If you’ve ever stared at a limited character banner for a unit you’ve been waiting months for, only to realize you’re 20 pulls short of pity, you know how frustrating that feeling is. I’ve been there too, skipping three banners in a row to save for Luocha and still coming up 10 pulls short the week he dropped, before I figured out all the small, easy ways to earn extra pulls without spending extra cash. This guide breaks down every reliable method for how to get pulls in Honkai Star Rail, whether you’re a fully free-to-play player or someone who drops a few dollars every month on the battle pass.
Core Free Methods for How to Get Pulls in Honkai Star Rail
All pulls in the game cost either 160 Stellar Jade, a Star Rail Pass (for the permanent banner), or a Special Star Rail Pass (for limited character and light cone banners). You don’t have to spend a cent to earn hundreds of these a year if you stick to consistent, low-effort tasks. Daily Training and Assignments give 60 Stellar Jade a day, which adds up to one free pull every three days, or 10 pulls a month for 10 minutes of work a day.
The Simulated Universe and Forgotten Hall are two other consistent free sources of pulls. First clears of each Simulated Universe world give up to 300 Stellar Jade each, and weekly Simulated Universe point rewards give 75 Stellar Jade plus rare materials. The Forgotten Hall’s permanent floors give 60 Stellar Jade per star earned, and the bi-weekly rotating Memory of Chaos mode gives 120 Stellar Jade per star, resetting every two weeks. These free methods make up 90% of the pulls you’ll earn as a F2P player, so you don’t have to look for hacks or glitches when figuring out how to get pulls in Honkai Star Rail.
If you’re short on pulls right before a banner ends, you can farm one-time hidden sources for quick Stellar Jade:
- Hidden chests across all open world maps, including puzzle-exclusive chests that can give up to 60 Stellar Jade each
- Achievement rewards, which give 5 to 20 Stellar Jade per unlock, plus extra for completing full achievement sets
- Story quest and companion quest completions, each giving 30 to 100 Stellar Jade plus occasional free Star Rail Passes
- Maintenance compensation and event rewards, which often give 300+ Stellar Jade per update plus limited time Special Passes
You don’t have to 100% every map immediately, but if you’re 10 pulls short before a banner ends, farming 20 hidden chests can get you over the line in under an hour. I’ve done this twice to hit pity for limited characters, and it never takes as long as I think it will.
Low-Cost Paid Methods to Boost Your Pull Count
If you’re willing to spend a small amount of money to cut down on grind time, there are two options that offer way better value than buying raw Stellar Jade directly. Monthly Express Supply Pass is the best value for casual spenders, costing $4.99 a month and giving 300 Stellar Jade immediately plus 900 extra Stellar Jade over 30 days. That works out to 7.5 pulls a month for less than the cost of a coffee a week, 10x better value than buying Stellar Jade directly from the shop.
The Nameless Honor Battle Pass is another great value, costing $9.99 per 6-week patch cycle. The paid tier gives 4 Special Star Rail Passes, 680 Stellar Jade, plus high-level upgrade materials and Light Cone ascension items, working out to roughly 8 extra pulls per patch for $10. The only time buying raw Stellar Jade is worth it is for your first-time top-up bonus, which gives you double the Stellar Jade for your first purchase of each tier. If you only spend once a year, grab the first-time top up for the highest tier you can afford, as it’s the only time raw jade purchases offer good value.
You don’t have to spend anything to get most characters you want, but these two small purchases cut down your grind time by roughly 30% if you’re willing to spend $15 a month. I’ve had the monthly pass for 8 months now, and it’s gotten me 3 extra 5-star characters I wouldn’t have been able to get as a purely F2P player, without breaking the bank.
Mistakes That Waste Your Pulls (And How to Avoid Them)
Most players lose dozens of pulls a year to easily avoidable mistakes, and fixing these errors is faster than farming extra Stellar Jade. Never pull on the permanent banner unless you have free Star Rail Passes. All permanent banner characters and light cones are obtainable on limited banners, so spending Stellar Jade on permanent banner passes is a complete waste of resources that could go to limited characters you can only get for a few weeks.
Always track your pity count for each banner type. Pity carries over between banners of the same type, so if you did 70 pulls on the previous limited character banner and didn’t get a 5 star, you’re 20 pulls away from a guaranteed 5 star on the next limited character banner. Don’t waste pulls on a banner you don’t care about right before a character you want drops, as you could accidentally use up your pity on a unit you don’t even like. I once wasted 40 pulls trying to get Tingyun on an old banner, only to get her for free 2 weeks later from a standard pass, so trust me on that one.
Another common mistake is pulling for 4-star characters on limited banners. All 4-star characters are added to the permanent pool after their banner ends, and you’ll get them eventually while pulling for 5 stars, so it’s never worth wasting pity for a 4 star. Soft pity starts at 75 pulls, so if you hit 75 without a 5 star, you’re almost guaranteed to get one in the next 10 pulls, so don’t stop pulling right before you hit that threshold if you’re close to the character you want.
Long-Term Planning to Get the Pulls You Need for Favorite Characters
HoYoverse usually announces character banners 2 weeks before they drop, and leakers often share reliable banner lineups a month or two in advance, so you can plan your savings 1-2 patches ahead easily. Make a priority list of 3-4 characters you really want, instead of pulling on every new banner that comes out. I keep a note on my phone with the next 3 characters I’m saving for, and I don’t touch my Stellar Jade unless one of those banners is live, which has helped me avoid wasting pulls on meta characters I don’t actually enjoy using.
If you’re F2P, you can expect to earn roughly 60 pulls per 6-week patch, which is enough for one guaranteed 5 star every 2 patches, since average pity for a 5 star is 75 pulls. That means you don’t have to skip every banner, just pick the ones that matter most to you. Special Star Rail Passes never expire, so you can save up for 6 months for a character you really love without worrying about your passes disappearing.
You don’t have to pull for every meta character that the community says is “must have”. The game’s PvE content is easy enough to clear with 4-star teams, so pulling for characters you think are fun or fit your playstyle is always a better choice than pulling for a character just because they are strong. That way, you’ll enjoy the game more and won’t regret wasting pulls on a character you never use.
At the end of the day, learning how to get pulls in Honkai Star Rail doesn’t have to involve endless grinding or hundreds of dollars in spending. Small, consistent daily tasks add up faster than you think, and avoiding common pull mistakes can save you dozens of wasted pulls every year. Whether you’re F2P or a casual spender, the tips in this guide will help you build up your pull count fast enough to unlock almost every character you want, without burning out on the game. Just remember to prioritize the characters you actually enjoy using, instead of pulling for every meta character that gets released, and you’ll have way more fun with the game overall.
