Honkai: Star Rail – The Herta build and ascension guide

Unlock the unlimited potential of an Emanator with the best Honkai: Star Rail The Herta build and search the cosmos for the next grand question to tackle. This 5-Star character follows The Erudition and deals Ice DMG, shredding waves of enemies and causing respectable damage to single targets.

The Herta’s Talent, Hand Them Over, and several of her Traces allow her and her allies (fellow Erudition characters in particular) to inflict stacks of Interpretation on enemy targets, prioritizing Elites. Her Skill, Big Brain Energy, causes Ice DMG based on her ATK to three enemies, adding Interpretation to the primary target.

Told Ya! Magic Happens, The Herta’s Ultimate, deals Ice DMG based on her ATK to all enemies, increasing her ATK for three turns. During the Ultimate, all Interpretation stacks are rearranged, prioritizing Elites. The Ultimate provides The Herta with one instance of Inspiration (can stack up to four times), which unlocks her Enhanced Skill, Hear Me Out.

Hear Me Out consumes one stack of Inspiration and deals Ice DMG based on The Herta’s ATK to a single target, before dealing another round of Ice DMG to all enemies. Damage dealt to the primary target is multiplied based on the amount of Interpretation stacks (42 maximum stacks) on the enemy – this effect increases if there are at least two characters following The Erudition on the team. Interpretation on the primary target is reset after this attack.

The Herta’s Technique, Vibe Checker, reveals up to three Treasure Chests on the map and has extremely high utility in the Simulated Universe, dealing massive damage to enemies.

Unlocking her Eidolon Levels by pulling duplicates is another way of bolstering her might. Eidolon 1 adds more Interpretation stacks to the damage calculation for The Herta’s Enhanced Skill and softens the Interpretation reset. Eidolon 2 allows The Herta to gain an additional Inspiration after using her Ultimate and advances her action forward after using her Enhanced Skill. Eidolon 4 is providing a SPD buff to all The Erudition characters on the team. Eidolon 6 boosts her Ice RES PEN and increases her Ultimate DMG depending on the amount of enemies on the field, buffing her performance against single targets.

Honkai: Star Rail – The Herta: best Light Cones

The Herta’s signature Light Cone, Into the Unreachable Veil, provides a boost to CRIT Rate – this is the more important stat to look for when it comes to her gear, as her kit comes with increases to CRIT DMG. In addition, the Light Cone buffs Skill and Ultimate DMG following an Ultimate for a time. If the wearer has more than 140 Energy when using her Ultimate, they recover a Skill Point. The Herta comes with a massive Energy capacity of 220, so this will ensure that you'll have the necessary SP to fire off her Enhanced Skill.

Best Light Cones for The Herta:

• Into the Unreachable Veil (5-Star)
• An Instant Before a Gaze (5-Star)
• Eternal Calculus (5-Star)
• Night on the Milky Way (5-Star)
• Yet Hope Is Priceless (5-Star)
• The Seriousness of Breakfast (4-Star)
• Geniuses’ Repose (4-Star)
• The Day the Cosmos Fell (4-Star)
• Make the World Clamor (4-Star)

Honkai: Star Rail – The Herta: best Relics

The Herta’s main sources of damage are her Enhanced Skill and Ultimate, which are all based on her ATK, making it a vital stat. CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG, and SPD will be your other priorities. Although The Herta has a hefty appetite for Energy, Energy Regeneration is not an issue thanks to one of her Traces, which provides Energy to her whenever allies hit enemies. Since you’ll want to bring at least one other The Erudition character anyway to make full use of The Herta’s kit, that character’s area-of-effect attacks will act as a battery for her.

Best Relic Sets for The Herta:

• Scholar Lost in Erudition (4) – +8% CRIT Rate, +20% Skill and Ultimate DMG, +25% Skill DMG after Ultimate use.

Best Planar Ornaments for The Herta:

• Izumo Gensei and Takama Divine Realm (2) – +12% ATK, +12% CRIT Rate if at least one other character follows the same Path as the wearer.
• Rutilant Arena (2) – +8% CRIT Rate, +20% Attack and Skill DMG if the wearer’s CRIT Rate surpasses 70%.

Best stats for The Herta:

• Head – HP (Primary), ATK %, CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG, SPD
• Hands – Attack (Primary), ATK %, CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG, SPD
• Body – CRIT Rate (Primary), ATK %, CRIT DMG, SPD, ATK
• Feet – SPD (Primary), ATK %, CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG, ATK
• Planar Sphere – Ice DMG (Primary), ATK %, CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG, SPD
• Link Rope – ATK % (Primary), CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG, SPD, ATK

Honkai: Star Rail – The Herta: best teams

The Herta is a strong addition to anyone’s line-up who is looking to add a powerful generalist. Her big advantage over other The Erudition characters is that she can reasonably engage bosses as well as do her job as a wave clearer, making her a very versatile unit. 

• The Herta (Main DPS), Herta (Sub DPS), Trailblazer (Remembrance) (Support), Lingsha (Support)

A team composition for The Herta should always include another The Erudition character – and 4-Star Herta is an excellent, freely unlockable choice for that. She activates The Herta’s passive effects and comes with tons of splash damage to regenerate Energy and apply Interpretation. A fantastic Support comes in the form of Trailblazer (Remembrance) – another free character. As a damage amplifier, they can greatly increase The Herta’s damage output, while the consistent Energy Regeneration provided by the duo of The Herta and Herta ensures that Mem charges up quickly. Lingsha is a great choice for the sustain slot, since she’s not only a potent healer and cleanser, but has more splash damage in store to inflict Interpretation.

In general, though, this composition archetype is very malleable. Huohuo is a solid sustain pick thanks to her Energy Regeneration and offensive buffs, while Aventurine brings splash damage. Sunday, Bronya, Tribbie, or Fugue are all excellent at filling the Support role, while pretty much any of the available The Erudition characters can slot in as Sub DPS, such as Jade, Himeko, and Serval.

Honkai: Star Rail – The Herta: ascension materials

Here’s everything you need to know to get The Herta ascended to the maximum level and upgrade all of her talents.

The Herta requires the following ascension materials to get to level 80 in addition to the necessary XP:

• Credits x308,000
• Extinguished Core x15
• Glimmering Core x15
• Squirming Core x15
• Dream Fridge x65

You can collect Cores from enemies on Herta Space Station as well as the Simulated Universe. You can create or exchange them through the Omni-Synthesizer on the Astral Express. They are one of the materials you can easily farm through the Daily Assignments to your characters, making for a steady income of the material. Dream Fridge is dropped by the Stagnant Shadow (The Reverie, Dreamscape). The best source of Credits are the Golden Calyxes found on many worlds.

The Herta requires the following materials to upgrade her combat abilities and Traces:

• Credits x3,000,000
• Extinguished Core x41
• Glimmering Core x56
• Squirming Core x58
• Rough Sketch x18
• Dynamic Outlining x69
• Exquisite Colored Draft x139
• Auspice Sliver x12
• Tracks of Destiny x8

For the materials already mentioned, check above. Rough Sketches, Dynamic Outlinings, and Exquisite Colored Drafts can be farmed in the Crimson Calyx (Penacony Grand Theater). As usual, you can create the high-level materials by using up lower-level materials in the Omni-Synthesizer on the Astral Express.

Auspice Sliver is rarer material only gained from the Echo of War (Skysplitter) domain, while Tracks of Destiny can be obtained during time-limited events, the Embers Exchange, the Nameless Honor, or as a Simulated Universe Points Reward.