Honkai: Star Rail 1.6 banners: Ruan Mei, Dr. Ratio, and Xueyi debut

Every new and returning character coming with the update
Honkai: Star Rail 1.6 banners: Ruan Mei, Dr. Ratio, and Xueyi debut
Honkai: Star Rail 1.6 banners: Ruan Mei, Dr. Ratio, and Xueyi debut /

The Honkai: Star Rail 1.6 update is almost here and will come out just in time to devour your end of year bonus – you’ll be able to expand your roster of playable Honkai: Star Rail characters with a trio of newcomers on top of two banners featuring returning characters.

That’s right, HoYoverse is already offering two rerun banners in this upcoming version, allowing players to pull for characters they missed previously or need Eidolon Levels for. For PS5 users this will be their first chance at getting two of the most renowned figures the game has to offer.

The Honkai: Star Rail 1.6 banners have been revealed / HoYoverse

Here’s everything you need to know about the Honkai: Star Rail 1.6 character and Light Cone banners.

Honkai: Star Rail 1.6 banners: Phase 1

Starting on December 27, 2023, with update 1.6’s release, you’ll be able to call upon two new characters:

  • Ruan Mei (5-Star character, Ice, The Harmony), Xueyi (4-Star character, Quantum, The Destruction), March 7th (4-Star character, Ice, The Preservation), and Tingyun (4-Star character, Lightning, The Harmony).
  • Blade (5-Star character, Wind, The Destruction), Xueyi (4-Star character, Quantum, The Destruction), March 7th (4-Star character, Ice, The Preservation), and Tingyun (4-Star character, Lightning, The Harmony).
  • Past Self in Mirror (5-Star Light Cone, The Harmony) and three 4-Star Light Cones.
  • The Unreachable Side (5-Star Light Cone, The Destruction) and three 4-Star Light Cones.

Ruan Mei

HoYoverse

Ruan Mei, a member of the Genius Society, may rival Bronya for the position as best support character in the game. She can increase the damage, Speed, and Weakness Break Efficiency of her entire team on top of making Weakness Break last longer on enemies and dealing some damage against them herself.

Blade

HoYoverse

Blade is an incredible DPS against single targets as well as multiple enemies, though he does consume his own HP to make it so. Luckily there are many great sustain characters in the game by now, making this one drawback a small one. Just take care to not cut yourself on his edge.

Xueyi

HoYoverse

Xueyi, one of the judges of the Ten-Lords Commission, inhabits a puppet body to serve in her role even after her natural body’s demise. She can deal Quantum Damage to single targets as well as groups and ignores Weakness Types with her Ultimate. She can unleash strong follow-up attacks when the Toughness of enemies has been repeatedly reduced.

March 7th

HoYoverse

March 7th is a competent shielder everyone in the game has access to. While her power is limited as a 4-Star character, she is a fantastic addition to any Clara team and can save your life many times with her shield and cleanse effect.

Tingyun

HoYoverse

Tingyun remains one of the strongest support characters in the game, providing an offensive buff as well as filling up the Energy of allied characters. The downside is that seeing her in your team will make you cry for her tragic fate in the story.

Honkai: Star Rail 1.6 banners: Phase 2

Phase 2 will begin on January 17, 2024, and run for three weeks from that point on. You’ll be able to get one brand-new character in this time period:

  • Dr. Ratio (5-Star character, Imaginary, The Hunt), Natasha (4-Star character, Physical, The Abundance), Hook (4-Star character, Fire, The Destruction), and Sushang (4-Star character, Physical, The Hunt).
  • Kafka (5-Star character, Lightning, The Nihility), Natasha (4-Star character, Physical, The Abundance), Hook (4-Star character, Fire, The Destruction), and Sushang (4-Star character, Physical, The Hunt).
  • Baptism of Pure Thought (5-Star Light Cone, The Hunt) and three 4-Star Light Cones.
  • Patience Is All You Need (5-Star Light Cone, The Nihility) and three 4-Star Light Cones.

Dr. Ratio

HoYoverse

Dr. Ratio is a member of the Intelligentsia Guild and rather eccentric. In combat, he’s a strong single-target DPS that has a chance of launching follow-up attacks against enemies. Since any debuff on his target increases the chance of a follow-up attack happening, a team composition with debuff characters should be preferred.

Kafka

HoYoverse

Kafka is the best DPS in the game when it comes to dealing damage over time, whittling your foes down with a thousand little cuts – or electro shocks, in her case. She’s a really fun one to have on your team and gives characters like Sampo, Luka, and Guinaifen a lot of value, as they are great for supporting her.

Natasha

HoYoverse

Natasha is the bread-and-butter healer everyone in the game gets, making her a nostalgic one for many players – we’ve been through thick and thin with her. While basically every healer in the game is better than her, she still gets the job done and the more Eidolon Levels you can get for her, the better.

Hook

HoYoverse

Hook is an alright DPS, especially when combined with some characters who can enhance the effect of DoTs. Definitely not top-tier, though.

Sushang

HoYoverse

Sushang is limited by her 4-Star rating, but a well-built version will still do a fantastic job as a single-target DPS. She’s able to save the team Skill Points as well by attacking targets that had their Toughness depleted.

Three weeks after the second phase of version 1.6 begins, the next patch will be released – bringing Black Swan as well as Sparkle and Misha into the game.

Honkai: Star Rail codes: all active redemption codes in December 2023


Published
Marco Wutz
MARCO WUTZ

Marco Wutz is a writer from Parkstetten, Germany. He has a degree in Ancient History and a particular love for real-time and turn-based strategy games like StarCraft, Age of Empires, Total War, Age of Wonders, Crusader Kings, and Civilization as well as a soft spot for Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. He began covering StarCraft 2 as a writer in 2011 for the largest German community around the game and hosted a live tournament on a stage at gamescom 2014 before he went on to work for Bonjwa, one of the country's biggest Twitch channels. He branched out to write in English in 2015 by joining tl.net, the global center of the StarCraft scene run by Team Liquid, which was nominated as the Best Coverage Website of the Year at the Esports Industry Awards in 2017. He worked as a translator on The Crusader Stands Watch, a biography in memory of Dennis "INTERNETHULK" Hawelka, and provided live coverage of many StarCraft 2 events on the social channels of tl.net as well as DreamHack, the world's largest gaming festival. From there, he transitioned into writing about the games industry in general after his graduation, joining GLHF, a content agency specializing in video games coverage for media partners across the globe, in 2021. He has also written for NGL.ONE, kicker, ComputerBild, USA Today's ForTheWin, The Sun, Men's Journal, and Parade. Email: marco.wutz@glhf.gg