Celestial Chess Array is the third stage of Minuscule Great Adventure, the combat assignment event running in Honkai: Star Rail Version 4.5. You never control a single character here. You fill four separate route lineups, press Start Challenge, and watch an automated simulation resolve four waves of enemies across all four lanes at once. The Dispatch Rating you end with decides how many Adventure Stars you bank, and SS is the top result.
Quick answer: Fill all four routes with your strongest built teams rather than trial units, match each route’s exclusive buff to its damage dealer, and hit 12 Adventure Stars to claim every Celestial Chess Array reward.
Celestial Chess Array unlock requirements and event window
There is no story gate on this one. You only need to be Trailblaze Level 21 or higher, with no prerequisite Trailblaze Mission attached.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Event | Minuscule Great Adventure (Version 4.5) |
| Stage | Celestial Chess Array (Stage 3) |
| Requirement | Trailblaze Level 21+ |
| Period | Sept. 12, 12:00 server time – Sept. 28, 2026, 03:59 (UTC+8) |
The four stages are Imagenesis Park, Neon Dreamland, Celestial Chess Array, and Everwinter Hearth. You can open the later stages and inspect their routes and buffs before they become playable, which is useful for planning which characters you want to spread across lineups.
How the dispatch rating and Adventure Stars work
Each stage sends out four teams at the same time along four routes. Every route carries its own exclusive buff, and how well your lineup matches that buff feeds directly into the final score. Combat then plays out on its own through Wave 1 to Wave 4, with damage callouts like One Shot, One Kill and Lethal Prescription appearing as your units clear enemies.
- All four routes run simultaneously, so a weak fourth lineup drags the whole result down.
- Characters that die are marked with a red X, and losses cost you score even when the route still wins.
- The rating scale tops out at SS; a mid-range run will show something like Dispatch Rating B instead.
- Reward tiers unlock at 4, 8, 10, and 12 Adventure Stars.
An SS rating on its own does not mean you took everything. A run can land on SS while still leaving stars on the table because of casualties, so check the star count, not just the letter.
Celestial Chess Array route lineups
These four lineups clear all four routes at SS. Treat them as a shape to copy rather than a fixed list, since your own roster decides which slots you can actually fill.
| Route | Lineup |
|---|---|
| 1 | Firefly, Trailblazer (Harmony), Ruan Mei, Gallagher |
| 2 | Jade, Herta, Robin, Aventurine |
| 3 | Feixiao, Topaz, Robin, Aventurine |
| 4 | Acheron, Jiaoqiu, Pela, Aventurine |
The pattern is one committed damage dealer per route, one or two supports that feed that damage dealer, and a sustain unit only where the route actually needs one. Trial characters are offered to fill any slot you cannot cover.
Team-building rules that push the rating to SS
The single biggest score swing comes from who you put in the damage slot. Trial units arrive at baseline investment and consistently underperform against a built roster, and players relying on them alone tend to stall around eight stars even when the buff match looks correct on paper.
- Swap in your own characters wherever possible; keep trial units for supports and sustains you genuinely lack.
- Align each route’s exclusive buff with a damage dealer whose kit already uses that mechanic.
- Going sustainless is viable on routes where your team kills fast enough, freeing a fourth slot for more damage or buffing.
- Firefly teams usually run out of cycles before they run out of health, so a sustain slot is often wasted there.
- Among trial sustains, Huohuo holds up better than Gallagher or Lingsha in the automated simulation.
Spread your supports deliberately. Dropping the same buffer into two routes leaves a third lineup with nothing, and one underpowered lane is what usually costs the last two stars.
Running the Celestial Chess Array challenge
Confirming the SS rank and claiming the rewards
You know the run landed when the Challenge Result screen shows SS next to the Dispatch Rating and all four routes report a victory. Switch through the per-route tabs to confirm the star total; 12 stars is the point at which every reward tier for Celestial Chess Array becomes claimable.
Rewards are not handed out automatically. Open the Limited-Time Rewards menu from the event screen and collect the 4, 8, 10, and 12 star tiers individually.
| Reward | Amount |
|---|---|
| Stellar Jade | 125 |
| Relic Remains | 50 |
| Traveler’s Guide | 3 |
| Refined Aether | 3 |
| Lost Gold Fragment | 8 |
| Credit | 40,000 |
Clearing all four stages of the event totals 500 Stellar Jade, 200 Relic Remains, 12 Traveler’s Guides, 12 Refined Aether, 32 Lost Gold Fragments, 160,000 Credits, and one Tracks of Destiny. Celestial Chess Array is one quarter of that, and since the whole thing closes on September 28, there is no rush to force a perfect run on the first attempt — the stage can be re-entered and re-scored as often as you like while the event is live.
