Honkai: Star Rail Soft Pity Explained

If you've ever wondered why 5★ characters seem to "always" come at pull 74-90, that's soft pity working exactly as designed. Here's the precise math.

What is soft pity?

Soft pity is the range of pulls where the base rate ramps up dramatically. In Honkai: Star Rail, the base rate is 0.6%, but starting at pull 74 it rises by +6% per pull — every single pull until hard pity.

The math

By pull , your per-pull chance is around {int(100 0.006 + 0.06 ({"wuwa": 14, "genshin": 16, "hsr": 16, "zzz": 16}[game] - 1)):.0f}% — nearly 1 in {int(100 / (100 0.006 + 0.06 ({"wuwa": 14, "genshin": 16, "hsr": 16, "zzz": 16}[game] - 1))):.0f}.

Why the design?

Soft pity smooths out the worst-case spending while keeping the average cost of a 5★ reasonable. Without it, players could hit hard pity every single time — the 100% guarantee exists but soft pity makes it rare to actually need it.

What the odds really look like

Across 90 pulls from zero pity, the cumulative chance of pulling at least one 5★ is well over 99%. Most players see their 5★ in the 74+ range, which is why budget planners should assume 74-90 pulls per 5★ rather than the theoretical average.

Plan around it