F2P, letters and numbers that mean nothing to the average person but to a gacha player can legit be the difference between downloading or deleting a game.
For today’s topic, I wanted to express my thoughts on Free to Play and its relation to Honkai Star Rail.
There are a few topics I want to address:
1. What Is F2P?
To me, at least, I’d look at free to play as any items or character that can be gotten in the game without having to spend money or use the in-game gocha.
Now, there’s also another term I would like to address here, which is Free to Play Friendly, since they are closely related. Free to Play Friendly would be the use of gocha items or characters that will not cause you to spend money, but a small minority may not have.
For example, a 3-Star Light Cone from the gocha is something you are like get. Unless you’re doing the gocha-less run, these players are in their own void.
I would also throw free characters that were given away from a limited time event in this bracket. Also, I will throw 4-Star rate up characters, depending on certain conditions.
Another thing to mention is the quality of your gear does not affect free-to-play status, in my opinion.
Also Read: Honkai Star Rail: Everything The Rookie Player Needs To Know To Create Pela Build!
2. Is Honkai Star Rail A Good Game For F2P?
The next topic: Is Honkai Star Rail a good game for F2P? Yes, and No.
Let’s get the negative out of the way first. Simply put, for some people, this game, like most gocha games, won’t be good for free to play because its goal is to find a way to entice you to want to spend money. Anyone with an addictive nature should be wary.
Now, for the positives, I think a majority of the free-to-play units in this game are pretty strong, so at least you aren’t working with unusable units. Amber, Lisa...... Furthermore, there are some really good items you can acquire in Battle Pass for free, one such item being gotten at Battle Pass level 40, which really makes crafting certain gear much easier. It is too bad that it’s a one-time use item, but it’s great, regardless.
Finally, the simulated universe offers replayable content and is an easy way to farm items and credits while having no cost of entry, even if it’s not the fastest method for what it’s worth. If you want a good casual turn-based game, it’s going to be great for free to play and provide you with a challenge as well. Just don’t be surprised if some people get mad at certain points in the game.
3. What Are The Biggest Issues For F2P Right Now?
This one isn’t a huge one as we made it work during the closed beta. But I would say the lack of every element being covered for free to play is a kind of annoying for me. You can also throw the fact of having one free to play healer while requiring two teams for memory of chaos here as well.
If you are doing pulls, it won’t be a huge issue. But pure free to play only is going to have a bit of a problem. However, it’s kind of hard to judge because this game is trying hard to give away 5-Star characters, such as with the departure banner and the standard banner 300 Warps. Keep in mind the 300 Warps will take some time. So, don’t hold your breath for it.
Another issue I would say is credits, which is the currency in this game. While it’s farmable in simulated universe early on, expect to either live in that game mode or live broke. Unless you have planned your goals really well.
Lastly, Stellar Jade’s consumption. Think of this like Primogems in Genshin Impact. While we will have plenty at the start of the game, I can see it falling into the same issues at Genshin Impact when we have more characters in the game.
4. What Are Some Tips For F2P Players?
One, is to not spread yourself too thin early on and try to plan around 8 units you would like to use. Curve balls may be thrown, such as pulling a new 5-Star character. But, it’s best to go in with a general idea.
Two, don’t forget to grab the free 5-Star Light Cone from simulated universe, mainly the Hunt and Destruction ones. Because they would give you a great damage boost and can be maxed out for free. If you think getting 5-Star Light Cones is too much trouble, then directly getting Honkai Star Rail Accounts with 5-Star Light Cones will be a good choice.
Three, try not to spend all your pulls on the standard banner. Even if you want to rush the 300 pull reward, this game will give out plenty of free pulls for that banner. So, let it rack up normally.
Last but not least, probably the most important one, don’t spend a majority of your Stellar Jades doing refreshes. While this may give you short-term progress, I would highly recommend against it since you really want to focus on obtaining new units for the long haul.
