Honkai: Star Rail Version 4.4 Arrives 15 July with Himeko Nova, Gilgamesh and Rin Tohsaka
Jin Soh
HoYoverse has announced that Honkai: Star Rail Version 4.4, titled In Ravages Does the Whistle Sound, will launch on 15 July, bringing the Planarcadia arc to a critical turning point and kicking off the second phase of the Fate/stay night Unlimited Blade Works collaboration.
Following the events of the previous chapter where Lord Ravager Asat Pramad revealed his true identity and shattered fifteen years of peace in Planarcadia, the version 4.4 main story sees Himeko vanishing during her confrontation with Asat Pramad before leaving behind a hidden clue tied to the Express. The Trailblazer tracks down and deciphers the clue to locate her, with Asat Pramad’s fixation on Himeko’s identity and the truth from fifteen years ago potentially holding the key to understanding his motives. The version culminates in a direct confrontation with Asat Pramad.
Joining the battle in a new form is Himeko • Nova, a five-star Fire-type character on the Path of Erudition whose banner runs for the entirety of Version 4.4. Her kit centres on deploying a Territory at the start of battle and summoning a mech called Starblazer to assist in combat.
Her Ultimate leads teammates to pilot Starblazer together, attacking all enemies simultaneously, and while the Territory is active, all teammates gain an Assist Skill allowing them to call in Starblazer at any time. Express Crew members gain additional special effects. During overworld exploration, her Technique lets her pilot the mech and attack enemies from range.
The Fate/stay night Unlimited Blade Works collaboration enters its second phase on 24 July. In the story, Rin Tohsaka arrives in Planarcadia after the end of the Fifth Holy Grail War, borrowing a Holy Grail from the Star Rail FEST showcase to attempt a Servant summoning.
The overflowing Wishpower of the land restores the Holy Grail, scattering Gilgamesh’s treasures across the arcadia and triggering a massive commotion. The Trailblazer joins Rin Tohsaka at the request of the Department of Aberration Defense to recover the treasures and uncover the truth behind the Imagenae: Holy Grail War.
Both Rin Tohsaka and Gilgamesh become playable characters in this phase. Rin Tohsaka is a five-star Quantum-type character on the Path of Erudition who accumulates Gem Energy in battle and deals additional damage instances to random targets by consuming it, with more energy consumed producing more hits. Teammates consuming or recovering Skill Points increases CRIT DMG and generates additional Gem Energy for her.
Gilgamesh is a five-star Lightning-type character on the Path of Destruction. Each ally action during battle accumulates Interest for him, regenerates Energy and increases his Ultimate damage. When Interest reaches its threshold, he unlocks his Skill and activates Gate of Babylon to fire weapons from his treasury in multiple damage instances. His Ultimate summons Enuma Elish for massive AoE damage.
From 24 July until before Version 4.6 ends, logging in grants one free limited five-star collaboration character, either Gilgamesh or Archer, alongside a portion of their upgrade materials. The collaboration characters and Light Cones will remain available long term, with guarantee counts shared between both phases of the Collaboration Character Warps and the Collaboration Light Cone Warps respectively.
Spending 200 Star Rail Special Passes in Version 4.4 also unlocks the option to claim one of the limited five-star collaboration Light Cones, either I Am As You Behold or The Hell Where Ideals Burn, after the collaboration begins.
Returning in the first-half Warp banners are Sparxie, Dan Heng Permansor Terrae and Evernight, while the second half brings back Cerydra, Anaxa and Aventurine. Sparxie’s new outfit Candy-Coated Waves will also be available this version alongside a new pet, Pentaflavor Emoti, and new Trailblaze Fashion Fan-Made Lygus.
On the rewards and events side, players can log in on launch day to claim a free 10-pull. The collaboration event Fate/Star Rail Night unfolds alongside the story as the Trailblazer tracks Gilgamesh’s treasures with Rin Tohsaka. The version event Antigraft Brickbuster tasks the Trailblazer with investigating IPC corruption on behalf of Aventurine by stacking data bricks. Currency Wars: Zero-Sum Game also receives an expansion and update this version.