HoYoverse Announces Character Reworks for Kafka and Beloved Favorites in Honkai Star Rail’s Version 3.4 Update

HoYoverse has recently announced character reworks for some of Honkai Star Rail’s beloved yet increasingly overlooked heroes, set to debut in the upcoming HSR 3.4 update. During their latest RPG livestream, the developers shared that fan-favorite characters Kafka, Silver Wolf, Blade, and Jingliu are getting an overhaul. Although the studio hasn’t revealed specific details about these changes, they are gearing up to rejuvenate these characters following feedback from the player community.

If everything goes according to plan, players can expect the HSR 3.4 update to drop in early July 2025. When these characters were first introduced in 2023, they quickly became top choices for gamers, with Kafka even finding renewed importance in 2024 following the arrival of Acheron. However, as the game evolved, their effectiveness in terms of damage output and team dynamics has dwindled. For instance, Jingliu, despite heavy resources poured into her, underperforms compared to her peers. Kafka, meanwhile, hasn’t seen any new damage-over-time allies for several months, and the recent addition of Mydei feels like an upgraded version of Blade.

It’s not uncommon in gacha games like Honkai Star Rail for older characters to lose their edge—a phenomenon often dubbed “powercreep.” Interestingly, HoYoverse’s other major titles don’t experience this decline as rapidly. In Genshin Impact, characters from its early years still hold strong positions in tier lists and can tackle endgame content effectively. Meanwhile, Zenless Zone Zero remains accessible even with the humble trio of starting characters. The key takeaway is that while these games evolve, they don’t completely sideline their original cast.

That said, it doesn’t appear HoYoverse plans to extend similar updates to other Honkai Star Rail characters. Currently, there’s no word on potential upgrades for characters like Bailu, Yanqing, Natasha, Hook, and Welt, who have similarly fallen behind over time.

On a brighter note, players will soon have a chance to choose a complimentary 5-star character between Ruan Mei and Luocha when version 3.2 becomes available.