There’s a secret achievement you can get when battling the Starcrusher Swarm King boss in Honkai Star Rail, but there’s a long road of frustration between you and the free Stellar Jades at the end of the trail.
In Utter Darkness is a secret achievement added to Honkai Star Rail in Version 1.6. This update introduced Ruan Mei to the game and sent Trailblazers into an unknown part of the Herta Space Station to defeat an all-new boss called the Starcrusher Swarm King. This annoying bug is back from the Simulated Universe Swarm Disaster mode and he’s just as stupid as ever. To get the In Utter Darkness achievement, you’ll need to make use of specific team compositions to maximize your Break damage.
How to Get the In Utter Darkness Achievement in Honkai Star Rail
To unlock the In Utter Darkness achievement, you need to Weakness Break the Starcrusher Swarm King boss after it casts Carapace of Nurtured Disaster for the first time in the second phase of the fight. You only have a small window to accomplish this, as it won’t count if the boss manages to cast its huge Ovum of Collapsed Star attack. Basically, you need to Weakness Break the boss within the first few turns of the second phase.
To accomplish this, you need to use a team that specializes in Weakness Break. When you visit the Echo of War to challenge the Starcrusher Swarm King, use a support character like Ruan Mei or Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae. They both deal immense Break damage, which is key to obtaining this achievement.
In addition to the support character, two units are essential to completing this achievement. The first is March 7th, who can freeze the boss with her Ultimate and buy you a few additional turns before the boss casts Ovum of Collapsed Star. Sushang is the other piece of the puzzle, with her kit allowing her to attack, use her Ultimate, and then attack again in one turn.
To make this fight much less of a headache, make sure to challenge the boss at a lower difficulty level. Difficulty level two is the sweet spot for most people, but if you have a team of built level 80 characters, you might end up killing the Starcrusher Swarm King before you can Weakness Break it. Difficulty three or four might be more your speed in that case.
Related: Honkai Star Rail: Best Sushang team comps
Also, since Echo of War is a restricted weekly activity in Honkai Star Rail, make sure to retreat from the battle if you defeat the Starcrusher Swarm King boss without unlocking the achievement. That way, you can keep trying as many times as you like and you won’t waste any of your weekly Echo of War attempts. It’ll definitely take you a few tries to get this achievement, but once you manage to Weakness Break the boss fast enough, you’ll get some free Stellar Jades for your trouble.
The Stormcrusher Swarm King is one of the most annoying bosses in Honkai Star Rail, but you’ll need to farm it for rare resources that are required to level up some of the game’s best characters. You can safely ignore this boss and focus on easier Echo of War targets if you’ve already got a stacked roster of powerful units, but if you want to build Ruan Mei, Dr. Ratio, or similar characters, you’re going to become very familiar with the Stormcrusher Swarm King.
