I’m looking at Honkai: Star Rail’s roster in 2026, and I still feel the same frustration that bubbled up in 2024: the four-star pipeline feels thinner than it should be. The community’s complaint was never that five-star characters are bad. It was that four-stars are the connective tissue of a healthy roster. They fill gaps, create variety, and give players something meaningful to chase when Stellar Jades run dry. When HoYoverse went several patches without adding a new four-star, I understood why players called it unsustainable.
The flashpoint was clear. In 2024, one frustrated player on the official Honkai: Star Rail Reddit page pointed out that with Version 2.4, the game would have its third consecutive patch without a new four-star. “Every patch, we get two 5 stars and potentially one 4 star,” they wrote. “This does not feel sustainable — I understand and am fine with the fact that I won’t get every 5-star, but 4-stars fill in that gap for when I cannot get a new character.” That line stuck with me because it captures the real economy of a gacha game. Five-stars are aspirational. Four-stars are practical.
HoYoverse did try to soften the blow. Update 2.2 introduced the free Harmony Trailblazer, and the studio promised a new version of March 7th in the near future. Those were welcome additions, but they were not the same as a steady stream of fresh four-star identities. Players wanted more variety in team-building, not just another version of a familiar face. The distinction matters. A free character can help a lineup, but a new four-star can reshape how several teams operate.
The Gallagher Gap
The last four-star character to release before that drought was Gallagher in March 2024 with Version 2.1. After that, HoYoverse shifted focus toward five-star releases. That decision left a visible gap. Four-stars help players who lack variety, and they also help players who cannot reliably clutch a five-star at random. In a game where team composition often matters more than raw power, that gap is not cosmetic. It is structural.
I have seen the same pattern discussed across HoYoverse titles. One comment in the thread argued that Genshin Impact had relatively fewer four-stars in the previous year, and that Honkai Impact 3rd had slowed the release schedule of A-rank characters compared with S-rank characters. “It seems their prioritizing spending on 5 stars cause it’s more profitable and most people won’t care,” the comment said. I do not think every player agrees with that motive, but the concern is understandable. When the release cadence tilts heavily toward premium characters, the free and lower-rarity ecosystem starts to feel neglected.
A Roster Imbalance in Plain Numbers
At the time, Honkai: Star Rail had 21 four-star characters compared with more than 25 five-star characters. Genshin Impact, by contrast, had 39 four-star characters and over 40 five-star characters available through Wishes. Those numbers do not tell the whole story, but they do explain the mood.
| Metric | Honkai: Star Rail in 2024 | Genshin Impact in 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Four-star characters | 21 | 39 |
| Five-star characters | 25+ | 40+ |
| Last new four-star before drought | Gallagher, Version 2.1 | — |
| Community complaint | Third patch without a new four-star | Fewer four-stars in the prior year |
The schedule around Version 2.3 and 2.4 made the drought even more noticeable. Version 2.3 began on June 18, 2024, with rate-up increases for Gallagher, Mika, and Xueyi. Then July 10 to July 30 brought extra rate-ups for Serval, Natasha, and Asta. Those are useful characters, but rate-ups are not new releases. They recycle the roster. For players hungry for fresh team options, that feels like a placeholder, not a solution.
Version 2.4 was scheduled for July 30, 2024, and HoYoverse had already teased two five-stars joining the banner. If the studio had heard the outcry, there was a chance a new four-star could arrive too. But the community’s worry was bigger than one patch. Fans feared that Honkai: Star Rail would repeat what they saw as a past mistake in Genshin Impact: focusing on enhancing powerful characters rather than developing the flexibility of lower-level ones.
Why I Still Care in 2026
In 2026, I see this as a useful stress test for live-service game design. A healthy gacha roster needs aspiration and accessibility. Five-stars sell the dream. Four-stars keep the dream playable. When one side of that balance stalls, players notice. They notice in team comps, in pull planning, and in the simple pleasure of getting a new toy without spending everything.
I am not asking HoYoverse to stop making five-stars. That would be unrealistic. I am asking for a cadence that respects the whole roster. A new four-star does not need to overshadow a limited five-star. It needs to be interesting, usable, and frequent enough to keep the game’s team-building conversation alive. The 2024 drought was a warning. In 2026, it still reads like one.