Several pre-farming Phainon’s materials in Honkai: Star Rail.

The current patch has also added Hyacine to the playable roster, and with Phase 2, Cipher will be made available in the limited-time banners. Even with the large influx of content to go through during the next six weeks, players are already starting to look toward the next update, as several leaks have been highlighting its contents. As was previously mentioned, Phainon will be released in Version 3.4, but he will be accompanied by two more units: the Fate collab characters in Honkai: Star Rail. During Version 3.4, players will be able to acquire the 5-star characters Saber and Archer.

5 Phainon's Ultimate Is The Most Stylish In The Game

Phainon’s True Form Is Shown During His Special State

Out of the several Version 3.4 beta test leaks, one that stands out a lot is Phainon’s set of animations, and, subsequently, his Ultimate. There had already been several leaks about Phainon’s kit and hints that his Ultimate would be the most important aspect of his abilities, but now the new leaks have shown it in action. As seen in footage provided by the leaker known as Dim, which was shared in a post tagged as “Reliable” by raadrules on Reddit, Phainon’s complete set of animations has been leaked.

During the video, it’s possible to see Phainon’s Basic Attack and Skill, but, most importantly, his Ultimate. As was predicted by the previous Phainon kit leaks in Honkai: Star Rail, the character creates a territory with his Ultimate and transforms into his true form. As seen in the video, Phainon’s true form has him split between a golden and black color palette. On the character’s right side, Phainon boasts golden elements and an angelic wing while holding his sword. On his left side, his palette is much darker, as represented by his dark wing. Behind his head is a halo.

Phainon’s attacks are also changed, and he deals damage with visual effects that resemble the effects of the Black Tide creatures that attack Amphoreus. In another video posted by a on Phainon’s true form in Honkai: Star Rail only appears during his Ultimate, but it helps establish him as the owner of the game’s most stylish Ultimate among a roster of characters with very stylish Ultimates.

4 Saber's Kit May Make Her A Must-Pull Character

The DPS Character Will Have The Largest Max Energy In The Game, Suring Aglaea

Leaks about Saber have also finally emerged with the Version 3.4 beta tests. The 5-star Wind Destruction character will seemingly operate as a main DPS in team comps. According to the character’s entry on the Honey Hunter World database, Saber’s damage output will scale off her ATK and CRIT stats. Saber’s entire kit should revolve around hitting enemies hard and, in the process, restoring Energy for her Ultimate. According to information from the leaker known as HomDGCat, which was shared by the raadrules on Reddit, Saber’s Ultimate has a cost of 360 Energy.

This is a fairly high Energy cost. For reference, Aglaea in Honkai: Star Rail has the highest Max Energy in the game, with her Ultimate costing 350 Energy. This is followed by Firefly, with an Energy cost of 240 Energy for her Ultimate.

According to the leaks, Saber will be able to stack up Core Resonance, and, with it, restore Energy. If she can fully restore Energy by consuming Core Resonance with her Skill, the Skill’s DMG multiplier increases. Furthermore, by using her Ultimate, her Basic Attack is Enhanced. The leaks show that Saber has a ive that allows her to fully restore her Energy by using her Skill to consume Core Resonance and Mana Burst at the same time – Mana Burst can be acquired when she enters battle and when she uses an Enhanced Basic Attack.

The leaks show that Saber will have an innate 37% CRIT Rate, which should help when building her. Additionally, she has a ive that grants her 50% CRIT DMG for two turns after she uses her Skill. While Saber will likely have a complicated rotation to master at first, it does seem like she has the potential to become a must-have character, provided that you also give her the best build and team comps. I’m still afraid Saber will powercreep Blade in Honkai: Star Rail, despite the fact that her kit does not rely on HP loss like his.

3 Archer Will Be A Decent Follow-Up Attack Character

The Fate Character Could Be A Hypercarry DPS Or A Sub-DPS

The other Fate collab character, Archer, has also had his kit leaked with the Version 3.4 beta tests. According to Archer’s page on Honey Hunter World, he will be a 5-star Quantum Hunt character who is expected to double as both a DPS and a sub-DPS. With his Skill, Archer enters a special state and deals Quantum DMG to a target enemy. In this special state, Archer’s turn doesn’t end after using Skill, and increases the DMG dealt by his Skill. This effect can be stacked up to two times, until he leaves the special state.

The leak mentions that Archer leaves the Circuit Connection state after actively using the Skill five times, when there are insufficient Skill Points, or when all enemies have been defeated in each wave in Honkai: Star Rail.

The leaks show that Archer can use his Ultimate to deal DMG and gain Charge, up to four stacks. Whenever Archer’s teammate attacks an enemy, Archer consumes one Charge to launch a follow-up attack on the target, dealing DMG and recovering one Skill Point. One of his leaked ives shows that his mere presence on the field increases the team’s maximum Skill Point limit by 1. Another interesting aspect of his leaked kit is that, after allies gain a Skill Point, if there are four or more, Archer’s CRIT DMG is increased for one turn.

In general, it seems like Archer’s kit in Honkai: Star Rail will make him a very aggressive DPS character, capable of repeatedly attacking enemies with his Skill, and, moreover, being capable of operating as a follow-up attacker. He should be useful in team comps led by Feixiao, for example, but could possibly even work as a strong hypercarry unit. Seeing his proficiency with CRIT and Skill Point consumption, he could rely on Sparkle on his team.

2 Aedes Elysiae May Be Amphoreus's Most Important Map

Phainon’s Hometown In Honkai: Star Rail Seems Untouched By The Flame Reaver

Moving away from characters, the new Version 3.4 beta tests have also leaked that the update will add a new map. As seen in footage provided by the leaker known as Firefly News, it will be able to explore a tranquil lakeside village on Amphoreus, which is believed to be Aedes Elysiae. The leak was shared in a post tagged as “Reliable” by Reddit Knight_Steve_. As shown in the leaked footage, this new location in Honkai: Star Rail 3.4 is composed of small houses and warm-colored vegetation; there are trees with orange and yellow leaves.

The video does not explicitly state that this is Aedes Elysiae, but it matches the in-game description of the location, as well as some flashbacks that Phainon has already had. The calm landscape with a field of vegetation resembles what was seen in his flashback with Cyrene, for example. In fact, at the start of the video, it is possible to see a pink-haired girl, who can be interpreted as Cyrene. For reference, Aedes Elysia, Phainon’s hometown, was a village on Amphoreus that was destroyed by the Flame Reaver in Honkai: Star Rail.

If players get to visit Aedes Elysia in Version 3.4, in what seems like an undestroyed state before the Flame Reaver’s attacks, they may get a glimpse at what brought the village’s downfall, as it could be a flashback. Otherwise, it could be the start of a new cycle on Amphoreus, depending on how the story progresses. While it does not seem to have any enemies, Aedes Elysia could become Amphoreus’ most important map to date, and a lot of that is due to how lore-heavy the village is.

1 Buffs Will Revitalize Older Characters

Jingliu, Blade, Silver Wolf, & Kafka Will Get More Effective In Battle

Lastly, the buffs applied to each of the older characters have finally been leaked with the Version 3.4 beta tests. There had already been several rumors about how each character would start working with the buffs, but these leaks are more reliable than ever, even if there is still space for some changes during the tests. The leaker known as Sakura Haven has compiled a summary of how each character (Jingliu, Blade, Silver Wolf, and Kafka) will be buffed in Honkai: Star Rail. The leak was shared by raadrules on Reddit.

Jingliu will become a Max HP scaler, meaning that her main damage output will be based on her health rather than her ATK. Furthermore, Jingliu will stack CRIT DMG buffs whenever a teammate’s HP gets reduced, which goes hand-in-hand with her HP drain mechanics. Furthermore, when she enters her Spectral Transmigration state, she gains a stack of Syzygy. Blade, who previously scaled on ATK and Max HP, will now solely scale on Max HP. Blade’s buffs in Honkai: Star Rail will also allow his follow-up ATK to regenerate Energy, and his Taunt will be more effective with his Skill.

Silver Wolf’s buffed Ultimate will now be an AoE attack, and her Skill will prioritize adding the Weakness corresponding to the first position ally’s Type in the lineup. She will also regenerate Energy at the start of the battle and turn. Lastly, Kafka’s Skill will trigger all targets’ DoT (damage-over-time) effects. Furthermore, her follow-up attack will trigger more often and can trigger DoT DMG. The leak also says Kafka can increase all allies’ DoT DMG, which could make her buffed kit the first step toward revitalizing DoT in Honkai: Star Rail.

Source: Reddit (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), Honey Hunter World (1, 2)