond the leader’s behalf. As a relatively new character to the story, Jade might not be as popular as Firefly, but players will most likely have all of 2.2 and the first half of 2.3 to get to know her. So far all of the IPC characters: Topaz, Aventurine, and Dr. Ratio – who is from an organization that is associated with the IPC – have specialized in follow up attacks. They’ve also become quite a strong team unit since Aventurine has given the team a fantastic sustaining option. Based on the previous experience it makes sense to believe Jade might also have a follow up attack mechanic. Whether she’ll be a main dps or sub dps remains to be seen, but players can look forward to seeing more of her next patch.
In every patch from version 1.1 – 2.1, there have been three new characters added every patch: two new five stars and one new four star. However, with the 2.2 drip marketing there was no four star on the third day – leading some to believe that the main character would gain a new path during the 2.2 update, like during the first arc of the main story in 1.0 after the prologue. 2.3 is instead leaving people more confused, as it also doesn’t have a four star option. Some are already theorizing that March 7th will adopt a new path like the development team teased about during the 2.1 livestream. As of now players are unsure, but with the 2.2 livestream happening tomorrow they can learn more about what’s coming next for them in Honkai: Star Rail.