Today, Honkai: Star Rail will update the Version 4.3 second-half banner. There are no new characters in the banner—only two rerun characters: Cyrene and Phainon. So when faced with a banner that has no new characters, how should you choose? Let's talk about the pull suggestions for this banner today.
1. Should You Pull for Cyrene?
If you're running an Amphoreus main DPS, it's recommended to pull. For example, Castorice, Phainon, Anaxa, and Aglaea — even E0 Cyrene provides a boost. If you enjoy playing Amphoreus's main DPS teams, pulling for Cyrene is recommended.
2. Cyrene - Pull for Light Cone or Eidolons?
Pulling for her signature light cone definitely provides a boost, but it's not necessary. "This Love, Forever" increases enemy vulnerability taken and ally CRIT DMG, and also provides the speed that Cyrene needs. However, if Cyrene uses the inner circle relic set "Amphoreus, The Eternal Land," she only needs 172 SPD on the stat panel. After entering battle and activating her Ultimate, she can reach the required 180 SPD, which is still not difficult.
For Eidolons, there's no need to pull if you're using her in a Remembrance team. If she's not in a Remembrance team, those with the means can consider pulling for E2.
Cyrene's biggest issue is her slow startup — her Ultimate requires 24 Memoria. But this is not a problem in a Remembrance team, as many memosprites' actions generate Memoria for her, so she works fine at E0. If used in other teams, those with the means can pull for E2, which grants an additional 12 Memoria at the start of battle, enabling faster activation and a much smoother experience. Of course, it's fine even without pulling — although her startup is slow, the benefits after activation are so significant that adding Cyrene to the team still provides an improvement.
3. Should you pull for Phainon?
Only true fans should pull.
Phainon's advantages are strong visual effects, high damage, a sturdy body, strong ability to utilize supports, and flexible team composition. Even when paired with support characters from the launch period, he can deal millions of damage.
Phainon's disadvantage is that he consumes too much Action Value. After using his Ultimate, his Action Value becomes fixed, and teammates cannot accelerate him or advance his action, causing Phainon to deal satisfying damage but ultimately yield average performance. Moreover, as more and more viable DPS characters become available, Phainon's numerical advantage diminishes further. Therefore, only true fans should pull.
4. Phainon — Pull for Light Cone or Eidolons?
Go for E0+1 or E2+0; E2+1 is his complete form.
As a Destruction DPS who scales off ATK, Phainon can use many light cones — for example, Before the Tutorial: On the Fall of an Aeon from the Simulated Universe shop. His signature Thus Burns the Dawn has the highest base ATK in the game, a rare DMG multiplier slot with DEF ignore, and the base SPD boost Phainon needs most (letting him consume less Action Value when ulting), so it's worth pulling if you're running him.
But if you have a two-pull budget, E2 is more recommended. E2 not only raises RES PEN to boost damage, but also grants an extra turn. As mentioned earlier, Phainon's biggest pain point is Action Value — an extra turn deals damage without consuming Action Value, which solves the problem.
5. Upcoming New Characters
Version 4.4 introduces three new characters: Himeko's SP form, Fire Erudition Character - Himeko • Nova.
The Fate collaboration Phase 2 characters: Quantum Erudition Character - Rin Tohsaka, Lightning Destruction Character - Gilgamesh. Collaboration characters are permanent banners, so you can pull anytime.
Gilgamesh is given for free.
Summary
Although Cyrene and Phainon are just rerun characters, they are both popular characters from Amphoreus. If you like them, pull — you won't regret it. As for whether to pull specifically, consider whether you want to save Stellar Jade for the new characters in Version 4.4. So, how do you plan to pull in the Version 4.3 second-half banner? Feel free to leave a comment and share!