Honkai: Star Rail Version 4.0 arrives on February 13, 2026, and alongside the new Path of Elation, two new characters, and the Planarcadia map, HoYoverse is rolling out a batch of system-level optimizations. These quality-of-life changes touch everything from in-game guidance tools to how you manage daily assignments, and they're worth understanding before the patch drops.
Pom-Pom AI (PMP) System
The headline QoL addition in 4.0 is the Pom-Pom AI system, referred to internally as PMP. It functions as an in-game assistant designed to help players make decisions about team compositions and content recommendations. Think of it as a built-in advisor that can suggest which characters to bring into specific fights or which content to tackle next. For newer players or anyone returning after a long break, this removes a significant barrier — you no longer need to rely entirely on external tier lists or community guides to figure out basic team-building.
The system fits a broader pattern HoYoverse has been pursuing across its games, gradually embedding decision-support tools directly into the client rather than expecting players to seek help elsewhere.
Assignment QoL Changes
Assignments — the passive dispatches you send characters on to gather materials over time — are receiving a quality-of-life pass in Version 4.0's second phase. The exact scope of the changes hasn't been fully detailed in the official program, but leaked patch data points to streamlined management for assignment slots. The community has long requested improvements here, particularly around reducing the friction of cycling through assignments every day. If the changes land as expected, managing your passive material income should require fewer taps and less mental overhead.
Stellar Convergence Shop Expansion
The Stellar Convergence Shop, which lets players exchange a special currency for characters, is getting expanded in 4.0. The update is expected to widen the pool of available units, giving long-term collectors and returning players access to previously limited characters. This is a meaningful change for anyone who missed specific banners and doesn't want to wait for an unpredictable rerun schedule. Exact additions to the shop roster will be confirmed when the patch goes live.
Currency Wars Expansion and Dice-Themed Mode
Currency Wars, the ongoing side mode, is receiving further adjustments in 4.0. These may include new playable characters within the mode, additional strategic layers, or refreshed progression rewards. Separately, a new dice-themed mode introduces variable-outcome mechanics that break from the standard turn-based combat loop. It's an experimental gameplay structure — not a permanent endgame addition, but a fresh event format that leans into randomness and replayability.
Character Buffs for Black Swan and Sparkle
While not a system optimization in the traditional sense, the 4.0 character enhancements for Black Swan and Sparkle function as a meta-level QoL improvement. Black Swan shifts from a slow-ramping DoT damage dealer into a more consistent core with DEF-ignoring damage and teamwide utility. Sparkle gets reworked into a tempo-focused engine built around Skill Point control, gaining massive SP recovery, SP-based Vulnerability application, and broader offensive buffs that make her viable well beyond CRIT-centric teams.
These buffs are timed to coincide with the introduction of the Elation Path and its debut characters, Yao Guang and Sparxie. The intent is clear: older limited 5-star units should remain competitive as new mechanics arrive, reducing the feeling that past investments have been wasted.
New Cosmetic Options and Trailblaze Outfits
Version 4.0 introduces new Trailblaze Outfits and headwear for the Trailblazer, and these differ from previous cosmetics in an important way — they carry rarity tiers. Earlier skins like those for March 7th and Firefly had no rarity distinction, so this represents a structural change to how the game categorizes cosmetics. A new outfit for Ruan Mei is also expected during this version cycle. Pom-Pom receives a matching outfit as well, continuing the game's tradition of dressing up the Astral Express conductor.
A free 5-star character will also be distributed during the 4.0 period as part of the version's broader reward rollout.
What Players Still Want
Despite the improvements coming in 4.0, the community continues to push for deeper changes to the relic farming system. The most commonly requested features include the ability to mix and match relic or Planar Ornament sets from different Cavern and Planar domains rather than being locked into the two sets each domain offers, and relic loadout presets that would let you save and swap entire gear configurations per character. Right now, switching a character's relic setup between different team contexts — say, moving Anaxa from an Eagle set in Herta teams to a Quantum set for main DPS use — requires tedious manual swapping every time.
Relic substat RNG remains the most persistent pain point. Flat ATK, HP, and DEF substats continue to dilute the pool, and upgrade rolls frequently land on undesirable lines. Some players have pointed to Arknights: Endfield's gear system as a model worth borrowing from, though any fundamental changes to relic RNG would touch the game's monetization structure — energy refreshes via Stellar Jade purchases exist precisely because inefficient farming creates demand for more runs.
4.0 Livestream Codes
If you haven't claimed the Version 4.0 livestream codes yet, they expire on February 7, 2026 at 10:59 AM (UTC-5). The three codes — AHAHAHAHAHAHA, QWQXDDLOLOMO, and HITLIKETOBEAHA — each grant 100 Stellar Jades plus bonus materials. You can redeem them at hsr.hoyoverse.com/gift by logging in with your HoYoverse account. iOS players must use the website, as the in-game redemption button doesn't appear on that platform.
Version 4.0 is one of the larger system-level updates Honkai: Star Rail has shipped in recent memory. The Pom-Pom AI assistant and Stellar Convergence Shop changes address onboarding and long-term retention, while the character buffs and new mode experiments keep the combat meta from stagnating. Whether the relic system gets a more fundamental overhaul remains an open question for future patches.
