Honkai: Star Rail

As the 1-year anniversary of Honkai: Star Rail approaches, developers continue to introduce new characters, worlds, and unique gameplay mechanics to enrich the game experience. With each update, players may consider which existing or upcoming characters are worth investing in to enhance their team synergy and gameplay strategies. In the version 2.1 update, two new 5-star characters, Acheron and Aventurine, were introduced, along with the 4-star character Gallagher. Each character offers unique abilities and roles, making the choice between them dependent on individual player preferences and team compositions. While rerun banners alongside them may influence choices due to similarity in roles, such as Acheron with Jingliu for both DPS roles or Aventurine and Luocha for sustain roles, players should consider several aspects to make informed decisions.

Honkai: Star Rail – Should You Pull For Acheron Or Jingliu?

Acheron and Jingliu are both excellent DPS in Honkai: Star Rail, so players may want to assess their playstyle when comparing the two.

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By Nahda Nabiilah

These aspects include evaluating a character's role within the team, ease of build, their synergy with existing characters, their effectiveness in existing content, and their potential for future updates or content additions. Additionally, considering resource availability and long-term investment goals can help players prioritize characters that align with their gameplay preferences and strategic objectives.

Acheron Or Aventurine In Honkai: Star Rail

Acheron enters the roster as a Lightning-element Nihility character, distinguishing herself from recent additions like Black Swan or Kafka by eschewing the DoT aspect of Nihility characters. Instead, she takes on the role of a main-DPS character, synergizing with her team to apply numerous debuffs to enemies and unleash her unique Ultimate, which uniqueley requires no Energy but relies on stacking debuffs. On the other hand, Aventurine takes the role of an Imaginary Preservation character, specializing in shielding allies while offering additional versatility for flexible team compositions.

Their distinct focuses—DPS for Acheron and shielding for Aventurine—make the choice between them relatively straightforward for players seeking to fill specific roles within their teams. However, for those with a diverse array of options at their disposal, additional considerations come into play. Ultimately, alignment with team compositions and preferred playstyles will be the deciding factor on which character proves most valuable for each player, even though on their own both can be considered worth pulling.

Honkai: Star Rail – Should You Pull For Aventurine Or Luocha?

Aventurine and Luocha are both protective supports in Honkai: Star Rail; one focuses on granting shields while the other is a prominent healer.

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By Nahda Nabiilah

Roles

Acheron, as a Nihility character, shares more similarities with options like Silver Wolf or Pela than with characters like Black Swan, given her focus on applying debuffs rather than DoT. Her damage output hinges heavily on the presence of numerous debuffs applied by the team or using her Skill, as this is the sole means of enabling her Ultimate, rather than relying on energy regeneration. Unlike Nihility characters who typically support the main DPS with debuffs, Acheron assumes the role of the main DPS herself, contingent upon consistent debuff application or utilization of her skill. However, Acheron's team compositions tend to be reliant on either two other Nihility characters—such as Pela and Silver Wolf—or alternatively, Sparkle and another Nihility character upon reaching at least E2 to make her viable within the current character roster. Consequently, players may find her less F2P-friendly due to the need for stricter team compositions. Nonetheless, for those who have already invested in other Nihility characters, she offers significant DPS potential and a unique playstyle.

Aventurine, as the second limited banner Preservation character, operates quite differently from the previous Preservation unit, Fu Xuan, but shares notable similarities with other options like Gepard. Unlike Fu Xuan, Aventurine scales with DEF and can shield all allies using his skill. A unique aspect of his kit is that his shield effects can stack, bolstering sustain with each activation of his skill. Additionally, his Ultimate applies a debuff to the enemy, increasing the Crit DMG they will take, making him a suprisingly synergistic support for Acheron. Lastly, Aventurine can execute follow-up attacks, allowing him to contribute to DPS output, although this is not the primary focus of his kit.

All of this considered, the choice between Acheron and Aventurine ultimately depends on whether players want another unique support sustain character or a debuff-focused DPS character. Considering that this decision heavily depends on the current roster of characters, it is also worthwhile to consider the ease of building these characters and their additional strengths and weaknesses.

Builds

Considering Acheron's DPS role, it can be said that she is significantly more difficult to optimize than Aventurine, and even compared to some other DPS characters in the roster. This is because she heavily relies on her best-in-slot light cone, Along the Passing Shore, with other options, especially F2P ones, lacking behind. This makes her a very resource-heavy character for players aiming to reach the highest DPS potential with Acheron. Furthermore, her team composition is more restricted unless E2 is unlocked, which further complicates optimization.

In terms of relics, players may find themselves needing to grind for quite a while. Acheron is best fitted with newer introduced relics such as the 4-piece Pioneer Diver of Dead Waters set or the Planar Set, Izumo Gensei, and Takama Divine Realm from the latest Simulated Universe world 9. She benefits the most from being teamed with other Nihility units, which means it may take a while for players to see her shine, especially if they haven't pre-farmed for the other resources needed to build her. However, she is able to kill enemies without entering battle in the overworld or in the Simulated Universe, which may speed up the farming process to some extent. With the main stats and sub-stats, she will also need quite some min-maxing, as she will benefit from stats like Crit Rate, Crit DMG, ATK and Speed.

On the contrary, as a DEF scaling unit, Aventurine is much easier to build and can make good use of options like the 4-piece Knight of Purity Palace set. He doesn't really need to min-max many stats. Additionally, he has versatility with the Planar Ornaments, as he can go for Belobog of the Architects for even more sustain or popular choices like Broken Keel and Fleet of the Ageless to give the team some useful buffs and add to his utility. Interestingly, he can even utilize Inert Salsatto if players are interested in leaning more towards his DPS capabilities, which primarily come from his follow-up attack and ultimate to some extent.

This versatility is also reflected well with his light cone options, as he aligns well with many other Preservation units that scale with DEF. As such, he can choose from a variety of synergistic options from the existing choices, instead of relying on his signature light cone. This makes him significantly more F2P-friendly than Acheron, and even in comparison to many other support-based characters.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Honkai Star Rail_ Pulling Acheron vs Aventurine

Considering the strengths and weaknesses of Acheron and Aventurine is crucial before making a decision to pull for either of them or save resources for upcoming characters. Each character brings unique abilities and playstyles to the table, catering to different team compositions and player preferences. By carefully evaluating their kit, role in the team, ease of building, and synergy with existing characters, players can make an informed decision that aligns with their gameplay style and goals in Honkai: Star Rail.

Acheron's Strengths and Weaknesses:

Strengths	Weaknesses
Unique Main DPS-oriented Nihility character. Strong Ultimate that doesn't require Energy cost, and that can ignore enemy weakness and reduce their toughness, and also reduce their all elemental RES. Her technique is quite great for exploration since she can defeat enemies without actually entering the battle, nor using technique points. Can self buff, which makes her less reliant on Harmony characters.	Requires high investment (such as her signature light cone, or eidolons) to remove some restrictions. Her ideal team compositions are quite restricted as she requires two other Nihility characters in the team, or otherwise E2 to reduce this requirement by one. On the skill-point-negative side. Heavily reliant on the team applying debuffs to function properly, which may not be preferred for some players.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Unique Main DPS-oriented Nihility character.
Strong Ultimate that doesn't require Energy cost, and that can ignore enemy weakness and reduce their toughness, and also reduce their all elemental RES.
Her technique is quite great for exploration since she can defeat enemies without actually entering the battle, nor using technique points.
Can self buff, which makes her less reliant on Harmony characters.

Requires high investment (such as her signature light cone, or eidolons) to remove some restrictions.
Her ideal team compositions are quite restricted as she requires two other Nihility characters in the team, or otherwise E2 to reduce this requirement by one.
On the skill-point-negative side.
Heavily reliant on the team applying debuffs to function properly, which may not be preferred for some players.

Aventurine's Strengths and Weaknesses:

Strengths	Weaknesses
Stackable shield sustain character, which is not something that any other Preservation character can do. F2P friendly and easy optimizable build options. Fits in many team compositions, making him quite versatile for different end-game content. Can help the team with minor buffs, as well as some DPS potential. Imaginary element being able to Imprison, can bring additional sustain benefits to the team.	May not be as future proof or uniquq considering the shielding is not entirely a new mechanic. No healing ability might be deterring, if enemies can ignore shields. Not as skill-point friendly as many other sustain characters

Strengths

Weaknesses

Stackable shield sustain character, which is not something that any other Preservation character can do.
F2P friendly and easy optimizable build options.
Fits in many team compositions, making him quite versatile for different end-game content.
Can help the team with minor buffs, as well as some DPS potential.
Imaginary element being able to Imprison, can bring additional sustain benefits to the team.

May not be as future proof or uniquq considering the shielding is not entirely a new mechanic.
No healing ability might be deterring, if enemies can ignore shields.
Not as skill-point friendly as many other sustain characters

Verdict: Pulling Acheron vs Aventurine

While Aventurine may appear to have fewer weaknesses and more straightforward strengths, the decision ultimately hinges on the player's roster, available resources, and preferred playstyle. Acheron has the potential to become a formidable powerhouse with the right investment, particularly in a team that can synergize well with her debuff-focused DPS role. Therefore, players should carefully assess their own circumstances and priorities before making a decision between the two characters. Below additional aspects can also help players with their choices:

Players should pull for Acheron if:

They have well invested in other two Nihility characters that can synergize with her such as Silver Wolf or Pela, or otherwise have Sparkle, and don't mind the limitations.
Can put in more time and resource investment into her light cone, or building characters that synergize with her.
Require a Lightning DPS character
Looking for a unique Ultimate-oriented gameplay.

Players should pull for Aventurine if:

They need a sustain character, and have not invested well in other healer or shielding characters such as Luocha, Fu Xuan or Gepard
Looking for a low-investment defensive support unit that can synergize with characters like Dr. Ratio or even Acheron.
Can accomodate for the skill-point usage with the rest of the team being on the skill point neutral / positive side.