Honkai: Star Rail 4.1 will only come with three banners, following its shorter duration

Honkai: Star Rail 4.1 once again sparks conversation among the playerbase. This time, not because of Ashveil's underwhelming reveal, but because the version only includes three banners.

We know that version 4.1 will only be four weeks long, instead of the typical six weeks. This is so that they can realign with the normal release time and have HSR 4.2 be the anniversary patch.

However, it's still weird that HoYoverse decides to run only three banners this version, especially considering some of the banners are an "easy skip" for many.

Honkai: Star Rail 4.1 banners bring Ashveil, Hyacine, and Boothill

Ashveil is the only new character in version 4.1. His banner will run for the entire version, so four weeks instead of three weeks. In the first phase, Hyacine will have a rerun. In the second phase, Boothill will get a rerun.

Yep, that's right. Boothill.

Hyacine is still one of the best supports/healers. She's a part of meta teams with DPS like Castorice, Evernight, Anaxa, and even Hysilens's DoT team. Boothill, on the other hand, was only viable for a short time, so he's currently way out of meta and desperately needs a buff.

Like Firefly, Boothill is a Break DPS. Sadly, unlike Firefly, who was obviously HoYo's favorite in Penacony, Boothill doesn't get much special treatment. The Dahlia's recent release puts Firefly back on the meta. She's also getting a buff in version 4.2. Boothill, on the other hand, is still the same ol' space cowboy.

It's easy to feel like HoYo is putting minimal effort into the version 4.1 banners, which is sad since HSR 4.2 is already set to be a far better update. Patch 4.2 already has two new Elation characters, Elation Trailblazer, a buff of four units, and even the anniversary. I know that HSR 4.1 is a filler patch, but Ashveil and Boothill deserve better.

Honkai: Star Rail 4.1 is coming out on March 24 or March 25, 2026, based on your geographical location.