You're running through Penacony, probably dodging a giant rolling gorilla or trying to find a trash can that talks back, and you see it. It’s in the shop. It’s in your inventory. Honkai Star Rail Castorice. If you’re anything like most players, you probably looked at it, thought "cool name," and then went right back to worrying about your crit damage substats. But here is the thing: Castorice isn't just flavor text. It’s a very specific, consumable material introduced during the 2.0 update cycle that actually serves a purpose if you’re trying to optimize your farm or just survive some of the nastier encounters in the Golden Hour.
Honkai Star Rail Castorice is basically a 2-star rarity consumable. It’s classified as a "Material" or "Consumable" depending on which menu you’re squinting at.
What is Castorice Anyway?
Lore-wise, it’s one of those bizarre Dreamscape delicacies. The description mentions it’s a spice or a condiment used in the Dreamscape to stimulate the senses. In a world where people eat floating ice cream and drink liquid fire, Castorice is the gritty, pungent reality check for your character's palate. But we aren't here for the culinary review. We're here because you want to know if it's worth the inventory space.
When you use Castorice, it increases the ATK of all allies by 14% plus an additional 230 points for the next battle.
That’s it.
No fancy energy regeneration. No secret achievements for eating a hundred of them (at least, not yet). It’s a straightforward offensive buff. If you’re struggling to clear a specific overworld boss or a particularly beefy elite in the Simulated Universe (before you've picked up your heavy-hitting blessings), popping some Castorice can be the difference between a clean sweep and a frustrating wipe. It’s not a game-changer for whales who E6 their units, obviously. But for the average Trailblazer? It’s a cheap power-up.
Where to Find Honkai Star Rail Castorice Without Losing Your Mind
Finding this stuff is actually pretty easy if you know which vending machine to kick. You can usually pick it up from the Dreamscape Sales Store or various vendors scattered around Penacony’s main hubs. Specifically, check the vendors in the Golden Hour.
There is a shopkeeper named Dr. Edward (the giant floating eye thing, you can't miss him) and a few other food stalls near the Clockie Statue. They sell the recipe too. Honestly, buying the recipe is the smarter move. Why keep trekking back to a vendor when you can just synthesize it while standing in the middle of a boss arena?
To craft it, you’re going to need:
- 2x Core of Ice
- 1x Gaseous Liquid
It’s cheap.
The ingredients are the kind of "trash" loot you get from smashing barrels and killing low-level mobs in the storage zone or the Herta Space Station. If you’ve been playing for more than a week, you probably have hundreds of these ingredients rotting in your bag.
Why People Ignore Consumables (And Why They Shouldn't)
Most players forget the consumable tab even exists. I get it. The game is mostly about the "Auto-Battle" life and farming relics until your eyes bleed. You don't need a 14% ATK buff to clear your daily Calyx runs.
But think about the Echo of War.
If you’re pushing a higher difficulty level than your current team is strictly geared for, that flat 230 ATK bonus from Honkai Star Rail Castorice scales decently well with your base stats. It’s a flat addition that gets tacked on before other percentages apply in some cases, or it simply pads the numbers enough to hit a break point.
I’ve seen people complain that they can’t beat the "Septimus" boss in the Penacony storyline. They try fifty times. They swap gear. They never once think to eat a meal. It's weirdly poetic. We spend thousands of Stellar Jades on light cones, but we won't spend 200 credits on a spice that makes us hit harder.
The Strategy: When to Actually Use Castorice
Don't use it for everything. That’s a waste of time.
Use it for Stagnant Shadows. If you’re trying to ascend a new character—let’s say you just pulled Boothill or Firefly—and you need to kill that boss 20 times, every second counts. Shaving two turns off a fight by boosting your ATK with Castorice adds up.
Also, keep it in mind for the Simulated Universe: Gold and Gears or Swarm Disaster before you get your path resonance online. The early game of a SU run is the most dangerous part. You have no buffs. You have no curios. You’re vulnerable. Popping a Castorice before you enter that first elite combat can prevent an embarrassing early exit.
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- Open your Bag.
- Go to the Consumables tab (the little cake icon).
- Find the Castorice.
- Use it.
- Watch the little red sword icon appear over your character's head.
Wait.
Keep in mind that buffs in Star Rail don't stack if they provide the same type of effect from the same category. If you eat a high-tier food that gives a 20% ATK boost, the 14% from the Castorice is going to get overwritten. It’s a "budget" buff. Use it when you want to save your expensive 4-star purple food for the truly terrifying content.
Is It Better Than Other Penacony Foods?
Not really.
There are better options like the Classic SoulGlad or various high-end dream sweets that offer Crit Rate or Energy Regen. But those are harder to craft. Castorice is the "white bread" of buffs. It’s reliable, it’s everywhere, and it does exactly what it says on the tin.
Kinda like how you keep a cheap wrench in your kitchen drawer even though you have a full toolbox in the garage. Sometimes you just need to tighten a bolt without making a production out of it.
The Verdict on Honkai Star Rail Castorice
It’s a solid, B-tier consumable that deserves a spot in your quick-access bar if you're doing world exploration. It’s a flavor of Penacony that actually helps you kill things. Is it going to help you 3-star Memory of Chaos 12? No. Consumables aren't allowed in MoC anyway.
But for the 90% of the game that takes place in the open world, it’s a tool. Use it.
Actionable Next Steps
- Check your Recipe list: Go to the Synthesis machine and see if you already unlocked Castorice. If not, teleport to the Golden Hour in Penacony and visit the food vendors near the shopping mall area.
- Stockpile ingredients: If you're short on Gaseous Liquid, send your characters on "Assignments" that reward synthesis materials. It’s passive income for your combat buffs.
- Test the Breakpoints: Take your main DPS to a target dummy or a low-level boss. Record the damage with and without Castorice. You’ll likely see a jump of a few hundred to a thousand damage per hit depending on your multipliers.
- Clean out your inventory: If you have 500 of these, start using them during your weekly boss runs just to speed things up. There’s no point in hoarding them for a "rainy day" that never comes.