5 Best F2P Early Game Characters In Honkai Star Rail

Honkai Star Rail is the newest role-playing game from Hoyoverse that will transport players to a vast post-apocalyptic universe. Unlike their previous game, Genshin Impact, Honkai Star Rail features turn-based combat that requires strategic use of character abilities and skills. The game offers a wide variety of characters that are classified into different tiers based on their star rating.

Acquiring powerful 5-star characters requires players to collect enough Stellar Jades through grinding, making it challenging to decide which characters to choose at the beginning of the game. Players will want characters who can help them navigate the early stages of the game smoothly while also building a strong team of heroes.

Honkai Star Rail Final Closed Beta — Honkai Star Rail

However, players need not worry as this article presents some handpicked 4-star characters that can assist them in cruising through the early stages of Honkai Star Rail.

1. Asta

Rarity: 4 stars
Element: Fire
Affiliation: Hertha Space Station
Path: Harmony

Asta is a character in Honkai Star Rail who belongs to the Fire element and fulfills the role of a Buffer for the team. Her primary function is to provide various buffs to her teammates to improve their abilities. Asta is an excellent support character who can enhance her and her allies' attack speed up to five times using her fire stackability.

As she levels up, her charging stackability's damage increases by 7%, 16.1%, and 17.5%, respectively. Additionally, Asta possesses the Miracle Flash technique, allowing her to launch an immediate attack on enemies when entering into battles.

Asta's Skills

Spectrum Beam (Normal attack): Asta charges a beam forward that deals damage to a single target.
Meteor Storm (Bounce attack): Unleashes a powerful Meteor Storm that deals Fire damage to a single enemy with four bombardments.
Astral Blessing (Ultimate/Support ability): Increases the speed of allies significantly for the next two turns. This ability's speed buff increases as Asta levels up.

2. Pela

Rarity: 4 stars
Element: Ice
Affiliation: Belobog
Path: Nihility

In Honkai Star Rail, Pela is a character who possesses the Ice element and is an excellent option for the Nihility role in your team. This means that she can help her teammates by hindering their opponents' abilities during battles.

Pela restores an additional 5%, 12%, or 13% energy if she debuffs an enemy with her attack, however this effect can only occur once each hit. Furthermore, Pela has a 100% chance of dealing 80% of her ATK as Ice DMG to a random enemy and a 100% chance of lowering all enemies' DEF by 20% for the next two turns.

Pela's skills

Frost Shot (Normal Attack): Deals ice damage to a single target equal to 50%/130%/140% of her basic attack.
Frost Bite (Impair ability): Removes buffs of all enemies for one turn and deals ice damage equal to 105%/241.5%/262.5% of Pela’s basic attacks.
Zone Suppression (Ultimate/Impair ability): Deals massive ice damage to all enemies, with a 100% chance of inflicting an exposed status on enemies. Exposed enemies will have their defenses drastically reduced over the next two turns.

3. Serval

Rarity: 4 stars
Element: Lighting
Affiliation: Belobog
Path: Erudition

Serval is among the characters listed in the C-tier in Honkai Star Rail and stands out for her exceptional AOE damage abilities. With her mastery over lightning, Serval can deal additional lightning damage to enemies using her Galvanic Chords talent. She also has the ability to initiate a blow as soon as she enters the fight.

Furthermore, Serval has a 100% chance of inflicting an electrical shock on all enemies for the next three turns and can deal lightning damage to a random enemy every turn.

Serval's skills

Roaring Thunderclap (normal attack): Serval deals lightning damage to a single target enemy.
Lightning Flash (Blast skill/ AOE): Deals a huge amount of lighting damage, 70%/140%/154% of Serval's basic attack to a single target. It also deals additional lighting damage to the adjacent enemies of the intended target. Also, the skill grants an 80% chance for all impacted enemies to be in a shocked state for the next two turns.
Here Comes the Mechanical Fever (Ultimate/ AOE): Deals tremendous AOE lighting damage equivalent to 108/180/194% of her basic attacks on all enemies on the battlefield. Enemies already in a shocked state will have their shock state extended by two more turns.

4. Sushang

Rarity: 4 stars
Element: Physical
Affiliation: Xianzhou Luofu
Path: Hunt

Sushang is among the A-tier characters revealed in Honkai Star Rail who possesses the unique capability of inflicting significant physical damage on single-target enemies, making her an ideal option for Blitz battles.

She has the ability to launch an immediate attack as soon as she enters the field, dealing damage equal to 80% of her basic attacks. Additionally, whenever an enemy is on a weakness break on the battlefield, Sushang gains a speed boost.

Sushang's skills

Cloudfencer Art: Starshine (Normal Attack): Sushang leaps at an enemy and deals damage to a single enemy.
Cloudfencer Art: Mountainfall (Attacking Skill): Deals incredible damage to a single target through her sword. There is a 33% chance that after the end of the move, Sushang will end in the sword stance. In the Sword stance, Sushang deals additional physical damage to a single target enemy.
Shape of Taixu: Dawn Herald (Ultimate): Sushang deals Physical damage to a single enemy equal to 192%/358.4%/384% of her basic attacks.
This skill also boosts Sushang's attack by 18%/33.6%/36%, respectively, and grants her two extra chances to trigger Sword Stance. If Sword Stance is triggered from these extra turns, it deals 50% of her basic damage.

5. Dan Heng

Rarity: 4 stars
Element: Wind
Affiliation: Astral Express
Path: Hunt

Dan Heng is currently among the most popular choices in Honkai Star Rail. As an assassin-like character, he is an excellent option if you need someone to eliminate a single target quickly. Dan Heng harnesses the power of the Wind element and is particularly effective against single targets.

Dan Heng's skills

Cloudlancer Art: North Wind (normal attack): Deals wind damage equivalent to 50/100/110% of Dan Heng's basic attacks to a single target enemy.
Cloudlancer Art: Torrent (attacking skill): Unleashes a wind torrent that deals damage to a single target enemy, equivalent to 130/260/286% of his basic attacks. If, by chance, a critical hit is inflicted through this move, then the enemy’s speed will reduce by 12% for the next two turns.
Ethereal Dream (Ultimate): Deals massive wind damage equal to 240/400/432% of Dan Heng's basic attacks to a single target. If the enemy is slowed, the damage is amplified by 72/120/130%, respectively.