What’s new in Honkai: Star Rail patch 1.3

A new Honkai: Star Rail update is out now, adding new story and characters via the 1.3 patch.

This patch is less story heavy than previous patches, but is still full of some pretty exciting new content and quality of life changes. Some of this stuff is par for the course — it’s similar to previous Honkai: Star Rail updates. Regardless, we list out the big stuff below so you don’t miss out on it.

For full patch notes, you can check out the official post on Hoyolab.

Trailblaze Power now caps at 240 instead of 180 — and there’s Reserved Trailblaze Power now

This is the biggest change to the game, as now your stamina will not overcap as quickly. The max amount of Trailblaze Power you can hold is now 240, so you can be away from the game for longer without losing out on stamina. The stamina regeneration rate has not changed, just the maximum capacity.

Image: Hoyoverse via Polygon

Notably, there’s also Reserved Trailblaze Power now, which is a system pulled from Honkai Impact 3rd. If you have max Trailblaze Power, you’ll start accumulating Reserved Trailblaze Power up until you have a whopping 2,400 of it. It takes 18 minutes to accumulate one Reserved Trailblaze Power (compared to six minutes for the regular kind), so by letting your stamina overcap into the reserve, you are technically losing efficiency. Either way, this is a great way to allow players to take it easy and take breaks when they may be feeling burnt out.

The Xianzhou Luofu story seems to conclude in a short Trailblaze Mission

Patch 1.2 had the end of the Xianzhou Luofu story, but the short Trailblaze Mission added in patch 1.3 wraps up things a bit more. There are quite a few mysteries left open, but the Astral Express is ending their journey on Xianzhou Luofu and getting ready to set off to the next planet, so it seems like we might have to save those mysteries for later.

The Xianzhou Luofu gets a small new map addition: the Aurum Alley

As part of the story, the small Aurum Alley has been added to the Xianzhou Luofu. There’s new treasures to grab from there, but no enemies to fight, as it’s a non-combat zone.

Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae is available now, with Fu Xuan and Lynx coming in a few weeks

The alternate version of Dan Heng, known as Imbibitor Lunae, is now obtainable via gacha. The Imaginary Destruction character is powerful DPS character who is heavily reliant on skill points, as he uses them to beef up his attacks.

The Quantum Preservation queen Fu Xuan and Quantum Abundance four-star Lynx will make their debut in a few weeks after Dan Heng’s banner ends.

Alongside their characters, the Light Cones for each of these characters have also been added.

Complete new companion missions for Dan Heng and Luka now, and for March 7th and Lynx in coming weeks

You can now complete companion missions for Dan Heng and Luka to learn more about them and claim some rewards. March 7th and Lynx will have their companion missions activated on Sept. 20.

Two new bosses in Xianzhou Luofu have been added for new character drops

You can now fight the Shape of Puppetry and the Shape of Abomination for 30 Trailblaze Power each. These are your usual bosses — the Shape of Puppetry is the Xianzhou Luofu enemy that summons the fish and the Shape of Abomination is that horrific gorilla.

The Shape of Puppetry drops ascension materials for Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae and the Shape of Abomination (presumably) drops materials for Fu Xuan.

A new Simulated Universe update to be added

On Sept. 6, a new update will be permanently added to Simulated Universe, adding a “Swarm Disaster” mode, alongside new blessings, curios, and events. You’ll need to at least clear World 5 of Simulated Universe to play this new game mode.

Say goodbye to that hideous black bar at the bottom of your PC screen

Thank god. The eyesore black bar that permanently embedded the game’s controls on the bottom of your screen (on PC) has been hidden by default. You can bring it back in your settings if you really want it for some reason, though.