Honkai Star Rail Beginner Progression: Main Story First Or Farm Materials?

Starting Your Journey: The Core Value of Main Story Progression

For new players just starting out in Honkai: Star Rail, your first big in-game choice often determines how smooth your entire early game experience will be. The most straightforward and effective strategy is to prioritize pushing through the main story campaign first. Main story quests are not only the key to unlocking the full game world, but also the most reliable source of massive amounts of early-game resources.

When you complete main story chapters, the system rewards you with plenty of credits, experience items, and base gear. These resources are more than enough to let your starting 4-star characters handle almost all early-game fights, so you don’t need to spread your energy out grinding intentionally. At the same time, progressing through the main story gradually unlocks Honkai: Star Rail’s core game systems, such as Simulated Universe and Relic Synthesis, laying the groundwork for deeper character building later on.

When To Farm Materials: After Unlocking Trailblaze Power And Dungeons

So does that mean you never need to farm materials at all? The answer is no, but timing is absolutely critical. In the very early game, you haven’t unlocked the Trailblaze Power (stamina) system yet, so you can’t even access regular material farming dungeons. Blindly searching for materials just wastes time, since the power you gain from story progression is usually enough to cover all your needs.

Once you push the main story to a certain point, the stamina system officially unlocks, and that’s when “farming materials” becomes a truly valuable option. The recommended rhythm is: whenever you hit a clear difficulty barrier in the main story (like getting stuck on a boss fight), first check your current gear and character levels. If you’re only slightly underpowered, you can spend stamina farming the materials you need for a small boost; if you have a significant gap in power, you should go back to the main story and rely on story rewards to level up your characters.

The Balanced Strategy: Dynamically Switch Between Main Story And Farming

The most efficient early game progression isn’t an either/or choice, but a dynamic shift in focus based on your progress. A good cycle to follow is: prioritize pushing main story until you hit a fight with a clear jump in difficulty. When you reach that point, stop and assess your current character power.

If you’re lacking damage or struggling with too much survival pressure, plan out the materials you need (like ascension materials or ability upgrade materials) and spend stamina farming them all in one go. Once you finish upgrading, jump right back into the main story to keep progressing. This keeps your story progression flowing smoothly, while also ensuring your power level always keeps up with content, so you don’t get stuck in the boring cycle of repetitive farming with no progress.

Final Takeaway: Prioritize Main Story, Use Farming As Support

To sum up, for new Honkai: Star Rail players, “main story first, materials second” is a priority order that fits perfectly with the game’s design. The main story provides irreplaceable growth momentum and unlocks core systems, making it the foundation of your early game journey; farming materials is just a targeted strengthening tool to break through bottlenecks when you get stuck.

Remember that early game has limited ways to get resources, so avoid getting stuck in purely repetitive material grinding too early. Keep pushing the main story forward, and let the story carry you along — this is the best way to enjoy your journey across the stars.