Honkai Star Rail: All Paths and damage types explained

Honkai Star Rail: All Paths and damage types explained
Images via miHoYo

Written by 

Jack Roberts

Published 

26th Apr 2023 10:10

You may want an explanation of all Honkai: Star Rail Paths and damage types, so you know exactly what direction you want to take your characters.

With Honkai: Star Rail finally here, it is time to decide which paths your characters will follow in the game. With Paths determining the classes and playstyle your characters will take, it is essential to know your attackers from your healers, and your buffs from your de-buffs.

Here we’ll break down everything you need to know about the Honkai: Star Rail Paths and damage types.

What are the playable paths in Honkai Star Rail?

a HoYoLAB infographic showing the Honkai: Star Rail Paths
Click to enlarge

As of writing, there are seven playable Paths in Honkai: Star Rail's free to play release. These Paths are effectively the classes your characters fall into and how they will play in battle. Here, we’ve broken down the Paths, their traditional role and how they play:

Path Role Path Description
The Abundance Healer

Characters in the Abundance Path are the healers on your team, using their abilities to heal wounded allies.

The Destruction Offensive

Characters in the Destruction Path are the main damage dealers and are at their best when battling alone.

The Erudition Area of Effect damage

Characters in the Erudition Path excel in AoE damage and battling multiple targets.

The Harmony Party buffs Characters in the Harmony Path specialise in providing buffs for allies and boosting the party’s power when working cooperatively. 
The Hunt Single-enemy damage

Characters in the Hunt Path specialise in single-target damage, placing their focus on one enemy. This can be helpful in those more overwhelming situations or focusing on bosses.

The Nihility Enemy de-buffs

Characters in the Nihility Path focus on de-buffs and reducing the enemy’s power.

The Preservation Tank Characters in the Preservation Path are most effective when acting defensively, focusing on protecting their allies. They will absorb a lot of damage.

Are more Paths coming to Honkai: Star Rail?

Gepard from Honkai Star Rail is in a menu screen, showing various Path stats and a box describing the Intimidating Strike move
Click to enlarge

As of writing, no new paths have been confirmed for Honkai: Star Rail, but with the game aiming for longevity, who knows what the future will hold. After all, there are plenty of Honkai: Star Rail characters to choose from and plenty of Paths to explore.

That's our explainer of all Honkai: Star Rail Paths, and now you know how the game's class system works.

For more updates and guides for Honkai: Star Rail, check back with GGRecon

Jack Roberts
About the author
Jack Roberts
Jack is a Guides Writer at GGRecon. With a BA (Hons) & MA in English and Creative Writing, he was also the Gaming Editor for The Indiependent. When not pondering which game has the best cup of coffee (and drinking far too much of it himself), he can often be found playing Dead by Daylight, Street Fighter or making yet another build in Bloodborne.
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