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- The Seriousness of Breakfast (S5)
- The Day The Cosmos Fell (S5)
- Eternal Calculus (S5)
- Yet Hope Is Priceless (S1)
- Geniuses' Repose (S5)
- An Instant Before A Gaze (S1)
- Before Dawn (S1)
- Today Is Another Peaceful Day (S5)
- Night on the Milky Way (S1)
- Into the Unreachable Veil (S1)
Build Guide | Level-Up Materials | Team Composition | Best Light Cone | Back to All Characters
The Herta is a powerful 5-star Ice Erudition unit in Honkai: Star Rail, renowned for her potent self-buffs and impressive damage multipliers. As a damage dealer, she thrives on maximizing CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG, and ATK, along with any general damage boosts from her Light Cones. Her kit already provides a substantial 80% CRIT DMG buff, making Light Cones that boost CRIT Rate particularly valuable. Improvements to her Skill and Ultimate damage are also highly beneficial due to her Interpretation mechanic, with Skill DMG being slightly preferred.
While the ideal combination of CRIT Rate and Skill DMG is rare outside her signature Light Cone, The Herta has many strong options within the Erudition Path, both limited and free-to-play. These Light Cones offer comparable effectiveness, making the choice depend on player preference and availability. Below are the top Light Cone choices for The Herta in Honkai: Star Rail.
The Seriousness of Breakfast (S5)
Increases the wearer's DMG by 24%. For every defeated enemy, the wearer's ATK increases by 8%, stacking up to 3 times.
The Seriousness of Breakfast is a readily available Light Cone, obtainable through Lucent Afterglow purchases or Echo of War drops. A copy can also be acquired by completing a hidden task on the Herta Space Station. While not her optimal choice, it serves as a solid starting point for new players lacking other options, offering straightforward damage boosts until a better Light Cone is acquired.
The Day The Cosmos Fell (S5)
Increases the wearer's ATK by 24%. When the wearer uses an attack and affects at least 2 enemies with a Weakness, the wearer's CRIT DMG increases by 40% for 2 turns.
Also obtainable via Lucent Afterglow or Echo of War drops, or by finding all Origami Birds in Golden Hour, this Light Cone offers slightly better performance than The Seriousness of Breakfast. However, its effectiveness hinges on consistently maintaining its conditional CRIT DMG buff. Its performance can significantly drop if these conditions aren't met regularly. Still, a viable placeholder until a superior Light Cone is obtained.
Eternal Calculus (S5)
Increases the wearer's ATK by 12%. After using an attack, for each enemy hit, ATK increases by an additional 8%, stacking up to 5 times and lasting until the next attack. If 3 or more enemies are hit, SPD increases by 16% for 1 turn.
A free 5-star Light Cone purchased from Herta's Store using Herta Bonds. It provides a substantial ATK% boost, but its effectiveness fluctuates based on the number of targets hit, performing less well against fewer enemies. Despite this limitation, it's a solid choice when its effects are fully utilized. The 16% SPD increase at S5 can also be beneficial for reaching specific SPD breakpoints. Serves as a decent placeholder until a stronger option is available.
Yet Hope Is Priceless (S1)
Increases the wearer's CRIT Rate by 16%. While in battle, for every 20% CRIT DMG exceeding 120%, follow-up attack DMG increases by 12%, stacking up to 4 times. When battle starts or after using Basic ATK, enables Ultimate or follow-up attack DMG to ignore 20% of target's DEF for 2 turns.
Jade's signature Light Cone offers a valuable 16% CRIT Rate increase at S1. While The Herta can't utilize the follow-up attack buffs, it functions as a reliable stat stick. The 20% DEF penetration for the Ultimate can be helpful if used early, but it's not consistently reliable as The Herta ideally avoids Basic ATKs. The free Light Cones are often comparable in performance, so pulling specifically for this is not recommended unless already owned.
Geniuses' Repose (S5)
Increases the wearer's ATK by 32%. When the wearer defeats an enemy, CRIT DMG increases by 48% for 3 turns.
A strong 4-star Light Cone from the standard Stellar Warp. It offers a significant 32% ATK increase and a 48% CRIT DMG boost at S5. The CRIT DMG buff requires personally defeating an enemy, but this is easily maintained in most scenarios. However, effectiveness decreases in prolonged battles against single bosses without regular summons.
An Instant Before A Gaze (S1)
Increases the wearer's CRIT DMG by 36%. When using the Ultimate, Ultimate DMG increases based on Max Energy; 0.36% per Energy point, up to 180 Energy.
Argenti's signature Light Cone provides a 36% CRIT DMG increase and a 64.8% Ultimate DMG boost. While the Ultimate buff is valuable, The Herta generally prefers Skill DMG or general DMG increases. Pulling specifically for this is not recommended unless already owned.
Before Dawn (S1)
Increases the wearer's CRIT DMG by 36%. Increases Skill and Ultimate DMG by 18%. After using Skill or Ultimate, gains Somnus Corpus. Upon triggering a follow-up attack, Somnus Corpus is consumed and follow-up attack DMG increases by 48%.
Jing Yuan's signature Light Cone offers excellent unconditional stats. It grants a 36% CRIT DMG increase and an 18% damage boost to both Skill and Ultimate. While The Herta would benefit more from CRIT Rate, the additional CRIT DMG is still highly valuable.
Today Is Another Peaceful Day (S5)
After entering battle, increases the wearer's DMG based on Max Energy; 0.4% per Energy point, up to 160 Energy.
An outstanding 4-star Light Cone providing a substantial and unconditional damage boost. The Herta easily maximizes this effect due to her high 220 Energy Ultimate cost, resulting in a 64% damage increase at S5. It also has the highest base ATK among current 4-star Erudition Light Cones. An excellent F2P option.
Night on the Milky Way (S1)
For each enemy on the field, increases ATK by 9%, up to 5 stacks. When an enemy is inflicted with Weakness Break, DMG dealt increases by 30% for 1 turn.
A strong 5-star option from the standard Stellar Warp. It can perform exceptionally well, but its effectiveness relies on consistently maintaining its stacks. The ATK boost can reach 45% at S1, but requires five enemies. Performance diminishes significantly with fewer targets. Requires Weakness Break to activate the damage buff.
Into the Unreachable Veil (S1)
Increases the wearer's CRIT Rate by 12%. When using the Ultimate, increases DMG dealt by Skill and Ultimate by 60% for 3 turns. After using the Ultimate (consuming 140+ Energy), recovers 1 Skill Point.
The Herta's signature Light Cone, her best-in-slot option. It significantly boosts Crit Rate and provides a substantial damage increase to both her Skill and Ultimate. It also recovers a Skill Point per Ultimate use. It has the highest ATK stat among available Erudition Light Cones.
