The streets have been abuzz with excitement for a playable Imbibitor Lunae practically since Honkai: Star Rail launched. The upcoming 5-star alternate version of starter character Dan Heng was one of the game’s worst-kept secrets, considering that we already got to play as a trial version of him during the Xianzhou Luofu chapter. So yeah, alright, we’ve known for ages that the Astral Express’ tall, dark, and brooding archivist-slash-train guard was in fact a way bigger deal on the galactic stage than he previously let on. But the important thing now is that his extra-strong incarnation will soon be playable permanently — provided you can win a test of luck in the gacha, of course.

You won’t have to wait much longer for him either, because Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae’s banner will be running during Phase 1 of Version 1.3, launching on August 30th. Phase 2, expected on September 20th, will see the debut of Fu Xuan’s banner, as well as the introduction of Lynx.

If you missed the livestream, never mind! You can watch the VOD below. Just remember to redeem those livestream codes before they expire tomorrow:

Imbibitor Lunae will have a completely different kit to the 4-star version of Dan Heng who joins your team for free at the start of the game. They even have different elements and follow different combat disciplines, with Imbibitor Lunae representing a much-needed Imaginary DPS option for players, thanks to his alignment with the Destruction path.

Like Imbibitor Lunae, Master Diviner Lady Fu Xuan will be a familiar face if you’re all caught up on the Xianzhou Luofu storyline, and will be the first Quantum Preservation character on the roster. Meanwhile, Lynx is a Quantum Abundance character and younger sister to your old pals Serval and Gepard Landau. Thanks to her 4-star rarity, she’ll be a much easier pull from the gacha than Fu Xuan, and will eventually join the standard availability pool rather than remaining event-exclusive.

Other new features in V1.3 will include a content update to the Simulated Universe (HSR’s answer to loot dungeons, which cast you in the role of a beta tester for a game-within-the-game). Plus a welcome overhaul of the Trailblaze Power system will mean that you’re no longer penalised with lost resources if you don’t log into the game every single day.

It’s been a big week for HSR news: if you follow the official Honkai: Star Rail accounts on social media, you’ll probably have noticed that the latest round of drip marketing for the game has been less of a trickle and more of a flash flood. New character announcements have been coming in daily practically all week: Jingliu on Tuesday, Topaz & Numby on Wednesday, and Guinaifen on Thursday (oh my)! While we know none of these will be appearing during Version 1.3, there’s a high likelihood that some or all of them will debut in Version 1.4 (expected circa October 11th).

Honkai: Star Rail Version 1.3, “Celestial Eyes Above Mortal Ruins”, will launch on August 30th.