HSR 3.5 banners put DOT back on the menu thanks to Hysilens, and Kafka and Silver Wolf finally return, too

The Honkai Star Rail 3.5 banners breathe new life into the flagging DOT (damage-over-time) combat strategy thanks to newcomer Hysilens, and there’s an aggressive new Harmony character as well, Cerydra. If you missed out on Kafka and Silver Wolf before and feel intrigued by their 3.4 revamps, the good news is that they’re coming back, albeit in limited banners.

We’ve outlines who’s who in the HSR 3.5 banners below, along with what to expect from them and when their respective phases go live.

Honkai Star Rail 3.5 banners phase one – Hysilens and Kafka

First up, on Aug. 13, 2025, or August 12, depending on your time zone, is Hysilens’ debut and Kafka’s rerun. HoYoverse didn’t indicate which 4-stars will run in this phase.

• Hysilens – 5-star, Physical, Nihility
• Kafka – 5-star, Lightning, Nihiliy

Hysilens’ big thing is that her ultimate creates a zone – similar to the field effect Tribbie, Castorice, and Phainon have – that adds an instance of DOT from her every time an ally inflicts DOT on a foe, and the zone reduces enemy attack and defense while it’s active. (Poor Jiaoqiu can’t catch a break.) Her skill has a chance of inflicting a random DOT effect, and it also increases the amount of damage the target takes. Finally, her talent gives every ally’s attack a 100 percent base chance to inflict a random ailment as well.

Kafka’s skill triggers all active DOT effects and causes them to deal one instance of extra damage without reducing how long they remain active for, though the amount isn’t 100 percent of the effect’s usual damage. Her ultimate inflicts shock and causes enemies to immediately take damage from their DOT effects, up to 120 percent of their normal damage depending on the trace’s level. Her talent lets her perform a follow-up attack after an ally attacks, and it also inflicts shock.

Honkai Star Rail 3.5 banners phase two – Cerydra and Silver Wolf

Three weeks later, on Sep. 3, 2025, the second round of banners takes over. This set features a new Harmony character and the return of Silver Wolf after an earlier rerun in February 2025.

• Cerydra – 5-star, Wind, Harmony

• Silver Wolf – 5-star, Quantum, Nihility

While we’ll have to wait until we actually see it in action, Cerydra’s kit seems a little niche for a Harmony character. She grants an ally the Military Merit buff, which increases their attack and eventually turns into the Peerage state, which also buffs their crit damage. Cerydra’s talent has her follow up with a single wind attack when the ally with military merit strikes a target, and she can do that 20 times. The count resets when she uses her ultimate, so it seems like she’ll be able to consistently pull this attack off. Early numbers for the buffs she provides seem a bit low, though, so whether she stacks up to the likes of Tribbie, Sunday, and even Bronya remains to be seen.

Then there’s Silver Wolf, fresh off her 3.4 revamp. Her skill implants a random weakness on an enemy, reduces their resistance to that element type, and drops their all-type res pen as well, while her ultimate deals heavy quantum damage to all enemies – it used to be a single-target ability – and drops their defense by up to 45 percent. Silver Wolf’s talent has a chance of inflicting a defense, speed, or attack debuff when she uses her basic attack.

As ever, all four 5-star characters will run alongside their signature Light Cones.

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