All of a sudden, Honkai Star Rail's worst five star character has become top tier

If you've been playing Honkai Star Rail for some time now, you'd likely know that certain five star characters are just worse than others. Himeko is one such casualty of the ever-changing tier lists that orbit the game, never quite reaching the higher echelons of end game play. However, thanks to a recent addition to the game, that may have just changed.

The name of that addition? Pure Fiction. This is a new permanent game mode added to Honkai Star Rail, one that will cycle out modifiers week-by-week as to mix up the challenge and encourage a diverse character-pool among those aiming to max out the rewards every reset. These rewards are worthwhile too - including but not limited to stellar jades which you can then exchange for more rolls on the gacha.

On its first week, the modifier is a doozy. Every time a character uses an ultimate to damage enemies, it applies a stack of shatter, which deals damage when an enemies' turn starts. But what's really important is the enemies themselves. The vast majority of them aren't tough, with small toughness bars. This means that it's easy to trigger weakness breaks, which triggers Himeko's passive, which in turn increases energy and allows you to use your ultimate more.

As her ultimate is a big AOE attack, as is her skill, Himeko can absolutely tear through waves of enemies in Pure Fiction. These waves, by the way, just keep coming and coming. It's really her time to shine, especially when paired with other erudition characters like Herta, Argenti, and Serval.

This may not seem like too much of an outstanding news story for Honkai Star Rail. Let me let you in on a little secret - it isn't. The real story is about the growing amount of permanent game modes being added to the game. Not just casual puzzle events that'll flex your brain, but actually challenging distractions from the main quests, dailies, and gearing grind. Moreso than Genshin Impact, Honkai Star Rail is gorging itself on new features all the time. Without the FOMO.

There are a lot of obvious strengths to this - more content makes brain feel good. But Himeko highlights one of the more hidden yet crucial ones. Different game modes that require continuously changing team builds rewards players with lots of different characters the most, sure. You'd expect that from a game that earns its dinner by getting you to roll on glorified slot machines. It's good because it allows those without a lot of characters, free-to-play folks and those who are just starting out, a chance to shine.

Maybe you can't clear the all the Memory of Chaos stuff this week - maybe Simualted Universe is a step too far for you. But every now and again, that Yanqing sitting on your account will be the perfect carry for a Pure Fiction week. This, on top of all the other permanent modes in Star Rail just make it feel like a chunkier experience for everyone who tries it.

So yeah, congratulations Himeko players on your chance to flex your beefed up bae. Maybe she'll be back to the pits next week, or maybe she'll remain the queen for a while longer, but she's useful. That's the important part. Even if it's just for this week she - as well as potentially every character you own - is useful.