Honkai: Star Rail is an upcoming free-to-play gacha RPG from Hoyoverse, the studio behind the highly successful Genshin Impact. Naturally, there are a lot of similarities between the two games, one being the enormous cast of intricately designed anime-style characters.
However, in many ways, Honkai: Star Rail is also vastly different from Genshin Impact. For instance, the former features a turn-based combat system instead of a real-time one. Another aspect of Honkai: Star Rail, which fans might be curious to know, is whether it features multiplayer or co-op.
Honkai: Star Rail multiplayer and co-op explained
Unfortunately, Honkai: Star Rail does not feature multiplayer or co-op like Genshin Impact. For the most part, it works as a traditional turn-based RPG.
However, while you can't directly play with a friend or stranger in Honkai: Star Rail, there's still a way to take their help or aid them instead. The game allows you to do this by letting you use someone else's Support Character in your team. Conversely, you can lend one of your characters as a Support character to them.
For this, you will have to set a Support character in your Trailblazer profile. It's important to note that the option to use another player's Support character is only available in Calyxes or Corrosion. You can't simply use them to complete main story missions. Furthermore, they will be adjusted according to your current level.
Another thing to note is that you can't borrow a Support character you already have on your team. For instance, if you have March 7th in your party, you can't borrow someone else's March 7th as your Support Character.
To borrow someone's Support character, go to any of the aforementioned game modes and click on the green Support button next to your fourth character. It will bring up a list of Support characters you can choose from. You can also refresh the list for more random Support Characters.
And that's it. That's everything you need to know about multiplayer and co-op in Honkai: Star Rail.