Honkai: Star Rail Version 4.4 splits its warps across three tracks at once. Himeko • Nova headlines the standard banners, the second Fate/stay night collaboration brings Rin Tohsaka and Gilgamesh, and a full set of rerun 5-stars fills out both phases. Here is when each banner runs, who appears on it, and which Light Cones ride alongside.
Quick answer: Version 4.4 goes live July 14, 2026 (NA) and July 15 (EU/Asia). Himeko • Nova leads Phase 1 and her banner stays up for the whole patch, while the Fate collab banners for Rin Tohsaka and Gilgamesh open July 24 with no announced end date.
Version 4.4 release date and phase windows
The update follows the usual six-week cycle, running from mid-July through late August, when Version 4.5 takes over. The collaboration banners sit on their own timeline and start ten days into the patch.
| Track | Window | New 5-star |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | Jul 14 – Aug 5 | Himeko • Nova |
| Fate collab | From Jul 24 (no end date) | Rin Tohsaka, Gilgamesh |
| Phase 2 | ~Aug 5 – Aug 25 | Reruns only |
Himeko • Nova’s banner, Ad Astra Nova, does not close when Phase 1 ends. It carries over into Phase 2, so you have the full patch to pull her even though the reruns beside her change at the midpoint.
Phase 1 characters and Light Cones
Himeko • Nova is a 5-star Fire character on the path of Erudition, an entirely new unit tied to Himeko’s Planarcadia appearance rather than a variant of her standard version. Three rerun 5-stars share the first half, and her signature Light Cone, A Star That Lights the Night, runs on its own warp.
| 5-star character | Element / Path | Signature Light Cone |
|---|---|---|
| Himeko • Nova (new) | Fire / Erudition | A Star That Lights the Night |
| Sparxie | Fire / Elation | Dazzled by a Flowery World |
| Dan Heng • Permansor Terrae | Physical / Preservation | Though Worlds Apart |
| Evernight | Ice / Remembrance | To Evernight’s Stars |
The featured 4-star characters across Phase 1 are Moze (Lightning, The Hunt), Hanya (Physical, Harmony), and Serval (Lightning, Erudition). The boosted 4-star Light Cones are Under the Blue Sky, After the Carmony Fall, and The Birth of the Self.
Fate/stay night collaboration Part 2: Rin Tohsaka and Gilgamesh
The second Fate collaboration opens July 24, 2026 and puts both new units on separate warps. Rin Tohsaka is a 5-star Quantum character on the path of Erudition, and Gilgamesh is a 5-star Lightning character on the path of Destruction. Neither banner has an announced end date, matching how Saber and Archer ran open-ended in Part 1.
| Collab 5-star | Element / Path | Signature Light Cone |
|---|---|---|
| Rin Tohsaka | Quantum / Erudition | Flickering Stars |
| Gilgamesh | Lightning / Destruction | I Am As You Behold |
Collab banners carry no rate-up 4-star characters, the same as the first wave. HoYoverse has not confirmed a return for these units, so skipping them now risks losing access, because reruns depend on separate licensing approval between HoYoverse and TYPE-MOON.
How to claim the free Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh is free, but how you get him depends on the first collaboration. Players who already claimed Archer during Fate Part 1 receive Gilgamesh automatically. Anyone who missed Part 1 gets to choose between Gilgamesh and Archer instead.
You know it worked when Gilgamesh appears in your character roster at E0. His warp only becomes relevant if you want Eidolons beyond that first copy.
Phase 2 reruns and Light Cones
The second half is all reruns, joined by Himeko • Nova’s carried-over banner. Three returning 5-stars headline the phase, each with their signature Light Cone.
| 5-star character | Element / Path | Signature Light Cone |
|---|---|---|
| Cerydra | Wind / Harmony | Epoch Etched in Golden Flames |
| Anaxa | Wind / Erudition | Life Should Be Cast to Flames |
| Aventurine | Imaginary / Preservation | Inherently Unjust Destiny |
The featured 4-star characters stay the same as Phase 1: Moze, Hanya, and Serval. The boosted 4-star Light Cones also repeat, with Under the Blue Sky, After the Carmony Fall, and The Birth of the Self.
Pity rules for 4.4, including the separate collab track
The pity mechanics are standard, but the collab banners run on their own counter. That matters if you plan to pull for both Himeko • Nova and a Fate unit, because progress on one does not help the other.
| Banner type | Hard pity | Soft pity | Featured rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Character warp | 90 pulls | ~74th pull | 50% (guaranteed after a loss) |
| Light Cone warp | 80 pulls | ~63rd pull | 75% (guaranteed after a loss) |
Standard character pity does not transfer to the Fate banners. Instead, the collab track is shared across both Fate events, so any leftover pity or a carried guarantee from Part 1 applies to Rin and Gilgamesh in Part 2. Losing a 50/50 guarantees the featured 5-star on your next pull, and that guarantee never expires between banners of the same type.
The ten-day gap between the patch launch and the collaboration gives you a window to test Himeko • Nova before committing jades toward Rin or Gilgamesh. If the Fate units are your priority, treat their separate counter as a budget you build independently from the standard track.
