How to Farm Credits in Honkai: Star Rail (Never Go Broke Leveling Traces & Relics)
30-second answer: Free daily income is the foundation — clear Daily Training (the daily mission chain, no stamina cost) for guaranteed free Credits, set a strong Support character (2,000 Credits per borrow, capped at 60,000 that you must claim manually), and send two characters on Assignments. When you still need more, run the Bud of Treasures (the Golden Calyx that drops Credits — check the node name so you don't confuse it with the EXP calyxes): the highest difficulty gives roughly 24,000–25,500 Credits per 10 Trailblaze Power. But stamina is limited and you also need materials, so don't dump it all. Most important: don't level your whole roster at once — fund your main team first.
What Credits Are, and Why You Keep Running Out
Credits are the game's most basic currency — think of them as pocket change. You spend them on almost everything: leveling characters, unlocking and upgrading Traces (a character's skill tree), enhancing Light Cones (weapons) and Relics (stat gear), and buying items from map NPCs. It sounds minor, but it adds up brutally. The reason you keep going broke is simple: these costs scale up sharply as things reach higher levels. Taking a character from level 1 to 50 is cheap; from 50 to 80, a single click can cost tens of thousands. Maxing one five-piece Relic set can drain your whole balance. So don't treat Credits as unlimited — new players love to spread upgrades across their whole roster, then cry when they can't afford to finish their main damage dealer. Understanding where the money goes is the first step to never being poor again.
The Free Daily Faucet You Must Not Skip: Daily Training
Free daily income is the foundation of never going broke, and Daily Training is the single most reliable tap. Daily Training is a task board that refreshes every day. You do a few simple things — clear a stage, spend some stamina, collect a login reward, dispatch an Assignment — and each completed task adds activity points and hands you a little Credits (roughly 5,000 per task). As your activity points hit milestones (100, 200... up to 400), you open reward chests holding more Credits (around 12,800 at the first milestone, building toward roughly 17,600 as you fill the higher ones). This is the most dependable free faucet in the game: it costs no extra stamina of its own, it's there every single day, and you just log in and finish the list. New players skip it thinking it's trivial, but across a month it adds up to a huge, completely free sum. Make clearing Daily Training your first habit each session.
Trading Stamina for Cash: The Bud of Treasures (and the Wrong-Node Trap)
This is the easiest node to farm by mistake, so read carefully. The Golden Calyx (the yellow simulated flower) comes in THREE types, and only ONE drops Credits: the Bud of Treasures (Japanese: 秘蔵の蕾). The other two give EXP, not money: the Bud of Memories gives character EXP material, and the Bud of Aether gives Light Cone EXP material. Spending Trailblaze Power (stamina, about 240 regen per day) on the wrong bud burns your stamina while you think you're farming cash. The Bud of Treasures supports auto-battle, so let the game run it. Difficulty is tied to your account's Equilibrium Level: pick the highest you've unlocked, and the top difficulty pays roughly 24,000–25,500 Credits per 10 Trailblaze Power — well above lower tiers for the same stamina. But here's the key point: trading stamina for Credits isn't always worth it. Stamina is limited, and you also need it for character, Trace, and Relic materials. Many players pour stamina into materials and live off the free Credits above, only running the Bud of Treasures during a real cash crunch. To work out exactly what you need, use GameVika's Materials Planner to divide your stamina first.
| Golden Calyx | Drops |
|---|---|
| Bud of Treasures | Credits ✔ |
| Bud of Memories | Character EXP |
| Bud of Aether | Light Cone EXP |
Money While You Sleep: Assignments and Support Characters
There are two income streams that flow in while you do basically nothing — switch both on today. First, Assignments (send characters off to work and collect their pay): dispatch two characters and Credits accrue over time, even while you're offline. It's not much per day, but it costs nothing, so keep them running and remember to collect and re-dispatch. Second, set a Support character: go into the settings and pick a strong, well-built unit for others to borrow. Every time someone uses your Support character, you earn 2,000 Credits. But remember two things new players miss: this income caps at 60,000 Credits and then STOPS accruing, and you have to claim it manually. If you let it sit full without claiming, later borrows are lost, so log in and collect regularly (every few days) to keep the tap flowing. Both are passive income — set once, and small change trickles in daily. Veteran players never skip them.
Support character2000 per borrow, caps at 60,000, claim manually 
Side Sources: Events, Redeem Codes, and Money Along the Way
Stack these extra sources and you get large income for almost no stamina. The most valuable is limited-time Events: clearing all of an event's missions can hand you up to a million Credits, so never miss one while it's live. Next are Redeem Codes, given out during livestreams and with every new update — enter them for free Credits; check the current valid list on GameVika's Codes page. Companion and story missions also pay well, roughly 10,000–25,000 Credits each, so keep pushing the story. Clearing roaming enemies and smashing chests as you explore can net 60,000–100,000 Credits a day with no stamina spent. On top of that: Nameless Honor (a season-pass-style track) gives free Credits just for playing daily; Ember Exchange offers a cheap 10,000-Credit pack (around 12 Ember) that's worth it, while the 25-Ember pack for the same amount is only for when you're swimming in Ember; and Simulated Universe drops a little Credits after each elite or boss fight with NO Trailblaze Power cost. Together these make a steady, nearly free income stream.
Limited eventsSome give up to a million Credits 
Spending Smart: Fund Your Main Team First
Farming well but spending carelessly still leaves you broke. The golden rule for new players: don't spread thin. Pick one main team (usually four characters) and pour all your Credits into it first — levels, Traces, Light Cone, Relics — until it's strong enough to clear content. Only then move to your second unit. The reason is those spiking costs: pushing one character to a high tier costs many times more than low-level upgrades, so thinly funding ten mid-level characters leaves all ten weak and nobody able to carry. Same with Relics: don't upgrade throwaway pieces you just picked up; only sink Credits into gear with the right main stat for your needs. Before spending, check GameVika's Items database to see exactly how many Credits and which materials each upgrade level needs, and use the 
Jade & Resource Planner to confirm your remaining budget can actually reach the goal. Spend in the right place and Credits will never be a problem.
FAQ
I only have a few hundred Credits — how do I get a lot fast?
Do the free stuff first: finish today's Daily Training (guaranteed free Credits), set a strong Support character (2,000 per borrow — claim it before it hits the 60,000 cap), send two characters on Assignments, and clear roaming enemies while you push the story. If you're still short, route some Trailblaze Power into the Bud of Treasures at the highest difficulty (roughly 24,000–25,500 per 10 stamina) — but don't drain all your stamina if you still need upgrade materials. A few diligent days and your wallet fills up.
Should I burn all my Trailblaze Power farming Credits?
No. Adding up all the free sources (Daily Training, Support up to the 60,000 cap, clearing overworld enemies) usually gives more Credits than burning stamina on the Bud of Treasures — and you need that stamina for character, Trace, and Relic materials too. Only during a real cash crunch should you route some stamina to the Bud of Treasures for a few days; once you're topped up, send stamina back to material farming. Use GameVika's Materials Planner to split it sensibly.
Which Calyx gives the most Credits?
Only the Bud of Treasures (English: 'Bud of Treasures'; Japanese: 秘蔵の蕾) drops Credits. The other two Golden Calyxes give EXP: the Bud of Memories (character EXP) and the Bud of Aether (Light Cone EXP) — spending stamina on those by mistake wastes your money. Within the Bud of Treasures, pick the highest difficulty you've unlocked (it's tied to your account's Equilibrium Level): the top tier gives roughly 24,000–25,500 Credits per 10 Trailblaze Power, well above lower tiers for the same stamina.
Do Credits ever become a non-issue, or are they always tight?
Early on you'll always feel short because you're leveling many characters at once. But once your account matures, your main team is finished, and you keep your income sources running, many veteran players amass huge Credit reserves and barely worry anymore. The trick to getting there faster: spend with discipline, fund your main team first, and don't spread thin across the whole roster.
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