The latest massive event to overtake Honkai: Star Rail is Aetherium Wars, and it’s got a lot of unique gameplay plus tons of rewards to be earned if you participate in it.
This event is unlike anything Honkai: Star Rail has seen so far and it has lots of components to it, so participating might seem like a daunting prospect at first. Luckily, the event is extremely easy to follow once you understand how it works, plus you’ll earn some incredible rewards as you work through it.
Here’s what you need to know about the Aetherium Wars event to find success in it.
What is Aetherium Wars in Honkai: Star Rail?
The Aetherium Wars event is a Pokémon-style tournament where you can collect Aether Spirits, which take the form of foes you commonly battle throughout Honkai: Star Rail and use them in battle to try and claim victory against other competitors.
How to unlock Aetherium Wars in Honkai: Star Rail
You’ll have to complete a prerequisite quest before you can participate in the special Aetherium Wars event. This is the Trailblaze Continuance “Future Market (II)” quest, which will allow you to meet Topaz and Numby before leading you into the official Aetherium Wars event.
There’s a pretty long and challenging fight near the end of this quest, so be sure to bring a very strong healer or shielder into the battle or you’ll likely struggle to pass it. Once you’ve finished the quest, you’ll obtain the “Let’s Go! Aetherium Wars!” quest, which will officially initiate the event.
How to fight in Aetherium Wars in Honkai: Star Rail
You can only battle in Aetherium Wars by using the Aether Spirits you collect. Combat looks almost identical to how it usually does outside of the event except you can only use the spirits you collect, which are usually your opponents, instead of your well-built characters.
There are three different types of Aether Spirits you can add to your team, which are:
- Humanoid
- Mechanical
- Aberrant
Each of the three Aether Spirit types excels at dealing damage against another type and is extremely weak against the other one. You can think of this process as being quite similar to rock, paper, scissors as each spirit type has both an excellent strength and a brutal weakness.
To find success in combat, you’ll want to switch up your team before heading into any battle to ensure you have mostly Aether Spirits that with counteract the Aether Spirit type of whatever foe you’re about to battle. You can tell what type any spirit is by looking at the logo next to their name.
How to catch Aether Spirits in Honkai: Star Rail
To catch new Aether Spirits you can then deploy in battle, you’ll need to tackle Victory Zones plus their associated puzzles and combat challenges. Each Victory Zone is home to a collection of spirits you will not be able to find anywhere else and you can only unlock them after first defeating them in battle.
All Aether Spirits in Honkai: Star Rail
There are 19 different Aether Spirits you can collect, all of which are only found in one specific Victory Zone. Here are all of the Aether Spirits and which Victory Zone you need to explore to find them.
- Corridor of Fading Echoes Aether Spirits
- Blaze Out of Space
- Silvermane Cannoneer
- Silvermane Gunner
- Silvermane Lieutenant
- Imaginary Weaver
- Cloudford Aether Spirits
- Abundance Sprite: Wooden Lupus
- Aurumaton Gatekeeper
- Entranced Ingenium: Obedient Dracolion
- Entranced Ingenium: Illumination Dragonfish
- Herta Space Station Aether Spirits
- Voidranger: Reaver
- Voidranger: Trampler
- Voidranger: Eliminator
- Great Mine Aether Spirits
- Silvermane Soldier
- Automaton Spider
- Frigid Prowler
- Vagrant
- Other Aether Spirits
- Warp Trotter
- Everwinter Shadewalker
- Incineration Shadewalker
What is a Victory Zone in Honkai: Star Rail?
Victory Zones are special event-exclusive versions of map areas you’ve previously explored. They have specific constraints, puzzles, and treasure chests. They are also the only areas you can visit to obtain new Aether Spirits from with the exception of the special three spirits that are exclusively available through dialogue.
How to upgrade Aether Spirits in Honkai: Star Rail
There are two ways you can upgrade and improve your Aether Spirits to make them more powerful in combat, which are expansion chips and upgrade data.
- Expansion chips are essentially the Aether Spirit version of Light Cones except multiple can be equipped to each spirit as you level them up. All chips have special effects that will enhance what your spirits are capable of.
- Upgrade data is the Aether Spirit version of experience books like Travel Encounters, Adventure Logs, and Traveler’s Guides. These allow you to level up your spirits to build their statistics like attack and health points.
How to get Aether Spirit upgrade data in Honkai: Star Rail
You’ll earn Aether Spirit upgrade data by simply participating in the event, such as by beating other competitors you find in Victory Zones, taking on new spirits to add them to your collection, or tackling Hyperlink matches.
How to get Aether Spirit expansion chips in Honkai: Star Rail
Aether Spirit expansion chips are also earned through the various gameplay mechanics you’ll come across, but they are a bit tougher to obtain. You can gain them by participating in more challenging Hyperlink match duels, from taking on more formidable Aether Spirits in Victory Zones, and from opening Precious Chests hidden in Victory Zones.
How long will Aetherium Wars last in Honkai: Star Rail?
The Aetherium Wars event began on Oct. 11 and will be available to participate in until Nov 13. But this event will then be added to the special Conventional Memoir feature that allows all Trailblazers to experience events that previously ended, so you’ll still be able to jump in on the fun after the limited-time version concludes.
The exclusive rewards will no longer be available in the Conventional Memoir version, though, so you’ll want to participate before Nov. 13 to obtain all the rewards you can.
All Aetherium Wars rewards in Honkai: Star Rail
Aetherium Wars has a lot of gameplay associated with it and a ton to do, but you’ll be rewarded extremely well for participating in this event.
Regular Aetherium Wars rewards in Honkai: Star Rail
You can obtain these rewards whenever since they will permanently be available through the Conventional Memoir version of Aetherium Wars.
- “Warp Trotter” Chat Box style
- 840 Stellar Jade
- One Tracks of Destiny
- 200 Relic Remains
- 77 Traveler’s Guide
- 46 Refined Aether
- 86 Lost Crystal
- 960,000 Credits
Limited-time Aetherium Wars rewards in Honkai: Star Rail
These rewards are only available if you participate in and complete the event goals before Aetherium Wars concludes on Nov. 13.
- 1,200 Stellar Jade
- One four-star Belobog character of your choosing
- Your options include the Lighting Erudition character Serval, the Physical Nihility recruit Luka, the Ice Nihility character Pela, or the Fire Destruction recruit Hook.
- One Self-Modeling Resin
- One Tracks of Destiny
- 300 Relic Remains
- 62 Traveler’s Guide
- 54 Refined Aether
- 50 Lost Crystal
- 12 Worldbreaker Blade
- 96 Lifeless Blade
- 850,000 Credits
