The Xianzhou General we’ve been waiting for two years is finally here!
If you’re still unaware of the uniqueness of this banner, let me tell you: Yaoguang’s banner isn’t just the first half of the phase – it runs through the entire Version 4.0.
From February 13th to March 24th, a full 42 days, spanning the whole of Version 4.0. Sparkle and Claradeira will make a mid-version appearance in the second half banner, yet Yaoguang remains on rate-up from day one to the very last. This treatment is extremely rare in Honkai: Star Rail’s history – it’s not so much a "first half banner" as Version 4.0 itself being the Yaoguang Version.
The accompanying 4-star characters are also a great treat: Pela, Qingque and Hanya. Qingque mains are over the moon, Pela is back to pulling double shifts, and Hanya is a much-needed buff for veteran players still sticking with Physical teams. But we all know there’s only one must-have character in this banner.
Yaoguang, a Physical • Nihility Path character, is the first limited Nihility character in Honkai: Star Rail. Officially, she’s positioned as a "Support Buffer + Sub-DPS", and the player community’s hands-on feedback puts it more plainly: she’s the Ruan Mei of Nihility teams. You don’t need to memorize her stat numbers to grasp her kit – just a few key points matter: she provides team-wide damage boosts, has solid direct damage output on her own, and optimizes Skill Point consumption. In other words, she’s not just a filler character for a certain team comp, but the core of the brand-new meta introduced in the major Version 4.0 update. From Ruan Mei in Version 1.0, to Robin in Version 2.0, and then Tingyun in Version 3.0 – none of the meta-defining launch supports of each major Honkai: Star Rail version have ever been underpowered, and Yaoguang will almost certainly follow this unbreakable rule.
I’d still highly recommend pulling at least one copy of her, and it’s not due to power anxiety – it’s about the cost of time. The character rerun cycle is getting longer and longer: Ruan Mei took a whole year to rerun, only to return with teammates more suited for Break teams; by the time Robin reran, Follow-Up Attack teams had long since solidified into a fixed meta. Yaoguang is the start of a new gameplay system, and by the time she gets a rerun, the game’s meta might have evolved beyond recognition.
That said, if you’ve made up your mind to pull for her but are short on Stellar Jades, COCODP is a platform I’ve been using for over a year. It not only offers discounted top-ups with prices much lower than the official store, but the credits arrive instantly. It’s my go-to lifesaver for tight gacha spots. This isn’t one of those "must-use" ads – it’s just that when luck’s not on your side, you really need a way to turn the tide.
Her Signature Light Cone delivers a steady power boost of around 15-20%. Eidolon 1 increases her Critical Rate, and Eidolon 2 drastically optimizes her skill rotation – these upgrades are the kind that "feel amazing to have, but you can still play her well without". For Welkin Moon players and free-to-play players, a C0 Yaoguang (Eidolon 0 with no Signature Light Cone) paired with the new Relics in the next version offers the best cost-performance ratio. Her Signature Light Cone can be easily replaced with the Nihility Path Light Cone from the Battle Pass, and the power gap is not big enough to justify a hard pull.
The banner will last until March 24th. You’ve got plenty of time to hesitate, wait and see, or even check out the hands-on gameplay of Sparkle in the second half before coming back for Yaoguang. May you, on some ordinary night during these 42 days, get a Clara from a pity pull on a single wish, only to watch the blue light turn to gold on your very next pull.
That’s when Yaoguang truly arrives for you.
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