Honkai: Star Rail Version 4.0 Phase One Character Banners: Who should you pull

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Story Highlights

  • Phase 1 Banners will go live on the 13th of February, 2026, and will last until the 6th of March, 2026.
  • Find out which characters are worth pulling right now in Honkai: Star Rail.

With Version 4.0 of Honkai: Star Rail, the first set of character banners is here! They feature the new character Yao Guang, along with returning favorites Hysilens, Evernight, and Black Swan. As usual, HoYoverse has released a banner with one new character and three characters making a return.

I’ll be evaluating each character’s abilities and how well they perform in the game’s future updates, and I’ll let you know which one is worth getting. The first set of characters will be available starting February 13th, 2026, and will remain available until March 6th, 2026.

Who should you pull for in Honkai: Star Rail Version 4.0 Phase 1 Banners

Every character has their own special abilities, but some are more helpful right away and in the long run than others. Here’s a guide to help you choose.

1. Yao Guang

Yao Guang is a powerful 5-Star support character who boosts her team’s abilities. She creates a special zone that increases Elation, helping allies deal more damage at key moments. She also provides a team-wide bonus that allows them to break through enemy defenses more easily. Her ultimate ability, ‘Hands, Aha,’ grants an extra turn to the team and further increases their ability to penetrate enemy resistances.

I’m really excited about Yao Guang! Her skill creates an area that boosts our whole team’s Elation damage by 20%, based on her Elation stat – that’s awesome! Plus, her passive randomly adds a 20% Elation damage boost to an enemy, which is a cool way to mess with their plans. If you’re thinking of getting her, definitely check out the Yao Guang Pre-Farm Guide to get prepared!

She’s a very strong support character for teams built around Elation. Currently, she excels at boosting the power of Sparxie-based teams. As more Elation characters are released, her overall value and desirability will likely increase over time.

2. Evernight

Evernight is a powerful 5-Star unit specializing in Ice-based attacks. Her abilities center around summoning and sacrificing her companion, Evey, to charge up and deliver incredibly strong attacks fueled by Memoria. When in her Darkest Riddle state, she provides valuable team-wide benefits, most notably a significant boost to critical damage for all memosprites and a 30% vulnerability debuff to enemies, effectively increasing the damage output of both herself and her teammates.

Evernight performed best when paired with teammates who focused on using memosprites. She worked particularly well with Castorice and Hyacine. Castorice benefited from Evernight’s consistent health drain, and Hyacine’s healing and Newbud charging abilities became much more powerful when used alongside Evernight’s skills.

If she doesn’t have teammates who specialize in supporting memosprites, and a dedicated healer, her team’s overall damage output will decrease a lot.

3. Hysilens

Hysilens is a powerful 5-Star character who specializes in damage over time effects. She applies a debuff called Enthrallment, which makes enemies more vulnerable to these effects and significantly boosts the amount of damage she deals as a battle progresses.

Hysilens needs another character to activate her damage-over-time effects, as she can’t trigger them herself. Her abilities are built around this teamwork. That’s where Kafka comes in – her special skill lets her consistently apply those damage-over-time effects.

Hysilens truly shines when paired with Kafka. She doesn’t perform as well on her own.

4. Black Swan

Okay, so I’m totally obsessed with Black Swan! She’s a 5-star character who’s amazing as either a support or a sub-DPS. What I really love is how her skills aren’t just about hitting one enemy – she messes with everyone around her, making it super hard for them to protect themselves. And her ultimate? Seriously powerful! It makes her Fate Card effects hit way harder by lowering enemy resistance. She’s a game-changer, honestly!

She also has a unique ability that activates when enemies are affected by ongoing damage, like poisons or burns. This allows her to play powerful Fate Cards that inflict even more substantial and prolonged damage.

Black Swan really shines when paired with teammates who inflict damage over time, as her abilities to weaken enemies significantly boost the team’s power.

Final Thoughts

Which characters are best for you depends on your account and who you plan to get in the future. If you’re aiming for Elation, Yao Guang is a great pick. Black Swan and Hysilens work well with Kafka. If you already have Kafka, or plan to get her through the free selector, she’s a good choice too.

I think Evernight is the least appealing character to summon right now because she really needs a strong team to shine. Since none of the best characters to pair with her are being released again soon, she can’t reach her full power, which makes her less valuable to pull for.

Find guides and information on Honkai Star Rail, including how to reroll accounts, redeem codes, character tier lists, upcoming updates, the different Paths and Elements, and detailed explanations of game modes like Pure Fiction, Swarm Disaster, and Gold and Gears.

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2026-02-12 02:12