Top Herta Build Guide for Honkai Star Rail: Relics, Light Cones, Eidolons, and Skills

The Herta is a standout character in Honkai Star Rail, marking her presence as the game’s inaugural 5-star Ice Erudition unit and the second Emulator. With her distinct skill-oriented gameplay, she excels as a damage dealer that focuses on inflicting substantial blows through careful interpretation stacking on her enemies.

This guide will delve into her optimal build, encompassing her abilities, Eidolons, Light Cones, Relics, rotations, and team compositions that maximize her effectiveness.

Optimal The Herta Build in Honkai Star Rail

Light Cone	Relic	Ornament	Stats	Team Composition
Before Dawn	Hunter of Glacial Forest (4-piece)	Inert Salsotto	Feet: SPD, Body: Crit DMG, Sphere: Ice DMG Bonus, Rope: ATK% Substats: Crit DMG, Crit Rate, ATK%, SPD	Bronya, Tingyun, Pela/Silver Wolf

Top Light Cone for The Herta

When it comes to equipping Light Cones, Before Dawn is the premier choice for Herta.

This powerful Light Cone enhances key aspects of Herta’s playstyle, amplifying critical hits, exponential ultimate damage, and providing additional bonuses for less frequent follow-up attacks. This cone instantly boosts her Crit DMG and enhances her ultimate’s effectiveness.

Best light cones for Herta in HSR — Image courtesy of Dexerto

A standout feature of Before Dawn is the “Somnus Corpus” buff. It grants a temporary enhancement to Herta’s Crit DMG after she utilizes her skill, ultimate, or lands a follow-up attack, significantly amplifying her damage output.

Optimal Relic and Ornament Sets

Best relics for Herta in HSR — Image courtesy of Dexerto

The best Relic set for The Herta is the Scholar Lost in Erudition. This set is engineered to enhance her damage significantly, making it a perfect fit for her skill-centric DPS role.

2-piece bonus: Increases Crit Rate by 8%.
4-piece bonus: Elevates damage dealt by Ultimate and Skill by 20%, plus a 25% damage boost to her next Skill post-Ultimate.

To farm the Scholar Lost in Erudition set, adventurers need to venture into the Cavern of Corrosion: Path of Uncertainty domain located on Xianzhou Luofu. This set is particularly advantageous for Herta’s fast-paced and skill-reliant combat style.

Ornament Set

For the best Ornament set for The Herta, consider the Space Sealing Station. Here’s a breakdown of its benefits:

2-piece bonus: Grants an 8% Crit Rate increase, crucial for optimizing damage output.

This Crit Rate enhancement ensures Herta’s follow-up attacks deliver significant hits as she assumes the role of a chief damage dealer in team fights.

Ascension and Trace Level-Up Materials

Ascension Requirements

For The Herta to ascend, she requires:

Extinguished Core: x15
Glimmering Core: x15
Squirming Core: x15
Dream Fridge: x65

Trace Level-Up Materials

The materials needed to level up The Herta’s Traces include:

Tracks of Destiny: x8
Auspice Sliver: x12
Rough Sketch: x18
Extinguished Core: x41
Glimmering Core: x56
Squirming Core: x58
Dynamic Outlining: x69
Exquisite Colored Draft: x139
Credits: 3 million

Optimal Team Composition for The Herta

When deploying The Herta, an ideal team configuration includes Himeko, Aventurine, and Robin.

The Herta team HSR — Image courtesy of Dexerto

This strategic alliance sets the stage for unparalleled success. Himeko unleashes formidable AoE attacks that decimate enemies and weaken their defenses, enabling Herta to maximize her icy blows.

Aventurine ensures the team’s survivability with defensive measures, allowing Herta to concentrate solely on her damage-dealing capabilities. Meanwhile, Robin enhances the overall attack speed, enabling Herta to unleash her abilities more frequently.

Abilities Overview

Herta in HSR — Image courtesy of Dexerto

Basic Attack

ABILITY NAME	DESCRIPTION
Did You Get It	Inflicts Ice DMG equivalent to 100% of The Herta’s ATK on a chosen enemy target.

Skills

ABILITY NAME	DESCRIPTION
Big Brain Energy	Deals Ice DMG for 70% of The Herta’s ATK, inflicting 1 stack of “Interpretation.” Effects apply to adjacent targets, replicating twice.
Hear Me Out	Consumes 1 stack of “Inspiration,” dealing Ice DMG for 80% of The Herta’s ATK to the main target and adjacent targets, repeating twice! Additionally, inflicts Ice DMG equivalent to 40% of her ATK to all enemies.

Ultimate

ABILITY NAME	DESCRIPTION
Told Ya! Magic Happens	Redistributes “Interpretation” stacks among enemies, focusing on those with higher stacks. Deals 200% Ice DMG based on The Herta’s ATK to all foes. Boosts The Herta’s ATK by 80% for 3 turns and allows an immediate action after the Ultimate.

Talent

ABILITY NAME	DESCRIPTION
Hand Them Over	Upon enemy entry, Herta inflicts 1 stack of “Interpretation.” Potency increases according to existing stacks, with bonus effects if team members align with the Erudition Path.

Technique

ABILITY NAME	DESCRIPTION
Vibe Checker	Increases The Herta’s ATK by 40% at the beginning of the next battle. Adds 25 “Interpretation” stacks to a random enemy, prioritizing its higher tiers.

Passive Abilities

ABILITY NAME	DESCRIPTION
Aloofly Honest	When allied attacks occur, Herta inflicts “Interpretation” stacks on enemies and regains Energy accordingly.
Message From Beyond the Veil	If the team has 2 Erudition units, this boosts ally Crit DMG by 80% and afflicts “Interpretation” stacks strategically on hit targets.
Starved Landscape of Vacua	For each “Interpretation” stack on enemies, increase the damage output of her Ultimate by 1%, stacking up to 99 times.

Eidolons

Leverage these Eidolon perks to amplify her damage output:

Level 1 – Night at Shorefall: Reset “Interpretation” stacks favorably in critical hits.
Level 2 – Wind Through Keyhole: Facilitates collaboration with other Erudition characters through action boosts.
Level 3 – Door into Summer: Enhances skill and talent levels drastically.
Level 4 – The Sixteenth Key: Grants all Erudition characters a 12% SPD increase.
Level 5 – Bitter Pill of Truth: Upgrade levels for Ultimate and Basic ATK, enhancing Herta’s overall damage capabilities.
Level 6 – Sweet Lure of Answer: Enhances Ice RES PEN by 20%, improving HM damage based on enemies present.

Evaluating The Herta: Pros and Cons

Despite her remarkable qualities, The Herta has certain drawbacks. Here’s a balanced view of her strengths and weaknesses:

Strengths	Weaknesses
Capable of high single-target and AoE damage through effective stack management.	Requires careful management of “Interpretation” stacks for optimal performance.
Synergizes well with other Erudition units, enhancing overall team viability.	Lacks defensive options, making her susceptible to damage without support.
Can execute powerful damage bursts with her Ultimate.	Her Ultimate demands frequent energy management, potentially limiting effectiveness.

Official The Herta Trailer

On January 7, 2025, HoYoverse unveiled the official trailer for The Herta 3.0 on their YouTube channel. Don’t miss out; watch it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI876O5vaYc

Myriad Celestia Trailer: Stars, Silent as Enigmas | Honkai: Star Rail (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI876O5vaYc)

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