What is Pity in Honkai Star Rail? How to get a guaranteed 5-star character

Tyler Constable
An official image of Honkai Star Rail artwork.

There are a lot of great characters you can add to your team comps in Honkai Star Rail but if you want to get as many as possible understanding the game’s Pity system is essential. Here’s a full rundown of what Pity is in the HoYoverse title.

Honkai Star Rail is a gacha game from HoYoverse that has a similar system to Genshin Impact where players can pull for new characters on banners known as Warps. You’ll need plenty of Stellar Jade if you want to aim for those coveted 5-star fighters but there’s nothing more frustrating than saving up a lot of currency and still not getting the character you want.

HoYoverse has included a built-in Pity system in Honkai Star Rail that prevents players from pulling on banners constantly and having unsuccessful results, and through understanding how this system works you can optimize your pull in the game.

So, here’s everything you need to know about how Pity works in Honkai Star Rail.

Contents

How does Pity work in Honkai Star Rail?

An official image of characters from Honkai Star Rail.

Pity in Honkai Star Rail is a system that guarantees a rare pull for players based on how many pulls have already been made. It’s a surefire way to know you’ll get a 4 or 5-star character eventually without indefinitely spending all of your Steller Jade in the game.

On the game’s character banners, players are guaranteed to pull at least one 4-star character every 10 pulls, and one 5-star character every 90 pulls.

The Light Cone banner (equivalent to a weapon banner) also guarantees at least one 4-star every 10 pulls, while 5-star drops are guaranteed every 80 pulls.

This information is based on the game’s current Beta test so there’s a chance the numbers may change in the lead-up to Star Rail’s full release but if it does we’ll be sure to update this page right away.

Does Pity reset after a 5-star pull?

Pity will reset in the game whenever you get a 5-star pull. For example, if you get a 5-star character after just 50 banner pulls – as opposed to the guaranteed 90 -your counter will reset to zero immediately.

However, apart from that, there are a few things that you need to understand regarding pity in Honkai Star Rail. This is specifically related to event-limited banners (Selee or Jing Yuan banners for instance). In those banners, the first time you pull a 5-star, there is a 50% chance for it being the feature unit and a 50% chance for it being one of the permanent units.

The permanent units include Bronya, Welt, Bailu, Gepard, Clara, Yanqing, and Himeko. If you lose the 50-50 and end up getting one of the permanent 5-star units from an event-limited banner, then the next one you pull is guaranteed to be a featured unit.

This means, suppose in Silver Wolf banner you end up getting Gepard. This means the next 5-star you pull will be Silver Wolf. However, if you wish to skip Silver Wolf and pull in the Kafka banner, then the latter will be guaranteed as well.

This guarantee will remain until you pull a featured 5-star from an event-limited banner. However, if you win the 50-50 and obtain Silver Wolf for instance, then you won’t receive any guarantee for the next featured 5-star.

How to get a guaranteed 5-star character in Honkai Star Rail

An image of Clara, a 5-star character in Honkai Star Rail that can be obtained using the Pity system.

The best way to guarantee to get a 5-star character in the game is by using the Pity system to increase your odds.

If you want to add Clara to your roster as your next 5-star pull for example, wait until her character banner is released and build up as much Pity as you can on the previous banner before carrying it over to Clara’s one, and you’ll be in with a much higher chance of unlocking her.

Can I see what my Pity number is?

Unfortunately, you can’t see exactly what your Pity number is in the game. However, you can count your exact pity after you have performed a few pulls on any banner.

In order to check your pity, go to details on any banner and click on it. The past history of your pulls can be found in the “View Records” section. Always remember to count from the pull after you obtained a 5-star. Every page has 5 pulls each with the first page being the latest.

The records take around an hour to update after performing the pulls.

That’s everything you need to know about Pity in Honkai Star Rail so far. For more HoYoVerse content, check out our guides below:

Is Honkai Star Rail free to play? | Is Honkai Star Rail open world? | Is Honkai Star Rail coming to Nintendo Switch? | Honkai Stair Rail PC and mobile requirements | All Honkai Star Rail Ice characters | All Honkai Star Rail Wind characters | Honkai Star Rail voice actors | Honkai Star Rail Twitch drops | Are there redeem codes in Honkai Star Rail | Does Honkai Star Rail have controller support? | Should you choose Stelle or Caelus? | How to add friends