Powercreep doesn’t just affect characters since it even influences new enemies. Numerous Honkai: Star Rail players have already noticed the HP inflation problem that has been plaguing the recent patches. No, it’s not just your feeling that the new bosses and enemies have been getting beefier. While some may want to ignore this issue, I would argue that this is something HoYoverse needs to address.
Let’s be frank, Honkai: Star Rail isn’t a difficult game. In fact, you can clear the majority of its content by using the Auto function as long as your team and builds are decent. That is why it’s not difficult for fans to start noticing when things are getting tough.
This problem starts to crop up when version 2.0 is released, especially when players need to defeat Aventurine. The boss fight is very challenging due to his damage and mechanic, but some may start to notice the spike in HP. Besides Aventurine, the other story bosses have also become more brutal, and you may have heard of fans asking HoYoverse to nerf the fights.
Can We Slow Down a Bit?
This is the first sign of trouble, yet the true issue lies in Honkai: Star Rail end-game content. If you think the story bosses are difficult, you will be surprised at how challenging these bosses become in the end-game modes, like Memory of Chaos. Back in version 1.0, facing a boss with one million HP was the norm, but now you should expect to fight bosses with two million or more.
While I believe that power creep and rising difficulty are inevitable, the rate of HP inflation in Honkai: Star Rail is too high. This issue get to the point that characters released in version 1.0 are no longer that viable. These days it would be better for players to skip pulling on rerun banners and only target new units since they’ll be more useful in battles.
I understand that HoYoverse needs to make money. That’s why they make the new characters more appealing and powerful than the old ones. After all, what’s the point of pulling new units if your current ones can clear the content easily? However, the rate of HP inflation is too unsustainable. If this keeps going, then F2P players won’t be able to even participate in the end-game modes since they need to use new 5-star units to clear the current cycle.
This also makes the FOMO effect even stronger. If you fail to get the new character in the first banner, then that unit will become obsolete when the rerun arrives. This is something HoYoverse needs to avoid since that will just end up making players feel like their hard work is a waste. Building a character takes a lot of resources and time. If that new unit is already obsolete within months, that will make playing Honkai: Star Rail unenjoyable.
Increasing the bosses’ HP is a very lazy way to increase difficulty. It’s also a poor gameplay design. HoYoverse can make interesting enemies like the TV monsters in Penacony. If you hit them, it will change their mood. Happy TV will buff your team while the angry ones will deal debuffs or damage. This is an interesting mechanic and a much more engaging way to make things challenging than just giving the enemies more HP.
Luckily, things aren’t that bad yet in Honkai: Star Rail. While the bosses have much more HP than their old versions, the HP inflation issue has not yet reached the point of no return. This is only a warning of what may come to pass if HoYoverse keeps cranking up the HP of the enemies.
