Who is Welt Yang in Honkai Star Rail, and what is his connection to Honkai Impact 3rd?

Welt Yang is a playable character in Honkai Star Rail, but there is also a person with the same name in Honkai Impact 3rd. HoYoverse made both games, so it's only natural that there will be some connections between the two titles. For those who don't know, this character's real name is Joachim Nokianvirtanen in both games.

While some games often include expies, Honkai Star Rail is interesting in the aspect that it imported the entire character over from Honkai Impact 3rd. The Welt Yang from the former title is the older version of the same person from the latter game. Hence, he's not a full-on expy since it's not a copy.

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What to know about Welt Yang in Honkai Star Rail

An in-game screenshot of the character (Image via HoYoverse)

Welt Yang is a veteran member of the Astral Express and is a playable character in the game. Here are the important parts that Trailblazers should know about his skillset:

• Rarity: 5-stars
• Path: The Nihility
• Element: Imaginary
• Skill: Does Imaginary DMG and will deal more Imaginary DMG two more times. There is a chance to lower a foe's SPD by 10% for two turns.
• Ultimate: Does Imaginary DMG and will Imprison all enemies for one turn.

His voice actors are:

• Chinese: Pengo Bo
• English: Corey Landis
• Japanese: Hosoya Yoshimasa
• Korean: Han-sin

Interestingly, his Japanese voice actor is the exact same as Honkai Impact 3rd's Welt Yang. The following image showing off the designs of the two games might also be interesting for readers.

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Welt Yang's connection to Honkai Impact 3rd

Looks very similar, doesn't it? (Image via HoYoverse)

On the left is the Welt Yang from APHO (A Post-Honkai Odyssey), while the right side shows his Honkai Star Rail Design. It's the same character with some very minor differences.

Joachim Nokianvirtanen canonly left Earth and hoped to protect other worlds, which Trailblazers can see clearly in HoYoverse's newest title with his role in the Astral Express.

Joachim Nokianvirtanen would inherit Welt from Welt Joyce, who passed away in Honkai Impact 3rd. Astute players should know that some other characters from that game also appear in Welt Yang's splash art in Honkai Star Rail:

• Frederica Nikola Tesla
• Lieserl Albert Einstein
• Welt Joyce

Ultimately, there are a lot of callbacks to Honkai Impact 3rd that some players might already know about or may have missed entirely, should they have never played that game much.

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Do you need to play Honkai Impact 3rd to enjoy Honkai Star Rail?

It is not necessary to play any previous video game in order to have fun with Honkai Star Rail. While having knowledge of Honkai Impact 3rd's story is a helpful bonus, such details are never required. Thus, you don't need to learn how to play the latter game if you don't want to, especially since recaps exist online.

Interested Trailblazers who don't have much time to commit to another game can always watch videos or read text guides regarding the full lore. If you're just interested in good gameplay and fun characters, then feel free to ignore any plot synopses surrounding this unit.