Highlights
- Honkai: Star Rail offers a variety of characters with unique abilities, and the five-star banner characters enhance the competitive experience.
- Seele, the first five-star banner character, continues to be the top revenue earner, surpassing highly anticipated characters like Kafka.
- Imbibitor Lunae and Jingliu are potential contenders to break Seele’s revenue record, as players show interest in their stories and abilities. Honkai: Star Rail will release more five-star characters in the future.
The beauty of gacha games like Honkai: Star Rail is that it gives players a variety of characters with unique abilities. What makes the experience even better—and competitive at times—are the five-star banner characters. So far, Honkai: Star Rail has revealed a total of 10 five-stars, with seven of them now playable with the rollout of Version 1.3, which kicked off with Imbibitor Lunae for the first phase.
Those invested in Honkai: Star Rail could see which banner character had been a community favorite. The most recent was Version 1.2’s Kafka, who was introduced at the start of the game and instantly became one of the most anticipated characters. Many players also predicted that she would become the highest revenue earner in no time. However, based on revenue stats, Kafka was unable to overtake the current leader: Seele.
Seele Continues to Top Honkai: Star Rail’s Banner Revenues
Seele was Honkai: Star Rail‘s very first five-star banner character. She’s a Quantum character following the Path of The Hunt, meaning she could deal significant damage to a single enemy. Players will first meet her in the first world, Jarilo-VI, where she’s part of the Underworld peacekeeping faction called Wildfire. Meanwhile, other HoYoverse fans would know her from Honkai Impact 3rd, which was confirmed to be an alternate universe of Honkai: Star Rail as part of the developer’s multiverse.
When the first half of Honkai: Star Rail Version 1.1 ended in May, HonkaiLab reported that Seele garnered over $41.5 million in banner revenue. It’s important to note that the data only took into account the figures from China’s iOS App Store, but it’s still likely that the numbers could spike up if other revenue sources were factored in. Almost four months and five other five-star banner characters later, Seele still managed to keep the top spot. Even the release of the highly popular Kafka in Version 1.2 couldn’t beat her. Kafka placed fourth with over $16.6 million in revenue.
Many gacha players often spend real money in hopes of pulling every five-star unit. When Honkai: Star Rail launched in late April, it’s likely that many players—both newbies and experienced HoYoverse players—wanted first dibs on the game’s first five-star banner character. It also helped that Seele is a high-damage unit that fits well with a lot of team comps, so it’s quite understandable why people wanted to get her. Plus, it’s possible that there were also players who pulled to complete all six of Seele’s Eidolons as well, which could cost a lot of money.
Who Could Beat Seele’s Banner Record?
Admittedly, it might be hard to beat Seele’s banner revenue, especially since Honkai: Star Rail was rumored to re-run her banner in the near future. One could expect more players to cash in and pull for their first Seele or attempt to complete her Eidolons, which could contribute to the overall banner revenue.
However, there are two new contenders that could possibly overtake Seele’s record: Imbibitor Lunae and Jingliu. The former is the current featured five-star banner character for Version 1.3. Known as Dan Heng’s alternate identity, many fans seemed invested in Imbibitor Lunae’s story, especially his rivalry with Honkai: Star Rail‘s Blade. They also got to test him out in Version 1.2’s main story, where they had a glimpse of his impressive Imaginary abilities. It’s certainly possible for players to give him the same love as Seele.
Jingliu, who will be released in Version 1.4, is another anticipated character after she appeared in Jing Yuan’s cinematic. The Mara-struck sword master made an impression on fans as she slashed down her opponents with her sword. There’s also the mystery of Jingliu’s supposed resurrection after being defeated by her pupil Jing Yuan. Her damage-dealing skills could prove useful in some team comps, which could make her a popular banner character once she launches. Honkai: Star Rail will still have many other five-star characters coming in the next few months. It will most likely do more banner re-runs for past characters, and perhaps they could one day beat Seele’s record-breaking revenue.
Honkai: Star Rail is available now for PC and mobile devices. PS4 and PS5 versions are in development.
