HoYoVerse previews Blade in new Honkai Star Rail trailer, offers free Yukong with 1.2 update

Ahead of the launch of the version 1.2 update, HoYoVerse previewed Honkai Star Rail character Blade, the next addition to the game's playable roster. In a series of official blog posts, the company detailed Blade's skills and abilities, as well as launching a teaser trailer outlining his personality.

Check out the official Honkai Star Rail Blade teaser below. It's titled "Death Approaches":

Blade is a member of the Stellaron Hunters, and an accomplice of Kafka, who also joins the playable roster with version 1.2. He is a 5-Star rarity character on the Destruction Path and is the fourth playable Wind-element character in the game (joining Dan Heng, Bronya, and Sampo). He plays a role in the portion of the main story dealing with the Xianzhou Luofu and has a connection with Astral Express member Dan Heng. In fact, Blade's own teaser trailer features Dan Heng prominently.

As a Destruction character, Blade is able to deal damage to single and multiple targets, but his skills use his own HP as a price. Blade can use his skill Hellscape to drain his own HP to enhance his basic attack for a number of turns. When he sustains damage (either through enemy attack or using his skill or ultimate), he builds Charge stacks that unleash a powerful follow-up attack on all enemies when filled. His ultimate, Death Sentence, consumes half of his maximum HP and deals damage based on his Attack, Maximum HP, and the amount of HP lost in the current battle. 

Blade will appear on the first character banner alongside the launch of the version 1.2 update. The update itself is expected to launch around July 19, 2023. Blade's banner will also include the 4-Star characters Natasha, Arlan, and Sushang. A Light Cone banner will drop a specialized Light Cone item for Blade (or other Destruction characters).

HoYoVerse also announced that the Honkai Star Rail 1.2 update will unlock another section of the Forgotten Hall activity. Called "The Voyage of the Navis Astriger", players will be able to earn a free copy of the character Yukong from participating. They just need to clear the "Memory of Xianzhou Stage 1" portion to obtain her.

Honkai Star Rail is available on iOS, Android, and PC. The PS5 version is due in Q4 2023, and will be playable at Gamescom 2023.