[The official preview for Version 1.7 has concluded. First, a Redemption Code for 300 Stellar Jade. You can skip the preview, but you can't skip the Stellar Jade!]
[First, news about the gacha. The first half features Lumina alongside all Limited 5-star characters. The second half... the Starcrusher swarm King... ah, wait, no, it's the Mysterious Blue-Haired young girl alongside all the Limited 5-stars!]
"Hmm... This is a character preview analysis?"
After resolving the cutscene issue, Lumina returned to her cozy wooden cabin, collapsed onto her soft bed, opened her phone, and started browsing a newly downloaded short video platform.
Perhaps because Lumina frequently watched Honkai: Star Rail livestreams on her phone, the algorithm, influenced by her data, filled her feed with Honkai: Star Rail-related content even though it was her first time using the app.
One particular blogger's preview analysis video caught her eye.
[Lumina Preview Analysis: Absolute Dominance—A Harbinger of the End?]
It was the title alone that piqued Lumina's interest.
[First, let me clarify: this all-character Limited 5-star banner allows you to select a single character and pull from a dedicated gacha pool. Apart from the selection feature, it's identical to the standard Limited 5-star banner.]
Knowing many would be confused by this special banner, the Blogger provided a brief explanation before diving into the main topic:
[5-star Imaginary, Path of Abundance: Lumina is the ultimate support character, embodying the Paths of Nihility, Harmony, and Abundance in one package. She debuffs enemy defenses, buffs allies, and applies negative status effects to foes. Calling this "Abundance"? Who'd believe it?]
[And to think, with her Eidelons, she can even serve as a Main DPS! If it weren't clearly labeled as Version 1.7, I'd swear we were already at Version 17.1!]
[Of course, for a power creeping entity like Lumina, her strengths are abundant while her weaknesses are scarce.]
[Let's get straight to the conclusion: Lumina is a must-have for meta-focused players, especially those aiming for full Eidelons. If you have enough pulls, go straight for E6S5 or E6S1. If you're on a tighter budget, aim for E2S1. Even if you're short on pulls, make sure to grab at least a E0 Lumina. This video is quite long, so let's take our time.]
Without mincing words, those opening lines clearly establish Lumina's strength.
[Don't be fooled by her many strengths—her weaknesses are just as few. Need I say more about the weight of that statement?]
Lumina: (* ̄▽ ̄*)
Though Lumina remained silent, her radiant smile and the dainty hands tapping the "like" and "bookmark" buttons betrayed her inner delight.
After liking the video, Lumina continued watching the Special Preview Program.
[First up is her Basic Attack—the only one in the game with unique effects. It provides AoE toughness reduction and healing, while also restoring two Skill Points. Those complainers in the community who keep whining about weak Basic Attacks are just bored and looking for trouble.]
[Then there's her Skill—an absurdly overpowered ability that combines defense reduction, weakening, increased max HP, buffs, and energy regeneration. Can you believe it? Fully restoring the entire team to full health is just one of the least useful effects of this Skill!]
[This Skill is so strong, it could easily pass for an Ultimate from the Path of Harmony.]
The Blogger's voice dripped with disbelief as he reached this point.
For a Blogger specializing in character strength, no one understands the implications of an E-activated Skill on a healer better than they do...
[As for her Ultimate, it's an even more broken, god-tier skill that combines all-element Weakness, speed reduction, damage amplification, additional damage, speed increase, Weakness Break Efficiency, defense ignore, immortality, and energy regeneration.]
[If Honkai: Star Rail weren't still raking in billions in revenue, I'd think they were planning one last cash grab before shutting down and running away...]
When discussing Lumina's Ultimate, the Blogger couldn't resist muttering, "How the hell did such an absurd Ultimate make it into Version 1.x? It's practically a miracle..."
[However, E0 Lumina needs to charge 240 Energy to use her Ultimate. You might play an entire battle without ever activating it, which serves as a balancing factor for her power.]
[Having covered Lumina's skills, let's discuss whether you should pull for her. First, I do not recommend that all players pull for Lumina.]
"Huh?" Just as Lumina was enjoying the video, the blogger abruptly shifted his tone and advised against pulling for her.
"Why not?" Lumina blinked, puzzled by the blogger's sudden change of heart. Didn't he just recommend pulling for her? Why the sudden reversal?
[At this point, some viewers might ask: "Why? If Lumina's skill mechanics are so strong, why not recommend pulling for her?"]
[Think about it. Right now, you're sweating bullets trying to clear the Forgotten Hall and Simulated Universe, needing manual control to achieve perfect clears and fully experience the "fun" of the game.]
[But if you pull for Lumina? You'll find that, for at least a year, the Forgotten Hall and Simulated Universe—any team Lumina is on—will instantly become completely devoid of gameplay experience.]
[So, for the sake of your own gaming experience, don't pull for Lumina.]
[As for me, of course I'm going to pull her. Even though pulling Lumina will ruin the game's challenge, I'll still get my kicks. Who wouldn't want to auto-battle through the Forgotten Hall and Simulated Universe?]
[If I can just set it to auto, why would I bother playing manually? Am I supposed to waste my time arguing with those forum trolls who have nothing better to do?]
"I see," Lumina said, nodding in satisfaction after hearing the explanation.
This blogger wasn't saying Lumina wasn't worth pulling for; rather, they were praising her excessive power in a roundabout way.
[Alright, enough joking around. Let's get serious: Lumina, the 5-star Imaginary Abundance Path character, is undoubtedly a must-pull for meta players. No matter how much the characters and monsters get power-crept in Version 2.x, you should at least secure one copy, and if you can afford it, aim for E2S1 or E6S1.]
[Because Lumina's rerun schedule differs from other characters—she's only featured in the final banner of each version, meaning she only gets an upgrade once a year—we can be certain her relevance will last at least a year. So, go all in with confidence!]
[Disclaimer: I'm pulling for her myself, aiming for at least E2S1. If I get lucky, I might even go for E6S5, because Lumina with Full Eidelons is an incredibly powerful Main DPS—even stronger than DHIL!]
[So, Lumina fits both the criteria of a rock-solid support and the "pull new, not old" principle for Main DPS. What reason do you have not to pull for her?]
In the video, the blogger played clips from the Special Preview Program showcasing Lumina's skills while rambling on about her strengths. Not a single sentence criticized her power.
[However, that Mihoyo also slipped in a fatal flaw.]
The blogger immediately switched gears, criticizing Lumina's glaring weakness.
[A Path of Abundance character with group healing, a Domain Skill, and an invulnerability ability—and zero debuff removal at E0? That's just laughable!]
[Even 4-star Characters with Zero Eidelons have debuff removal skills. How can a Limited 5-star character lack any debuff removal across her entire kit?]
[What's the Devs up to? Even a fool could see through this!]
[They're blatantly pushing us to pull for Eidelon Two...]
"Ehehe?" Lumina chuckled, overhearing the blogger's complaints.
Placing the Debuff Removal at Eidelon Two, with E0 offering no removal whatsoever, was of course Lumina's deliberate design.
The reason for this was to balance Lumina's character strength. If E0 had that cleanse effect, no one would spend money pulling for Eidelons...
And if no one spent money pulling for Eidelons, how could she become anyone's one and only?
Hmm... okay, that's a lie. It was just a little prank of hers...
After all...
If you love me, whale a little more!
Just one top-up, just one! Come on, please?
Just one more $100 stellar jade pack! I'm begging you!