- Phase 1 Banners will go live on the 13th of August, 2025 and will last till the 2nd of September, 2025!
- Both Kafka and Hysilens should be pulled together as they both heavily rely on one another to work!
Honkai: Star Rail is introducing the Phase 1 banner, featuring Hysilens and Kafka in Version 3.5. Once again, HoYoverse released a duo banner featuring one newly released character and one re-run character.
We will assess each character’s strengths and qualities in the future meta of the game and advise on who you should prefer to pull from the 2 playable characters. Phase 1 Banners have gone live on the 13th of August, 2025, after the update maintenance is complete, and will last till the 2nd of September, 2025.
Who should you pull for in HSR version 3.5 Phase 1
Honkai: Star Rail Phase 1 banner featuring Hysilens and Kafka in Version 3.5, it’s hard to decide who to pull. It depends on your team’s needs and your priorities for future content. Each character brings unique strengths to the table, but some offer more immediate and long-term value than others. Here’s a breakdown to help you decide.
1. Hysilens
Hysilens is a 5-Star Physical Nihility unit whose entire kit revolves around stacking and amplifying damage over time effects (DoT). She inflicts Enthrallment, a debuff that increases enemies’ DoT vulnerability and unlocks her passive scaling, letting her stack up huge amounts of bonus damage as the fight goes on.
The catch is that Hysilens can’t detonate those DoTs herself; her damage scaling is designed around someone else constantly triggering them. That’s where Kafka comes in.
Kafka’s talent and skill detonate DoTs on demand, perfectly feeding into Hysilens’ mechanics and allowing her to reach her full potential. Without Kafka, Hysilens struggles to function properly, making her almost locked to Kafka’s team unless Hoyoverse releases another dedicated DoT detonation unit in the future.
2. Kafka
Kafka is a 5-Star Lightning Nihility unit and the core of the DoT (damage over time) archetype. Her kit revolves around detonating DoTs instantly, turning slow-burning effects into explosive team damage. She applies Shock with her skill, enhances enemies’ DoT vulnerability with her ultimate, and most importantly, her talent lets her trigger all DoTs on an enemy once per turn whenever she attacks.
This unique mechanic makes her the only real “DoT enabler” in the game, since she not only applies her debuffs but also makes allies’ effects like Bleed, Burn, Wind Shear, and Hysilens’ Enthrallment deal immediate extra damage.
Because of this, Kafka is the centerpiece of every DoT team. She enables classic partners like Black Swan and Luka, but her synergy with Hysilens is unmatched. Kafka’s detonation mechanic is the only way to unlock Hysilens’ damage ceiling.
Without Kafka, DoT teams lose their speed and consistency, and Hysilens becomes almost unplayable. In short, Kafka isn’t just a DPS; she’s the glue that makes the DoT archetype work and the reason this rerun banner is so impactful.
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