If you’ve ever stared at a limited Honkai Star Rail banner, mourning how few warps you have left right as the 5-star character you’ve been waiting for drops, you’re not alone. I’ve been there too, saving for three months only to hit 75 pity and get a standard character instead of the limited DPS I wanted. That’s why I put together this no-fluff guide for how to get warps in Honkai Star Rail, no scams, no fake generator hacks, just actual methods that work for both F2P and paying players.
How to Get Warps in Honkai Star Rail for Free: Permanent Daily & Weekly Sources
You don’t have to spend a dime to build up a solid stash of warps if you stay consistent with permanent, repeatable in-game sources. These methods are available no matter what patch is running, so you can rely on them to build your savings for upcoming banners. Most of them take less than 10 minutes a day to complete, even for casual players who only log in for a short time.
The highest-value permanent free warp sources are:
- HoYoLAB Daily Check-In: Log in once per day on the official HoYoLAB app to earn stellar jade, with a free Star Rail Special Pass every 10 days of consecutive logins. You won’t get this reward if you only log in on the game client, so make it a habit to open the app first each day.
- Simulated Universe Points Exchange: Earn Herta Bond points from running Simulated Universe each week to exchange for up to 5 Special Passes and 5 Regular Passes per month, no extra effort required if you already run the mode for relics.
- Forgotten Hall & Pure Fiction Rewards: Clear each floor of these endgame PvE modes for one-time stellar jade payouts, plus monthly reset rewards for the highest floors that give enough jade for 2-3 warps per month even if you don’t hit full stars.
- Achievement Collections: Almost every small action in the game, from unlocking hidden chests to getting defeated 10 times in a row, counts towards an achievement that gives 5-20 stellar jade each. You can easily get 10+ warps per patch just from clearing hidden achievements you haven’t found yet.
All told, these permanent sources give F2P players around 25-30 warps per month, no extra grinding required if you already play the game regularly. That adds up fast if you don’t waste pulls on banners you don’t actually care about.
Limited-Time Free Warp Sources You Don’t Want to Miss
Every new Honkai Star Rail patch adds a handful of limited-time rewards that can easily double your monthly warp count if you know where to look. Most of these rewards are low-effort to claim, so even if you only play a few hours a week you can grab almost all of them before they expire.
Patch event rewards are the biggest limited-time source, with each main event giving 8-12 Special Passes just for completing the first few story stages and basic challenge milestones. You don’t have to grind for top event rankings to get these passes, they’re given out for hitting very accessible progress points. Web events run alongside most in-game events too, and usually take 2-3 minutes to complete for 1-2 extra warps each.
You’ll also get free warps from maintenance and bug fix compensation, usually 300 stellar jade (almost 2 warps) for every scheduled maintenance, plus extra compensation if there are major server issues or game-breaking bugs. New character trial stages give 20 stellar jade per character too, so make sure to run those even if you don’t plan to pull for the featured unit. I usually set a phone reminder to check for new limited rewards the day a patch drops, so I don’t accidentally miss out on free pulls before they expire.
Paid Warp Options That Give the Best Value for Your Money
If you want to spend a little extra to build your warp stash faster, you don’t have to drop hundreds of dollars on raw stellar jade purchases to get good value. There are a handful of paid bundles that give way more warps per dollar spent, and they’re worth picking up if you have a small budget to spend on the game.
Express Supply Pass (Monthly Pass) is far and away the best value for money, costing $4.99 per month for 90 stellar jade per day plus a one-time 300 stellar jade bonus when you buy it. That adds up to 3000 stellar jade a month, enough for almost 19 warps, for less than the cost of a coffee. The Nameless Honor Battle Pass is the next best option, costing $9.99 per patch for 4 Special Passes, 6 Regular Passes, plus tons of upgrade materials and stellar jade if you hit level 50 before the patch ends.
New players also get access to a one-time Starter Special Bundle that costs $0.99 for 10 Special Passes, that’s the best single purchase you can make if you’re just starting out. Raw stellar jade purchases are the worst value by far, so only buy those if you’re 1-2 pulls away from pity and the banner is ending in a few hours. I only buy the monthly pass and battle pass when there’s a character I really want, and I’ve never had to spend more than $15 a month to get every limited character I’ve aimed for in over a year of playing.
Common Mistakes That Waste Your Warps (And How to Avoid Them)
Even if you’re earning tons of warps every month, small mistakes can wipe out your stash before you get the character you want. Most of these mistakes are super common for new players, so it’s easy to avoid them once you know what to look for.
The biggest mistake I see new players make is wasting stellar jade on Regular Warp Passes instead of Special Passes for limited banners. The regular warp pool is permanent, and you’ll get dozens of Regular Passes for free from level up rewards, battle passes, and event rewards, so there’s never any reason to spend your hard-earned jade on them. Another common mistake is pulling on every limited banner that comes out, even if you don’t actually want the featured character. If you don’t have at least 70 warps saved before a banner drops, you’re at high risk of hitting pity and not getting the character before the banner ends, wasting all your pulls.
You should also never fall for “free warp generator” scams online. None of these tools work, they just steal your HoYoverse account login information, and you can get your account banned permanently if you try to use third-party tools to get free warps. I made the mistake of wasting 30 warps on the standard banner when I first started playing, and I missed out on the first limited Seele banner because I had no pulls left when it dropped. Don’t make that same call.
At the end of the day, learning how to get warps in Honkai Star Rail doesn’t require spending hundreds of dollars or grinding 8 hours a day. Even F2P players can get around 50-60 warps per patch if they take advantage of all the free permanent and limited sources, which is more than enough to get a limited 5-star character every 2-3 patches if you save consistently. If you do decide to spend, stick to the monthly pass and battle pass for the best value, and never waste your warps on banners you don’t actually care about. I’ve used these exact methods for over a year of playing, and I’ve gotten every limited 5-star support I wanted without spending more than $10 a month. Try them out for yourself, and you’ll be hitting that 10-pull gold screen before you know it.
