Honkai: Star Rail 1.2: Should You Choose Blade or Kafka? | Digital Trends

Honkai: Star Rail just released its 1.2 update, which means new content and characters. We will see the next chapter of the Xianzhou Luofu storyline and bring out Stellaron Hunters Blade and Kafka, the latest limited-time five-star characters. They are part of a mysterious organization following the will of someone named Elio, who supposedly can predict the future and even manipulate it. As the five-star title suggests, Blade and Kafka are some of the strongest teammates you can have. They play a significant role in the latest story arc and have the moves to back up their roles as recurring anti-villains. Sadly, even the most diligent savers would find it difficult to secure the currency to withdraw for them. You may also want to save your Stellar Jade for Fu Xuan or Imbibitor Lunae.

Get eight free characters just by playing Star RailThat’s the story, so you shouldn’t have to spend money on limited-time event banners. However, many of these characters significantly strengthen squads enough to make it easier to clear difficult content and experiment with different playstyles.

So, should you choose Kafka or Blade? Here are some things to consider when choosing between the two.

When are the Blade and Kafkas banners?

Again, Blade and Kafka are time-limited characters. Both will only be available during Honkai: Star Rail 1.2 for pre-agreed dates and times until HoYoverse decides to repeat their banners in the future. This probably won’t be the last you see of Blade and Kafka, but the next time they recover Star Rail it could be months in the future.

Here’s when you can roll for Blade and Kafka during version 1.2:

• Lama: From July 19 (start of update) to August 9
• Kafka: from 9 August to 30 August

Both Blade and Kafka will be a useful addition to most squads, especially if you’re short on five-star characters. These are just a few things that could make one more valuable than the other to you.

Why you should roll for Blade

• You want to raise a Destruction or Wind character
• You want to experiment with a character who sacrifices HP for buffs
• You like edgy guys with tragic pasts

The blade can be used both as a primary and secondary damage agent. In general, it will be more useful for players who don’t yet have a heavy-hitting Wind unit. Dan Heng can meet many of the same needs due to his expertise in single target wind damage, though he and Blades’ moves are very different from each other. If you already have a fully built Dan Heng, you may want to reconsider buying the Blade.

Most of Blades’ abilities scale based on his max HP, but they also consume his health. Using his ability strengthens his attacks in exchange for HP and his Ultimate restores HP when dealing damage to enemies. Improving his attacks doesn’t use any skill points, so he’s basically begging you to use it. In most cases you’ll want a healer to make sure Blade doesn’t kick the bucket before he can unleash the full power of him.

Why you should roll for Kafka

• You want to raise a Nihility or Lightning character
• You want to experience a damage over time (DoT) style of play.
• You like her mommy-dommy vibes

Kafka is a Nihility character, which means she specializes in applying debuffs to enemies and causing them damage over time. Her ultimate, talent, and technique all deal shock damage to enemies. Shock, just one of the status effects in Honkai: Star Rail, reduces enemy health more than the small purple lightning bolt icon initially lets on. His ability deals even more damage to enemies that already have a DoT debuff. Her feat launches a follow-up attack that deals Shock and heavy damage based on her attack stat, which also makes her an out-of-turn damage-dealing resource.

That said, Kafka is not a powerhouse by itself. He needs teammates to deal the most damage or perhaps apply even more debuffs to amplify his strengths. Unlike Silver Wolf, she doesn’t apply debuffs with the intention of waiting for a lead DPS to clear them. She is more like Serval, she uses her lightning bolt to reduce the health of multiple targets to take them out faster.

Who is better: Blade or Kafka?

When it comes to raw damage and survivability, Blade is better than Kafka. He can kill entire waves of enemies by himself with his ability to strengthen and heal himself. It might be hard to keep him alive without a healer in higher tier battles, but he hits a lot of different bases that Kafka can’t. He adapts to a specific style of play. Blade is simpler – put him in and let him fight.

Honkai: Star Rail is available for PC, iOS and Android.

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