Which free 4-star should you choose from Aetherium Wars in Honkai: Star Rail?

Obtaining new characters is a tough and luck-based process in Honkai: Star Rail thanks to the brutal nature of the gacha system.

Because of how difficult it is to add new characters to your roster, any chance you have to recruit a free character is a chance you should absolutely take. The Aetherium Wars event in Honkai: Star Rail is one such opportunity that allows you to choose Hook, Serval, Luka, or Pela to join your team for good.

These four characters are drastically different recruits, so there are a lot of factors to consider when deciding which free four-star character you should choose from the Aetherium Wars event.

How to get a free four-star Aetherium Wars character in Honkai: Star Rail

To choose one free four-star character from the Aetherium Wars event that will join your roster permanently, you’ll need to complete all five Interastral Tournament Festival Missions.

These five missions include:

• Path of Beginnings
  • Obtain one Mastery Mark.
  • Defeat all challengers in the Corridor of Fading Echoes Victory Zone.
  • Obtain all Aether Spirits in the Corridor of Fading Echoes Victory Zone.
• Path of Promise
  • Obtain two Mastery Marks.
  • Defeat all challengers in the Cloudford Victory Zone.
  • Obtain all Aether Spirits in the Cloudford Victory Zone.
• Path of Elite
  • Obtain three Mastery Marks.
  • Defeat all challengers in the Herta Space Station Victory Zone.
  • Obtain all Aether Spirits in the Herta Space Station Victory Zone.
• Path of Heroes
  • Obtain four Mastery Marks.
  • Defeat all challengers in the Great Mine Victory Zone.
  • Obtain all Aether Spirits in the Great Mine Victory Zone.
• Path of Mastery
  • Become the grand champion of the tournament.
  • Defeat the mysterious elite player.

Once all of these missions have been completed, you’ll unlock the Fateful Crossings: Aetherium Wars reward, which will allow you to select one four-star Belobog character.

Which four-star Aetherium Wars character should you choose in Honkai: Star Rail?

Of the four Belobog characters you can choose from as a free reward for completing five goals in the Aetherium Wars event, Pela is by far the best character to choose.

Even if you already have her or multiple copies of her, it’s still best to choose her again and unlock the next Eidolon for her rather than adding any of the other three characters to your team.

While Pela is easily the best choice overall, here’s how the four recruits rank in comparison to one another and what you should know about their abilities when making this decision.

1. Pela
2. Luka
3. Hook
4. Serval

Is Pela good in Honkai: Star Rail?

Pela is one of Honkai: Star Rail’s strongest four-star characters and is perhaps only rivaled by both Tingyun and Lynx, who generally rank slightly higher than she does. She is an Ice Nihility character, which means her skillset is suited for removing buffs from enemies, applying debuffs, and exposing foes’ weaknesses.

Because of this, she is a support unit and not a DPS or general damage dealer. Regardless, she is extremely useful, especially if you are able to unlock most or all of her Eidolons.

Pela is the single best four-star Nihility unit, which means she’s only outperformed by five-star characters like Kafka or Welt. These characters are quite tough to get, so you’ll likely employ Pela for the long term since she will always remain a useful and flexible force in battle.

She has the two most important qualities in a playable unit, which are longevity and versatility, so adding Pela to your roster is the best choice you can make.

Is Luka good in Honkai: Star Rail?

Luka walks the Nihility path, has Physical powers, and is a well-rounded character capable of hitting enemies hard and making them bleed. He’s a decently strong character, but his skills do seem to be so evenly in the middle between being suited for damage dealing and support that he’s not really amazing at either.

If you’re not interested in Pela, though, Luka is the next best choice since he can be quite effective when built right. You’ll mostly see his damage take effect over time, so patience is key with his skillset, but the end result is worth it.

Even though Luka is solid, he’s not quite as versatile as Pela, which means you may not use him long-term. This is why Pela is the absolute best choice overall. But depending on what your specific team needs are, Luka might be a better fit.

Is Hook good in Honkai: Star Rail?

Hook is a Fire Destruction unit that specializes in damage dealing based on burning enemies. She’s a solid damage-dealing force, but considering how many more powerful DPS units there are in Honkai: Star Rail, Hook falls quite short overall.

If you do need a damage dealer and you’re not interested in either Pela or Luka as a support force, pulling for Hook is certainly an option, but it’s much better to pull for either of the previously mentioned recruits instead. Hook just won’t be a character you really find use for long-term, especially when there are so many other strong DPS units available.

Is Serval good in Honkai: Star Rail?

Serval is an epic Lightning Erudition unit that incorporates her rock and roll skills into her battle skillset. Unfortunately, her abilities are nowhere near as powerful as they are cool-looking.

The Lighting character is basically all show and no real skill. She seemed like an impressive unit when Honkai: Star Rail first launched, but now, she seems immensely lackluster and is the overall worst four-star you can choose from the Aetherium Wars event.

Serval isn’t terrible, and she does have some strengths, but just like Hook, you likely won’t have use for her long-term when so many other units who can do what she does and do so better exist. She’s great for AoE damage and applying shock to deal damage over time, but even with this, she’s still massively outperformed by most other units in the game.

Opportunities like this one don’t come around very often, so be sure to participate in Aetherium Wars while you can to add a free four-star to your roster of playable characters.

And if you’re looking for even more free characters in Honkai: Star Rail, be sure to check whether you’ve reached the 300 pulls required to earn a free five-star character.