HoYoverse's hit gacha games, Honkai: Star Rail and Genshin Impact, are two of the most popular live-service games currently, mostly because of their diverse casts of characters. Honkai: Star Rail Version 1.1 just introduced new 5-star Nihility Void unit Silver Wolf while Genshin Impact Version 3.7 added new 4-star Dendro character Kirara, adding to both games' continuously growing rosters. As much as new characters keep both games alive and fresh, the games would be nothing without their two protagonists: the Genshin Impact's Traveler and Honkai: Star Rail's Trailblazer.
With so many characters in both of HoYoverse's games, the games' respective main characters tend to fall off in usage rate and popularity, as players typically replace them with more appealing characters. Despite that, the Traveler and Trailblazer are put at the forefront of their games as the heroes/heroines of their stories where they explore unfamiliar worlds. Although Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail's gameplay is unalike, the Traveler and Trailblazer could be compared and contrasted to each other.
Backgrounds of the Traveler and Trailblazer
The Traveler and Trailblazer have distinct backgrounds from each other. In Genshin Impact, the Traveler is one part of a pair of twins who are not from Teyvat; Aether the boy and Lumine the girl. The Traveler awakens in Teyvat and becomes an adventurer along with Paimon, searching for their sibling and dealing with problems across the world. Meanwhile, the other twin becomes an adversary working with the Abyss Order. After resonating with the Seven Archons' statues, the Traveler gains the power to control the Archons' corresponding elements.
The Trailblazer is another protagonist with an unclear past. Kafka and Silver Wolf, two Stellaron Hunters, 'awaken' the Trailblazer from a strange space. Kafka imbues the chosen Trailblazer, either Caelus the boy or Stelle the girl, with a Stellaron, a dangerous object known as the "Cancer of All Worlds" because of its potential to create disasters. Honkai: Star Rail's Kafka leaves the Trailblazer for the Astral Express Crew, and the Trailblazer joins their team to navigate the galaxy and seal Stellarons. The Trailblazer also has a strange power to harness the power of Aeons and their Path.
The Traveler and Trailblazer are both painted as unfamiliar heroes in their universes, as the Traveler has saved four Teyvat nations so far from the Fatui, Abyss Order and other enemies. On the other hand, the Trailblazer saved the Herta Space Station from the Antimatter Legion and Jarilo-VI from a Stellaron. The Trailblazer and company are currently dealing with a Stellaron on the Xianzhou Luofu.
Travelers and Trailblazers' Design and Personality
Both Travelers' designs exhibit a character that's not typical in Teyvat, as both Aether and Lumine's clothes look foreign and celestial. Also, despite looking like teenagers, the Travelers are much more capable at combat and adventuring than they appear. The Trailblazers look like they belong in Honkai: Star Rail's universe, with pretty regular-looking clothing, but they still look unique. Both Caelus and Stelle look more like older teens/young adults compared to the Travelers, but they don't look like divine beings.
The Traveler and Trailblazer are supposed to be self-inserts for the players with no set personality. Although, HoYoverse still gives both characters chances to exhibit some of their own personalities in cutscenes, interactions, and dialogue. However, both the Traveler's and Trailblazer's personality depends on the context of a given situation.
For instance, both characters could be serious or sassy in one scenario, but silly and fun in another situation. There's not much separating them, but the Trailblazer shows off more emotions than the Traveler in both facial expressions and the Trailblazer has more fun interactions and dialogue options.
Traveler and Trailblazer From a Gameplay Perspective
The most significant aspect to compare the Traveler and the Trailblazer is through their gameplay since both characters are given to every player. As protagonists, both the Traveler and Trailblazer are special units with different forms, making them versatile and compelling to use. The Traveler, a sword-wielder, can switch between four elements by resonating with the four different Statues of the Seven. Currently, the Trailblazer can follow two Paths, Destruction (Physical) and Preservation (Fire), which can be switched by accessing their character screen.
The Traveler, despite being the protagonist, functions more like a sub-dps/support character. Across all their four forms, the Traveler's damage is too lackluster to be considered as a main damage dealer, but their kit allows them to support other characters with unique abilities and elemental reactions. The Traveler's elements ranked is Dendro at first, Geo at second, Electro at third, and Anemo takes last place. The Traveler's attributes don't scale impressively, so players are better off replacing them unless they have the artifacts, weapons, and talent levels to make them work.
Presently, the Trailblazer only has two forms. Destruction Trailblazer is a Physical unit swinging a cosmic bat to deal impressive damage. Preservation Trailblazer is a tank that can taunt enemies and dish out Fire damage with a flaming lance. Unlike the Traveler, the Trailblazer feels better in terms of their effectiveness and usefulness with two different roles and elements to fulfill unique team compositions. Although, they can still be replaced with other characters at later levels of the game for more diverse or stronger team comps.
Traveler vs. Trailblazer: Who's the Better Character?
There's no clear distinction on whom the better protagonist is, as it's up to the players to decide if they like the Traveler or Trailblazer better. Some players might like one more than the other, either because of design, gameplay, or their 'personality'. Objectively, the Trailblazer shows more promise to become a better character in future Honkai: Star Rail updates regarding gameplay.
The Trailblazer already has fantastic abilities that make them useful and strong choices in battles, and players are yet to see how they turn out using other Paths and elements in their arsenal. The Traveler so far has been relatively underwhelming with their kits aside from the Dendro element, and players can only hope Hydro Traveler will get a better role and abilities in Fontaine. Ultimately, it's up to players themselves to decide which protagonist they like more, as both are well-suited to their different journeys.
Honkai: Star Rail is available now on Mobile and PC. PS4 and PS5 versions are in development.
