Honkai Impact 3rd Part 2 out this week, overhauling combat and taking Honkai: Star Rail’s predecessor to Mars

Honkai: Star Rail predecessor Honkai Impact 3rd will drop its massive Part 2 update later this week, shifting the hack-and-slash action RPG’s story to the new planet of Mars, introducing a new main character and revamping its aerial combat.

HoYoverse revealed the next major instalment for Honkai Impact 3rd last year, announcing that Part 2 would land seven years after Part 1 concluded the 2019 game’s first story arc.

Part 2 follows a new main character in the Martian Dreamseeker, who will be exploring the new setting of the Red Planet alongside other new additions to the ARPG’s roster of companions. Those characters will include the upbeat Senadina, reliable fighter Helia and hammer-wielding Coralie, whom the player will meet at the beginning of the new story. The narrative is set after a time skip from the current 1.5 storyline, which has focused on the efforts of Kiana and her Valkyries to fight back the corrupting force of Honkai.

Honkai Impact 3rd’s aerial combat will see a major overhaul in Part 2, introducing a new intelligence system for monsters that allows foes to use a greater variety of skills to keep players on their toes during battles. The revised system will also signal a shift in more characters being able to fight in the air, alongside the introduction of a new Astral Ring mechanic that sees characters build up energy before beingwit able to trigger a state that allows them to pop off simultaneous burst skills to deal burst damage more directly than in the past. There’ll be new monsters to fight across new maps, with the Martian metropolises of Oxia City and Langqiu offering distinctly different looks and vibes.

Honkai Impact 3rd Part 2’s release on February 29th will accompany a series of in-game events offering limited-time rewards including Battlesuit supply cards, this year’s S-rank Battlesuit Option and emblems and stigmata marking the game’s fifth anniversary. There’ll be a new outfit to acquire for Disciplinary Perdition, too. Progressing through the main story will unlock Coralie’s character card and recommended weapon.

Alongside the Part 2 release date announcement, HoYoverse confirmed that Honkai Impact 3rd will release for Mac in the “near future”.