Honkai: Star Rail version 2.0 drops 6 February with Penacony, new characters Black Swan, Sparkle, and Misha, plus more
Trailblazers who want to pull for the new Penacony characters would be delighted to know that there will be 20 free Star Rail Special Passes to be given away in version 2.0, among other rewards.
Honkai: Star Rail version 2.0 "If One Dreams at Midnight" will finally be dropping on 6 February. It will be the game's biggest content update yet, bringing with it a new planet in Penacony, three new playable characters in Black Swan, Sparkle, and Misha, new adventures to tackle and enemies to face, tons of rewards, and so much more!
HoYoverse also quietly announced that version 2.0 will last for seven weeks instead of the usual six and will end on 27 March. This notably brings version 2.1 in line with the game's first anniversary, which will take place during the second half of that version on 26 April.
But before we get into all the details, make sure to redeem the livestream codes for Stellar Jades, credits, and more!
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Welcome to Penacony, the Land of Dreams!
Penacony will be the fourth world in the Astral Express' interstellar journey and is also known as the Planet of Festivities and the Land of Dreams. The world used to be a penal colony, hence its name, but has since transformed into the cosmic vacation spot it is today.
The Astral Express Crew make their way to the planet after receiving an invite from the Family, the ruling faction of Penacony and followers of the Aeon of Harmony Xipe, to join in the Charmony Festival alongside many other factions from across the cosmos.
The core of Penacony is a gigantic interstellar hotel named The Reverie, which lets guests indulge themselves in a wonderful dreamscape for a relaxing experience unlike any other in the cosmos.
With dreams being so important to the way of life in Penacony, it also plays a huge part in how Trailblazers navigate through their new adventures in the planet. Upon entering The Reverie, Trailblazers will utilize Dreampool — a unique sleep device to visit the Dreamscape — and the Dream's Eye, which uses optical illusions to seamlessly connect previously disjointed paths with significant height differences.
One of the many characters Trailblazers will encounter in Penacony is Clockie, a beloved mascot who is the main character of the most popular show in the planet. While Clockie will be a prominent fixture in Penacony, he will also have a statue that Trailblazers can unlock and upgrade as they progress through the story to earn a variety of rewards.
Black Swan, Sparkle, and Misha join the dreamscape
With a new planet comes new companions on our interstellar journey, and our adventures in Penacony will begin with three new playable characters: the 5-stars Black Swan and Sparkle as well as the 4-star Misha.
Black Swan
Black Swan is a beautiful yet mysterious Memokeeper from the Garden of Recollection, the faction serving the Aeon of Remembrance Fuli, who has a strong desire to explore the memories of others. She wields the Wind element and follows the Path of Nihility, focusing on dealing huge amounts of damage-over-time.
When Black Swan uses her basic attack or skill on enemies, she has a chance of inflicting them with a special stackable damage-over-time effect called Arcana. Black Swan can trigger additional effects based on the number of Arcana stacks her target has while also dealing more damage-over-time, making her a perfect partner for the damage-over-time queen Kafka.
Sparkle
Sparkle is a mischievous member of the Masked Fools, the followers of the Aeon of Elation Aha. She fully embraces the ideal of Elation, seeking only fun and thrills instead of any measure of wealth, power, or status. Sparkle wields the Quantum element and follows the Path of Harmony, with a kit that lets her provide tons of skill points and buffs for her teammates.
Sparkle innately increases the amount of skill points the party has in its disposal and is even able to exceed the normal maximum amount of skill points of five. With her skill, she boosts the Crit DMG of a target ally while also advancing their action forward. Her ultimate also restores multiple skill points in one go, making her the perfect support for skill point-hungry damage-dealers like Imbibitor Lunae or Qingque.
Misha
Misha works as a doorman at The Reverie and dreams of becoming a cosmic adventurer, often delighting in the stories of the interstellar journeys of the guests he serves at the hotel. He wields the Ice element and follows the Path of Destruction, though his weapons of choice are funnily enough a mop and luggage trolley.
Misha gets more powerful the more skill points his allies in battle, which directly empower the damage output of his ultimate. He can also provide crowd control with his ultimate, which has a chance to freeze enemies, and Technique, which traps enemies in a warped time field in the overworld.
Black Swan will be the featured 5-star character in the first half of version 2.0 alongside a rerun for Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae, with Misha also being one of the rate-up 4-stars in this banner. Meanwhile, the second half will feature Sparkle and a rerun for Jing Yuan.
20 free pulls plus free 4-star selector
Trailblazers who want to pull for the new Penacony characters would be delighted to know that there will be plenty of Stellar Jade and Star Rail Special Passes to go around in version 2.0.
First off, there will be a total of 20 free Star Rail Special Passes available through the Gift of Odyssey and Gift of Stellarium daily check-in events. Tons of Stellar Jade can also be won in the four in-game events taking place in version 2.0.
The main event for the upcoming version will be Hanu's Prison Break, which will also let players get a free 4-star character for free from a selection that includes Asta, Guinaifen, Yukong, and Sampo.
Aside from the main event, there will also be Dreamchase Bulletin, which gives rewards after completing certain exploration-related missions, and Dreamjolt TV, a combat-oriented event where players can take control of trial characters to complete a series of challenging battles.
Of course, there's also Penacony Food Fest, Honkai: Star Rail's version of Genshin Impact's Marvelous Merchandise event with Liben that gives players the very easy task of collecting random materials to gain Stellar Jade and other rewards.
New Penacony enemies with two fearsome new bosses
Of course, every new adventure comes with new challenges, and the foes awaiting Trailblazers in Penacony are as bizzare as the dreamscapes they inhabit.
Some of the dreamscape enemies we encounter include robots that look like dogs and dinosaurs as well as seemingly sentient televisions. There's also the Lordly Trashcans — sentient trashcans who swagger around with muscular arms and legs that are literally the Traiblazer's wet dream — who take little to no damage from basic attacks and have no elemental weaknesses, except for the Trailblazer.
But not every enemy in Penacony comes from a whimsical dream, there are some that are the stuff of nightmares like the new boss enemy Something Unto Death. This bizzare and twisted creature of malice is able to trap characters in a spiritual prison that their allies must attack to free them.
Penacony will also introduce another member of the Stellaron Hunters: Sam, an intimidating living suit of mechanical armor. He will be another boss enemy that consumes his own health to use his abilities and set the entire battlefield ablaze.
New relics and ascension materials
Version 2.0 will also add two new Cavern of Corrosion relics and new ascension materials for Penacony characters, starting with Trace materials for Nihility, Harmony, and Destruction characters that will be used by Black Swan, Sparkle, and Misha.
The first new relic set will be the Pioneer Diver of Dead Waters, which lets its wielder deal more damage to enemies inflicted by debuffs — perfect for the free 5-star character Dr. Ratio. Meanwhile, the Watchmaker Master of Dream Machinations increases the Break Effect of the entire team and is designed to be used by someone like Ruan Mei.
New story recap menu plus other quality-of-life changes
Aside from the tons of new content we've listed above, version 2.0 also includes a series of system optimizations are introduced to make the gaming experience more convenient for Trailblazers.
First is a new feature called Fate's Atlas, which documents the events and plot lines that occur in each world in chronological order to help Trailblazers better organize and recount the game's story so far.
In addition, the enhancement process for Relics has also been optimised to let Trailblazers conveniently insert materials while upgrading and easily elevate each Relic to the specified level. Relic set recommendations tailored for different characters will also be introduced, allowing Trailblazers to efficiently filter and switch Relic sets with a single click based on their needs.
Finally, the marking, discarding, and salvaging of Relics are optimized to make it easier for Trailblazers to find materials efficiently, and to improve the players' gaming experience.
To learn more about what's to come in Honkai: Star Rail version 2.0, check out the full preview livestream here.
Honkai: Star Rail is currently in version 1.6, which features three new characters in the 5-star Ice Harmony character Ruan Mei, the 5-star Imaginary Hunt character Dr. Ratio, and the 4-star Quantum Destruction character Xueyi. Dr. Ratio was also given to players for free at the start of the second half of this version.
After version 2.0 comes version 2.1 in late March, which features three new playable characters in Acheron, Aventurine, and Gallagher.
Yan Ku is a full-time dog parent, part-time (gacha) gamer, and part-time writer.
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