Does Honkai Star Rail have controller support on PC?

Even though Honkai Star Rail is available on iOS and Android devices, it's worth playing it on PC due to its controller support. This has also been the case with Genshin Impact, one of miHoYo's other super successes. The experience is mostly the same regardless of the platform used by players. The story, gacha elements, rewards, and more, are consistent.

However, the PC client is way ahead of the mobile variant at the moment as far as quality-of-life features are concerned. The controller support makes a huge difference and gives plenty of extra benefits to PC players that mobile users cannot currently access.

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Honkai Star Rail players have to activate controller support on PC

Controller support on Honkai Star Rail is not activated immediately on PCs. You will need a mouse and a keyboard before using a controller. It’s unclear why miHoYo has opted for such a process. You must complete the entire tutorial before the game’s world opens, and only after that will controllers be enabled.

Various controller models, including DualSense and Xbox gamepads, as well as several third-party options, are supported. However, some missions require a keyboard and mouse even if you're using a controller. Moreover, there have been reports of glitches when attempting to skip certain cutscenes while using controllers.

As of this writing, mobiles and tablets don’t feature controller support. Players have been requesting this feature for a long time, so it may be introduced in future updates. Rumors of the game being released on PlayStation could be a potential reason behind improved controller support on all devices.

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Is it beneficial to use controllers on a PC?

Unlike Genshin Impact, Honkai Star Rail doesn’t require you to aim at enemies directly. You take turns to choose your actions and perform accordingly. Hence, using a controller is quite simple in this game and is actually preferable in certain situations.