Honkai: Star Rail – Cornerstones and Ten Stonehearts explained

Who are the IPC’s elite?

HoYoverse

Content

1. Honkai: Star Rail – Cornerstones explained
2. Honkai: Star Rail – Ten Stonehearts explained

HoYoverse’s writers once again cooked something special with Honkai: Star Rail 2.1, weaving a story full of twists and turns that left players at the edge of their seats – and chewing on a couple of cliffhangers, just like a middle act should. Aventurine was the central character in this act and his gambits to expose The Family’s hidden dirt revolved around the use of something called the Cornerstones.

In this Honkai: Star Rail explainer, we’ll lay out what a Cornerstone is, why it’s so important, and who the Ten Stonehearts are.

Honkai: Star Rail – Cornerstones explained

A Cornerstone is a powerful item imbued with the strength of Qlipoth, Aeon of The Preservation. It has the form of a large, precious gem and therefore looks like it’s literally been broken off from Qlipoth’s body – and perhaps they have been.

Someone granted a Cornerstone can use it to gain immense power for a short period of time, as we’ve seen Aventurine doing at the end of update 2.1’s story arc. Despite his Cornerstone being broken into pieces and haphazardly glued together, it nevertheöess granted him enough strength to battle the Trailblazer, Himeko, Welt, and March 7th to a standstill and unleash an attack mighty enough to lay waste an entire district of the Dreamscape.

We also saw the limits of a Cornerstone’s power, though: Acheron easily dealt with Aventurine, cutting him and his massive attack down with a single strike – a Cornerstone can’t equalize an Emanator’s might.

Speaking of Emanators: Cornerstones are granted to an elite group of people by Diamond, head of the IPC’s Strategic Investment Department and an Emanator of Preservation. It’s likely that a Cornerstone allows its user to borrow some of Diamond’s powers for a bit. As for who is worthy of receiving a Cornerstone? That brings us to the Ten Stonehearts.

Honkai: Star Rail – Ten Stonehearts explained

The Ten Stonehearts are an elite among the IPC – they are the core members of the Strategic Investment Department and handpicked by Diamond himself, who is their overall leader. Each Stoneheart receives a Cornerstone from Diamond, which at the same time gives them a new name. When Kakavasha received the aventurine stone from Diamond, he became Aventurine.

Having a Cornerstone at their disposal makes each of the Ten Stonehearts a very powerful entity that is not to be taken lightly.

Aside from Aventurine, we’ve already met another Stoneheart in Topaz. You can find all known members of the Ten Stonehearts below:

• Diamond
• Aventurine
• Topaz
• Jade
• Obsidian
• Opal
• Pearl

Jade is the latest member of the Ten Stonehearts to be shown. / HoYoverse

Each Cornerstone seems to hold powers suitable for the personality and role of its wielder – so Aventurine’s Cornerstone is known as the Aventurine of Stratagems, Topaz’s as the Topaz of Debt Retrieval, and Jade’s as the Jade of Credit.