HSR All Game Modes Overview: Story, Roguelite, Boss Ladders, Economy PvE
30-second summary: HSR splits into four broad mode groups. (1) Linear story (Trailblaze Missions) that runs region by region, gated in order. (2) Repeatable roguelite: Simulated Universe and its Divergent Universe extension. (3) Four rotating boss ladders that swap content every 2 weeks or per season: Memory of Chaos, Pure Fiction, Apocalyptic Shadow, and the newest, Anomaly Arbitration. (4) An economy-arena PvE mode, Currency Wars, running on its own Seasons. On top of these, Nameless Honor is a seasonal quest-and-reward track that runs alongside all the modes above, not a standalone level of its own. (official in-game figures.)
Group 1 — Story: linear, region-gated
The Trailblaze Missions are the main storyline, moving through each region (Herta Space Station → Jarilo-VI → Xianzhou Luofu → Penacony → Amphoreus → Planarcadia) in a strictly locked order — no jumping to a new region before finishing the last one. This is the mode that builds understanding of the world and unlocks the other modes (Simulated Universe, the boss ladders, etc. all require reaching a certain story milestone). See GameVika's Story Order guide for the full sequence and how to catch up if you skipped ahead.
Group 2 — Repeatable roguelite: Simulated Universe and Divergent Universe
Simulated Universe is a repeatable roguelite with no play-count limit: you pick buffs (Curios/Blessings) tied to a Path as you move room to room, then beat the final boss for Stellar Jade and planar relics. Divergent Universe is a harder extension using the same underlying system but adding its own side story and rule twists per theme. Neither has a "times per week" cap like Memory of Chaos, so they're the modes to grind whenever there's spare time.
Group 3 — The four rotating boss ladders
These four all rotate content on a fixed schedule and reward ranked Stellar Jade, each targeting a different skill: Memory of Chaos (split across 2 teams fighting alternating cycles, needs a balanced full roster), Pure Fiction (burst wide-target damage against many enemies), Apocalyptic Shadow (one team against a single big boss, alternating 2-turn cycles), and the newest, Anomaly Arbitration (3 regular stages + 1 boss stage, with only 2 turns for the boss on Hard). Read that mode's own dedicated guide before picking a team, since a team that excels in one can underperform in another.
Group 4 — Economy PvE (Currency Wars) and the parallel Nameless Honor system
Currency Wars stands apart from the three groups above because it doesn't use your pulled character roster at all — instead you buy/sell "Servants" with in-match Gold in an auto-battler arena, climbing Divisions on its own Season cycle. Finally, Nameless Honor isn't a mode you "enter" — it's a background EXP-and-reward bar running all season, earning points from quests across ALL the modes above. In other words, just playing normally in any of these groups is simultaneously leveling up Nameless Honor.
FAQ
Which mode should a new player unlock first?
Just follow the story first — every other mode (Simulated Universe, the boss ladders, Currency Wars) is gated behind a certain story milestone, so they naturally unlock at the pace a new player actually needs.
Which modes must be played weekly, and which don't?
The four rotating boss ladders and Nameless Honor are tied to a schedule/week, so missing them means losing that rotation's rewards for good. Simulated Universe, Divergent Universe, and Currency Wars have no hard weekly deadline — play them whenever there's time, though Currency Wars runs on a longer Season for climbing Divisions.
Could HoYo add even more modes later?
It's possible — Anomaly Arbitration and Currency Wars themselves were both added after the game's launch, so there's no reason to treat this list as permanently closed. This article will be updated once a new mode is confirmed through official data.
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