The Herta is a powerful 5-star Ice Erudition unit in Honkai: Star Rail, boasting incredibly strong self-buffs and damage multipliers. As a damage dealer, she is primarily looking for the classic trifecta of CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG, and ATK, as well as any general damage boosts from her Light Cones. Given The Herta’s kit provides a generous 80% CRIT DMG buff, she typically prefers Light Cones that grant CRIT Rate. Additionally, increases to her Skill and Ultimate output are also valuable for her damage profile, due to her Interpretation mechanic, with a particular preference for the former.
While the combination of CRIT Rate and Skill DMG increases is rare outside her signature Light Cone, The Herta still has numerous viable options in the Erudition Path. Many of these Light Cones, both limited and free, offer valuable stats and perform closely to each other in effectiveness. Below are the best Light Cone options for The Herta in Honkai: Star Rail.
Related
Honkai: Star Rail – Sunday Build Guide
Sunday is built relatively similarly to characters like Sparkle or Bronya in Honkai: Star Rail.
The Seriousness of Breakfast (S5)
|
HP |
ATK |
DEF |
|---|---|---|
|
846 |
476 |
396 |
|
S5 Passive |
||
|
Increases the wearer’s DMG by 24%. For every defeated enemy, the wearer’s ATK increases by 8%, stacking up to 3 time(s). |
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The Seriousness of Breakfast is a free Light Cone that can be purchased with Lucent Afterglow or obtained through Echo of War drops. Players may also obtain one copy from completing a hidden task aboard the Herta Space Station. While this Light Cone is far from The Herta’s best choice, it is still a serviceable one for newer players that have no other options. It offers straightforward damage boosts, making it a solid placeholder until a better Light Cone is obtained.
The Day The Cosmos Fell (S5)
|
HP |
ATK |
DEF |
|---|---|---|
|
953 |
476 |
331 |
|
S5 Passive |
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|
Increases the wearer’s ATK by 24%. When the wearer uses an attack and affects no fewer than 2 attacked enemies with a corresponding Weakness, the wearer’s CRIT DMG increases by 40% for 2 turn(s). |
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The Day The Cosmos Fell is another free Light Cone that can be purchased with Lucent Afterglow or obtained through Echo of War drops. Similarly, players can obtain a free copy by finding all the Origami Birds in Golden Hour. While this Light Cone offers slightly better performance than The Seriousness of Breakfast, its effectiveness is tied to maintaining its conditional CRIT DMG buff. If players struggle to meet these conditions consistently, its performance can fall significantly. Nevertheless, it remains a viable placeholder option for The Herta until a more optimal Light Cone is acquired.
Eternal Calculus (S5)
|
HP |
ATK |
DEF |
|---|---|---|
|
1058 |
529 |
396 |
|
S5 Passive |
||
|
Increases the wearer’s ATK by 12%. After using an attack, for each enemy target hit, additionally increases ATK by 8%. This effect can stack 5 times and lasts until the next attack. If there are 3 or more enemy targets hit, this unit’s SPD increases by 16%, lasting for 1 turn(s). |
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Eternal Calculus is a free 5-star Light Cone, available for purchase from Herta’s Store using Herta Bonds. This Light Cone offers a significant ATK% boost, but its performance will fluctuate based on the number of targets hit, making it considerably weaker in scenarios with fewer enemies. Despite this drawback, Eternal Calculus remains a solid choice when its effects are fully utilized. Additionally, its 16% SPD increase at S5 can be beneficial for achieving certain SPD breakpoints in combat. Like the other free options, Eternal Calculus serves as a decent placeholder for The Herta until a stronger alternative is obtained.
Yet Hope Is Priceless (S1)
|
HP |
ATK |
DEF |
|---|---|---|
|
952 |
582 |
529 |
|
S1 Passive |
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|
Increases the wearer’s CRIT Rate by 16%. While the wearer is in battle, for every 20% CRIT DMG that exceeds 120%, the DMG dealt by follow-up attack increases by 12%. This effect can stack up to 4 time(s). When the battle starts or after the wearer uses their Basic ATK, enables Ultimate or the DMG dealt by follow-up attack to ignore 20% of the target’s DEF, lasting for 2 turn(s). |
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Jade’s signature Light Cone, Yet Hope Is Priceless, is a decent option for The Herta, offering a valuable 16% CRIT Rate increase at S1. While she cannot utilize the Follow-Up buffs, this Light Cone should still serve as a simple and reliable stat stick. The 20% DEF penetration for the Ultimate can be nice if players use it early in battle, but it is not a reliable effect as The Herta ideally avoids using Basic ATKs. Additionally, Interpretation stacks may not be as high that early in the fight for the Ultimate to make the most use of the effect.
Players should avoid pulling this Light Cone specifically for The Herta, as its performance does not surpass some of the more F2P-friendly alternatives. If players already have Yet Hope Is Priceless, it may be better suited for a unit that can fully utilize its effects, as the free Light Cones available for The Herta are very close in performance.
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Honkai: Star Rail – Fugue Build Guide
Building Fugue in Honkai: Star Rail is rather simple as her Path opens the way for some useful Light Cones.
Geniuses’ Repose (S5)
|
HP |
ATK |
DEF |
|---|---|---|
|
846 |
476 |
396 |
|
S5 Passive |
||
|
Increases the wearer’s ATK by 32%. When the wearer defeats an enemy, the wearer’s CRIT DMG increases by 48% for 3 turn(s). |
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Geniuses’ Repose is a great 4-star Light Cone obtainable from the standard Stellar Warp. It offers a significant 32% ATK increase and a 48% CRIT DMG boost at S5. While The Herta needs to personally defeat an enemy to activate the CRIT DMG buff, it should be easy to maintain in most situations, as the effect lasts for three turns. However, this Light Cone loses effectiveness in prolonged battles against single boss targets that lack regular summons to refresh the buff, such as Hoolay.
An Instant Before A Gaze (S1)
|
HP |
ATK |
DEF |
|---|---|---|
|
1058 |
582 |
463 |
|
S1 Passive |
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|
Increases the wearer’s CRIT DMG by 36%. When the wearer uses their Ultimate, the wearer’s Ultimate DMG increases based on their Max Energy; Ultimate DMG increases by 0.36% per point of Energy, up to 180 Energy. |
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Argenti’s signature Light Cone, An Instant Before A Gaze, is a great option for The Herta. At S1, it provides a 36% increase to CRIT DMG and a 64.8% boost to Ultimate DMG. While the Ultimate buff is valuable, The Herta would ideally prefer Skill DMG or general DMG instead, which limits this Light Cone’s ranking. Similar to Yet Hope Is Priceless, players should only use this Light Cone if they already have it and avoid pulling specifically for The Herta.
Before Dawn (S1)
|
HP |
ATK |
DEF |
|---|---|---|
|
1058 |
582 |
463 |
|
S1 Passive |
||
|
Increases the wearer’s CRIT DMG by 36%. Increases the wearer’s Skill and Ultimate DMG by 18%. After the wearer uses their Skill or Ultimate, they gain Somnus Corpus. Upon triggering a follow-up attack, Somnus Corpus will be consumed and the follow-up attack DMG increases by 48%. |
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Before Dawn, Jing Yuan’s signature Light Cone, is a strong option for The Herta. While The Herta cannot take advantage of the Follow-Up Attack buff, the Light Cone still offers excellent unconditional stats that complement her kit. At S1, Before Dawn grants a significant 36% CRIT DMG increase and an 18% damage boost to both Skill and Ultimate. Although The Herta would prefer more CRIT Rate due to her A4 Trace, the additional CRIT DMG from this Light Cone is still highly valuable.
Today Is Another Peaceful Day (S5)
|
HP |
ATK |
DEF |
|---|---|---|
|
846 |
529 |
330 |
|
S5 Passive |
||
|
After entering battle, increases the wearer’s DMG based on their Max Energy. DMG increases by 0.4% per point of Energy, up to 160 Energy. |
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Today Is Another Peaceful Day is an outstanding 4-star Light Cone that offers a substantial and unconditional damage boost. Thanks to The Herta’s high 220 Energy cost for her Ultimate, she easily maximizes the Light Cone’s effect, providing a total 64% damage increase at S5. Furthermore, Today Is Another Peaceful Day also possesses the highest base ATK out of all the current 4-star Erudition Light Cones, on par with the 5-star Eternal Calculus. This makes it the best option for F2P and low-spending players, and some might even argue that it is a more consistent choice compared to the next Light Cone on the list.
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Rappa can be built relatively similarly to other Break DMG DPS characters, however there are some nuances.
Night on the Milky Way (S1)
|
HP |
ATK |
DEF |
|---|---|---|
|
1164 |
582 |
396 |
|
S1 Passive |
||
|
For every enemy on the field, increases the wearer’s ATK by 9%, up to 5 stacks. When an enemy is inflicted with Weakness Break, the DMG dealt by the wearer increases by 30% for 1 turn. |
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Night on the Milky Way is a great 5-star option that can be obtained from the standard Stellar Warp. This Light Cone can perform extremely well for The Herta, provided its effects are consistently maintained. While the Light Cone can reach up to a large 45% ATK boost at S1, it requires five enemies on the field to maintain those stacks. The Light Cone’s performance diminishes considerably as the number of targets decreases. Additionally, players need to ensure that at least one enemy is inflicted with Weakness Break to activate the damage buff. While its consistency may fall behind a few other Light Cones, Night on the Milky Way remains a very strong choice, particularly for Pure Fiction.
Into the Unreachable Veil (S1)
|
HP |
ATK |
DEF |
|---|---|---|
|
953 |
635 |
463 |
|
S1 Passive |
||
|
Increases the wearer’s CRIT Rate by 12%. When the wearer uses their Ultimate, increases DMG dealt by the wearer’s Skill and Ultimate by 60%, lasting for 3 turn(s). After the wearer uses their Ultimate, if this Ultimate consumed 140 or more Energy, recovers 1 Skill Point. |
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The Herta’s signature Light Cone, Into the Unreachable Veil, is unmatched as her best-in-slot option due to the immense value it provides. It offers a significant boost to Crit Rate and provides a generous damage increase to both her Skill and Ultimate. Additionally, this Light Cone recovers a Skill Point each time The Herta uses her Ultimate, making it exceptionally effective for SP-heavy teams. With a base ATK of 635, it also boasts the highest ATK stat among all Erudition Light Cones currently available. Its value extends to many other Erudition characters, even those who cannot meet the Energy requirement for the Skill Point.
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- Released
-
April 26, 2023
- Engine
-
Unity
- ESRB
-
T for Teen
- How Long To Beat
-
24hours
- Steam Deck Compatibility
-
yes
- OpenCritic Rating
-
Strong
- Cross Save
-
yes
- Cross-Platform Play
-
Yes, Honkai Star Rail does have cross progression on PS5