What are Paths and Pathfinders in Honkai: Star Rail?

After celebrating their first-ever live stream for Honkai: Star Rail, it’s time to delve into some of the details covering the content we’re going to see in the game release on April 26, such as Paths and Pathfinders. So, Trailblazers, did any of those new terms make sense to you? Whenever a new game drops on the scene, they are going to have its own terms for a lot of mechanics that we may already be familiar with. So let’s break it down into something that’ll become like a second language to us later!

Related: Banners Expected for Honkai: Star Rail’s Initial 1.0 Release

What are Paths and Pathfinders in Honkai: Star Rail?

Not only is Honkai: Star Rail going to be introducing an array of element types, but they have introduced seven branching styles called Paths in their new game. So what exactly does this mean? Paths will indicate in the world what type of role that character plays when used in combat. Moreso for the benefit of the player, these branches do have reigning entities called Aeons to represent those particular branches. Time will only tell if we can match personality traits to the Pathfinder’s reason for choosing that particular Path. You guessed it; Pathfinder is the term Honkai: Star Rail places on those who have identified a Path and follow it. Here’s a list of all the Paths that are currently in Honkai: Star Rail and what role they play when it comes to combat.

The Hunt

The Hunt Path is represented by the Aeon Lan. Those who are aligned in this branch of combat specialize in dealing with multiple attacks, also known as blitz attacks. Alluded to being particularly greedy for battle, units such as Seele have the Talent for taking another turn in the battle rotation to deal another blow to enemies. However, they are restricted to only targeting single enemies, so using their highly critical barrage of attacks is important for deciding on which enemy you choose to have them attack. 

The Erudition

The Erudition Path is represented by the Aeon Nous. Unlike the Hunt, Pathfinders who follow in Erudition are great for attacking multiple enemies at once to deal a variety of damage. This can be great for sweeping out enemies to bring them to low health or attempting to break down their shields or “toughness,” as it will be known in Honkai: Star Rail. Jing Yuan is our reigning representative of the Erudition Path, honing a Skill and Ultimate attack that will attack multiple enemies at once with a sweep of his spear.

The Destruction

The Destruction Path is represented by the Aeon Nanook. The best way to boil down what this combat type is meant to be is to simply describe it as the Tank. And you wouldn’t believe who they decided to choose as a character who follows the Path of Destruction: Clara is a young and sweet-looking girl who is protected by a large and armored protector. Whenever enemies attempt to attack Clara, this armored unit, Mr. Svarog, appears and protects her from harm. This opens up the peculiar strategy of placing the young girl on the front lines of battle; by absorbing most of the enemy’s attacks, she can make sure none of her other teammates are harmed or interrupted so they can deal damage. 

The Preservation 

The Preservation Path is represented by the Aeon Qlipoth. As you would have it sound, those who follow the Path of Preservation are great for shielding and protecting characters. Gerald, our wonderful white knight in shining armor, is the perfect shield and will draw away enemies’ attention from his allies.

The Harmony

The Harmony Path is represented by the Aeon Xipei. Leaning more towards how an RPG is operated, this is one of the Paths that will introduce buffs and debunks. Those who follow the Path of Harmony are characters that will boost the stats of characters in your party. The best example of this is Bronya; with her talent, she can get rid of debuffs, increase her ally’s damage, and allow for characters to then take their turn next in battle. 

The Nihility

The Nihility Path is represented by the Aeon IX. And if it wasn’t hard enough to spell or say aloud, this is another Path that introduces the time-old RPG mechanics of debuffing your enemies. The best example of this is the character Welt whose Ultimate attack will not only gather and pull enemies together but inflict Slowness and imprison enemies with his skills. 

Related: Who is Yanqing in Honkai: Star Rail?

The Abundance

The Abundance Path is represented by the Aeon Yaoshi. And you can never have an RPG without having someone to be the Healer. Those who follow the Path of Abundance are present to clear up Debuffs on their party and restore their health back to full so that the battle can carry on. I’ll be saving those Potions and Full Restores for another day, thank you. I have the Elite Four to challenge. Our shining champion healer is none other than Bailu, a Vidyadhara in Xianzhou. In layman’s terms, she is the early Chinese representation of dragons who were known to have horns and long bodies and were closely associated with myths of being entities of water.