Regardless of how you feel about leaks, they let us plan our pulls and decide where to put any allocated cash in the game. Honkai Star Rail appears to be gearing up to bleed my wallet dry again by releasing another five-star Sunday, after I paid [redacted] dollars to get the first one. It's fine, I love him anyway, even if he did cost.
According to a slew of leaks via HGX_Diluc, originating from Full Stop Chan and AnonLeaks, we're getting a whole cast of SPs - special versions, essentially - of existing five-star characters. Currently on the list are a Silverwolf and Yae mashup (Sakura from Honkai Impact 3rd and Miko from Genshin Impact), Himeko (Star Rail and Impact 3rd), HSR's Blade, Sunday, Robin, and Aventurine.
You may notice that most of these characters exist on the roster already. As five-star characters. Limited five-stars that, chances are, you have to pay at least some money for to guarantee. With limited light cones, too.
On top of the original versions, we do have some SPs, too - Evernight and the Hunt path for March 7th, though granted the second one is only a four-star, The Herta, Fugue, and not one, but two Dan Heng versions. And yet, still no Sampo. If anyone needs a new version, it's him.
A lot of gacha games do this, including HI3 - though there, you mostly pull for suits, not a completely new character. That said, Bronya Zaychick (who inspired Bronya and Silverwolf in Star Rail) does have three versions, including Bronie and Broboli.
I totally understand a five-star version of a four-star character, especially the likes of Dan Heng and March 7th, who we met at the beginning of the game. But two SPs each? And new versions of premium characters? Even skins make more sense, but this is a little egregious.
A five-star Sampo I will pay for, but maybe not another Boothill - given how he evaded me on the Honkai Star Rail banner the first (and second!) time. To avoid any monetary mishaps like mine, start using the Honkai Star Rail codes as early as you can and save up for your preferred Honkai Star Rail characters.