Honkai: Star Rail 2.1 banners: Acheron, Aventurine, and Gallagher debut

Every new and returning character coming with the update
Honkai: Star Rail 2.1 banners: Acheron, Aventurine, and Gallagher debut
Honkai: Star Rail 2.1 banners: Acheron, Aventurine, and Gallagher debut /

The Honkai: Star Rail update 2.1 release date is just around the corner now that version 2.0 is nearing its end. Bringing the next chapter of the Penacony story and the game’s first anniversary, players can look forward to new playable characters in the upcoming patch as well.

Version 2.1 has three fresh faces in store, though we’ve met all of them as part of the story already – albeit very briefly, in one case. There is Acheron, the mysterious warrior who may or may not be the Emanator of an Aeon. There is Aventurine, a gambler from the IPC both clever and reckless. Finally, there is Gallagher, a member of the Bloodhound Family on Penacony with the worldly attitude of a barkeeper.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Honkai: Star Rail 2.1 character and Light Cone banners.

Acheron, Aventurine, and Gallagher are coming to the game in update 2.1 / HoYoverse

Honkai: Star Rail 2.1 banners: Phase 1

Starting on March 27, 2024, with update 2.1’s release, you’ll be able to call upon the following characters:

  • Acheron (5-Star character, Lightning, The Nihility), Gallagher (4-Star character, Fire, The Abundance), Pela (4-Star character, Ice, The Nihility), and Dan Heng (4-Star character, Wind, The Hunt).
  • Luocha (5-Star character, Imaginary, The Abundance), Gallagher (4-Star character, Fire, The Abundance), Pela (4-Star character, Ice, The Nihility), and Dan Heng (4-Star character, Wind, The Hunt).
  • Along the Passing Shore (5-Star Light Cone, The Nihility) and three 4-Star Light Cones.
  • Echoes of the Coffin (5-Star Light Cone, The Abundance) and three 4-Star Light Cones.

Acheron

Honkai Star Rail Acheron artwork on space background.
HoYoverse

Acheron may follow The Nihility and gain some bonuses from being accompanied by other units of this Path, but she plays more like a Destruction character, relying on direct attacks. Unlike any other characters in the game so far, she doesn’t have Energy and can only unleash her Ultimate after reaching a certain amount of status effect stacks. Her Technique can insta-kill regular foes in the overworld, making her perfect for quick Simulated Universe runs.

Luocha

HoYoverse

Luocha is a powerful healer, as he’ll automatically assist characters falling under a certain HP threshold and can activate a passive healing field, allowing everyone to restore HP by attacking. This makes him very light on Skill Point consumption and perfect for aggressive teams.

Gallagher

Honkai Star Rail Gallagher artwork on space background.
HoYoverse

Gallagher is another aggressive type of healer. Though he has a Skill that restores the HP of allies directly, his Ultimate inflicts a status effect on all enemies, which debuffs them and will restore the health of anyone attacking them. He also has an Enhanced Basic Attack, which provides healing to all allies if he attacks an enemy under this special status effect with it.

Pela

HoYoverse

Pela is a powerful support character, who can debuff enemies and has become an integral part of many team compositions.

Dan Heng

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Dan Heng is a middling damage dealer against single targets.

Honkai: Star Rail 2.1 banners: Phase 2

Phase 2 will begin on April 17, 2024, and run for three weeks from that point on. You’ll be able to get the following characters in this time period:

  • Aventurine (5-Star character, Imaginary, The Preservation), Lynx (4-Star character, Quantum, The Abundance), Luka (4-Star character, Physical, The Nihility), and Serval (4-Star character, Lightning, The Erudition).
  • Jingliu (5-Star character, Ice, The Destruction), Lynx (4-Star character, Quantum, The Abundance), Luka (4-Star character, Physical, The Nihility), and Serval (4-Star character, Lightning, The Erudition).
  • Inherently Unjust Destiny (5-Star Light Cone, The Preservation) and three 4-Star Light Cones.
  • I Shall Be My Own Sword (5-Star Light Cone, The Destruction) and three 4-Star Light Cones.

Aventurine

HoYoverse

Aventurine is a defensive powerhouse with strong offensive capabilities: He can upgrade the Shield allies receive from his Skill by repeatedly using it. Aventurine gains effect stacks when allies protected by him are attacked, allowing him to unleash powerful follow-up attacks after reaching a certain limit. His Ultimate not only deals damage, but also debuffs the target. The man’s a Swiss Army Knife and will synergize especially well with other follow-up attackers.

Jingliu

HoYoverse

Jingliu is all about dishing out damage: Using her Skill to gain stacks of Syzygy, she can enter a special state that enables her to unleash an Enhanced Skill to attack several foes at once. It’s a great idea to have a healer in any team with her, though, as she’ll sap everyone’s HP whenever she uses her destructive powers. As this enhances her damage, pairing her up with characters that sport high Maximum HP is a good idea.

Lynx

HoYoverse

Lynx is a solid 4-Star healer, who is especially useful due to her ability to pre-emptively cleanse characters from debuffs.

Luka

HoYoverse

Luka is a DoT character, who specializes in inflicting Bleed on his enemies.

Serval

HoYoverse

Serval excels at inflicting Shock on enemies, attacking the entire field.

Three weeks after the second phase of version 2.1 begins, the next update will be released – and introduce Robin and Boothill.

Upcoming Honkai: Star Rail characters you will be able to play as


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