The origin of Paths in Honkai: Star Rail is quite complex. In fact. we're HUGE fans of how it trickles into philosophies and ideals respected by certain factions in the game. But where gameplay is concerned, these simply determine what a character is good at in battle or the type of Blessings you can get. Here's all you need to know about this game's concept of "classes."
What are Paths in Honkai Star Rail?
Paths are philosophies that originated from Aeons, who followed a single Path upon ascension and were bound to it for eternity. Each Path represents a set of ideals, and followers of the corresponding Aeons are likely to live by those same ideals.
For instance, The Architects of Jarilo-VI are devoted followers of Qlipoth, the Aeon of Preservation, whose philosophy revolved around building the Celestial Comet Wall to protect worlds that still lived amid the Dusk Wars. As a result of their resonance with this ideal, The Architects likewise built a wall around Jarilo-VI to protect civilization.
Related: Best in game settings for Honkai Star Rail – PC, Android, & iOS
All Aeons, Paths, & Followers
Below is an overview of each Path and its corresponding Aeon and followers.
| Path | Aeon | Followers |
|---|---|---|
| The Elation | Aha | Mourning Actors, Masked Fools |
| The Trailblaze | Akivili | Astral Express, The Nameless |
| The Remembrance | Fuli | The Cremators, Garden of Recollection |
| The Equilibrium | HooH | - |
| The Beauty | Idrila | Mirror Holders, Knights of Beauty |
| The Nihility | IX | Doctors of Chaos, Device IX |
| The Hunt | Lan | Xianzhou Alliance |
| The Permanence | Long | - |
| The Enigmata | Mythus | The Riddlers, History Fictionologists |
| The Destruction | Nanook | Antimatter Legion |
| The Erudition | Nous | Genius Society, Erudition Association |
| The Voracity | Oroboros | - |
| The Preservation | Qlipoth | The Architects, Interastral Peace Corp. |
| The Propagation | Tayzzyronth | The Swarm |
| The Finality | Terminus | Omen Vanguards, Creed Exequy |
| The Harmony | Xipei | The Family |
| The Abundance | Yaoshi | Denizens of Abundance, Elixir Seekers |
How do Paths affect gameplay in Honkai Star Rail?
Like Aeons, each character is permanently bound to a single Path, which determines what they do best in battle. For example, a character who follows The Abundance Path would fall under the healer class. By knowing how each Path operates, you can easily build a team that complements each other.
Related: Honkai Star Rail Leveling Guide – Fastest ways to gain Trailblaze EXP & Character EXP
All Playable Paths - Characters & Simulated Universe
There are 14 Paths, but only nine are currently playable in the game. Here's an overview of all said Paths in Honkai: Star Rail, what they do best, and their effects in Herta's Simulated Universe.
| Path | Character Gameplay | Simulated Universe Bonus | Simulated Universe Resonance Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Destruction | Balanced damage dealers with equal levels of survivability, flexible for various combat situations. | Reduces DMG taken by 6%. | Deals Fire DMG to all enemies based on the current HP difference between the max HP and current HP of all allies. |
| The Hunt | Single-target DPS, best for bosses. | Increases SPD recovery by 6%. | Deals Wind DMG to all enemies based on current ATK of the character with the highest ATK on your team. |
| The Erudition | AoE attackers, best for fighting large groups of enemies. | - | - |
| The Harmony | Buffers who can help improve the team's combat ability. | - | - |
| The Nihility | Debuffers that reduce the enemy's combat capacity. | Increases DoT or Burn, Shock, Bleed, and Wind Sheer DMG by 15%. | There's an 80% chance to apply Burn, Shock, Bleed, and add two stacks of Wind Shear on all enemies for two turns. |
| The Preservation | Defensive characters that can boost the team's defense in various ways. | Increases the max DMG absorption of your Shields by 10%. | Deals Physical DMG based on total Shield between all allies. |
| The Abundance | Healers that help the team's survivability. | Increases HP recovery by 10%. | Restores HP for all allies by 50% of their respective max HP, and increases their respective max HP by 15% for two turns. |
| The Remembrance | - | Reduces the enemy's Effect RES by 10%. | Deals Ice DMG to all enemies with 120% base chance to Freeze all enemies for one turn. |
| The Elation | - | Increases DMG dealt by follow-up attacks by 24%. | Deals follow-up attacks of a random type to all enemies three to five times. |
The rest will be added where more planets are added to the game. Like the events at Jarilo-VI, the Astral Express will likely be called to help another group of followers with a Stellaron problem.
Limitations
Paths don't limit a character's function. For example, Asta belongs to The Harmony and is primarily a SPD buffer. However, she can also perform single-hit DMG, although not with the same destructive power as someone like Dan Heng. Meanwhile, Clara belongs to The Destruction and is normally a DMG dealer, but her Ultimate buffs her and Svarog.
Paths mainly limit what Light Cones a character can use. Light Cones are essentially "weapons" that take the form of cards. Like how a polearm can only be used by polearm users, a Light Cone for The Destruction can only be used by characters under The Destruction Path.
Before pulling for new characters, check out Honkai Star Rail Pity, Explained & How to get Guaranteed 5-Star here on Pro Game Guides.
Published: May 13, 2023 01:25 am