Grinding is a chore. But what’s even worse is when you’re 100% ready to grind, but the game stops you from doing so.
We love a lot of things about Honkai: Star Rail, from its characters to its fast-paced gameplay, but one thing that we do not enjoy is how it limits resources for progression. We know it’s so we’re not playing the game 24/7, but c’mon, at least let us grind levels! This guide will show you the best and fastest ways to grind Trailblaze and Character EXP so you can progress quickly.
How to level up your Trailblaze Level fast in Honkai Star Rail
Early game, you should reach Trailblaze Level 40 as quickly as possible. The Cavern of Corrosion rewards at this level are leagues better than Equilibrium Level 2. Plus, it is only at this level that Calyxes start dropping five-star Relics—a realization we wish we had before we Relic farmed at Level 30+.
How to quickly get to Trailblaze Level 40
Before we talk about missions, there is one thing you absolutely have to do: empty your Trailblaze Power every day. The last thing you want to do is to let it sit at 160.
It doesn’t matter where you use it (Calyx, Simulated Universe, Cavern of Corrosion, etc.) as long as you do. Every 10 Trailblaze Power consumed is 50 Trailblaze EXP gained. You don’t even have to check Honkai: Star Rail every hour! One Trailblaze Power is generated every six minutes. As long as it’s near zero every time, you’d only have to open the game every 12 hours or so. It’s very low-effort stuff.
Daily Training and Side Missions
If you do all your Daily Missions and Side Missions when they come, you’ll reach Trailblaze Level 30+ pretty quickly. This is because many of these missions are chained, meaning you need to wait a day before you get the next part. Below are a couple of examples:
Don’t worry too much about missing Side Missions, as the game will give them to you when you’re at the appropriate level and have progressed far enough in the main story. We promise!
Treasure Chests
Another way to gain EXP is by opening chests. Here’s a list of all treasure chest locations in the game to help you out. Each chest opened can give you anywhere between five and 30 Trailblaze EXP. So, if you’ve been putting off defeating those Formidable Foes that are guarding Precious Chests, which are worth the most, now’s the time to defeat them.
Related: All Honkai Star Rail Planets
Upgraded puzzles on The Xianzhou Lufou
The real hurdle is getting to Trailblaze Level 40. At around Trailblaze Level 38, our progress slowed by a lot. We thought we had to wait for Dailies to get there (which would take days) but found out that we didn’t! If you’ve finished the main quest in the Divination Commission, you can redo all puzzles at The Xianzhou Lufou at a higher difficulty. As you know, completing one rewards you with a chest—which means Trailblaze EXP!
There are four types of puzzles at The Xianzhou Lufou:
- Compass
- Hexanexus
- Luminflux Pyxis (the one with the lasers and Master Gongshu)
- The Matrixes in the Divination Commission
To unlock each of their upgraded difficulty, you must complete everything in the standard one first. That means all Compasses and Hexanexuses up to the Artisanship Commission solved. The upgraded Luminflux Pyxis and Divination Matrix automatically unlock after the events at the Divination Commission.
To trigger the upgraded puzzles, you must:
1. Compass: Complete all Compass puzzles and go to this area in Cloudfort. There’s a Timetable here that can call a Starskiff three times (or more) a day. You’ll have to solve a Compass puzzle for each one. It’s a chain quest, so check the Timetable until the Compass disappears. The latter would mean that you're all done with this quest chain!
2. Hexanexus: Complete all Hexanexus puzzles to receive a text from the Hex Club. They will tell you to meet in the Artisanship Commission delve (there will be a puzzle symbol to mark their location—don’t worry!). After that, all Hexanexus puzzles in Stargazer Navalia will reset, and you can work on them again.
3. Luminflux Pyxis: Speak to Master Gongshu in Stargazer Navalia. This is a three-day chain quest, so remember to come back.
4. Matrixes: Speak to Huixing in the Divination Commission. Similar to Master Gongshu, Huixing will make you work on them for three days.
After three days (or fewer), you should be at Trailblazer Level 40. Congrats!
How to level up characters fast in Honkai Star Rail
When we first started playing Honkai: Star Rail, we were battling as much as possible before realizing we wasted our time. The experience gained from battling is insanely minimal. If you value your time like we don’t, please don’t kill mobs for EXP.
Instead, use one of three EXP items to raise character levels instantly:
- Traveler Encounters: Gives 1,000 character EXP
- Adventure Logs: Gives 5,000 character EXP
- Traveler Guides: Gives 20,000 character EXP
HoYoverse also gives them out as rewards via the occasional code. Codes expire quickly, though, so be sure to claim them ASAP!
How to get more Traveler Encounters, Adventure Logs, & Traveler Guides
There is no shortcut for this, but below are some ways to “grind” for them (we say “grind” because it’s really not possible to do so):
- Assignments: Under EXP Materials/Credits, you can deploy two characters to get you a very small number of these items. We found it better for Honkai/Life balance to run eight-hour dispatches. This way, you don’t have to check your game often.
- Forgotten Hall - Memory of Chaos: After you clear The Last Vestiges of Towering Citadel Forgotten Hall Memory, you'll get access to Memory of Chaos. MoC is a Forgotten Hall stage that cycles every new numbered update. The rewards are also refreshed, and they include Jades, EXP materials, Credits, and more. They're super tough, and the difficulty does not scale with Equilibrium Level.
- Calyx (Golden): This one's really not worth it, and you should be using Trailblaze Power on Relics instead. However, if you’re desperate for a character to level up ASAP, then Calyx (Golden) on the Survival Index will let you do so.
Aside from that, Daily Training, Pom-Pom rewards, and World Shops (like the Hertareum World Shop on the Herta Space Station) give out Traveler Encounters, Adventure Logs, and Traveler Guides as well. In the case of World Shops, they’ll only let you purchase a fixed number of them, so check back when you have the local currency for them. You automatically get those when you complete a Side or Daily Mission in that world.
Which characters should I level up first?
There are a couple of characters we absolutely love, like Seele and Himeko, but ultimately, the decision is completely up to you. Get a feel of what your gameplay is like and level up characters you’ll think you’ll use more often. However, we do have an ongoing best character guide if you need direction.
By the way, and we cannot emphasize this enough, a max-leveled Relic will add so much more to your stats than a level up. Farm Relics and Trace Materials, not character EXP materials. Please.
Want more Honkai Star Rail guides? Pro Game Guides has you covered with How to increase FPS in Honkai Star Rail and Best Relics for each character in Honkai Star Rail.
Bianca has over three years of experience in gaming journalism, specializing in anything remotely turn-based and strategic, like Pokémon, Final Fantasy, and Honkai: Star Rail. She's a huge fan of Square Enix, RPGs, party games, and visual novels, but will play anything with a banger OST. She's a proud early bird.