Pity is one of the main RNG-protection mechanics common in many gacha games, and Honkai: Star Rail is no exception. When pull a new character, you’re rolling the dice. The highest-rarity characters (or their equivalent) and gear are locked behind horrendously low odds. In HSR, any individual pull at either the standard or Limited Character banners has a 0.9% chance of a 5-Star (the highest rarity) to drop. The pity system alleviates these abysmal chances to a degree. Our guide explains how it works.
How Pity Works in Honkai: Star Rail
If you’re trying to get a specific character in Honkai: Star Rail, you’ll rely somewhat on the Pity system, whether you pay or not. The Pity system guarantees you a 5-Star character, weapon/relic/piece of equipment after a certain amount of pulls. Here, the guarantee starts at 90 pulls or 14,400 Stellar Jade worth.
That limit is called “Hard Pity.” The best way I can describe it is the highest number of pulls you’ll need to reach to get a high-rarity drop. A mechanical called “Soft Pity” can also get you the 5-Star or SSR character earlier.
Honkai Star Rail Soft Pity and Hard Pity Explained
Here’s how the Honkai Star Rail the Pity system works in a nutshell.
- Your chances at a 5-Star drop begin increasing at 75 pulls.
- Every pull past 75 has a continually increasing chance at a 5-Star.
- You’re not guaranteed a 5-Star until 90 pulls. But at 89, your chances are incredibly high.
Soft Pity
For a slightly longer explanation, “Soft Pity” doesn’t ensure a drop but is an increasing chance of a 5-Star character starting at 75 pulls. As soon as you make your 75th pull, the odds of that high-rarity charter or relic dropping increase drastically.
Hard Pity
Based on my research, your chances continue increasing until you reach 90 pulls. I’ve found you’ll eventually hit “Hard Pity” and get the drop for sure. In short, if I pull 74 times without getting a 5-Star drop, my odds go way up on my 75th pull. And they’ll keep going up from there.
HSR 50/50 Mechanic Explained
On limited character banners like Silver Wolf’s, there’s an additional mechanic called a 50/50. Whenever you would pull a 5-Star, there’s a 50% chance of getting that event’s character and a 50% chance of getting a random standard banner character like Welt, Bailu, or Himeko (among others).
Soft Pity also applies to 50/50s, meaning the chances of winning the coin flip start at 75 and go to 90. You might not get what you want if you only do soft pity once.
When you get your 5-Star, the Pity counter resets to zero, but don’t fret. If you have enough pulls remaining, you can try for Pity a second time. You’ll need enough resources for another 75 pulls at least, but if you reach that threshold again (or luck out on your way there), you will get the character guaranteed.
There’s one final wrinkle I need to point out. In Honkai: Star Rail, if you pull on a limited character event but don’t get the 5-Star, your Pity counter won’t reset for the next event. In other words, if you pull 100 times on a character event but lose the 50/50 coin flip at 85, you’ll start the next event at 85, with the guarantee intact.
Pity systems like the one in Honkai: Star Rail aren’t the clearest-cut mechanics out there, but they’re essential if you want to spend as little as possible and still have a chance at the higher-rarity characters and items in the game. For more on HSR and its many different characters and systems, check out our guides on all the upcoming characters and when the game will be coming to PS4 and PS5. Our HSR guides hub has more.
