The Astral Express is soon set to arrive in a new world, which comes with a new playable Path and characters.
Honkai: Star Rail has welcomed the new year by revealing that the game's next major update, Version 4.0, will come with a new playable Path in the Path of Elation. Version 4.0's two banner 5-star characters, Yao Guang and Sparxie, have also been revealed to be the game's first pair of Elation characters. HoYoverse previously revealed Planarcadia as the next world in the Astral Express' journey.
The Path of Elation is now the ninth of the 18 known Paths to be made playable, following the seven base Paths at the game's release–namely Destruction, Hunt, Erudition, Harmony, Nihility, Preservation, and Abundance–and Remembrance, which was added in Version 3.0.
The Path of Elation is governed by the Aeon Aha, an Aeon that revels in causing chaos and mischief. There are two known factions associated with the Path of Elation: the Masked Fools and the Mourning Actors. The Masked Fools are the most fervent followers of Aha, believing that the ultimate truth of the universe is nothing but a joke. Meanwhile, the Mourning Actors are directly opposed to Elation, though that hasn't stopped Aha from ironically granting them blessings.
Known Pathstriders of the Path of Elation include the Masked Fools Sampo, Sparkle, and Giovanni, among others.
It is currently unknown how the Path of Elation will function as a playable Path in the main game mode. The Path was previously only playable in the Simulated Universe and Divergent Universe, where it specialised in empowering Follow-Up Attacks and Additional DMG.
Yao Guang
The first Elation character to be revealed is Yao Guang, the Arbiter-General of the Xianzhou Yuque. She previously made a voice-only appearance in the Trailblaze Continuance quest ‘A Fugue From Beyond,’ where she informed her fellow Arbiter-Generals Jing Yuan, Feixiao, and Huaiyan of the arrival of Ruan Mei to the Xianzhou Luofu to bring Tingyun (now in her ‘Fugue’ form) back home and potentially play a part in Luocha and Jingliu's plans for the ‘Godslayer Protocol.’
Yao Guang is also set to wield the Physical element as a playable character, though we have little to no idea of how potential kit may work given how there has been no information on how the Path of Elation will function. Despite having Elation as her playable Path, Yao Guang is firmly a Pathstrider of the Hunt in-lore since she is, after all, one of the Xianzhou Alliance's Arbiter-Generals.
Sparxie
Sparxie is the second Elation character to be revealed, with her elemental alignment being Fire. If she looks familiar, then that's because she is also Sparkle, a character who was first introduced in Version 1.5 and became playable in Version 2.0 as a Quantum Harmony support. Unlike her initial appearance as Sparkle, Sparxie has white hair and does not visibly carry the mask that all members of the Masked Fools have. She also seems to be the top streamer in the world of Planarcadia, which may be her home planet.
It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that Sparkle will receive an alternate form, with the Path of Elation set to take the spotlight. She is one of the most enigmatic members of the Masked Fools, having the uncanny ability to take on the appearance of others and utterly engrossed in the art of performance.
Honkai: Star Rail Version 4.0 is expected to be released towards the end of this month.
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