A few hours ago, major sources such as Sakura and other trusted groups leaked massive information about an upcoming trade system in Honkai: Star Rail. If the leaks are accurate, this system could allow players to trade their limited five-star characters and Light Cones directly—no gacha needed. However, there’s a catch, and it might not be as great as it seems.
Disclaimer: These are leaks and subject to change at any time. Take them with a grain of salt.
A New Shop in Honkai: Star Rail?
According to leaks, Honkai: Star Rail will introduce a new shop where players can trade five-star characters and Light Cones. This marks a major shift in how the game handles its premium content, offering a way to obtain powerful units without relying on gacha pulls.
How Does the System Work?
This new system introduces a special currency called Unit Currency. Players can use it to exchange for a limited five-star character in the shop.
The Cost of a Limited Five-Star Character:
- Each limited five-star character will cost 2 Unit Currency.
- Sounds great, right? But here’s the problem…
The Catch – How to Obtain Unit Currency
Obtaining Unit Currency is extremely difficult. To get 1 Unit Currency, a player must pull a five-star character that they already have at Eidolon 6 (E6).
- That means to trade for one new limited five-star character, you must have already maxed out (E6) a five-star character and pulled two more copies of them.
- For most players, especially free-to-play (F2P) and low spenders, this system will be practically unusable.
Who Can Actually Use This System?
This system is clearly designed for whales—players who have already spent thousands of dollars on the game and have extra duplicate pulls.
Light Cone Trade System – Even Worse?
Unlike characters, trading Light Cones is locked behind a paywall.
- Instead of using Unit Currency, the currency required for Light Cones comes from the paid Battle Pass and other paid sources.
- This means F2P players won’t even have a chance to access this system at all.
This marks the first instance of a fully Pay-to-Win shop in Honkai: Star Rail, raising concerns about the game’s future monetization model.
A Dangerous Shift in Monetization?
Many are questioning whether this system is just a one-time experiment or the start of a more aggressive pay-to-win model. If HoYoverse sees how profitable this is, what’s stopping them from locking even more features behind real-money purchases?
This could be the beginning of:
- More rewards being locked behind paid methods.
- Increased power gaps between F2P players and whales.
- Heavier monetization across future updates.
Final Thoughts – A Step Forward or a Step Back?
This trade system offers a whale-friendly solution to extra duplicates but does nothing for the majority of players. The character exchange is already difficult, and the Light Cone system is fully paywalled.
The real concern is whether this marks the start of even harsher monetization. Could this lead to Honkai: Star Rail becoming a heavily pay-to-win game?
What Do You Think?
Is this a good system that helps big spenders? Or is this a dangerous precedent for the game’s future? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Also, check out the upcoming Version 2.2 – 2.7 character banners in our latest post!
