Hoyoverse has just revealed both Saber and Archer as part of the Fate Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works and Honkai Star Rail collaboration. We now have a glimpse into each unit’s abilities and banner details that will shape the next major update. In this video, we will cover every known detail about Saber and Archer including their release date, their combat kits, the special banner mechanics that apply uniquely to these crossover characters, and everything you need to know before the banner goes live. If you’re hyped for this collab, you’re in the right place.
According to the official information, both Saber and Archer will be featured on a limited-time banner starting on July 11th. In Honkai Star Rail’s patch timeline, this date corresponds roughly to patch 3.4, which promises significant new content. Players should mark their calendars now to prepare their Trailblaze Power and plan their banner pulls accordingly. For those tracking the update roadmap, patch 3.4 will also include the new Hoolay Memory of Chaos, tying directly into the boss challenges Saber is rumored to excel at.
It is important to note that these collaboration banners operate differently from standard limited banners. Because Saber and Archer originate from a separate intellectual property, their banners will likely never be rerun once they conclude unless Hoyoverse plans to do a part two to the collab. This makes them even more limited than normal five-star units in Honkai Star Rail.
Let’s talk about Saber first. Saber will be a Wind unit following the Path of Destruction and will serve as a primary damage dealer on your team. If you know anything about Fate lore, you’ll recognize her as Artoria Pendragon. Her character design captures the elegance and strength that fans have come to love, and her Wind alignment adds a fresh dynamic to squad building. Given that Saber is one of the most well known Fate characters, there has been unprecedented buzz within the community about how her aesthetics will translate into Honkai Star Rail’s art style. I think Saber’s design looks great!
Saber’s kit will shine in single-target and blast-type scenarios. As a Destruction Path unit, she specializes in unleashing high burst damage against bosses and elite mobs. Saber should be more than capable of handling the Hoolay boss encounter with ease, making her an appealing option for those looking to tackle Memory of Chaos content. If Saber releases before Pollux leaves Memory of Chaos, she should also be able to take Pollux down easily with her kit. Pure Fiction will likely have a Wind weak Kafka, so Saber should be able to clear that month’s Pure Fiction. Apocalyptic Shadow will also have a Wind weak Kafka, Cocolia, and Hoolay.
Saber will be the second Wind Destruction unity alongside Blade, which means that she will power creep Blade. However, since Blade is getting buffs in 3.4, I expect the gap to not be that huge. Also, Saber might not be an H.P. scaling unit unlike Blade, making her unique. If she is an attack scaling unit, you want to use Robin on her team. If Saber is an H.P. scaling unit, you want to use Tribbie. Sunday will also be a great option to continuously advance Saber. A free to play alternative to Sunday would be Bronya who also advances Saber. Tingyun is another free-to-play unit that can boost Saber. Cipher would be an interesting unit for both Saber and Archer because she brings true damage with her ultimate. Huohuo is a great option to increase Saber’s energy and get her ultimate quickly. Hyacine is a great healer in general and would work great with Saber. If enemies don’t have Wind weakness, then Saber could use Anaxa, but since Saber is not an Erudition unit, Anaxa would not receive the buff for two or more Erudition units in a team. If you have a free Ruan Mei, you can use her with Saber and Archer since she is a good buffer even though she is meant for break teams. The Remembrance Trailblazer is another great free-to-play option for either Saber or Archer because they provide true damage to characters targeted by mem and they are skill point positive as they mostly use their basic attacks during gameplay.
Now, the banner for Saber comes with a unique pity system twist. Unlike regular limited character or light cone banners, this collaboration banner uses a separate pity counter that does not combine with any existing guarantees you may have earned. Every pull on the Fate Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works and Honkai Star Rail banner will start from zero pity. While this may frustrate some players, the banner’s duration across three patches, from 3.4 through 3.6, provides a long time to obtain Saber before she vanishes forever. Diversifying your Star Rail Special Passes usage across the Fate banners and upcoming limited events will be crucial. The developers intentionally extended the banner span to give everyone ample time to accumulate pulls.
Moving on to Archer. This collaboration will introduce the first male Quantum elemental unit who follows the Path of the Hunt. Archer breaks the long-standing absence of male Quantum characters in Honkai Star Rail and will be given to all players for free simply by logging in during the collaboration period. No additional requirements are necessary, making Archer one of the best free-to-play units to add to your roster. All of the upcoming endgame content will have Quantum weak enemies including Pollux in Memory of Chaos, Swarm True Sting in Pure Fiction, and Cocolia in Apocalyptic Shadow.
Archer is set to be a dedicated main DPS unit who consumes skill points to unleash devastating damage. There are parallels between Archer’s kit and that of Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae, where skill point management plays a key role in maximizing his damage potential. By burning accumulated skill points, Archer can trigger enhanced attacks.
Archer’s free availability combined with his unique DPS mechanics creates an exciting opportunity for players who favor skill point management playstyles. His role will likely complement units that excel at generating or manipulating skill points, providing depth to team compositions. Players who already invested in skill-point generation characters may find Archer to be an invaluable addition, as his success could hinge on sustaining his skill points efficiently.
This is insanely good for Sparkle fans because Sparkle is known to generate a significant number of skill points and her trace ability provides a potent Quantum buff that will amplify Archer’s damage. Many are predicting that combining Sparkle’s skill-point generation and trace enhancement with Archer’s skill point-burning DPS style could unlock a devastating synergy. Reddit is already buzzing with team composition theories. Some players suggest combining Saber’s single-target burst damage with supports and healers to keep her on the field, while Archer’s skill-point burn could be linked with buffer units that accelerate his skill point generation.
Sunday will also be a great Harmony unit for Archer because of his light cone which provides skill points when using Sunday’s ultimate and skill on Archer. If Archer is attack scaling, you want to use Robin as a Harmony support to boost his damage by a lot. If Acher is H.P. scaling, then you want to use Tribbie because she greatly increases H.P. scaling characters’ damage. If Archer uses the standard energy mechanic, then a combination of Sunday and Huohuo are a must to easily get Archer’s ultimate; Sunday’s and Huohuo’s ultimates both provide massive amounts of energy. Hyacine, Lingsha, Gallagher, and Luocha will also be great healer options as they are mostly skill point positive. Silver Wolf can provide Quantum weakness implants and she will be buffed during 3.4 so she might actually be good now. Free-to-play four star units that Archer can use are Hanya and Tingyun.
As a reminder, the pity and banner mechanics that apply to Saber also apply to Archer. His featured banner will operate on the same separate pity counter, which resets independently of other banners. Even though Archer is free to claim, there will still be an option to pull for Eidolons in order to enhance his overall performance.