When I first started playing Honkai: Star Rail, I blew all 20 of my starter special passes on the standard banner and walked away with three 3-star light cones I’d never use. I spent weeks digging through forums, testing farming routes, and tracking every pass I earned to figure out the most efficient way to stack up pulls for the limited characters I actually wanted. If you’re wondering how to get special passes Honkai Star Rail players rely on to pull for their favorite 5-star characters and limited light cones, you’re in the right place. This guide covers both free and paid routes, plus common mistakes to avoid so you don’t waste any hard-earned pulls.
Free, Consistent Ways to Get Special Passes Honkai Star Rail Offers Long-Term
You don’t have to spend a cent to build up a solid stock of special passes, as long as you stay consistent with daily and weekly tasks. Most free players can earn between 60 and 70 passes per 6-week version update, which is almost enough to hit soft pity on a limited banner if you save for two cycles. The key is to prioritize the most reliable sources first, so you don’t waste time on low-reward activities that barely give any stellar jade or passes.
- Daily check-in rewards: The official HoYoverse check-in page gives 1 special pass every 10 days, plus extra stellar jade and upgrade materials that add up over time. You don’t even have to log into the game to claim it, just visit the page once a day on your phone or computer.
- Forgotten Hall (Memory of Chaos): Clear each stage for the first time to earn 60 stellar jade, with full chamber clears giving 2 bonus special passes every two-week reset cycle. Even if you can’t beat the highest difficulty levels, the lower tiers still give plenty of jade to buy passes from the in-game shop.
- Simulated Universe World Clears: Beat new world difficulties and complete weekly points challenges to earn both special passes and stellar jade consistently. The weekly point rewards alone give 120 stellar jade every week, which is enough for one pull every two weeks with no extra work.
- Version update compensation: Every 6-week version update gives 10 special passes as part of maintenance rewards, plus extra passes or jade for bug fixes or event delays. Make sure to log in within the first week of an update to claim these, as they expire after 7 days.
On top of these fixed sources, every limited event gives between 4 and 10 special passes as rewards for completing challenges, story quests, and mini-games. I usually set a reminder to check the event page every two days so I don’t miss any time-limited rewards that disappear when the event ends.
Paid Routes for Fast Special Pass Acquisition
If you don’t mind spending a small amount of money to speed up your pass farming, there are a few high-value options that give far more passes per dollar than random top-up packs, and these routes will drastically increase how many special passes Honkai Star Rail lets you collect per version. You don’t have to drop hundreds of dollars to get enough passes for your favorite character, either: most small spenders only spend $15 to $20 a month and still get enough passes to hit pity on one limited character every two versions.
The best value by far is the Nameless Honor battle pass, which costs $10 per version. It gives 4 special passes, 1320 stellar jade, plus upgrade materials, light cones, and relics that would take weeks to farm for free. The stellar jade alone is enough for 8 extra pulls, so you’re getting 12 total pulls for $10, which is way cheaper than buying individual passes directly from the shop.
The monthly supply card is another great option, costing $5 a month and giving 90 stellar jade per day plus 300 upfront. That adds up to 3000 stellar jade a month, which is enough for 18 extra pulls. If you buy both the battle pass and monthly card, you’re looking at around 100 total passes per version, which is enough to hit hard pity on a limited banner if you save for one full cycle.
Never spend real money on individual special pass packs unless they’re part of a limited bundle with 2x or higher value. The regular individual pass packs in the shop cost $3 per pull, which is 3x more expensive than the value you get from the battle pass or monthly card. It’s far better to save your money for the high-value bundles that drop at the start of each version if you want to spend extra.
That means if you’re a casual player who only logs in a few times a week, the monthly card alone is more than enough to get a steady stream of passes without breaking the bank. You don’t need to buy every limited bundle to get the characters you want, as long as you’re smart about how you spend your cash.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Farming Special Passes
Even if you’re hitting all the right farming routes, it’s easy to waste passes or jade on things that don’t help you reach your goal of pulling limited characters. I’ve made almost all of these mistakes myself, so I know how frustrating it is to realize you threw away 10 pulls worth of jade on something you could have gotten for free.
The biggest mistake new players make is wasting stellar jade on non-pull items in the shop. Relic refresh tickets, level up materials, and even stamina refills are all things you can farm for free by playing the game, so there’s no reason to spend jade on them unless you’re in a huge rush to build a character. Every 160 jade you spend on these items is one less special pass you can use on a limited banner.
Another common mistake is pulling on banners you don’t care about just because you have a pass available. I’ve seen so many players waste 20 pulls on a standard banner or a limited banner for a character they don’t want, just because they had extra passes sitting in their inventory. That’s a huge waste, especially since limited characters don’t rerun for at least 6 months after their first banner ends.
Many new players make these mistakes without realizing they’re throwing away the very special passes Honkai Star Rail gives out for free. I once wasted 800 stellar jade on relic refreshes early on, and I missed out on pulling my favorite character, Kafka, by just 5 pulls because of it. Don’t make the same mistake I did: only spend your jade on special passes from the shop, and only pull on banners for characters you actually want to add to your team.
Also, don’t forget to link your HoYoverse account to the official community page. They often run small events that give free stellar jade or passes for answering simple polls or sharing posts, and most players don’t even know these events exist.
How to Maximize Your Special Pass Value Over Time
Once you have a steady stream of passes coming in, the next step is to make sure you’re using them in the most efficient way possible. You don’t have to pull on every banner that drops, and saving passes for the characters you really want will make your farming efforts go a lot further.
The first rule is to never spend special passes on the standard banner. The standard banner has a huge pool of characters and light cones, so you’re far less likely to get the specific character you want, even if you hit pity. Limited banners have a 50/50 pity system, which means if you lose the 50/50 to a standard character, your next 5-star is guaranteed to be the limited rate-up character. That makes limited banners far better value for your passes.
Track your pity count for each limited banner, so you know how close you are to getting a 5-star. Soft pity starts at 75 pulls, which means your odds of getting a 5-star increase drastically with every pull after that. If you have 70 pulls saved and a banner you want is dropping next week, you’re almost guaranteed to get the 5-star character if you use all your pulls on that banner.
If you’re a free-to-play player, it’s best to save your passes for at least two versions before pulling on a banner. That gives you enough passes to hit pity even if you lose the 50/50, so you don’t have to worry about missing out on the character you want. I usually plan my pulls 3 months in advance, so I know exactly how many passes I need to save before a banner drops.
You can also use the free Star Rail Passes you get from events and level up rewards on the standard banner, since they can’t be used on limited banners anyway. That way you don’t waste those passes, and you still save all your special passes for limited rate-up banners.
Getting enough special passes to pull your favorite characters doesn’t have to be a grind, and you don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars to build the team you want. If you stick to the consistent free farming routes, avoid common mistakes that waste your jade and passes, and only spend money on high-value options if you choose to, you’ll have a steady stream of passes coming in every month. No matter if you’re f2p or a small spender, knowing how to get special passes Honkai Star Rail offers will make it far easier to build the team of your dreams without unnecessary stress.
