Does Honkai: Star Rail Have Soft Pity? A Comprehensive Guide
Yes, Honkai: Star Rail absolutely has a soft pity system, adding a layer of strategy and predictability to its gacha mechanics. This system, while not explicitly stated in the game, significantly impacts your chances of obtaining coveted 5-star characters and Light Cones. Understanding how soft pity works is crucial for efficient resource management and optimizing your chances of getting the characters you desire. It’s a key component of the game’s overall gacha design, aimed at making the experience more rewarding for players.
Understanding Pity in Honkai: Star Rail
Before delving into soft pity, it’s essential to grasp the concept of pity itself. In Honkai: Star Rail, the pity system is designed to ensure that players eventually receive a 5-star item even if their luck is not on their side. There are two main types of pity: hard pity and soft pity.
Hard Pity
Hard pity is a guaranteed 5-star pull after a specific number of attempts. In Honkai: Star Rail, this is set at 90 pulls on Character Event Warps. If you make 89 pulls on a character banner and haven’t obtained a 5-star item, your 90th pull is guaranteed to be one. This prevents extreme cases of bad luck, guaranteeing that players will eventually receive a top-tier reward.
Soft Pity
Soft pity is a more nuanced system that incrementally increases your chances of getting a 5-star item. This system isn’t as straightforward as hard pity, but it’s equally vital to understand. In Honkai: Star Rail, soft pity kicks in around your 74th wish. After this point, the game subtly starts boosting the odds of landing a 5-star pull with every subsequent wish. The exact increase per pull isn’t stated by the developers, but analysis suggests a significant and gradually rising probability starting at the 74th wish. This continues until your 90th wish, where the chance of a 5-star is 100%.
How Soft Pity Works in Practice
So, how does this all translate into gameplay? Let’s say you’re trying to obtain a featured 5-star character on a banner. The base rate for a 5-star character is a mere 0.6%. This is where the pity systems come in.
- Initial Pulls (1-73): In the first 73 pulls, you are relying entirely on the base 0.6% drop rate. This means getting a 5-star before soft pity is a matter of luck and chance.
- Soft Pity Engagement (74-89): Starting from your 74th pull, the chances of getting a 5-star increase significantly with each pull. While not at 100%, it becomes much more likely to get a 5-star during this range. The rate appears to increase by roughly 6% per pull in this range.
- Hard Pity Guarantee (90): If you have not obtained a 5-star character by your 89th pull, your 90th pull is guaranteed to be a 5-star character.
- The 50/50: When you pull a 5 star, there’s a 50/50 chance of that character being the featured banner character. If you lose this 50/50, your next 5 star pull will guarantee the featured character.
This mechanism encourages players to strategically plan their pulls. Players are more likely to obtain a 5-star within the soft pity range (74-90 pulls). As such, they often manage resources accordingly.
Why Soft Pity Matters
The existence of soft pity makes the gacha system much more player-friendly. Without it, you could potentially go hundreds of pulls without obtaining a 5-star, leading to frustration. The soft pity system mitigates this, ensuring most players get a 5-star before reaching the hard pity mark, typically around the 70-80 pull mark. It also allows for a more reliable expectation when budgeting in-game currency for pulls. Soft pity also adds a psychological element to the game. Knowing that your odds of getting a 5-star item increase after a certain point can keep players invested.
Pity and the 50/50 System
It’s crucial to distinguish between pity and the 50/50 system. When you obtain a 5-star character from an event banner, there’s a 50% chance it will be the featured character of that banner. If you lose this 50/50, you will get a standard 5-star character. The next 5-star character you pull is then guaranteed to be the featured banner character. The 50/50 reset with each new banner, but your pity does not reset. If you’ve pulled 75 times and a banner ends, when the next banner comes up you will still be at 75 pity.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
To further clarify the complexities of the pity system in Honkai: Star Rail, here are some frequently asked questions:
1. What is the base 5-star drop rate in Honkai: Star Rail?
The base drop rate for a 5-star character is 0.6%.
2. Does the soft pity system guarantee a 5-star character?
No, but it greatly **increases your chances** of getting a 5-star, starting from around the 74th wish. However, you are not guaranteed a 5-star until your 90th wish.
3. What happens after you get a 5-star pull?
After pulling a 5-star, your pity count **resets to zero**.
4. Does pity carry over between banners?
Yes, pity carries over between banners of the same type. Character event banner pity carries over to other character event banners. Light cone pity carries over to other light cone event banners. However, they do not carry over to standard banners.
5. What is the difference between hard pity and soft pity?
Hard pity is a guaranteed 5-star pull at your 90th wish. Soft pity increases the likelihood of getting a 5-star from around the 74th wish.
6. Is the first 5-star pull guaranteed in Honkai: Star Rail?
No, your first 5-star pull is not guaranteed to be the featured banner character; it’s a 50/50 chance.
7. How does the 50/50 system work in Honkai: Star Rail?
You have a **50% chance** of getting the featured banner character when you get a 5-star. If you do not, your next 5-star pull will **guarantee** the featured character on that banner.
8. What happens if you lose the 50/50?
If you lose the 50/50 you will receive a standard 5-star character. The next 5-star you pull on the same banner will then be the guaranteed character of that banner.
9. Does losing the 50/50 reset pity?
No, losing the 50/50 does not reset pity. Pity is only reset upon obtaining a 5-star.
10. Does the soft pity apply to all banners?
**Soft pity** applies to all the event banners, including character event banners and light cone banners.
11. Is the 5-star character guaranteed after losing the 50/50?
Yes, the next 5-star character you pull after losing the 50/50 is guaranteed to be the featured character on the current banner.
12. What if I have not pulled a 5-star by pull 75?
Starting around pull 74 the probability of pulling a 5-star significantly increases. The probability keeps increasing until you pull a 5 star or hit the hard pity of 90.
13. Is it more efficient to pull in batches or one at a time?
There is **no mechanical difference** between pulling in batches or one at a time. The same calculations are applied regardless. The only difference is psychological, as batches can sometimes feel more rewarding.
14. What are the standard 5-star characters?
The standard 5-star characters are Bronya, Welt, Bailu, Gepard, Clara, Yanqing, and Himeko.
15. Do Light Cone banners have a pity system as well?
Yes, Light Cone banners also have a pity system that works exactly the same way as the character banner pity. It has a hard pity of 90, a soft pity starting around 74, and a 75/25 split when you obtain a 5-star.
Conclusion
In summary, Honkai: Star Rail does have a soft pity system, making the gacha system more rewarding and predictable. Understanding soft pity, along with hard pity and the 50/50 system, is key to managing your resources and strategically planning your pulls for your favorite characters and Light Cones. By paying close attention to your pity count and using the information wisely, you can maximize your chances of obtaining the coveted 5-star characters you are aiming for.