Previous chapter synopsis: The Trailblazer made a promise to Phainon and took up the mantle of the Deliverer. In return, Phainon unleashed their blazing wrath upon Nanook, once again forcing Irontomb’s advance to a halt. Yet the journey is far from over, rescuing Amphoreus remains an unavoidable challenge. In the new Trailblaze Mission, the Trailblazer will accompany Cyrene into another cycle of Eternal Recurrence, traveling back a thousand years to the ancient Okhema. This was the age when Imperator Cerydra, the holder of the Law Coreflame, ruler of Okhema, Aglaea’s predecessor, still sat upon the throne of Okhema.

Hysilens

Hysilens is the first of the two new characters, a follower of the Path of Nihility, a commander of the holy city’s knights and a 5-star Physical-Type character.

Here is the description of her powers:

Hysilens excels when paired with characters who specialize in DoT. Upon using her Ultimate, Hysilens creates a Zone. While the Zone is active, each instance of DoT inflicted on enemies will trigger an additional DoT from her. At the same time, all enemies will suffer reduced ATK and DEF. Moreover, her Basic ATK, Skill, and Ultimate each have a chance to apply a random type of DoT. Her Skill also increases the DMG enemies take, boosting the team’s overall DMG output.

Imperator Cerydra

Imperator Cerydra is a follower of the Path of Harmony and a 5-star Wind-type character. She is the holder of the Law Coreflame and the initiator of the first Flame-Chase Journey. She’s described as a master strategist who was raised on the principles of chess and excels in long-term planning and command.

Imperator Cerydra’s power description:

In combat, her Skill grants an ally a special upgradable buff known as “Military Merit,” increasing the ally’s ATK and dealing additional DMG. As the battle progresses, Military Merit levels up. The affected ally will gain increased CRIT DMG and All-Type RES PEN when using Skills and can even replicate their Skill effects, boosting the team’s overall DMG output. Her Ultimate deals DMG to all enemies and obtains Charge for herself, providing sustained support for the team.

Stellaron Hunter Kafka and Silver Wolf are returning as limited 5-star characters in the first and second halves of the Version 3.5 warp event.

There will also be a new map, where players can get a peek at Styxia, the City of Infinite Revelry. Other events join in on the fun, including the “Chrysos Maze Grand Restaurant” event, where players will work as a restaurant manager. In the “Old Brews & New Friends” event, you are the bartender and will reunite with returning characters at the “Dreamjolt Hostelry.”

Honkai: Star Rail is now available on PC, iOS, Android, Epic Games Store, and PS5.

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Note that there are spoilers for 3.4, so if you haven’t completed the “For the Sun is Set to Die” trailblaze mission, you’ve been warned!

Moderated by Trash Taste, a group of Tokyo-based content creators, Joey (The Anime Man), Garnet (Gigguk), and Connor (CDawgVA) had a lively panel discussion with the voice actors:

• Hayden Daviau: Voice actor of Tribbie, Trianne, and Trinnon, the three remaining fragments of Tribios, the first demigod of the Chrysos Heirs
• Gabriel Warburton: Voice actor of Mydei, Chrysos Heir and Crown Prince of Kremnos
• Joshua Waters: Voice actor of Phainon, Chrysos Heir, and the newest pullable character of 3.4
• Aiden Dawn: Voice actor of Cyrene/Mem, a childhood friend of Phainon and a floating cute fairy

All of them were fans of the game before joining and talked about how excited they were to be part of the cast officially. While I was sitting in the press and industry section during the panel, I came to realize that other HSR voice actors, such as Clara and Anaxa, among many others, surrounded me. They were really warm, supportive, and loudly cheering for their teammates on stage.

Notable Moments from the Panel

The actors discussed their approach to character development, and particularly for Daviau, who had to voice three characters. She focused on what their personalities were to hone in on how to distinguish them. 

“Tribbie was more energetic, the face and leader of the group,” said Daviau. “Trianne was a little more scrappy and kind of bratty at times. Trinnon was quite reserved. So it started from taking what her personalities were and then finding where that sat in my body for me.”

When asked which was her favorite, she picked Trianne with almost no hesitation, because of her scrappy energy, but would also choose Tribios as the older, whole form.

For Phainon, the 3.4 character of the moment, Waters explained his character’s progression. 

“Phainon is the mediated football coach, and we’re the Amphoreous squad,” Waters said. “He doesn’t want anyone to be mad or upset. He’s always quick to make them feel better. But as we got to 3.4 and his friends started passing away, he progressively got worse and became more Flame Reaver. So, if you look at the beginning of 3.4 and then the end, it is night and day, which I’m really pleased with.”

And how he voiced the Flame Reaver, who was revealed to be Khaslana, the Phainon of the previous Eternal Recurrence, elicited horrified gasps from the VAs sitting behind me. Waters explained that he pinches his larynx a little to get that growly voice. A no-no since it can lead to vocal cord damage.

Mydei’s Vulnerability

Warburton, while wearing the Phainon convention bag around his neck, talked about how he balanced Mydei, explaining that the toughest, most battle-hardened character can be the most emotionally vulnerable in private. He connected to Mydei by relating to his deep love for his mother, saying that if his mother were ever in pain, it would break his heart. That emotional connection helped him bring out the softer, more sensitive side, creating a natural balance between war, aggression, and vulnerability.

Cue back to the moment in 3.1 where Mydei first met his mother in the nether realm, telling him that the bloodline of Gorgo flowing within him will guide him home, and then later in his final cutscene, when he announces, “Mother, I’m home.”

Dawn talked about finally being able to reveal that Cyrene is Mem, a physical manifestation of Cyrene’s lost memories. As someone who hasn’t caught up to the latest patch, because I was busy building Phainon and grinding for his relics, this was a surprise to me. 

With Mem’s language, though, the team decided that every single syllable was still going to have to mean something, even if all you hear is “mem, mem, mem.” The tone and inflection still need to convey what she actually means.

“I had a lot of fun being this bratty little flying thing and being that character that’s always got some fun commentary on her,” Dawn explained.

Live Voice Acting and Surprise Song

It wouldn’t be a panel with voice actors without some voice acting, so the audience got to experience live performances with the most entertaining ones being Hayden voicing her chaotic character trailer, “Children Know Nothing,” along with Joshua and Gabriel voicing the Mydei and Phainon bathhouse scene where they had a “sauna battle.” Complete with sauna stools and privacy towels as props!

Another bonus? We were treated to a musical performance of the animated short “Hark! There’s Revelry Atop the Divine Mountain” with vocals by YMIR, who kind of looked like the Flame Reaver, with his hooded cloak. Joshua also voiced Phainon as he fought his way to Nanook.

Overall, the official Honkai: Star Rail panel was full of energy, and the voice actors are obviously huge fans of each other, making the in-game moments even more tight-knit. As a regular Honkai: Star Rail player, I was thrilled that everyone who attended received an exclusive Phainon metal card, an amazing memento to commemorate the panel, a temporary stop for the Astral Express. 

As Pom-pom would say, rest up, Trailblazers, your next adventure is right around the corner!

Anime Expo, the largest anime convention in North America, will return next year at the Los Angeles Convention Center from July 2nd to July 5th. You can play Honkai: Star Rail, currently on version 3.4, on PlayStation 5, iOS, Android, GeForce Now, and Windows.

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Silver Wolf is a playable character who is a member of the Stellaron Hunters and a genius hacker. She has the ability known as “aether editing,” allowing her to hack reality.

The official HYTE Y70 Silver Wolf Limited Edition Case features the character on the front and side tempered glass panels and iconography, signature marks, Easter eggs and lavender accents decorated all over the case.

To celebrate HYTE’s first HoYoverse collaboration, it is debuting the Silver Wolf product line worldwide and having an official launch party at Micro Center in Tustin, CA. For those who want to celebrate at Micro Center, HYTE and iBUYPOWER are teaming up with the store for a special two-day launch party on November 2 and 3. The event will have fans meeting Honkai: Star Rail content creators, participating in onsite activities based on the game to receive exclusive items, and purchasing the RDY Y70 Silver Wolf prebuilt gaming system and components from HYTE’s Silver Wolf product line.

You can RSVP for the event at https://hyte.co/silverwolfmc-rsvp.

HYTE’s Silver Wolf product line will be available around the world on November 2nd including Canada Computers & Electronics (Canada), DD Tech (Mexico), and Links Japan (Japan).

iBUYPOWER is also partnering with streetwear & merchandise brand M.RAGE for its Honkai: Star Rail apparel. They can be purchased on iBUYPOWER’s official gear store soon.

About the HYTE Y70 Silver Wolf Product Line

The Official HYTE Y70 Silver Wolf Case Bundle is now available for purchase at HYTE.com and will soon be available in-store at Micro Center locations across the US. These items will also be available at select stores through Canada Computers & Electronics in Canada, DD Tech in Mexico, and Links Japan in Japan. The case is priced at an MSRP of $299.00

The HYTE Silver Wolf “100% Break” Keycap Set and Desk Pad Bundle is currently available for preorder on HYTE.com and other worldwide resellers with an estimated ship date of December 2024. It will be priced at an MSRP of $129.99.

The RDY Y70 Silver Wolf Edition system is estimated to be available for purchase at iBUYPOWER.com, and at Micro Center in early November. Notifications to complete the Stellaron Hunters upgrade preorder will be sent out soon. The system will be priced at an MSRP of $2299.

To purchase components from HYTE’s HONKAI: STAR RAIL product line-up, please visit: https://hyte.co/hsr-sw-pr

To preorder the RDY Y70 Silver Wolf system from iBUYPOWER.com, please visit: https://ibp.gg/swrdy-pr

The Silver Wolf product line is available to purchase at:

· Micro Center (US): https://hyte.co/microcenter

· Canada Computers & Electronics (Canada): https://hyte.co/CanadaComputers

· DD Tech (Mexico): https://hyte.co/DDTech

· Links Japan (Japan): https://hyte.co/LinksJapan

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Here’s a quick look at their World Tour schedule if you happen to be at these locations:

• July 1-4, 2023: Anime Expo 2023 (Los Angeles)
• July 13-16, 2023: Japan Expo 2023 (Paris)
• July 27-31, 2023: Gamers Con 2023 (Taipei)
• August 23-27, 2023: Gamescom 2023 (Cologne)
• September 21-24, 2023: Tokyo Game Show 2023 (Tokyo)

At Anime Expo, I spent time specifically at the Genshin Impact and the Honkai: Star Rail sections of their 4-game booth on a less crowded weekday (Monday). As a 2+ year Genshin and HSR player since almost launch, I was most excited about these two games and not so much for Honkai Impact 3rd or Zenless Zone Zero.

Once you enter the Entertainment Hall, you can’t miss it as it’s the first booth you encounter!

Taking Part in Paimon’s Food Fest at the Genshin Impact Booth

You step into Liyue at the Genshin Impact booth, and Katheryne is appropriately waiting to answer any Traveler’s questions at the Adventurers’ Guild information desk. She even has the appropriate folded hands pose! I went there first to see how the mini-events worked and how to obtain SWAG.

Since they focused on the Liyue region, it only makes sense that their events revolved around food, so the theme was “Paimon’s Food Fest” since she’s always hungry and claims she’s not emergency food. 

Exclusive freebie swag included slightly puffy chibi character stickers and drooling Paimon balloons. Here’s a look at all the stickers you could get:

To get them, you could participate in two activities. I participated in transforming into Foodie Paimon. Here’s what it looked like:

The staff member manning the Paimon picture activity didn’t have my coveted Zhongli or Kazuha sticker, so I got a Childe one instead. However, you could take it to Katheryne and she could trade it out for a sticker you DO want (while supplies lasted), which is how I achieved getting Zhongli. 

To get the drooling Paimon balloon, you only had to take a picture at Liyue Harbor, which included Ninguang and Shenhe at the time. Since I didn’t like the angle of my picture, here’s an official group photo of the others:

Their longest line was the official merchandise area, which included acrylic character stands, character badges/button pins, and more. The other activity to get stickers was a food quiz called Teyvat Cook-Off Challenge. Travelers randomly flipped a panel on the Delicacies Wall to reveal a picture of in-game food and had to answer correctly what region it originated from. 

More Genshin Impact Sightings

Aside from their official booth, plenty of Genshin Impact cosplayers and other merchandise can be seen on the show floor and outside Anime Expo. 

Exploring the Honkai: Star Rail Booth

HoYoverse’s space fantasy turn-based RPG recently launched at the end of April and had a major presence at Anime Expo. This was also where I successfully got more swag since they seemed to have more options.

Set in the region of Xianzhou Luofu, Trailblazers will find themselves in the Central Starskiff Haven area under the red bridge. There was a stage where hosts dressed up as March 7th and soon-to-be-released Kafka held Memory of Chaos speed run competitions.

Volunteers from the crowd got chosen to get up on stage to participate in speed runs of Memory of Chaos stages 13 and 14. Once the hosts said, “Go!” Trailblazers got to pick their teams to try and beat the stages the fastest. Since laptops were used in the competition, it was a disadvantage to Trailblazers who play mobile (like myself). But the winner and the defeated both got prizes, so getting up on stage for potential humiliation wasn’t a total loss. The winner got a cool-looking JingYuan box (does anyone know what’s in it?), and the defeated Traveler got a large acrylic stand which also looked very cool. 

Exclusive booth freebies included character fans, a “passport” with the Honkai: Star Rail World Tour 2023 stamp, a Wubaboo balloon, various character stickers, and a postcard.

Honkai: Star Rail in the South Hall Lobby

There was more Honkai: Star Rail exposure at the South Hall Lobby floor with a photo opp area with the Astral Express train. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see their official PomPom mascot posing with it, so here’s what it would’ve looked like, along with someone cosplaying as the next character release, Blade. 

While Anime Expo 2023 may be over, stay tuned for more anime goodness at Anime Expo chibi on November 11-12, 2023, in Ontario, California, focusing on an Exhibit Hall and Artist Alley. Anime Expo 2024 will come back next July 4th weekend as usual.

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