Honkai Impact 3rd is a 2016 free-to-play action role-playing game developed and published by miHoYo (with publishing outside mainland China under HoYoverse). It is the third installment in the science fantasy Honkai series and the spiritual successor to Guns Girl Z, using many characters from the previous title in a separate story. The game is notable for incorporating a variety of genres, from hack and slash and social simulation, to elements of bullet hell, platforming, shoot 'em up and dungeon crawling across multiple single and multiplayer modes. It features gacha mechanics. It was first released on mobile devices and later ported to Microsoft Windows.
A massive expansion of the game, titled Honkai Impact 3rd Part 2 was released on February 29, 2024. Built upon the existing game, the update marks the start of the second major story arc of the game, with new characters, reworked UI, an updated engine, and a shift from a mission-based structure to a limited open-world structure.
In addition to the game, the storyline of Honkai Impact 3rd spans multiple supplementary media including a series of animated shorts, multiple manhua series, and promotional videos.
Gameplay Honkai Impact 3rd is an action role-playing game where players control a team of up to three characters, known as Valkyries (previously localized as Valkyrjur), in real-time battles. The combat follows a rock-paper-scissors-style system in which the game's three main combat types, Biologic, Psychic, and Mecha, are each effective against one of the other two, while two further types, Quantum and Imaginary, are largely unaffected by the rest. Players can swap characters mid-battle to chain attacks for greater effect, and can dodge incoming attacks by timing an evade button press, with a perfectly timed dodge briefly freezing time to allow a powerful counterattack.
Valkyries gain new skills as they level up, primarily through completing story quests, and can be further strengthened with weapons and Stigmata. Stigmata are equippable items represented as non-playable characters that grant buffs, such as attack or health. Equipping a matching set of two or three Stigmata grants additional bonuses, though a higher individual star rating is generally considered more valuable than completing a set. New Valkyries, weapons, and Stigmata are primarily obtained through Supply, the game's gacha system.
Player progress is tracked through a Captain Level, which rises through story progress and daily activities and unlocks features such as joining a guild, known as Armada, at level 30, and separate Valkyrie levels, which rise through battle experience or can be raised directly by spending gold and materials. Gold and Crystals are the game's two primary currencies, both earned through story progress, missions, and daily tasks, with Crystals, the premium currency, also purchasable with real money through microtransactions.
Outside combat, the Dorm mode lets players customize living spaces for their Valkyrie and Stigmata, who appear as miniature versions of themselves; maintaining higher comfort levels boosts passive energy regeneration while players are away from the game.
Story Setting Honkai Impact 3rd is set in an alternate version of Earth plagued by catastrophes caused by the Honkai. The Honkai is generally depicted as a destructive force associated with a mysterious being known as the Will of Honkai. The Honkai can corrupt humans, create various monsters, and grant certain individuals powerful abilities known as Authorities, turning them into Herrschers. Previous Era humans crafted weapons known as Divine Keys from Herrscher cores, allowing their users to access a portion of a Herrscher's power to fight the Honkai. The emergence of a Herrscher can cause a major Honkai disaster known as an Eruption. The Honkai is a cyclical phenomenon that repeatedly threatens civilizations as they develop.
The game's main story begins in 2016 of the Current Era, with the more technologically advanced Previous Era having been destroyed by the Honkai approximately 50,000 years earlier. In the Current Era, various global factions exist to combat or exploit the power of the Honkai. These include Schicksal, Anti-Entropy, and World Serpent.
Three Eruptions had occurred in the Current Era before the start of the series: the First Eruption in 1952, which resulted in the emergence of the Herrscher of Reason, whose first host helped lay the foundations for Anti-Entropy; the Second Eruption in 2000, during which the Herrscher of the Void was defeated by Schicksal and Anti-Entropy; and the Third Eruption in 2014, during which the initial awakening of the Herrscher of Thunder was suppressed before the host was sent to Schicksal's St. Freya High School to train as a Valkyrie.
Plot The game's three main characters, Kiana Kaslana, Raiden Mei, and Bronya Zaychik begin as Valkyrie students at St. Freya High School fighting Honkai outbreaks, but their lives change when Kiana becomes the vessel of Sirin, the Herrscher of the Void, through Schicksal leader Otto Apocalypse's schemes. St. Freya teacher Himeko sacrifices herself to save Kiana, who later learns to control her Herrscher powers with the help of the surviving consciousness of Fu Hua, a former member of the Flame-Chasers, a Previous Era group that fought the Honkai. As Kevin Kaslana, leader of World Serpent, enacts extreme plans to "save" humanity, Mei becomes the Herrscher of Thunder to save Kiana, joining Kevin and leaving Kiana behind.
The conflict escalates with the awakening of multiple Herrschers, the discovery of the Flame-Chasers, and Otto's centuries-long plan to resurrect his childhood friend Kallen by altering the timeline. He succeeds, at the cost of his life. Mei discovers that Elysia, the first Herrscher to fight for humanity, made it possible for later Herrschers such as Kiana, Mei, and Bronya to resist the Honkai's will.
In the final confrontation, Kevin declares himself humanity's ultimate trial. Kiana, Mei, and Bronya battle him on the Moon, defeating him through their combined efforts. Kiana is then recognized by the Cocoon of Finality, the entity associated with the Honkai's cycles of destruction, and becomes the Herrscher of Finality. She chooses to remain on the Moon to watch over Earth and humanity, entrusting Earth's future to her friends.
Characters
St. Freya High School St. Freya High School () is an educational institution founded by Theresa Apocalypse to train students to become Valkyries. It is located on a reclaimed island in the Far East region.
Voiced by: (Chinese); Rie Kugimiya (Japanese) Kiana is the game's main protagonist, serving as a homage to the protagonist of the same name from miHoYo's first three games. Designated K423, she is a clone of the original Kiana Kaslana, now referred to as Durandal. She was created using genes from the Herrscher of the Void.
Voiced by: Juhuahua (Chinese); Miyuki Sawashiro (Japanese) Mei is one of the game's three main characters, serving as a homage to the deuteragonist of the same name in Guns Girl Z. Her initial awakening as the Herrscher of Thunder triggers the Third Eruption in the city of Nagazora. The awakening is suppressed by Schicksal, and she is subsequently taken in by St. Freya to train as a Valkyrie student. She later re-awakens as the Herrscher of Thunder to join World Serpent and save a self-destructive Kiana from dying of Honkai corruption.
Voiced by: Hanser (Chinese); Kana Asumi (Japanese) Bronya is one of the game's three main characters, serving as a homage to the deuteragonist of the same name in Guns Girl Z. She is a Russian orphan who lost her family during the Second Eruption. She was later raised as a child soldier and trained as an assassin. She initially infiltrated St. Freya under her adoptive mother Cocolia's orders, driven by the hope of finding a way to save her lost friend, Seele.
Voiced by: Mace (Chinese); Minami Takayama (Japanese) Hua is a survivor of the Previous Era and a member of the Flame-Chasers ranked 12th, codenamed "Vicissitude". Tasked with guiding survivors of the Previous Era into the Current Era, she spends millennia protecting humanity, which leads to her being deified as a legendary sage in the country of Shenzhou. She later forms a partnership with Otto Apocalypse and serves as his agent. Following her betrayal by Otto, her body is temporarily taken over by the newborn consciousness of the Herrscher of Sentience.
Voiced by: Hualing (Chinese); Yukari Tamura (Japanese) Theresa is the founder and principal of St. Freya and a clone created by Otto from the genes of his childhood friend Kallen. Despite this origin, she defies his methods to resurrect Kallen, though she remains closely tied to him. She was close friends with Kiana's parents, especially her mother, Cecilia Schariac, who died during the Second Eruption. She can be considered functionally similar to a MANTIS, a Previous Era human whose genes were fused with those of a Honkai Beast. Her own genes contain parts of the Honkai Beast Vishnu.
Voiced by: Lin Su (Chinese); Rie Tanaka (Japanese) Himeko is a teacher at St. Freya, leader of Schicksal's Squad V, and captain of the flying battleship Hyperion. She is originally deployed to rescue Kiana, Mei and Bronya from Nagazora and later acts as their squad leader and mentor after their enrollment at St. Freya. She is acquainted with fellow Valkyries Rita and Durandal through their former mentor, Ragna Lothbrok. She later sacrifices herself to save Kiana from the corruption of the Herrscher of the Void.
Schicksal Schicksal () is the oldest anti-Honkai organization of the Current Era. It was founded in Europe during the Middle Ages as a religious organization. Schicksal deploys female human warriors known as Valkyries to combat the Honkai. The organization is usually ruled by a member of the Apocalypse family, which founded Schicksal, under the title of Overseer. It is currently led by Theresa Apocalypse, who succeeded Otto after his death.
Voiced by: (Chinese); Akira Ishida (Japanese) Otto is a genius who has ruled Schicksal for roughly 500 years by transferring his consciousness across different bodies. He is the main antagonist in the first part of the story, driven by his obsessive goal to resurrect Kallen Kaslana.
Voiced by: Miao Jiang (Chinese); Mamiko Noto (Japanese) Durandal is the strongest Valkyrie and the protagonist of the Durandal supplementary visual novel. She is later revealed to be the original Kiana Kaslana, from whom the game's main protagonist, K423, was cloned. She has since adopted the name Bianka Ataegina ().
Voiced by: Xiao N (Chinese); Aoi Yūki (Japanese) Rita is a Valkyrie who serves as Durandal's primary assistant and the second-in-command of the Immortal Blades squad.
Voiced by: Fumeng Ruowei (Chinese); Yū Kobayashi (Japanese) Cecilia is one of the most powerful Valkyries and the mother of Kiana. She plays a significant role during the Second Eruption and serves as a major character in the manhua series of the same name.
Voiced by: Song Yuanyuan (Chinese); Ibuki Kido (Japanese) Kira is a Valkyrie who arrived at a training camp expecting to join a talent training show, only to discover it had already ended and that she had unknowingly enrolled in Valkyrie training instead.
Voiced by: Lin Su (Chinese); (Japanese) Susannah is a Valkyrie and a member of the Phosdjinns Squad.
Voiced by: Chen Tingting (Chinese); Aki Toyosaki (Japanese) Ana is a Valkyrie and member of the Snow Lotus Squad. During the events at Coral Island, she becomes the Herrscher of Ice. After merging with the core of the Herrscher of Stars, the physical source of a Herrscher's power, previously held by World Serpent officer Owl, she transforms into the Herrscher of Rimestar.
Voiced by: Wang Xiaotong (Chinese); Junko Iwao (Japanese)