If you just downloaded Honkai Star Rail after seeing your friends gush about their favorite 5-star characters and fun turn-based combat, you’re probably eager to jump straight to pulling for banners and exploring Jarilo-VI or the Xianzhou Luofu. But first, you have to get through the opening tutorial, and it’s normal to wonder how long is the Honkai Star Rail tutorial before you can freely play the game. I’ve gone through the tutorial on three different accounts for both PC and mobile, so I’ve got the exact timelines, skipable sections, and speedrun tips you need to cut down on wait time without missing critical rewards.
Exact Breakdown of How Long Is the Honkai Star Rail Tutorial For New Players
The total tutorial length varies a lot depending on whether you watch cutscenes or skip them, and how much time you spend testing out mechanics as you go. If you skip every possible cutscene and tutorial pop-up once you understand the basics, you can get through the full tutorial in 35 to 40 minutes flat. If you watch all the opening story cutscenes and read every tutorial prompt, expect it to take between 1 hour 45 minutes and 2 hours total.
The tutorial is split into two core segments, and a lot of players get confused about where it actually ends. The first segment takes place on Herta Space Station, where you unlock your first party members and learn basic combat mechanics. That segment takes roughly 25 minutes if you skip cutscenes, or 1 hour if you watch all story content. You’re not actually done with the tutorial when you leave the space station, though.
The second short tutorial segment plays out when you first land on Jarilo-VI. You’ll have a few short combat encounters, meet the first set of Jarilo-VI main characters, and go through a quick walkthrough of the overworld movement system. This segment takes 10 to 15 minutes if you skip cutscenes, or 45 minutes to 1 hour if you watch all story beats. The tutorial officially ends when you unlock the Astral Express travel function and gain access to the full world map, daily missions, and event pages.
Which Parts of the Honkai Star Rail Tutorial Can You Skip?
Many new players who are asking how long is the Honkai Star Rail tutorial also want to know if they can skip large chunks of it to save time. The good news is most of the non-mechanical content is fully skipable, and you won’t miss any rewards for skipping it. All cutscenes can be skipped by tapping the skip button in the top right corner of the screen as soon as it pops up, and you can go back and rewatch them later if you change your mind.
Most combat tutorial pop-ups are also skipable after you complete the first three mandatory combat encounters. If you’ve played turn-based RPGs before, or you’ve watched other people play Honkai Star Rail, you don’t need to read through every explanation of weakness breaks, skill points, and ultimate charges to get the hang of the system. You can always pull up the tutorial library later if you run into a mechanic you don’t understand.
There are a small number of mandatory sections you can’t skip, no matter how fast you want to get through the opening. These include:
You don’t have to worry about missing story content if you skip cutscenes during your first run. All cutscenes, character dialogues, and lore entries are saved to the in-game story archive as soon as you unlock them, so you can go back and read or watch them whenever you have free time after you finish the tutorial.
Simple Tips to Speed Through the Honkai Star Rail Tutorial Faster
If you’re looking to cut down how long is the Honkai Star Rail tutorial for your first playthrough, these simple tips will help you shave 10 to 15 minutes off your total time. First, pre-select your server before you launch the game for the first time. A lot of new players waste 5 to 10 minutes browsing different servers and reading server descriptions after the initial loading screen, so picking your server ahead of time cuts that wait out entirely.
Second, Turn off auto-play for cutscenes in the settings menu as soon as you get access to it. By default, cutscenes play on auto for the first 10 to 15 seconds before the skip button unlocks, but turning off auto-play lets you skip them immediately as soon as they load. That small change saves a ton of time over the full run of the tutorial.
Third, don’t stop to customize your builds, mess with team comps, or test out every character skill during the tutorial. The tutorial enemies are intentionally very weak, so you can beat every encounter without optimizing your party at all. You’ll have plenty of time to test out builds and adjust your team once you unlock the Astral Express, so there’s no point wasting time on it during the opening segments.
I tested these tips last year when a limited banner I wanted dropped right as I made a new alt account, and I got through the full tutorial in 32 minutes flat. The only small downside is you might miss a few small lore easter eggs, but you can always go back and find those later once you’re free to explore.
What Rewards Do You Get for Completing the Honkai Star Rail Tutorial?
Even if you’re rushing to cut down how long is the Honkai Star Rail tutorial, it’s worth noting that the rewards you get for completing it are some of the best early-game handouts you’ll get. First, you’ll earn 1,600 Stellar Jade just for finishing the prologue segments, which is enough for one full 10-pull on any limited or standard banner. You also get a guaranteed free 10-pull during the warp system tutorial that will always give you at least one 4-star character to add to your party.
You’ll also get a full set of 3-star relics for your Trailblazer, March 7th, and Dan Heng, enough credits to level your entire party to level 15, and 10 adventure logs to boost your Trailblaze level fast. Once you finish the full tutorial, you’ll unlock the daily mission system, character assignment system, and event page, so you can start earning extra Stellar Jade and upgrade materials right away.
One important note: Don’t delete your account and restart the tutorial over and over if you don’t get the 5-star character you want on your first few pulls. You’ll earn far more Stellar Jade and free pulls as you progress through the main story, so redoing the tutorial 10 times to get a specific 5-star is almost never worth the time investment. If you really want a specific character, it’s faster to play through the early story missions to earn extra pulls than to reroll the tutorial repeatedly.
At the end of the day, how long is the Honkai Star Rail tutorial depends entirely on how much of the opening story you want to experience first. If you just want to get to the fun open-world exploration and banner pulls as fast as possible, you can knock it out in under 40 minutes with the tips we shared. If you want to sit back and enjoy the award-winning story and character introductions, you can take as long as 2 hours to get through the opening without missing anything. Either way, the tutorial is designed to get you comfortable with the game's core mechanics without wasting too much of your time, so you can start building your dream team and exploring the galaxy in no time.
