Power levels in Star Rail

[tanithryudo]

Every time the topic comes up, I want to facepalm. Lets face it, this game mostly runs on animesque rule of cool than it does paper-scissors-rock or logical numbers system.

Individually, we can sorta say Aeons > Emanators > Pathstriders explicitly blessed/glanced at by an Aeon > Regular Pathstriders > Normal people... except then we have outliers like that time Elation turned a worm into an Emanator for the laughs, or the much debated topic of whether the Xianzhou's Arbiter-Generals count as emanators or not.

But the most we've seen an onscreen emanator (Archeron) do, is overcome the defense of the Aventurine stone (which is less than 1/10 the power of Diamond, Emanator of Preservation, and thus not a surprise), and to slash a conceptual crack in the layers of Penacony's dreamscape.

As for "normal" pathstriders, we see Firefly blow up a planet in her backstory trailer (and then, it's not clear if she had self destruct bombs already on her as she had just come out of a suicide raid mission). We have Argenti poke a hole through a solar system sized bug. Seele literally outrunning a bullet after it's fired. And let's not even get into the madness created by the individual members of Genius Society.

And then, when it comes to factions... Everyone thinks immediately of the IFC because they "own" the universe through the credit system and economics. But, the Antimatter Legion has no need of money when all they do is to attack and destroy everything in their path. So really, the IPC's accumulated soft power only matters with the other factions for which politics and money actually matter too, and that automatically rule out the factions of Destruction, and the remnants of the Swarm... and even possibly the Denizens of Abundance.

Specifically regarding the Xianzhou, they don't seem impressive given on paper, since they've only got 6 planet-ships and are regularly outnumbered and stalemated by the Denizens of Abundance. Except their ace is that the Aeon of the Hunt consistently answers when they call. Most any other faction can do is to call up an Emanator or two. Other Aeons mostly don't get involved in mortal matters, at least not generally at the specific behest of their worshippers. This is what gives the Xianzhou their superpower status on the cosmic stage.

For self reference: https://honkai-star-rail.fandom.com/wiki/Timeline

Comments

[cashew]

So, the lighting...god, I'm gonna call it, that Jing Yuan calls down during his ultimate attack, is that the actual Aeon or is that an astral projection manifestation of the Aeon's power? Or is that just another power altogether?

[tanithryudo]

The Lightning Lord, and the Arbiter Generals who each have one, are comparable to Emanator level powers (specifically, compared to the Emanators of Destruction).

One interpretation is that they are the actual Emanators of The Hunt (Lan), and are bequeathed by Lan to the Xianzhou generals to command/use. We do know that each of the Arbiter Generals (and the Marshal too presumably) have their own LL, and that it's passed down when a new Arbiter General steps up to the position.

Bit similar to the Emanators of Harmony, which are also summons which are called up by the Family to "wield" at need but normally don't have individual will of their own.

[cashew]

So I'm trying to get my head around this, what are emanators? Are they projections of power? Magical pets? Construct servants? Do they have their own will?

Also, is there a faction map that I can consult? Trying to keep all the names straight in my head is difficult.

[tanithryudo]

Emanators are like the Champions of their Aeon (with a capital C). Basically they've got the direct backing/blessing/attention of the Aeon in question.

Some are obviously people, like Herta (Emanator of Erudition), Acheron (Emanator of Nihility), Diamond (Emanator of Preservation and upper management of the IPC), the Lord Ravagers (Emanators of Destruction)... Some are not, like the Emanators of Harmony.

You can find info here on the fanwiki: https://honkai-star-rail.fandom.com/wiki/Emanator

Not sure if there's a CN equivalent.

[cashew]

Thanks for the link. I'll have to test my wiki-ing skills and see if I can figure out what the CN names are.

[tanithryudo]

This wiki does provide the CN names of the terms at the bottom of the page, where applicable.
I also like that it cites is sources. So if things get confusing (or self contradictory), you can always search and look up the original source it mentions.