Okay so last weekend I was scrolling through twitter, right? Saw all these amazing fan-made HSR characters popping up – Sampo with a top hat? Hook riding a giant mech lobster? Wild stuff. Thought, “Man, I gotta try making my own Imaginary character.” Sounded fun. Didn’t expect it to be super easy, but figured I’d document the mess.
The “This Should Be Simple” Phase
First, I figured, hey, just pick an existing HSR character base. Grabbed screenshots of Dan Heng • Imbibitor Lunae. Solid base, cool vibes. Opened up the art app (just using a free one I found online). Started trying to sketch over him. Realized pretty dang fast that drawing a new hairstyle on that detailed head is NOT straightforward. My guy looked like he had soggy ramen noodles glued to his scalp. Big fail.
The “Okay, Let’s Get Serious” Phase
Decided brute force sketching wasn’t cutting it. Remembered folks use AI tools a lot for this. Fired up MidJourney. Typed in stuff like: “Honkai Star Rail style young woman archer, intricate steampunk gears on bow and boots, dramatic lighting, detailed fantasy art”. First batch? Her bow looked like melted cheese. Legs were bent at impossible angles. One had three arms? Weird.
Kept grinding prompts:
- Added more HSR keywords: “Masterpiece, best quality, detailed iridescent armor plates, flowing holographic skirt”
- Refined the ugly parts: “–no deformed legs, –no extra limbs, –no melted cheese weapon” (Seriously)
- Described personality: “Smirking confidently, vibrant turquoise eyes, dynamic pose like mid-jump”
Took maybe 20 rounds? Finally got something usable. Not perfect, but the core vibe was there. Felt like a small victory.
The “Polishing The Hot Mess” Phase
Got my raw AI image. It needed HUMAN help. Brought it into the art app again.
- Fixing the Face: AI loves making eyes uneven. Fixed the wonky stare. Made the smirk look less creepy, more confident. Touched up lips.
- Cleaning the Gear: The steampunk bow was… busy. Smoothed out awkward gears, sharpened lines so it actually looked functional.
- Adjusting Colors: The base colors were muddy. Pumped up the turquoise highlights on the armor and skirt, made the metallics really shine. Contrast is key, man.
- Adding Effects: This is where HSR comes alive! Painted simple glows on the bowstring, added energy particle effects swirling around her feet, threw a basic sparkle effect on the holographic parts. It makes the static image feel more dynamic.
Spent like two hours just picking away at details. Zooming in, fixing one tiny blob at a time. My eyes were crossing.
The “Naming My Frankenstein” Phase
Harder than drawing sometimes! Wanted something that sounded HSR-ish. Sci-fi but elegant. Flipped through names online, mixed syllables. Ended up with “Sylvene Torque”. “Sylvene” kinda techy-fairy, “Torque” for that steampunk mechanical vibe. Sounds legit enough for me! Wrote a quick backstory: ex-engineer who infused her gear with Imaginary energy. Boom.
The Final Result (and Brutal Honesty)
Look, is she going to rival official art? Absolutely not. Is she slightly wonky if you look too close? 100%. But you know what? I made her. That weird skirt, the slightly-too-large gauntlet, the way her hair defies gravity… it’s mine. The process was messy, frustrating as heck, and weirdly fun once I embraced the chaos. Learned tons about prompting and basic digital cleanup. Mostly learned that HSR artists are wizards.
Biggest tips? Steal base prompts liberally, be insanely specific about what you DON’T want, and prepare to fix stuff manually. And lower your expectations. Way, way lower. Then be pleasantly surprised! Anyhoo, that’s my weekend experiment captured. Hope it was slightly useful, or at least made you laugh at my struggles!