Honkai Star Rail 3.3 banners add cheeky thief Cipher and tiny healer Hyacine to the space roster, with The Herta’s rerun – yes, already

HoYoverse announced the Honkai Star Rail 3.3 banners, and while they aren’t overloaded with characters as past versions were, the new update has some heavy hitters new and old. There’s a healer – convenient, what with Castorice trying to kill everyone every turn – and a new Nihility character who slots into follow-up teams and buffs the entire party.

Our Honkai Star Rail 3.3 banners guide breaks down who’s showing up in which part of the version update, along with the 4-star characters accompanying them.

Honkai Star Rail 3.3 banners phase one – Hyacine and The Herta

The first round of HSR 3.3 banners goes live on May 21, 2025, or late on May 20, depending on your time zone. It features newcomer Hyacine and The Herta’s first rerun, just a few months after the genius debuted.

• Hyacine – 5-star, Wind, Remembrance
• The Herta – 5-star, Ice, Erudition
• Misha – 4-star, Ice, Destruction
• Serval – 4-star, Electric, Erudition
• Natasha – 4-star, Physical, Harmony

Hyacine’s memosprite summon helps heal the party every turn and whenever an ally sacrifices their health for whatever reason. That makes her a natural fit for parties with Blade, Castorice, or Mydei, who need frequent healing to function properly, though she’d be a strong support choice for any team.

The Herta is a rare case of a character who works effectively against single-target foes and multiple enemies thanks to how her kit works. Her skill deals heavy damage after she uses her ultimate, and the effects she and other characters distribute among enemies determine how much extra damage targets take, prioritizing elite enemies.

The Herta gets a big crit damage boost when she’s with one other Erudition character, so little Herta and Serval are strong allies for her.

Misha struggled to find a place once the skill point meta moved on – which was literally right after Misha became playable – so the little guy’s not the best choice for investing materials in unless you just like him a lot. Natasha is free already, and while her healing output can’t quite keep up compared to some others, such as Luocha – who you can still get for free before HSR 3.3 goes live – and Gallagher, having her Eidolons unlocked isn’t a terrible thing.

Honkai Star Rail 3.3 banners phase two – Cipher and Aglaea

Round two goes live on June 11, 2025, and adds another new character, plus another rerun of a recent new character. Yes, Aglaea was so fast, she bumped the rerun schedule up by a few months.

• Cipher – 5-star, Quantum, Nihility
• Aglaea – 5-star, Electric, Remembrance
• Qingque – 4-star, Quantum, Erudition
• Xiyue – 4-star, Quantum, Destruction
• Sushang – 4-star, Physical, Hunt

Cipher marks an enemy and records how much damage it takes, then when she uses her ultimate, that enemy takes a set amount of True Damage based on the number Cipher recorded. Allies who attack Cipher’s marked enemy trigger a follow-up from Cipher, and her skill has a high chance of reducing enemy attack as well. Previous versions of Cipher reduced enemy defense just by existing on the field, which would have put her in conflict with characters such as Jiaoqiu who debuff and reduce enemy defenses, usually on Acheron teams. Firefox can rest easy, though. Cipher now buffs ally damage by a set amount instead of reducing defense.

Aglaea is your standard hypercarry in the sense that she’s designed to attack frequently and deal high damage amounts. She works in conjunction with her memosprite, who deals most of her damage, and requires high speed and energy support to function well. She’s a demanding character, though she has an easy, free ally in the Remembrance Trailblazer, who gives her everything she needs.

Qingque’s damage has fallen off in the last year or so to the point that it’s tough for her to keep up with others. Xiyue helps break teams deal a bit more damage, and Sushang’s high damage ceiling is hampered by the fact that she has to break enemies frequently. Fugue is a good teammate for Sushang if you have her, though the general takeaway here is that more than Blade, Kafka, and Silver Wolf need reworks to remain viable at this point.

Later in summer, HoYoverse will launch the HSR x Fate collaboration with Saber and Archer, so bear that in mind when deciding how to distribute your jade.

Head over to our Star Rail codes page for some freebies to help with your next pulls, whether you’re after a 3.3 character or need to save for a future banner.