As Honkai: Star Rail continues to cycle through new limited character banners and events, Kafka remains one of the most popular and highly anticipated characters that is yet to be obtainable. While it may still be a while before players can pull for Kafka, Star Rail, much like fellow HoYoverse game Genshin Impact, has been particularly prone to leaks - meaning that there's plenty of info regarding Kafka even well before her banner's release.

Although Star Rail is still currently on its initial 1.0 release patch, many of its future characters have already been teased in the game's mainline story quests. Most prominently, Kafka herself features as the main playable character of the game's intro, alongside fellow Stellaron Hunter Silver Wolf - although Kafka won't be obtainable in Star Rail until her banner rolls around. Likewise, future banner character Luocha becomes an uncontrollable party member for some side-sections of the Xianzhou's story, giving players a chance to see his healing-focused kit in action. Thanks to the many leaks regarding Star Rail, however, it's relatively easy to get a good idea of how characters like Kafka will turn out when they are properly released.

Related: Honkai: Star Rail 1.1 Leaks - Which New Characters Are Playable

Honkai: Star Rail Kafka Leaks

An-in game screenshot of Honkai: Star Rail's Kafka bust. She looks at something to the side, off-screen. She has shades on her head, but not over her eyes.

As a future banner character that currently exists in-game (albeit currently unobtainable), most details regarding Kafka in Honkai: Star Rail are known, including her element, Path, abilities, and general release period. And, while most leaks for characters further from release are highly subject to change, Kafka's brief stint as a playable character means that much of the details regarding her abilities are, at this point, all but guaranteed to be locked in for the launch of her banner. Moreover, as Kafka has significant importance to Star Rail's plot, somewhat more is known about her place in the story than other, similarly leaked characters.

Kafka's Place in Star Rail's Story and World

Honkai: Star Rail character Kafka with wine-colored hair showing a soft smile.

Although Kafka remains somewhat enigmatic in what is currently released of Star Rail's story, she's also a fairly major player in many of its events and belongs to a faction known as the Stellaron Hunters - a powerful group of criminals who follow the lead of a mysterious, apparently future-seeing figure named Elio. Alongside fellow Stellaron Hunters Silver Wolf and Blade, Kafka serves as a semi-antagonistic force in the game's story, being responsible for the creation of the Trailblazer, but also coming into conflict with the Astral Express crew on the Xianzhou.

As the story moves forward, however, it seems likely that Kafka may become an ally to the Astral Express - or, at least, that her goals may align at certain points, with much of her story dialogue pointing to the lofty end goal of helping the Trailblazer kill Nanook the Destruction. As with the rest of the Stellaron Hunters, however, much of Kafka's backstory and personal motivations remain mostly unknown at the current point in the story. Given her presence in the Xianzhou story of Star Rail, Kafka is likely to be an important character in the story of some upcoming patches - especially given her leaked banner release date.

The Leaked Release Date for Kafka's Banner

Honkai: Star Rail's key-art of Kafka, showing her walk among a crowd of umbrellas while she holds her own and turns her head to look at the camera behind her.

According to leaks, Kafka's banner is planned for patch 1.2, and will be splitting the patch with Blade, following the now officially revealed 1.1 banners of Silver Wolf and Luocha. Given Honkai: Star Rail's likely update schedule of six weeks per patch, Kafka's banner is likely to fall within either July or possibly early August, depending on which banner is released first between Kafka and Blade. And, while the rate-up four-star characters in her banner are currently unknown, speculation would point to Serval and Sampo as likely candidates, as both characters synergize well with Kafka's damage over time (DoT) focused playstyle.

Related: Honkai: Star Rail Update Schedule - Are Updates Every Six Weeks?

Kafka's Element, Path, Abilities, and Upgrades

Kafka in combat against the Antimatter Legion in Honkai: Star Rail.

In terms of gameplay, Kafka is a lightning element character following the path of the Nihility, which focuses on debuffing enemies - although, unlike the support focus of Nihility characters like Welt or Pela, Kafka's abilities take advantage of DoT effects, making her more of a damage dealer. Her skill, Caressing Moonlight, deals damage to one enemy and any immediately adjacent enemies, while also making the primary target immediately take damage from any DoT effects currently applied. Twilight Trill, her Ultimate, damages, and Shocks all enemies, making them take DoT equal to a percentage of her attack immediately upon being hit by the Ultimate and for two turns after.

Kafka's talent, Gentle but Cruel, allows Kafka to make follow-up attacks once per turn when an ally uses a basic attack on an enemy, dealing damage and increasing the DoT effects on that enemy by a percentage for two turns. Finally, Kafka's Technique, Mercy Is Not Forgiveness, is functionally identical to Serval's Technique, dealing damage and applying Shock to all enemies for three turns. Her major Traces are Torture, Plunder, and Thorn, which increase the immediate DoT effects of her Skill and Ultimate, regenerates her energy when a Shocked enemy is defeated, and increase the chances of her Talent and Ultimate effects, respectively.

Finally, Kafka's Eidolon levels, in order, are Da Capo, Fortissimo, Capriccio, Recitativo, Doloroso, and Leggiero. Da Capo enhances the effects of Kafka's Ultimate, making enemies immediately take damage from all DoTs applied to them, as opposed to just Shock. Fortissimo boosts Kafka's Weakness Break Efficiency by 50%, Capriccio levels her Skill and Basic Attack Traces, Recitativo extends the duration of her Talent's increased DoT effect by one turn, which can be stacked twice, Doloroso gives Trace levels to her Ultimate and Talent, and Leggiero increases the damage of the Shock DoT on enemies and increases its duration by one turn.

As one of Honkai: Star Rail's most highly anticipated characters, Kafka's banner is likely to be one of the more popular releases out of the game's early events. While most leaked details are, of course, subject to change upon any official release, Kafka's presence as a (briefly) playable character, as well as her release patch being relatively close will likely mean that her abilities and kit are more or less set in stone - though some numbers may see changes, the kit's functionality is likely to remain consistent. Coming in Patch 1.2, Kafka will be a powerful, DoT-focused character in Honkai: Star Rail.