Star Rail Leaks Show One Path Is Taking A Devastating Blow In Version 3.0 & Forward

New leaks about Honkai: Star Rail’s third-year patches have emerged and they hint at what will likely be a devastating blow to one of the game’s most important Paths. At the moment, HoYoverse’s turn-based RPG is in the midst of Version 2.6, a patch that took the Astral Express back to Penacony. While the main conflict involving the Stellaron has been resolved, players are now visiting a new area and meeting new characters, such as Rappa in Honkai: Star Rail. The campaign is moving at a much slower pace than before, probably gearing up for the release of Version 3.0.

While Version 3.0 and the game’s third year of content are likely still a few months away, several leaks about the future patches have emerged. The first and most notable ones are regarding Version 3.0 itself, which mentions that the patch will introduce Aglaea and the 5-star form of Herta. The same patch is also rumored to add the Remembrance Trailblazer to Honkai: Star Rail. Aside from Version 3.0, there have also been leaks about some of the updates after the one that kicks off the game’s third year, including the characters that will be released and Path distribution.

No Preservation Characters Have Been Leaked For Version 3.X Patches In Honkai: Star Rail

The Focus Seems To Be On DPS Characters

New details about the character releases for Version 3.x patches have emerged, hinting at what players can expect in terms of new playable characters and their roles in team comps. The details were shared in a post made by the leaker known as Ubatcha, which was tagged as “Reliable” on Reddit. The post compiles leaks from several different sources, such as details about Mr. Reca, Bayer, and Screwllum’s release in Honkai: Star Rail. While it goes through leaked characters from Version 3.0 through Version 3.2, there’s still more information about the 3.x patches, including the notable absence of a Path.

The post highlights that, currently, there are seemingly no plans for any Preservation character during the 3.x updates. This means that the game should receive no new shielder during its next year of content. For comparison, the leaks speculate that there will be several Destruction and Remembrance characters in the beginning, slowly shifting into a Nihility-based meta further on. Erudition is expected to have between two and four new characters, while Hunt, Harmony, and Abundance should have fewer than two new characters for each of the Paths in Honkai: Star Rail. If true, this is somewhat concerning news.

The leak shows that three Remembrance characters, one Destruction character, and one Harmony character should be released between Version 3.0 and 3.2.

Preservation Characters Are A Necessity For Team Comps In Honkai: Star Rail

Shielders Are Just As Important As Healers For Certain Parties

It’s daunting to imagine an entire year of content without any new Preservation characters being added to the playable roster. Shielders are some of the most important characters in the game alongside healers, both categories that are known as sustain. These units help keep the rest of the team comp alive while the damage dealers, buffers, and debuffers work to destroy enemies on the field. There is already a good selection of strong shielders in the game, like Honkai: Star Rail’s Aventurine, but these are fairly old units. At the moment, they are among the best, but that could change.

With the release of Version 3.0 and the rumors of not only a completely new playable Path, Remembrance but also a shift in the current meta toward Destruction and Remembrance, the current shielders that are good at their jobs may find themselves partially obsolete within the new team structures that emerge. Aventurine may not be able to be as good a shielder as he currently is if the Servant mechanic, for instance, is introduced. Alternatively, Fu Xuan’s damage distribution may see her and her allies take more damage thanks to the presence of a Servant in Honkai: Star Rail.

Leaks indicate that Servants count as a fifth unit on the player’s field that can also be targeted by enemies – if opponents deal multi-target damage to the entire party, then more total damage will be distributed through Fu Xuan’s mitigation, for example.

As such, the current strong shielders in the game may feel outdated when Version 3.0, its new units, and new mechanics arrive. There is a chance that Aventurine will not be able to protect Servants, for example, so a new shielder that plays into the current gameplay mechanics is more than necessary. This is why the leaks about the lack of new Preservation units in Version 3.x patches feel so overwhelming – players may see Preservation characters fall in disuse if they want to get through the tougher activities added to Honkai: Star Rail.

Players May Be Forced To Run Abundance Characters In Honkai: Star Rail 3.X Patches

This Would Limit The Number Of Sustain Characters In Team Comps

Because the current shielders may become partially obsolete with the release of Version 3.0 and its rumored new gameplay mechanics, there is a chance that players will have to rely heavily on healers to restore the team’s and Servants’ HP rather than protect them from all incoming damage. Healers in Honkai: Star Rail are just as important as shielders, but they play differently and first allow the party to get damaged to then heal them and cleanse any debuffs they may receive. This isn’t necessarily negative, but the options for sustain characters in team comps may be significantly reduced.

I highly recommend that players invest in strong healers capable of granting a high level of widespread restoration but, most importantly, cleansing debuffs. Characters like Luocha, Huohuo, and Lingsha are among the best in their category and are absolute game-changers when inserted into team comps. Each of them specializes in one type of healing, but they all reach the same result, which is keeping the team comp alive. 4-star healers like Gallagher and Lynx are also extremely useful, and they may even surpass the protective potential of shielders after Honkai: Star Rail 3.0.

If Preservation characters are truly absent from Version 3.x patches and the current shielders do not contemplate the protection of the rumored Servants, then players may be forced to use healers, exclusively, to make their team run. Of course, the healers will also need to be able to provide HP restoration for the leaked Servants, though the mention of at least one Abundance character in year-three patches sparks hope – furthermore, Lingsha can allegedly heal Servants, too, which already puts the Path at an advantage.

Despite the doom-ridden leaks for Preservation characters, these rumors should all be considered with caution. Version 3.0 and its subsequent updates are still months away from arriving, and a lot could change in HoYoverse’s plans. Nonetheless, players may need to get ready to temporarily retire their shielders and start thinking about new team comps for the next year of Honkai: Star Rail as the turn-based RPG’s mechanics are continuously evolving.

Source: Reddit