Honkai: Star Rail – Guide to Stores / What to Buy

This guide includes all of the premium currency shops and some in-game shops.

Stores Guide for New Players

Monthly Pass and Battle Pass

Currency: Real money / Credit Card

Express PassGives 90 jades a day for 30 days + 300 one-time oneiric shards
BEST VALUE for money spent
If you are planning to spend at all, it should be on this
Nameless Honor (HSR’s Battlepass)Free. Includes basic rewards tier
Rewards come from playing the game and completing weekly and monthly missions
Nameless Glory (Battlepass upgrade)Unlocks the paid tier of rewards from Nameless Honor
VERY GOOD value for spenders
Provides a very large amount of  important character-building materials and can help save Trailblaze power for other needs
Includes other goodies like Special passes, extra self-modeling resin, some jades
What light cone should I pick from the Battle Pass?
#1 Pick: Today is a Peaceful Day
Try to S5 this light cone if you are buying BP multiple times
It’s one of the best Erudition light cones. Get it just in case you use an Erudition character in the future!
Next, the best light cone is Carve the Moon, Weave the Clouds. HOWEVER, please note that S5 Meshing Cogs (3* light cone) will outperform on most supports, and Carve the Moon is NOT a best-in-slot light cone for any Harmony character
Nameless Medal (Glory + extra rewards)Does NOT unlock any further reward tiers

Only buy if you want the limited edition profile icons

TIP: If you plan to buy Nameless Medal, buy it entirely for a discounted price instead of buying Nameless Glory first, then upgrading to Medal

Note for new players: Getting character icons does NOT give you a playable copy of said character

Low value. The extra fuels are nice, but not worth it for the cost. It’s meant for limited edition icon collectors

Starlight Exchange

Currency: Undying Starlight

How to get: Received when pulling a 4* or 5* character or light cone

Warp PassesBEST VALUE! Buy the Special gold passes

Best choice for F2P/Light spenders/anyone
Don’t buy the silver passes, only gold
Standard 5* light conesADVICE: Do not buy if F2P / Light Spender

For 600 starlight, you could get 30x pulls instead, which is 33%-40% of a pity towards a 5* character
Over time, you may get these light cones from Standard Banner anyway
Many of these light cones have good 4* alternatives

If medium spender/dolphin:

Special Passes are still best value
If you really want to buy a light cone, Bronya or Gepard’s light cones are the best value
Bronya’s lc is only good on herself, but Gepard lc is good on most Preservation characters
The other 5* light cones are good on their respective characters, but not necessarily always the Best in Slot when compared to limited banner signature light cones.

If whale:

Do whatever you feel like
4* Character EidolonsGenerally not good value

The available characters rotate every month and only include the basic 4* characters.
Buy ONLY if you are very desperate/impatient for your first copy of a certain character, like Tingyun or Pela

Embers Exchange

Currency: Undying Embers

How to get: Received when pulling a 3* light cone

Tip: Always save enough Ember to buy next month’s Star Rail Passes (900 embers)!

Star Rail PassesBUY!
Limited quantity every month and refreshes
Buy both the Gold and Silver passes
Tracks of DestinyEarly/Midgame player: Can buy because it’s very cheap
Late game player: As needed; late game players probably have many extra Tracks of Destiny in inventory already
EXP books
light cone EXP
Credits
Low priority / buy as needed and can afford
Trace Materials (Both Blue and Purple Rarity)Low-medium priority / buy as needed and can afford
Feel free to buy, but remember to leave enough Embers (900) for next month’s Star Rail passes
Medium spenders and up: Can buy and hoard trace materials to save on trailblaze power
Monster Drop MaterialsDo not buy; farm instead
All of these materials are easily farmed from Overworld monsters and Simulated Universe, requiring no Trailblaze Power
Early game players can buy if they can’t farm enough of these materials or haven’t unlocked the next region that offers these materials

Contract Shop

Currency: Oneiric Shards

How to get: Real money / Credit Card

Any pack in this store
F2P/Brokie: You don’t own Oneiric Shards anyway

Light/Medium spender: Do not buy. Each pack is low value for the cost. It is better to refresh Trailblaze power and use that to farm the same materials.

Dolphin/Whale: Still low value for the cost. It’s cheaper to refill Trailblaze Power with jades 1-3 times and farm the desired resource than to spend the equivalent amount of jades on the Contract Packs.

The only time these Packs are somewhat “worth” it is if you are a whale who max refreshes their Trailblaze Power daily at the 200 jade tier (because it is cheaper to buy one of these packs than to spend 200 Jades on 60 Trailblaze power)

Herta Store

Currency: Herta Bonds

How to get: Received as a first-time reward for beating Simulated Universe difficulties and 1x as a weekly reward for completing Simulated Universe runs

  • Tip #1: DO NOT PRE PURCHASE any items unless you need it and you have no better options. Not counting first-time rewards, it takes 16 weeks to get an S5 Herta Store light cone, so best to spend wisely.
  • Tip #2: Only buy Herta Store light cones if they are the best option that you have.
  • Tip #3: You can only get 1 copy of each light cone. To superimpose it, you need to buy the Superimposer items from this shop.
Light conesWhich light cones are generally good?
Fall of an Aeon (Destruction)Cruising in the Stellar Sea (Hunt)

What about the others?
They are average to below average when compared to some 4* light cones
Buy only if this Herta store light cone is ranked higher than the other light cone options in your inventory

How are the base stats of a Herta Store light cone?
Higher than a 4* but lower than a typical 5*
Some people say that Herta Store light cones are more like 4.5* 

Which light cones are generally good?
Fall of an Aeon (Destruction)
Cruising in the Stellar Sea (Hunt)

What about the others?
They are average to below average when compared to some 4* light cones
Buy only if this Herta store light cone is ranked higher than the other light cone options in your inventory

How are the base stats of a Herta Store light cone?
Higher than a 4* but lower than a typical 5*Some people say that Herta Store light cones are more like 4.5* 
Superimposers
(these only work on Herta Store light cones)
Are they worth it?
Yes!
Maxing a light cone to S5 superimposition level makes a big difference in the long run
Standard PassesAre they worth it?
No
The Herta Store sometimes updates with new light cones. It’s better to save extra Herta Bonds in case a new light cone comes out (requires 16 herta bonds to S5 a new light cone), but if you have all the cones you need then who can stop you
If you are a whale, you can purchase these if you want

Forgotten Hall – Light Cone Manifest

Currency: Lucent Afterglow

How to get: Complete Forgotten Hall stages or Echo of War farming stages

Light conesGENERAL ADVICE: Only buy if you need it right away for a character

Which ones are good? Some of these lightcones can be good, but check the HSR Character Builds guide to see if you have any better options for your character before buying

It is worth it to S5 these copies if you have enough currency

Forgotten Hall/Pure Fiction – Jokes Come True 

Currency: Jade Feather

How to get: Complete Memory of Chaos or Pure Fiction stages

TIP: Always make sure you have enough Jade Feathers to buy next shop refresh’s Self Modeling Resin (1200 Jade Feathers) before you spend on other items

Self Modeling ResinHIGHEST PRIORITY
Rarest and most high-value shop item
Relic RemainsGood value, allows you to synthesize a specific relic set piece of your choice
Traveler’s Guide and Refined Aether
Neutral priority, only buy if you have an excess of feathers and need more exp materials
Lost CrystalLow priority, you can farm relic exp materials in Simulated Universe runs for free
CreditsLow priority, buy if needed and have surplus feathers that aren’t needed for next shop refresh
Egor Opleuha
About Egor Opleuha 7051 Articles
Egor Opleuha, also known as Juzzzie, is the Editor-in-Chief of Gameplay Tips. He is a writer with more than 12 years of experience in writing and editing online content. His favorite game was and still is the third part of the legendary Heroes of Might and Magic saga. He prefers to spend all his free time playing retro games and new indie games.

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