Best pick from the free 4-star selector from Honkai Star Rail Aetherium Wars

The major event for Honkai Star Rail version 1.4 is Aetherium Wars. It introduces a game mode reminiscent of Pokemon games and is set in the first world you will come to in Jarillo- VI. Many characters, known and unknown, whom you either met or have yet to encounter on your journey, will appear during the various stages of this event.

Completing the entire event's story mode will allow you to pick from a set of four characters of the 4-star rarity. This guide will asses the value of each character, how they will help you in your journey throughout Honkai Star Rail, and who you should pick.

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Available free 4-star characters in Aetherium Wars in Honkai Star Rail and recommended pick

There are four characters available from which you can select one. Alongside their elements and paths, they are as follows:

• Pela- Ice unit and path of Nihiliy
• Serval- Lightning unit and path of Erudition
• Hook- Fire unit and path of Destruction
• Luka- Physical unit and path of Nihility

You can select from one of them after finishing the pre-requisite missions (Image via Hoyoverse)

You must complete a few missions in the Aetherium Wars event of Honkai Star Rail to make this choice.

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1) Pela - Nihility

She works a bit differently than most other Nihility units (Image via Hoyoverse)

Pela is a Nihility unit with the element of ice. She is the top recommended pick from the selector, even if you have her. Her skills and Eidolons make her quite a nuisance to enemies, as she can shred opponents' defenses with her ultimate. Her skills also allow her to remove one buff from enemies. This is handy when fighting the Mara-Struck soldiers as she can remove their revival mechanic.

Pela's value is quite high when it comes to Eidolons as well. Her e4 shreds enemies' ice damage resistance, making her a great teammate for characters like Yanqing or Jingliu. Consider picking Pela up for free if you have the latter. She also has excellent break potential against enemies with ice weakness.

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2) Serval - Erudition

The rock and roll queen of Belobog (Image via Hoyoverse)

Next on the list is Serval, the lightning character you get for free when you start the game. She is often overlooked as there are stronger characters in lightning than her, like the 5-star Erudition unit Jing Yuan and the 5-star Nihility unit Kafka. Still, Serval is strong and the only 4-star lightning DPS character in Honkai Star Rail.

As mentioned before, Serval is a free character. Hence, you will have access to her early in the game. She will be your go-to lightning damage dealer as both Kafka and Jing Yuan are limited 5-stars and, therefore, cannot be obtained via standard Warp.

Her break potential is quite good. As an Erudtion unit, she can attack multiple enemies. Her Eidolons also increase her damage by quite a lot.

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3) Luka - Nihility

The champion of the fight club (Image via Hoyoverse)

Both Luka and Hook are very niche as characters and require quite an investment to perform. But Luka is placed above Hook for one reason: Honkai Star Rail's lack of physical element breakers.

He is also relatively more straightforward to gear up compared to Hook. His breaking potential is excellent. If you lack the other 4-star physical damage dealer, Sushang, Luka is the one you should pick.

Luka's kit focuses on Damage over Time or DoT mechanics. Each element has unique features in Honkai Star Rail, and it is the bleed damage effect for physical.

If you have Kafka, whose kit revolves around detonating DoTs, he is an exceptional teammate for her. However, you should pick him up to help you deal with the bosses or enemies with physical weakness.

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4) Hook - Destruction

The leader of the moles and the most adorable cinnamon roll in the underworld of Belobog (Image via Hoyoverse)

Hook is undoubtedly one of the funniest and most well-written characters in Honkai Star Rail. Her mischievous, cheerful, adorable personality might remind you of a certain Spark Knight from another Hoyoverse title.

Regardless of how much you like her as a character, her kit is outdated, making her one of the lowest-priority characters in the game. Hook is a destruction unit with fire as her element. She requires quite a bit of investment to dish out significant damage.

Her kit is also mostly single-target focused, with only one hit on multiple targets. Making the situation worse for her is that you get Asta, another fire element character, for free.

Asta provides a lot of utility as she is on the Harmony path and has higher breaking capabilities than Hook. Also, two more fire units are coming later this month in Honkai Star Rail, making Hook even more irrelevant.

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It is reasonable to pick a character you like instead of picking them for your team's value. But if you want to clear the endgame contents, this guide might help you while making your choice.