Upcoming characters

Phoenix Reffaella

S-Rank · Fire · Anomaly

Live since Version 3.3 opened on 2026-10-21 at 06:00 UTC+8, and her kit is now published in the client rather than datamined. Core Passive Nirvana: when any squad member deals Anomaly DMG the enemy enters the Sear state for 20s, and Anomaly DMG against a Sear'd enemy can crit at a base 30% CRIT Rate and 12.5% CRIT DMG; each point of Phoenix's initial Anomaly Mastery above 155 adds 0.7% CRIT Rate, maxing at 100% when her initial Anomaly Mastery reaches 255. Sear also deals Fire DMG equal to 25% of her ATK every 8s as EX Special Attack DMG. Rebirth means she is not defeated by fatal DMG and recovers 50% Max HP on her next entry, once every 1,200s in Investigation Zone Mode. Additional Ability Krampus Ace is a flat 15% CRIT DMG against Sear when one other squad member is an Anomaly character or shares her faction. This entry previously carried three beta figures that the live text contradicts, and they are named here because the page printed them: the status was "Weakened" (it is Sear), the Mastery threshold was 145 (it is 155, capping at 255), and the revive was a 300-second cooldown after being defeated (she is never defeated, and the 1,200s figure applies to Investigation Zone Mode). The Additional Ability was also reported as 25% or 40% scaling with 2 or 3 Anomaly teammates, which did not ship. Her signature W-Engine is Plume of Rebirth, whose live Hatching Day passive gives 90 Anomaly Proficiency and a 40% Fire DMG window when any squad member's Anomaly DMG crits; the beta figure of 75 Proficiency plus 30 Mastery was wrong. Build is Freedom Blues 4-piece with Phaethon's Melody 2-piece, and the premium team is Phoenix with Velina and Remielle on the Ariel Bangboo. One thing stays unresolved and is called out in the guide: Game8's build table puts Anomaly Proficiency on disc 4 while its own note on reaching 255 asks for Anomaly Mastery there, so the standard build and the guaranteed-crit build may not be the same build. Her channel, "Into the Flames of Life", runs to 2026-11-11 with Velina's "Graceful Gale" rerun beside it.

Severian Lowell

S-Rank · Wind · Attack

Identity and phase are confirmed; the kit is not. HoYoverse revealed him as an S-Rank Wind Attack Agent of the Metropolitan Order Division, Seth Lowell's older brother and the first Agent to wield a giant sword, and the 2026-10-09 Version 3.3 Special Program placed him in Phase 2 from November 11 with Norma Hollowell's first rerun beside him, which retires the "rumoured on weaker evidence" caveat this entry carried about the reruns. The end date is settled at December 1 as of 2026-10-19, against the December 2 the arithmetic gives: bannerhistory.app, Game8's Incarcerating Grip banner page and zzz-build.com all give the 1st, and the only source for the 2nd labels its own dates as an estimate. The whole beta kit stays unconfirmed (Wind Rider at +60% for one stack and +300% for two, the dodge built into his Basic Attack string, and the signature W-Engine at 713 base ATK / 24% CRIT Rate), His signature W-Engine is Incarcerating Grip, an S-Rank Attack engine per Game8's dedicated page, corrected here 2026-10-19 from the "Cage of Forbidden Sins" this entry carried: zzz-build.com, the one source for that name, now says its pages still print pre-release client strings where the English cards read Incarcerating Grip. Norma's Chief Sidekick shares the Phase 2 W-Engine channel. His Core Skill is Endless Breeze. The surname "Lowell" is datamine-only and appeared in none of the broadcast coverage checked on 2026-10-10.

Kafka

Confirmed to appear in Version 3.4 and nothing beyond that. HoYoverse closed the 2026-10-09 Version 3.3 "Journey to the Sky" Special Program with a Honkai: Star Rail crossover teaser at roughly the 33 minute mark: Robin hums, Kafka interrupts with "Listen.", and a static image of both redrawn in ZZZ style ends the stream. Siliconera, GosuGamers and Game8 all report the same teaser and all three state that attribute, Specialty, rarity and playability were not announced. No rarity, element or role is recorded here for that reason, and no drip marketing has started for either character. The December 2 opening is derived rather than announced: 3.3 Phase 2 closes 2026-12-01 at 14:59 GMT+8 (bannerhistory.app, Game8's Incarcerating Grip page and zzz-build.com all publish that close), ZZZ opens a new version the morning after the final phase closes as it did on 2026-10-21, and 42 days from the 3.3 opening lands on the same day. Whether either character is a pullable Agent, a free giveaway or an event NPC is unannounced; both prior HoYoverse crossovers of this shape (HSR 3.4 and HSR 4.4, Fate/stay night) gave away a free limited 5-star, which is precedent and not a commitment. NEEDS_REVIEW until the 3.4 Special Program, expected 2026-11-20 to 2026-11-25.

Robin

The other half of the Version 3.4 Honkai: Star Rail crossover, on the same 2026-10-09 teaser and with the same blanks: no attribute, no Specialty, no rarity, no confirmation that she is playable. Speculation that she arrives as a Physical Support Agent is a transposition of her Honkai: Star Rail kit and is not sourced to HoYoverse. Phase order between her and Kafka is also unannounced, so neither is recorded as Phase 1 or Phase 2 here. NEEDS_REVIEW until the 3.4 Special Program.

Cornerstone

6-star · Mineral · Riposte carry

Live now on "The Future's Foundation" with 5-star Diggers and Desert Flannel on rate-up, and the damage half of 3.8. The October 15 open was a projection here until it happened; it landed on the date, so the window is confirmed rather than inferred, and November 5 at 04:59 (UTC-5) is the version close. A Mineral Riposte carry, so the pull question is whether you are starting a Riposte core or upgrading one.

Everecho

6-star · Mineral · Conduit healer

Closed October 15 at 04:59 (UTC-5) when Phase 2 opened. A Conduit healer who buffs while sustaining, so she was an upgrade only if a 5-star was healing that team. Off the channel until a rerun.

Hedone

6-star · Mineral · Arcanist

Unusually knowable for a banner this far out, because CN already ran Version 3.9 from August 13, so the lineup is on the record rather than leaked. November 5 is a projection from two routes that agree: 3.8 plus six weeks, and August 13 plus the 84-day CN-to-Global gap.

Narcissus

6-star · Arcanist

Confirmed from the CN run of 3.9 alongside Hedone. Deliberately undated: Phase 1 is itself a projection, so putting a date on Phase 2 would stack a guess on a guess.

Haute Couture::Le Rouge King of Needleworks Heathcliff

000 · Pierce · Self-damage Bleed carry

Live, and the kit is published, so the "named and dated and nothing else" hedge this entry carried from the teaser is retired. 000, Pierce on every skill, 280 HP, Defense Level 65, stagger thresholds at 50 percent (140 HP) and 30 percent (84 HP), Slash Fatal at double damage and Pierce Ineffective at half. He pays his own health for damage and the payment is the engine rather than the cost: losing HP grants Pulsation and Tiny and Sharp Nails, and HP costs can neither stagger him nor take him below 1 HP. At 3 Needlekin he fires an extra Double stitching at random enemies at the end of an attack skill, and a third passive hands him Needlekin every turn end, so that trigger comes round on its own. The detail that decides shards is the first passive: if the ally Sinclair is on the field at turn start he gains Cry of the Cocoon, which grows into stronger Cocoon stages. Sinclair's own channel closed at 10:00 KST two hours before this one opened, so Project Moon has wired last fortnight's rate-up into this one and the Dispenser craft for her comes before this banner rather than after it. NEEDS_REVIEW on the sin spread alone: his page states Lust as the Identity affinity, and the Envy/Lust/Wrath per-skill reading comes off skill icons rather than page text. Window from limbuscompany.wiki.gg's Extraction/Banner History.

Haute Couture::Le Noir 3F Public Address Room Hong Lu

000 · Blunt · Preservation wall / Tremor enabler

Live and published, and the sturdiest Identity Season 8 has shipped: 000, Blunt, 316 HP, Defense Level 69, a single stagger threshold at 45 percent (142 HP), Blunt arriving at half damage against him and Pierce Fatal at double, which is the hole in the wall. He runs on Preservation, the Le Noir Charge variant Don Quixote introduced, gains Ready to Narrate at up to one stack a turn, and his Le Noir: Worsted passive scales his Defense Skill clash power off the Preservation count and hands him a Worsted Overcoat at 8 or more. His skills reach for Tremor, Tremor Burst, Sloth Resist Down, Shield, Protection and Assist Defense, so he is a wall and a Tremor enabler rather than a damage source. This is a pick-one banner against Heathcliff: own Sinclair or Ishmael and Heathcliff compounds what you have, run Le Noir behind Ryōshū and Don Quixote and Hong Lu is the fit. NEEDS_REVIEW on his sin affinities, which his page does not state and which are deliberately not inferred from icons here, so only the damage type is recorded. Window from limbuscompany.wiki.gg's Extraction/Banner History.

Ellen Joe

5-star · Ice · Destruction DPS

The ZZZ side of the crossover, going the other way. Teased for Honkai: Star Rail Version 4.8 during HSR's September preview broadcast, and HoYoverse teaser art on 2026-10-27 confirmed she keeps her Ice element and arrives as a 5-star Destruction unit focused on multi-target damage, per Siliconera. What is not announced: her exact banner phase, her Light Cone, whether she is free, and the 4.8 release date. Icy Veins expects 2026-12-22 and Dot Esports 2026-12-23, HoYoverse has confirmed neither, and the one-day disagreement is unresolved, so no date is asserted here. ZZZ players who already run her will find the original build on our ZZZ guide; this is a separate unit in a separate game and the two kits should not be assumed to match.