Things to Note When Starting

📌 Pinned

By Mari • January 1, 2026

← Back to Beginner Guides

One-time Crystals Source

There are multiple One-time Crystals Source, such as:

  1. Story Chapters
  1. Voyage Anecdotes
  1. Chronicles (Under Voyage Anecdotes Menu)
  1. Sensei Examinations (Under Friends Menu)
  1. Elysian Realm when you first obtain certain new valkyries, clear Shallow Sequence, and level them up to level 15 (in ER)
  1. Achievements

Regular Crystals Source

Here is the complete crystal source list and calculations through a patch IN GENERAL, assuming an 8-week (56 days) patch and for lv 81+ tier captains: F2P:

  1. Daily Duty: 56d x 40 crys = 2,240
  2. Daily Sign-In: ~14 times x 50 crys = ~700
  3. Daily HoyoLab Sign-In: ~10 times x 10 crys = ~100
  4. Weekly Armada: 8w x 25 crys = 200 Note: your armada HAS to be active enough to obtain this reward.
  5. Weekly share: 8w x 30 crys = 240
  6. Elysian Realm: 8w x 500 crys = 4,000 Note: Corruption or above (2.5x +) level
  7. Memorial Arena: 8w x 140 crys = 1,120 Note: You need to clear all SSS bosses with 46080 and 38400 score respectively, translating to around 2 minutes of Memorial Arena time.
  8. Abyss: 16 times x 420 crys = 6,720 Note: On assumption you retain Masters’ Red Lotus/Exalted Agony 3 comfortably.
  9. BP (F2P): 1,250 crys
  10. Tutorials (valk&weapons) & Version Share: 85 crys
  11. Version Survey: 200 crys
  12. Maintenance: 600 crys
  13. Story Chapter: 340 crys Notes: BASED on v8.8 featured story chapter
  14. All events: 1020 crys
  15. Livestream: 350 crys Notes: BASED on all v8.8 events

TOTAL: ~19,165 crys for F2P Players.

Abyss Rewards full list here

Abyss Rewards

Monthly only Players: 56d x 60 crys + ~4 x 500 crys = ~5,360 additional crystals

Total = ~24,525 crystals

Monthly + Paid BP (2,000 crys): ~26,525 crystals

Remember, this is a rough estimation of crystals earned in an 8 week patch. You can also check crystal calculator made by Carrak here.

Now that you’ve stacked crystals, you’d like to know who should you pull, right?

We’d help you on that!

Who Should I Pull?

There are two extremes when you ask that question: the Meta Answer and the Casual Answer. Both shall be answered here.

Short Meta Answer:

Pull the newest Valkyrie (Character) AND their Signature Weapon. AVOID Dorm Supply and Starter Supply.

Pull the newest Valkyrie AND their Signature Weapon, as they are mostly guaranteed to last the longest in the current meta in the current patch and the next few patches in the future.

Hard Fact: HI3’s harder content (Q-Manifold/Superstring Dimension, A.K.A. Abyss, and Memorial Arena) are usually centered around the Valkyries currently featured in the limited gachas (Battlesuit & Equipment Supply).

Higher Valkyrie S-ranks, better gear, and better team compositions equal to higher scores in the Abyss PVP arenas, of which is especially true in the higher Abyss ranks (notably, Red Lotus and Nirvana). Though, do note that better Valks and gear do NOT equal better scores if you are just blindly pressing buttons, but that is another matter.

Now, after saving up and pulling the newest Valkyrie and her weapon, your next step is, obviously, to pull the rest of her team!

Keep in mind that in HI3, a Valkyrie’s “best team” is not fixed, especially now with P2’s Astral Ring mechanics prevalent in the meta. Her team changes depending on which boss you are facing in Abyss and MA, which makes it tricky for just anyone to tell you who you should pull next. For a more concise answer for that question, the best way to find that answer is by asking a veteran HI3 player in a HI3 Discord server/forum, etc., as this page can only give you a general description of what you should look for in the meta sense.

Generally, if this is your first time making a P2 Valkyrie team - as a New Player or a Returnee - your best “pull” strategy is to pick the two other newest Valkyries who share the same Astral Ring Attributes with the P2 Valkyrie whose team you are building. Check out our Astral Ring guide.

For example, if your Valkyrie is of the “Grail of Infinitude” Astral Ring Specialization, you should aim for the two other newest Valkyries with the matching “Symbiosis” Astral Ring Attribute. The term “newest” in this case could be an already released Valkyrie who fits this description (“backpull”), or a Valkyrie just revealed in CN-beta or just released in the advanced CN server (“save”). 

Simply, a vital rule in HI3 Meta is “New/Current Gacha = Meta”. Like other games, new version will shill the debuting valkyrie through Q-Manifold/Superstring Dimension, Memorial Arena, and Elysian Realm weekly challenges. You’ll notice the debuting valkyrie shill might not be as bad as version passes depends on the other banners, but this shouldn’t deter you too much as Honkai Impact 3 is a matured game, so does the complexity.

Once you get these two new Valkyries for your team (and their respective weapons), you would have built a “base team” (at minimum) for your first Valkyrie, which is honestly the hardest part for any New Player/Returnee to do. At this point, you’ll have a bit more flexibility on who you must pull to keep up with HI3’s meta (basically, just repeat the earlier steps, again and again), and maybe even pull for your first gacha Astral Op to round your first team up. 

  1. AVOID Dorm & Starter Supply
    • It’s a common pitfall that new players fall into. Don’t be these newbie traps’ next victim. Reasons explained here. 
  2. AVOID Non-Astral Ring Valkyries (P1 Valks)
    • Older P1 Valks are extremely niche and most of them have lost their place in the current HI3 meta. 
      • Purchasing older Valks with certain B-chip packs (real money, usually the only way in the following scenario) are not worth it for the average new player, even if you manage to get their fancy new meta-relevant Astral Key, due to the high S-rank investment needed, when you could just get the latest P2 Valk everyone’s getting.
  3. Always pull the Valk with her signature weapon
    • Sadly, we’re NOT like the newer Hoyo-games who can get away with using non-BIS equipment. We just don’t do that here. Fortunately, you don’t have to deal with the usual Hoyo 50/50 mechanic, and you’ll only need 60 rolls, or 16,800 crystals, to guarantee it. 
  4. New is always better, meta-wise
    • Are you a New Player/Returnee wanting a meta Valk? Get whoever’s new and worry about her proper team later, unless you already have a plan on who you’re getting or are comfortable skipping while you save up for the next Valk. 
  5. Pull during Spending Events
    • The best time to get the most bang out of your buck. Pulling during Spending Events award you with special event currencies that allow you to buy a featured Valk, additional stamps for that Valk (and another) and rare weapons, etc. from your gacha spendings.
    • Spending Events are also the only times when any Captain would ever roll the Dorm Supply.
    • Additionally, each spending event with 30k crystals spent will obtain you a valkyrie outfit for free!

Keep in mind that if you plan on transitioning to a more meta-relevant team in the future, getting the newest Valkyrie (and her weapon) or saving for the next patch’s Valkyrie is the safest choice to make. Just remember to have fun.

So, you might wonder now, what is HI3’s Rules of Meta?

We break them down and provide you the TL;DR.

TL;DR Rules of HI3 Meta

In Honkai Impact, valkyries are divided to 4 Elements and 6 Types. Each valkyrie has exactly 1 Element and 1 Type and these affect her niche.

Type and Type Chart

Below is the relationship of 6 Honkai Impact 3 valkyrie and boss types, by Hyperion Ai-Chan. Solid lines mean said type counters the other with increased damage, and dashed line means said type is countered with decreased damage.

So, how do you view a valkyrie’s type? You can view from her info card. It is the attribute to the right of her level.

To effectively combat enemies, deploy the right DPS type against the enemies. This will help you 50% of the time.

Element Type

Next is damage element. There are 4 elements in Honkai Impact 3.

  1. Physical
  2. Fire
  3. Ice
  4. Lightning

The last 3 elements are often collectively called Elemental DMG, and Physical DMG stands alone as it has very different DMG calculation from the rest of the three.

  1. ONLY Physical DMG is capable of dealing Critical DMG. Please, please note this!
  2. Impair debuff is only useful for Physical DMG. Aside from these, what you need to think of about Element Type is specific boss resistance or immunity. Resistance means reduced DMG, while Immunity means 0 DMG.

How do you view a valkyrie’s element type? You can view from her info card. It is the attribute to the right of her type.

Learning about valkyries’ DMG Element will help your gaming experience 25-50% of the time. These 2 are enough for most of the beginner time before breaking through.

Read more about HI3 core mechanics here.

Prefering someone to teach you about HI3 do & don’ts? HI3 has Cadet & Sensei system in-game that rewards you crystals.

Learn more about Sensei system here!

Honkai Impact 3rd has a Sensei system that would be really useful to guide people through the early game and earn extra crystals. You can watch this video by Laz-y for the Sensei system!

You’ll also notice there are some crystals given for every Sensei Exam phase cleared. You get 1740 crystals in total this way. Regardless of being able to clear all 10 Sensei Exam phases or not, once you reach level 80, you automatically graduate and the unfinished Exam phases can’t be accessed anymore. Once you graduate, you become the sensei that are ready to accept cadets, 2 maximum at a time.

This is as important. Although in-game senseis aren’t obliged to guide their cadets, it’s best you find senseis that truly want to teach and share love of Honkai Impact 3rd with you! One of the best ways to find senseis are through Official HI3 Discord server .

By the way, leveling up to lv 80 means you will be going through Breakthrough process.

What is Breakthrough? The answer is here!

What is Breakthrough?

Reaching lv 80 will only take 1-2 months from a brand new Honkai Impact 3rd account. Once you reach level 80, the game will give you option whether to breakthrough or not.

  1. If you choose not to Breakthrough, your level are capped to 80, with competitive content (Q-Manifold and Memorial Arena) remain way easier.
  2. If you choose to Breakthrough, you can keep leveling up to 88. Once level up to 81, your next abyss will be replaced by Superstring Dimension and Memorial Arena entering the Exalted tier with SSS bosses available.

When Should You Breakthrough?

Breakthrough option stays there before you say yes, and you can always hold on not breaking through. Once you decide to, you can’t revert the decision. There are pros and cons to Breakthrough and not to. Breaking through means:

  1. Harder abyss and Memorial Arena content, sometimes requiring you to try really hard, be really creative, or even spend money in game to stay on the topmost abyss tier and MA ranks.
  2. But also means you gain more rewards from the same content, and you can continue leveling up your PRI-Arms to the max level (65).

Not breaking through means:

  1. Clearing content way easier with less resources, valkyries, and efforts.
  2. Less rewards gained and unmaxed PRI-arm weapons at lv. 50, with almost no up-to-date community guides for this level.

If you want to breakthrough, my suggestion is to prepare these:

  1. Keep your level for a while until you can comfortably stay in Red Lotus Q-Manifold consecutively
  2. Learn more advanced mechanics instead of depending on huge damage
  3. Get at least 5 S-Rank ASTRAL RING valkyries where you can form at least 3 teams of different Astral Ring Specialization.

This way, you could be able to handle more niches.

But what is Astral Ring? Time to learn more!

Astral Ring Guide

Astral Ring (AR) system enables compatible teams to be mix-and-matched unlike the previous system. Only 22 valkyries are categorized as AR valkyries.

AR valkyries ALL function as BOTH DPS and supports. They are able to enter special state named and are divided to 5 Astral Ring Specializations each with unique Stellar Outburst mechanics.

As support, AR valkyries own 1 or more AR Attributes to support other AR valkyries with matching AR Specializations. Usually, support valkyries without matching AR Attributes can’t support their leaders properly, with few exceptions. Regardless, this system allows players to mix-and-match teams thus allowing more team combinations than pre-AR system since pre-AR system teams are rigid in roles.

The chart below lists the 5 Astral Ring Specializations and Attributes, and describes their relationships.

Quick Summary

  • A-rank Coralie and Helia are good placeholder supports
  • You don’t need to pull premium astral ops if you are F2P
  • Build your team around your leader’s specialization, but it’s not that necessary to backpull just to maximize your teams.

Rite of Oblivion valkyries are strong supports and have unique Stellar Outburst style that are usually done alone without switching supports.

Rite of Oblivion Valkyrie List

World Star valkyries’ Stellar Outbursts will place Resonance Mark to be detonated by themselves, then their supports for extra DMG.

World Star Valkyrie List

Wheel of Destiny valkyries’ Stellar Outbursts replace their supports with Phantoms to attack while buffing them.

Wheel of Destiny Valkyrie List

Law of Ascension teams quickly switch to each other as part of their rotations. LoA Stellar Outbursts don’t have time limit and switching to others will trigger special QTE to buff the team.

Law of Ascension Valkyrie List

Grail of Destiny valkyries’ Stellar Outbursts share SP with the whole team. Reaching 900 and 1800 shared SP usage will buff the leaders’ DMG further more.

Grail of Infinitude Valkyrie List

For complete Astral Ring System guide, watch this video

← Back to Beginner Guides