As the newest RPG from HoYoverse, Honkai: Star Rail has a few terms and systems that might not be clear to players who haven’t been following the game’s pre-release advertising. Much like the terminology of the developer’s previous games, such as Genshin Impact or Honkai Impact 3rd, terms that get thrown around in the game’s story might not be explained all too well in the game itself, either, an issue that can be made worse when the terms have actual gameplay implications.
Similarly to past HoYoverse games, Honkai: Star Rail‘s world has its own slang, much of which can be helpful to know for players wanting to dive deeper into the game’s story and lore. This can especially be the case for Star Rail, given its somewhat confusing status as a sort of semi-sequel to Honkai Impact 3rd, taking place in an alternate universe and serving as something of an offshoot to the previous game. Moreover, given the game’s status as a turn-based RPG, ditching the more action-focused combat of HoYoverse games, the story could very well be taking a more prominent role – especially with Star Rail taking a more structured approach than the open-world Genshin Impact.
What Stellaron, Aeons, and Paths Are In Honkai: Star Rail
In relation to the story, lore, and gameplay systems of Honkai: Star Rail, three terms, in particular, are important for players to understand: Stellaron, Aeons, and Paths. Each term has a significant bearing on the world and the general plot of Star Rail, making them integral to the game’s story. Luckily, they also have easily understandable analogues, both in other HoYoverse games and in general fantasy media, making them not quite as high-concept as they might seem at first. Moreover, the three terms are also heavily associated, making each of them easier to understand in relation to the others.
Stellaron Are A Driving Force Behind Star Rail’s Plot
Stellaron, also described (somewhat dramatically) as the Cancer of All Worlds, are a major driving force behind the story of Honkai: Star Rail, being the basis for the game’s plot. Created by a character known as Nanook, Stellaron are mysterious objects that tether themselves to certain worlds, seemingly granting the desires of the planets and civilizations that they tether to. However, Stellaron are also responsible for bringing great catastrophes to the worlds that they associate with – as such, the crux of Star Rail‘s plot has the protagonist faction, the Astral Express, both dealing with the harm caused by the Stellaron and researching them further.
Although they remain mostly mysterious for now, it’s likely that the true nature of the Stellaron will be one of Honkai: Star Rail‘s major plot points as the game’s story progresses through updates. In fact, aside from the Astral Express, at least one of the game’s other in-universe factions is based entirely around Stellaron – the Stellaron Hunters. As their name implies, Stellaron Hunters take a keen interest in collecting the objects, although their reasons for doing so are currently unknown. Additionally, aside from being a driving force behind the game’s plot, Stellaron also have major associations with another aspect of Star Rail‘s world – the Aeons.
Aeons Serve As Honkai: Star Rail’s Equivalent To Gods
Aeons in Honkai: Star Rail are largely similar to something like Genshin Impact‘s Archons, or gods in other fantasy media, as they are powerful beings associated with certain aspects of the game’s world. Like Genshin‘s Archons, the Aeons of Star Rail are associated with and worshiped by certain civilizations, with individual Stellaron also bearing associations with certain Aeons. Among the eighteen currently known Aeons, Nanook is particularly noteworthy – being the creator of the Stellaron and representative of destruction, he has seemingly been set up as one of the game’s major overarching antagonists, similar to the Cryo Archon in Genshin Impact.
With the Aeons numbering at eighteen members – more than doubling Genshin‘s Archons – it’s currently unknown if all of them will make in-game appearances or have important roles to play – although, like the Archons, it’s distinctly possible that some Aeons may become playable in some form as Star Rail receives future updates and additional content. Moreover, the Aeons set up Honkai: Star Rail well to follow a similar story structure to Genshin‘s, with updates centering around a single world, as well as that world’s associated Aeon. Importantly, however, as Aeons are introduced in the game’s story, another aspect of the game’s world must be considered – Paths.
Honkai: Star Rail’s Paths Are Character Classes
Similar to how each of Genshin‘s Archons associates with a single element, the Aeons of Star Rail each follow a singular path – although unlike elements (which do still exist in Star Rail), Paths are much more similar to character classes. Like the Aeons, each of Honkai: Star Rail‘s playable characters follows a certain Path, which has important implications for what role they play in battle. Characters following The Hunt path, for example, focuses primarily on single target damage, while The Erudition focuses on multi-target damage. At launch, there are seven Paths implemented in the game’s combat, each serving a different gameplay function.
However, with the current seven Paths available at the game’s launch already covering most of the functions that could be expected in a turn-based RPG (attacking, buffing, debuffing, tanking, and healing) it’s currently unknown what further additional Paths could entail in terms of gameplay – especially with eighteen total Paths corresponding to the eighteen Aeons. If future updates introduce more Paths to the game, they will likely need to bring more unorthodox gameplay additions. In terms of their effect on the game’s story, however, it’s likely the Aeons and world more closely associated with the current seven paths will be more prominent in the game’s story.
As with other HoYoverse games, Honkai: Star Rail‘s story and world are likely to evolve further as the game continues to receive support, with new worlds, Stellaron, Aeons, and potentially even new Paths for characters to follow. As a major departure from the developer’s past works, both in gameplay and setting, Honkai: Star Rail offers a distinctly different experience for fans of games like Genshin Impact, and is currently available on PC and mobile platforms, with a PlayStation release planned for a later date in 2023.
Source: Honkai: Star Rail/YouTube