Honkai Star Rail 1.6 Banner and event details
The full schedule for Crown of the Mundane and Divine.
The Honkai: Star Rail 1.6 Banner and event details have been officially announced for the latest patch, titled Crown of the Mundane and Divine.
It includes a Trailblazer Continuation Missions, lots of updates to the Simulated Universe and Memory of Chaos, and even a free 5-Star character! We're also getting the usual two Banner phases and new time-limited events - with the Honkai: Star Rail 1.6 Banners featuring two new 5-Star characters and one new 4-Star.
Below, you can find out the exact 1.6 release date and time, who the new characters are, and what the 1.6 Banners and events schedule is for the upcoming patch.
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Be sure to also check out our Honkai Star Rail codes page to get free Stellar Jade that can be used towards unlocking new characters and weapons.
Honkai Star Rail 1.6 Banners
There are three new playable characters making their debut in version 1.6 Banners: Ruan Mei, Dr Ratio, and Xueyi, with 5-Stars Blade and Kafka returning.
However, it's important to keep in mind for your Warping plans that Dr Ratio will be free for any player who unlocks the mail system and logs-in between his Banner's release in version 1.6 and the end of version 2.1.
Phase 1 of the 1.6 Banner schedule begins with Ruan Mei and Blade, with 4-Star Xueyi debuting on both their Banners. Ruan Mei is new 5-Star Ice attacker of The Harmony path in her Floral Triptych Banner, Blade is a returning 5-Star Wind attacker of the Destruction path on his A Lost Soul Banner, and Xueyi is a new 4-Star Quantum attacker of the Destruction path.
These version 1.6 Phase 1 Banners start on Wednesday 27th December and end on Wednesday 17th January, 2024.
All of the boosted 4-Star characters on Ruan Mei and Blade's Banners are:
- March 7th (Ice, The Preservation)
- Tingyun (Lightning, The Harmony)
- Xueyi (Quantum, The Destruction)
In Phase 2 of version 1.6 we then have Dr Ratio and Kafka. Dr Ratio is new 5-Star Imaginary attacker of The Hunt path in his Panta Rhei Banner, and Kafka is a returning 5-Star Lightning attacker of the Nihility path on her Nessun Dorma Banner.
These version 1.6 Phase 2 Banners run from Wednesday 17th January, 2024 to Monday 5th February, 2024, and all of the boosted 4-Star characters on Dr Ratio and Kafka's Banners are:
- Sushang (Physical, The Hunt)
- Natasha (Physical, The Abundance)
- Hook (Fire, The Destruction)
In summary, all of the new characters and returning 5-Star characters you can Warp on during 1.6 are:
- Ruan Mei (Floral Triptych Banner - Phase 1): New 5-Star Ice character of The Harmony path.
- Blade (A Lost Soul Banner - Phase 1): Returning 5-Star Wind character of The Destruction path.
- Xueyi (Floral Triptych and A Lost Soul Banners - Phase 1): New 4-Star Quantum character of The Destruction path.
- Dr Ratio (Panta Rhei Banner - Phase 2): New 5-Star Imaginary character of The Hunt path.
- Kafka (Nessun Dorma Banner - Phase 2): Returning 5-Star Lightning character of The Nihility path.
In addition to these new characters, we're getting two new 5-Star Light Cones in the Brilliant Fixation Banner. Ruan Mei's signature weapon 'Past Self in Mirror' of The Harmony path will run alongside her character Banner in Phase 1 of version 1.6. Dr Ratio's signature 'Baptism of Pure Thought' of The Hunt path will then run alongside his Banner in Phase 2.
The Bygone Reminiscence Light Cone Banner features a rerun of Blades's 5-Star 'The Unreachable Side' Light Cone during Phase 1 of 1.6, and Kafka's 5-Star 'Patience is All You Need' Light Cone during Phase 2.
To keep up to date with all future characters and weapons, check out our regularly updated Banner schedule page.
Version 2.6 with Rappa and Imbibitor Lunae is here! So make sure to redeem those new codes for Stellar Jade if you want them or future characters - and check out our regularly updated tier list. For everything else, we have pages on the next Banner, Ministry of Education quiz answers, and how to get more Star Rail Passes.
Honkai Star Rail 1.6 events
The Honkai Star Rail 1.6 update includes:
- Free 5-Star character Dr Ratio (available until the end of version 2.1).
- Trailblaze Continuance Mission.
- New area - Herta Space Station Seclusion Zone.
- New Echo of War - Borehole Planet's Old Crater.
- Gift of Odyssey check-in event.
- Simulated Universe update - Gold and Gears (adds path of Erudition to The Swarm and new Intra-Cognition feature).
- Memory of Chaos auto clear function - up to stage 7.
- Memory of Chaos permanent update - Stages 11 and 12 added with a new currency for the Forgotten Hall shop, and time to complete extended to six weeks.
- Pure Fiction combat challenges - Rewards a free 4-Star Lynx character, and Memory of Chaos and Pure Fiction alternate every two weeks, overlapping.
- Daily Training update to make tasks easier.
- Planar Fissure event (Planar Ornaments double drops - 10th to 17th January).
- Realm of the Strange event (Cavern of Corrosion double drops - 26th January to 2nd February).
- Materials update so you can get some level-up items even if you haven't unlocked the story area their challenge is in.
In addition to this lineup of permanent content, login events, and double drop periods, we're getting three limited-time events during the 1.6 update to Honkai Star Rail.
Here's a quick summary of these time-limited events in Honkai Star Rail 1.6:
Critter Pick
Critter Pick starts Wednesday 27th December and ends on Monday 5th February. You need to have completed 'The Blue - When the Stars of Ingenuity Shine' Trailblaze Continuance Mission to take part in the event, but it will be added to the replayable Conventional Memoir tab when it's over - but there won't be as many rewards included if playing through Conventional Memoir.
In Critter Pick, you have to cultivate and take care of adorable little creatures on Herta Space Station, and you can even create 'mutated' versions under the correct circumstances. You also get to take control of Peppy (Asta's dog) at times during the event!
The Critter Pick rewards include a chatbox design, Stellar Jade, Tracks of Destiny, and character and Light Cone level-up materials.
Virtual Scentventure
Virtual Scentventure starts Wednesday 17th January and ends on Monday 5th February. You need to have completed the 'Jarilo-VI - Silent Galaxy' Trailblaze Mission to take part in the event.
This oddly-themed event sees you using 'Scent Plugins' to acquire buffs against illusionary enemies as part of testing for the Department of Ecology on Herta Space Station. You will face familiar enemies, but their attacks and buffs are different this time around.
The Virtual Scentventure rewards include Stellar Jade, Tracks of Destiny, Relic Remains, and character and Light Cone level-up materials.
Pure Fiction
Pure Fiction is now a permanent addition to Honkai: Star Rail that rotates every two weeks with the Memory of Chaos updates. However, each rendition of Pure Fiction and Memory of Chaos lasts for six weeks, meaning you have extra time to complete them, even if a new update has occurred.
In Pure Fiction, you have to clear stages by building up as many points as possible before the cycles end. Enemies constantly appear until the cycles are depleted, allowing you to rack up huge high scores. The better you do, the more stars you earn in each stage.
You also get access to buffs, so you can build your teams around your selected buff to help get a better score.
Just like Memory of Chaos after its next update, you can earn a total of 720 Stellar Jade for getting three stars in all stages of Pure Fiction during each update. Additionally, when you reach a certain stage, you'll get the 4-Star Abundance character Lynx for free!
Honkai Star Rail 1.6 release date and time
Honkai Star Rail 1.6 will release on Wednesday 27th December. It follows the usual maintenance schedule and releases at 3am (GMT). Due to time zone differences, 1.6 actually releases in the United States on Tuesday 26th December at 10pm (ET).
For other time zones, the Honkai Star Rail 1.6 release date and time is:
- East Coast US: Tuesday 26th December, 10pm (ET)
- Central US: Tuesday 26th December, 9pm (CT)
- West Coast US: Tuesday 26th December, 7pm (PT)
- Australia: Wednesday 27th December, 2pm (AET)
- Japan: Wednesday 27th December, 12pm (JST)
- Europe: Wednesday 27th December, 4am (CET)
- UK: Wednesday 27th December, 3am (GMT)
As this is only an approximate time for how long the servers are down you might be able to play the 1.6 patch a little before or after the times above, but based on HoYoverse's track record, the times they provide are almost always accurate.
Hope you have fun during version 1.6!