Honkai: Star Rail Simulated Universe guide

Simulated Universe is Herta’s invention that sends you into a labyrinth of combat scenarios in Honkai: Star Rail. You’ll get rewards for participating, which reset every week on Mondays.

The easiest comparison we can make is that Simulated Universe is a simplified version of Honkai Impact 3rd’s Elysium Realm, a roguelite mode that requires you to choose paths and buffs.

There are six Worlds to clear, which unlock as you both progress through story and beat the World that came before it.

How to get rewards in Simulated Universe

Simulated Universe is a prime location to get Planar Sphere and Link Rope relics, as you’ll find them as rewards from beating bosses and elite monsters. We started getting these relics as rewards during our runs of World 3.

The gist of it is explained in-game as you go and find more things (Herta is pretty good at explaining things step-by-step). However, if you skipped all her dialogue, here’s a gameplay explainer:

• Each room you enter will either have enemies or an event. Some rooms can have both.
• Every time you beat an enemy, you’ll be able to select one of three buffs that appear. These buffs last in that run of the World only. The buffs can be upgraded using in-universe currency.

Image: Hoyoverse via Polygon

• Events can give you buffs, in-universe currency, or other rewards. Not all events are beneficial.
• You’ll also sometimes find Curios, which are buffs that are permanent within Simulated Universe.
• Once you clear the room of events or enemies, you can proceed through a door to a new room. Sometimes there are multiple doors, so you can choose where to go.
• You’ll get a heads up about what’s waiting for you in the next rooms, as the doors will be labeled as “combat” (enemy), “elite” (harder enemies), “boss,” or “occurrence” (event).

Image: Hoyoverse via Polygon

• You cannot heal using food while in the Simulated Universe.
• As you make it through Simulated Universe, you’ll get Ability Points, which you can put into a skill tree that only applies within the universe.
• If your party dies in Simulated Universe, you’ll have to start that World over again.

You will essentially want to make sure to run Simulated Universe every week to get Stellar Jade and decent rewards. Pick buffs that suit your party and smash through as many enemies as you can. (For example, if you’re not running a character who can freeze enemies, you probably should not pick buffs that do more damage to frozen characters.)

Of course, harder and higher-level enemies may require more power to beat, as you’re not going to be able to easily sweep through a level 50 boss when you’re only level 30. Don’t worry if you can’t beat all of Simulated Universe at once; you’re not supposed to be able to.