When I first started playing Honkai Star Rail, I struggled to beat the higher floors of the Forgotten Hall because my roster was too limited. I had no idea I could borrow fully built 5-star characters from other players until a friend told me I just needed to learn how to friend people on Honkai Star Rail to unlock that perk. If you’re in the same boat, tired of grinding alone or missing out on free rewards tied to the friend system, this guide will walk you through every step you need to know. We’ll cover sending requests, managing your list, maximizing the benefits of having active friends, and avoiding common mistakes that can get your requests ignored.
Step-by-Step: How to Friend People on Honkai Star Rail
First, you have to unlock the friend system, which happens automatically after you complete the first two missions on Jarilo-VI, usually around Trailblaze Level 15. If you don’t see the friend icon on the top right of your screen yet, keep pushing the main story for another 30 minutes or so and it will pop up. Once you have access, the process is super straightforward:
- Tap the friend icon on the top right of your main screen, then select the Add Friend tab on the left side of the menu.
- Enter the exact UID of the player you want to add, or browse the list of recommended players that the game shows you based on your Trailblaze Level and recent co-op activity. You can find your own UID on the bottom left of your main screen if you want to share it with other people looking to add friends.
- Add a short custom message if you want to increase your chance of being accepted (we’ll cover what to write later in this guide), then tap send.
You can send up to 20 friend requests per day, so don’t be afraid to send them to players you meet in co-op sessions or see posting their UIDs in official Honkai Star Rail communities. Just make sure you don’t spam the same player multiple times, as that can lead to you being blocked. One thing a lot of new players miss is that you can also add players directly from co-op lobbies after you finish a run. Just tap their name on the post-run score screen and select “Send Friend Request” to skip typing their UID entirely. If you’re still figuring out how to friend people on Honkai Star Rail and want to build a list fast, posting your UID in relevant threads is the fastest way to do it.
How to Get More Friend Requests Accepted
There’s nothing more frustrating than sending 10 friend requests a day and getting zero accepted, right? The good news is that small tweaks to how you send requests can boost your acceptance rate by 70% based on my own testing over the past few months. First, always add a short custom message instead of sending the blank default request. Most active players get dozens of blank requests a day, so a quick note like “Love your Seele build, would love to borrow it for Forgotten Hall!” or “New player looking for active friends to trade gifts with” will make you stand out.
Next, only send requests to players who are within 10 Trailblaze Levels of you. Players who are 20+ levels higher than you usually only accept requests from people they know, because their friend list is almost always full. You also want to check if their support character is set to something you actually need, and mention that in your message if you can. If a player has not logged in for 7+ days, don’t waste a request on them. You can check their last login time on their profile before you send a request, so take two seconds to confirm they’re active. The last tip is to post your own UID in official communities with a note about what you offer. For example, if you have a fully built E6 Bronya as your support, mention that, and you’ll get dozens of requests in a few hours without having to send any yourself.
Maximize the Benefits of Your Honkai Star Rail Friend List
Adding friends isn’t just for bragging rights, it unlocks a ton of useful rewards and quality of life features that make playing the game way easier. The biggest benefit for new players is the ability to borrow one support character per day from your friends for use in Forgotten Hall, Simulated Universe, and even some event stages. If you don’t have a strong DPS or support character built, borrowing a fully kitted 5-star from a friend can help you clear content you would otherwise be locked out of for weeks. You also get 20 Stellar Jade the first time you borrow a friend’s character, so that’s an easy free pull right there. Once you know how to friend people on Honkai Star Rail and build a list of active players, you’ll never run out of support characters to borrow again.
Another big perk is the ability to send and receive gifts daily. Each gift gives you 5 credits, 100 Trailblaze EXP, and 1 Assist Point. You can earn up to 100 Assist Points per day, which you can trade for Star Rail Passes, Refined Aether, and other valuable items in the Assist Point shop. If you have 30 active friends, you can hit that 100 Assist Point cap every single day without extra effort. One thing most players don’t know is that you also get bonus rewards for completing co-op missions with friends, instead of random players. These bonuses include extra credits, ascension materials, and even occasional Stellar Jade drops, so it’s always better to run co-op with people on your friend list if you can. Just make sure you clean out your friend list once a month to remove inactive players, so you have space to add new active ones. I usually remove anyone who hasn’t logged in for 14 days or more, unless they’re a real life friend who told me they’re taking a break.
Common Friend System Mistakes to Avoid
After using the friend system for months and talking to dozens of other active players, I’ve picked up on a few common mistakes that can make your friend list feel useless or even get you reported. First, don’t spam your friends with co-op requests for every single minor mission. Most players only have 30 minutes to an hour to play per day, so spamming them with requests to run Calyxes 10 times in a row will get you removed from their list fast. If you need help with something, send a quick message first asking if they’re free, instead of spamming invites.
Second, don’t leave your support character set to a low level, unbuilt character. The whole point of the friend system is mutual benefit, so if you’re borrowing other people’s strong characters, you should set your own strongest, most useful character as your support so other people can use it too. I recommend setting your highest level DPS as your support, since that’s what most players are looking to borrow. Third, don’t beg for rare character builds or in-game items from people you just added. It’s fine to ask if someone has a specific support character set, but demanding they change their support for you or asking for free top-ups is rude and will get you blocked immediately. The last mistake is ignoring gift requests. If someone sends you a gift, send one back. It takes two seconds, and it makes sure both of you get the maximum Assist Points possible every day. If you don’t send gifts back, people will stop sending them to you, and you’ll miss out on a ton of free rewards.
At the end of the day, learning how to friend people on Honkai Star Rail is one of the easiest ways to make your playthrough smoother, unlock more rewards, and meet other people who love the game as much as you do. You don’t need a perfect roster to make friends, either—just be polite, stay active, and offer as much value to your friends as you get from them. If you’ve been holding off on using the friend system because you thought it was too complicated, give these tips a try this week. You’ll be shocked at how much easier clearing hard content becomes when you have a list of active friends with strong support characters to borrow from. Don’t forget to clear out your inactive friends every few weeks to keep your list full of active players who will send gifts and join your co-op runs when you need help.
