I’ve seen newHonkai: Star Rail3.4 leaks and am convinced that Phainon has the potential to become the best DPS character released this year. Version 3.4 is still a few weeks away from arriving as the turn-based RPG by HoYoverse is moving through Version 3.2 has to go through the entirety of Version 3.3.While the current leaks are mostly focused on Cipher and Hyacine’s gameplay kits and what they can provide to future team comps, some Version 3.4 leaks are already emerging. Several of them have already hinted atPhainon’s release inHonkai: Star Rail3.4, for example.
The details about the future update are still very blurry, especially when compared to the Version 3.3 leaks, which stem from beta tests. Even so, a lot of them have been recurring over the past few months and come from various sources. The leaks have predicted the release of theFatecollab, for example, whileother related leaks have teased the details about theFatecollab characters, such as their Paths and elements. There have also been leaks about the character buffs that will occur during the update, as well as anunexpected character skin inHonkai: Star Rail3.4.
Phainon’s Ultimate In Honkai: Star Rail 3.4 Has Leaked
The Ability May Not Require Energy In A Traditional Sense
Now, some of the first details about Phainon have just leaked. According to information provided by the leaker known as Luna,Phainon does not rely on traditional Energy to use his Ultimate, but on a different type of resource. The leak was shared in a post tagged as “Questionable” onReddit. As seen in the leak, Phainon gains stacks of this Ultimate-related resource when he is targeted by skills and when he uses his Basic Skill. Additionally, it’s rumored he will gain stacks of the resource through other methods that are unlocked via his passive Traces inHonkai: Star Rail.
According to them, Phainon can obtain a maximum of 12 stacks of the resource that fuels his Ultimate, and when he reaches a certain number of stacks, the Ultimate is activated; it’s uncertain if this is activated automatically or if players need to manually trigger it. Lastly, the leak mentions that Phainon’s Eidolons may reduce the number of stacks required to activate his Ultimate.With the focus on his Ultimate, it seems like the ability will be the most important part of his kit, much likeAcheron inHonkai: Star Rail. However, even more details about his Ultimate have leaked.
Phainon’s Ultimate May Be As Versatile As Feixiao’s In Honkai: Star Rail
The Character May Have Various Combat Abilities
Another recent leak by Luna, which was shared in a post tagged as “Reliable” onReddit, highlights how Phainon’s Ultimate may work during combat. According to them,when Phainon uses his Ultimate, he expands the territory, which may be a unique type of field, and in doing so, all other allies leave the battle temporarily. With this territory, Phainon allegedly enters a special form, which grants him extra turns and a new set of abilities with three skill buttons.Phainon’s leaked special form inHonkai: Star Railmay be what was previously leaked and interpreted as his possible boss form.
The leak further mentions that, in this special state,players can use Phainon’s different attacks to adapt to different types of enemy formations. Lastly, the leak mentions that once all the extra turns are exhausted, Phainon’s territory is lifted, he exits the special form, and with it, he unleashes an attack. While the leak does lack more details about what each of these different types of attacks in his special form does, it does seem to hint at them having various functions, which sounds a lot likeFeixiao inHonkai: Star Rail.
For reference, Feixiao has a versatile Ultimate because once she triggers it, she can either use Boltsunder Blitz to deal increased damage to enemies that are Weakness Broken or Waraxe Skyward to deal increased damage to enemies that are not yet Weakness Broken. Essentially, depending on the enemy, players can use Feixiao’s Ultimate to target their HP or their Toughness bar.
With Phainon’s different skills after using his leaked Ultimate, he could have a similar approach to his gameplay design as Feixiao.His different Ultimate-related attacks could deal more damage to a single unit’s HP, to multiple enemies at once, or instead focus on reducing Toughness bars, for example. Not only is Phainon’s Ultimate highlighted in the leaks, but a leak indicates he will get a dedicated Relic set. According to a leak,Phainon’s best Relic set inHonkai: Star Railmay be released in Version 3.3 and is allegedly called Captain Over Cursed Waves.
As seen in these leaks, the Captain Over Cursed Waves Relics’ two-piece bonus grants the user a 16% CRIT DMG bonus. When the four-piece bonus is enabled, after the user is the target of another ally’s Skill, they gain a stack of Assist, up to three stacks.When activating their Ultimate, the user consumes all Assist stacks, with each stack increasing their ATK by 16% until the end of the turn. This could play into Phainon’s rumored kit, which is seemingly focused on his Ultimate.
Depending on the wording used in his kit,Phainon’s leaked extra turns may still be considered a single part of his Ultimate’s turn, which could make the rumored ATK bonus be applied to every single attack he performs while his expanded territory is up. Furthermore, it seems like it’s incentivized to use Phainon as a hypercarry DPS: not only would he gain Assist stacks when targeted by allied Skills, but this could simultaneously see him charging up his Ultimate, according to what theHonkai: Star Rail3.4 leak has mentioned.
Honkai: Star Rail 3.4’s Leaked Phainon May Be The Best DPS This Year
The Chrysos Heir May Rise Above Aglaea & Castorice
Although this year has already seen the extraordinary releases of DPS characters like Aglaea, Mydei, Castorice, and Anaxa, Phainon may rise above them and establish himself as the best DPS unit of 2025. With the possibility of his Ultimate, which seems to be the central part of his kit, doing various functions – and aligned with a traditional and reliable hypercarry party – Phainon could become this year’s best damage dealer. If the leaks aboutPhainon’s true identity inHonkai: Star Railare true, that could make even more sense, much like how Acheron rose to the occasion in 2024.
For now, the leaks about Phainon should still be considered with a lot of caution. The information provided is most certainly incomplete and could even be wrong. Even if it is true, it could also be subject to various changes over the course of the next weeks, so it’s important to manage expectations around Phainon’s release inHonkai: Star Rail.
