HoYoverse has hosted the next major livestream for Honkai: Star Rail’s upcoming v1.6 update, named Crown of the Mundane and Divine, which is scheduled to release on 27th December. Another colossal update for the uber-popular gacha, the content will include three new playable characters, fresh story content, and a previously unseen environment on the Herta Space Station. But the developer also teased content further into the future, including the new planet, Penacony.

First, the Crown of the Mundane and Divine will introduce three characters: Ruan Mei, Dr. Ratio, and Xueyi. The big news is that Dr. Ratio, a five-star Imaginary hero who follows the path of The Hunt, will be free to claim in-game. That’s right: HoYoverse is giving this highly sought-after character away. More details will be announced in the future, but you’ll be able to add him to your roster without needing to pull for him. Huge news!

The first half of the update, however, will feature Ruan Mei, an Ice-type character who follows the path of Harmony. “Her Skill, Strings Sing in Slow Twirls, can increase damage and Weakness Break’s efficiency of all allies,” the press release reads. “Ruan Mei has a knack for exploiting an enemy’s Weakness and great support for the Break Effect dealt by allies.”

Her banner will be accompanied by Quantum newcomer Xueyi, who follows the path of Destruction. “Like her sister Hanya, Xueyi is a formidable presence on the battlefield. Her Ultimate, Divine Castigation, can deal Quantum DMG to a single target and Toughness depletion that ignores Weakness Types. The more Toughness depleted, the greater the DMG.” She sounds pretty powerful for a four-star, so we’ll need to see how she slots into the title’s overall meta.

As is always the case, the two new five-stars will receive Light Cones, while there’ll be re-runs of old favourites like Blade and Kafka. Elsewhere, the update will include a new Echo of War, an absolute ton of new content in the Simulated Universe, and a massive pet nurturing event. There’ll also be fresh Forgotten Hall stages, and a bunch of quality-of-life improvements to the overall gameplay.

And then, the end of the livestream gives a brief glimpse of Penacony, the next major planet that the Astral Express will visit. The area has a Las Vegas-style look to it, and it appears the Trailblazer will be arriving during the middle of festival. Looking at the cast of characters teased during the livestream, it looks like we can expect plenty of well-dressed individuals, and more will be revealed when v2.0 rolls around in the New Year.

[source youtube.com]