If you’re anything like us, then you love building out your Honkai Star Rail team with brand-new units, flexing their fresh kit and adding their unique personality into the mix. Well, after a stellar HSR 1.6 livestream, developer HoYoverse has revealed that you’ll be able to get your hands on a free five-star character, and a brand-new one at that. Yes, alongside all the other new content coming in the Version 1.6 content, from fresh events and locations to new and returning characters, there’s also a Honkai Star Rail Dr Ratio free unit up for grabs if you know how to get it. What more could a PS5 player want?
Honkai Star Rail has only improved since we wrote our HSR review, though it’s often the small things that help it win out over Genshin Impact for many HoYoverse fans. Compared to its larger, more successful counterpart, HSR is frequently more generous to its players, with more ways to earn powerful items for free and more frequent promotional events. So, with the Honkai Star Rail 1.6 banners being absolutely stacked this time around, it’s great that you can get one of the featured characters for free.
Announced during the Honkai Star Rail 1.6 livestream, players will be able to log in and claim five-star character Dr Ratio for free using the in-game Mailbox, available from Version 1.6 until the end of Version 2.1. Given you need to use the Mailbox, you must have completed the Trailblaze Mission ‘The Blue – A Moment of Peace’, though this is only the third main quest so shouldn’t take you too long if you’re a newcomer. Yes, it really is as easy as logging in and checking your mail.
Giving away a brand-new five-star is part of HoYoverse’s celebrations of the game’s recent successes, including taking home ‘Best Mobile Game’ at The Game Awards and Google Play’s Best of 2023 ‘Best Game’ trophy. While this is already great news, as it means HSR is receiving plenty of attention, we imagine most players will be more excited about getting Dr Ratio for free. After all, getting a five-star character isn’t usually this easy. Sorry Genshin Impact players, but you won’t be treated to a free five-star unit.
Furthermore, this isn’t the first time HSR fans have been treated to freebies, with the Gift of the Odyssey event that grants ten free Special Passes being a periodic treat. In fact, Honkai Star Rail 1.6 also sees this event return, so alongside getting Dr Ratio for free, you can also claim up to ten Special Passes just by logging in.
As for the quality of Honkai Star Rail’s Dr Ratio, this remains to be seen. Given they’re a five-star unit, we’re expecting Dr Ratio to be a powerful addition, though that’s not always the case – especially for units being given away for free. As an Imaginary Hunt character, Dr. Ratio is a DPS unit focusing predominantly on single-target damage. With meta DPS units like Blade, Imbibitor Lunae, and Jingliu providing significant competition, only time will tell whether this freebie is truly a gift. Even if they’re not the best of the best, they are, at least, the only Imaginary Hunt character, giving them a niche use for certain setups.
Nevertheless, Dr Ratio will be headlining the HSR 1.6 banners for phase two, alongside a rerun of Kafka and the four-stars Natasha, Hook, and Sushang. That means players who claim Dr Ratio for free will get this banner character not just for free, but also early. Alongside the mouth-watering reruns in Version 1.6, it’s an incredible update, especially for Honkai Star Rail PS5 fans.
It’s hard to say no to that, even if they don’t end up as one of the best Honkai Star Rail characters or making up part of the best Honkai Star Rail teams. For an idea of all the other exciting characters on the way in one of the best games, check out the Honkai Star Rail banner schedule for 1.6 and beyond.