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The Herta Guide

Updated for Version 3.0

Note that the information given may change if new discoveries are made. More extensive testing is in progress.

Join our Discord to check on and participate in the theorycrafting process.

Introduction

Gracing us with her presence, Genius Society member #83 The Herta finally reveals her true self. An Emanator of the Erudition, she appears as a 5-Star Ice character in Honkai: Star Rail. Utilizing her supreme intellect, Madam Herta uses her “Interpretation” of the world to eliminate any number of obstacles in her way, while furthering her research. For how else can this unparalleled genius obtain the “Inspiration” to reveal the question that even Aeons can’t answer?

Infographic

Credits to: soul_fish, euphorysm, erisdc, and KQM Staff

Character Overview

Pros

  • A peerless gem
  • An unrivalled genius
  • An inimitable beauty
  • Deals exceptional AoE damage
  • Good team options at all levels of investment
  • Makes good use of less contested characters

Cons

  • High SP consumption without signature Light Cone
  • Very rigid team structure
  • Current teams struggle against single-target encounters
  • Will set your kitchen on fire

Playstyles

The Herta’s playstyle is fairly simple: use ally attacks to apply as many stacks of “Interpretation” to enemies as possible, use her Ultimate to move “Interpretation” stacks to the strongest enemies and enhance her Skill, and target the enemy with the most stacks of “Interpretation”with her Enhanced Skill to deal massive damage.

As The Herta’s Ultimate grants her a full Action Advance, it is typically best to use it when her turn is far away. For example, if her turn is 10 AV away and The Herta has full Energy, it is usually better to take her turn normally and use her Ultimate immediately after her turn ends, to maximize the value of the Action Advance.

Traces

Basic ATK

Basic ATK | Did You Get It

Trace Description

Did You Get It [Single Target]

Deals Ice DMG equal to 50%/100%/110% of The Herta’s ATK to one designated enemy.

A standard Basic ATK, nothing special.

Skill

Skill | Big Brain Energy / Hear Me Out

Trace Description

Big Brain Energy [Blast]

Deals Ice DMG equal to 35%/70%/77% of The Herta’s ATK to one designated enemy, and inflicts 1 stack(s) of “Interpretation.” Deals Ice DMG equal to 35%/70%/77% of The Herta’s ATK to the targets hit by this instance of Skill and their respective adjacent targets. This effect can repeat 2 times.

Hear Me Out [Blast]

Consumes 1 stack of “Inspiration.” Deals Ice DMG equal to 40%/80%/88% of The Herta’s ATK to one designated enemy and inflicts 1 stack(s) of “Interpretation.” Deals Ice DMG equal to 40%/80%/88% of The Herta’s ATK to the target hit by this instance of Skill and adjacent targets, repeating 2 times. Finally, deals Ice DMG equal to 20%/40%/44% of The Herta’s ATK to all enemies.

Skill

Targets a single enemy, but spreads damage outward twice — essentially, a wider Blast attack. Applies “Interpretation” only to the targeted enemy.

It hits three times total, dealing the listed damage multiplier 3 times to the targeted enemy, 2 times to enemies immediately adjacent to the targeted enemy, and 1 time to targets adjacent to those targets.

Enhanced Skill

A copy of the regular Skill with a slightly higher damage multiplier, followed by an AoE attack.

Note that “Inspiration” will not be consumed unless The Herta uses her Enhanced Skill, so it is possible to save this ability for a more opportune moment by using her Basic ATK.

Ultimate

Ultimate | Told Ya! Magic Happens

Trace Description

Told Ya! Magic Happens [AoE]

Rearranges the number of “Interpretation” stacks on all enemies, prioritizing the transfer of a higher number of “Interpretation” stacks to Elite-level targets and above. Then, deals Ice DMG equal to 100%/200%/220% The Herta’s ATK to all enemies. When using Ultimate, increases The Herta’s ATK by 40%/80%/88%, lasting for 3 turn(s). After using the Ultimate, The Herta immediately takes action and gains 1 stack of “Inspiration.” “Inspiration” can stack up to 4 time(s). While having “Inspiration,” enhances Skill to “Hear Me Out.

Ensures that The Herta can use the most powerful hits of her Enhanced Skill against Elite and Boss enemies.

While The Herta’s largest source of damage is her Enhanced Skill, her Ultimate is still strong enough to clear out weaker enemies, further concentrating “Interpretation” stacks on important targets.

Talent

Talent | Hand Them Over

Trace Description

Hand Them Over [Enhance]

When enemy targets enter battle, The Herta inflicts 1 stack of “Interpretation” on them. At the start of each wave, applies 25 stack(s) of “Interpretation” to a random enemy target, prioritizing Elite enemy targets or higher. When the Enhanced Skill’s primary target has “Interpretation,” the multiplier for the DMG dealt increases, with each stack granting an increase of 4%/8%/8.8% / 2%/4%/4.4% on the primary target/other targets respectively. If 2 or more characters follow the Path of Erudition in the team, each stack grants an additional increase of 4%/8%/8.8% / 2%/4%/4.4% on the primary target/other targets respectively. “Interpretation” can stack up to 42 time(s). When using the Enhanced Skill, resets the number of “Interpretation” stacks on the primary target to 1. After the enemy target leaves the battle or gets defeated by any unit, “Interpretation” will be transferred, prioritizing the transfer to Elite-level targets and above.

The multiplier increase from this Talent only applies to the AoE hit at the end of the Enhanced Skill.

Technique

Technique | Vibe Checker

Trace Description

Vibe Checker [Enhance]

After using Technique, The Herta’s ATK increases by 60% at the start of the next battle, lasting for 2 turn(s).
If there are Basic Treasures in this current map, using Technique will mark up to 3 Basic Treasures’ locations.
After entering battle by using Technique in Simulated Universe or Divergent Universe, deals True DMG equal to 99% of the target’s Max HP to enemy targets lower than Elite-level, and True DMG equal to 30% of the target’s Max HP to enemy targets at Elite-level and above.

A fairly minor bonus in normal combat, but a very useful tool for exploration.

Unfortunately, the True DMG dealt in the Simulated Universe and Divergent Universe has no significant impact on the outcome of a run that is already going well, but it can help you get through regular Combat Domains in runs that started poorly.

A2 Bonus

Ascension 2 Bonus Ability | Aloofly Honest

Trace Description

Aloofly Honest

When ally targets attack, inflicts 1 stack of Interpretation on the hit enemy target. After attacking, for every 1 target hit by this attack, regenerates 3 fixed Energy for The Herta, counting up to a maximum of 5 targets. When using Enhanced Skill and if the primary target’s Interpretation stack reaches 42, increases Ice DMG dealt by The Herta by 50% until the end of this attack.

The Energy generated by this Bonus Ability is not affected by Energy Regeneration Rate.

A4 Bonus

Ascension 4 Bonus Ability | Message From Beyond the Veil

Trace Description

Message From Beyond the Veil

When entering battle, if the team has 2 or more characters following the Path of Erudition, then increases all allies’ CRIT DMG by 80%, calculates at least 3 targets when the Trace Aloofly Honest calculates hit targets, applies 1 stack(s) of Interpretation to the target that has the highest current Interpretation stacks among the hit enemy targets after attacking, and additionally applies 2 stack(s) of Interpretation if the attacker is a character following the Path of Erudition.

This Bonus Ability is so powerful that not including another Erudition character on the team is always a damage loss, even if their replacement is a very powerful support like Robin or Sunday.

Additionally, because the 80% CRIT DMG buff is teamwide, it increases the damage dealt by all party members, not just The Herta. It can also amplify the buffs of characters that scale with CRIT DMG, like Sunday.

A6 Bonus

Ascension 6 Bonus Ability | Starved Landscape of Vacua

Trace Description

Starved Landscape of Vacua

For every 1 stack of Interpretation inflicted on enemy targets, The Herta gains 1 stack of Answer up to 99 stack(s). When using the Ultimate, every stack of Answer increases the Ultimate’s DMG multiplier by 1%.

Stacks very quickly, especially in AoE scenarios. At maximum stacks and Ultimate Level 10, this Bonus Ability increases the total damage of The Herta’s Ultimate by 49.5%.

“Answer” stacks are permanent once obtained and do not reset when The Herta uses her Ultimate.

Note: Trace levels shown are 1/10/12 (Basic ATK 1/6/7).

Trace Priority

>

Talent > Ultimate ≥ Skill

When used against targets with many stacks of “Interpretation,” the multipliers added to The Herta’s Enhanced Skill by her Talent outscale her other abilities significantly, making it her highest priority. Her Ultimate comes next, primarily because its ATK buff increases all of The Herta’s damage. Finally, while dwarfed by her Talent, The Herta’s Skill is still important to level, to ensure the non-Enhanced version can reliably take out weaker enemies in order to transfer their “Interpretation” stacks to stronger enemies.

The Herta’s Basic ATK can be left unleveled.

Eidolons

Calculations presented below are done with the following assumptions:
The Herta equipped with S1 Into the Unreachable Veil, 4-Pc Scholar Lost in Erudition, and 2-Pc Rutilant Arena
E0 Jade equipped with S1 Today is Another Peaceful Day, 4-Pc Genius of Brilliant Stars, and 2-Pc Inert Salsotto
E6 Pela equipped with S5 Before the Tutorial Mission Starts and Broken Keel
E0 Lingsha equipped with S5 What is Real? and Fleet of the Ageless

Keep in mind that since The Herta will usually not be the only character in the team that deals damage, especially when paired with another 5-star Erudition character like Jade or Argenti, the numbers shown overestimate the team’s overall damage increase.

Eidolon 1

Eidolon 1 | Night at Shorefall

When Enhanced Skill calculates “Interpretation,” additionally calculates 50% of the “Interpretation” stacks on the 1 target with the highest stacks out of the primary target and adjacent targets. When using Enhanced Skill to reset “Interpretation,” reset the stack number to 15 instead.

The stacks calculated from this Eidolon count towards activating The Herta’s A2 Bonus Ability, allowing her to benefit from the 50% Ice DMG Boost against enemies with less than 42 stacks of “Interpretation” if the total stack count considered reaches or exceeds 42.

This Eidolon additionally ensures enemies targeted by The Herta’s Enhanced Skill will always have 15 stacks of “Interpretation” after it is used, even if they had less than 15 stacks beforehand. Without E2, this is primarily relevant outside of AoE scenarios.

Personal Damage Increase Over E0: ~16%
Eidolon 2

Eidolon 2 | Wind Through Keyhole

After The Herta enters battle and uses her Ultimate, she additionally gains 1 stack of “Inspiration.” After using Enhanced Skill, The Herta’s subsequent action is advanced by 35%.

Doubles the number of Enhanced Skills The Herta can perform. Her E1 stack refund comes in handy here, making it easier to maintain high numbers of “Interpretation” stacks even with twice as many Enhanced Skills.

As if that wasn’t enough, a 35% Action Advance after each Enhanced Skill allows The Herta to increase her effective SPD by more than 50% if she can continuously chain Enhanced Skills.

Note that due to the Action Advance, this Eidolon significantly increases The Herta’s SP consumption. If you don’t have her signature Light Cone by this point, now is the time to get it.

Personal Damage Increase Over Previous Eidolon: ~48%Personal Damage Increase Over E0: ~71%
Eidolon 3

Eidolon 3 | Door into Summer

Skill Lv. +2, up to a maximum of Lv. 15.
Talent Lv. +2, up to a maximum of Lv. 15.

Noticeably increases the damage of The Herta’s primary source of damage — her Enhanced Skill.

Personal Damage Increase Over Previous Eidolon: ~8%Personal Damage Increase Over E0: ~85%
Eidolon 4

Eidolon 4 | The Sixteenth Key

The SPD of characters following the Path of Erudition in the team increases by 12%.

Makes hitting high SPD thresholds for The Herta slightly easier, especially when paired with her E2 Action Advance.

Personal Damage Increase Over Previous Eidolon: ~5%Personal Damage Increase Over E0: ~95%
Eidolon 5

Eidolon 5 | Bitter Pill of Truth

Ultimate Lv. +2, up to a maximum of Lv. 15.
Basic ATK Lv. +1, up to a maximum of Lv. 10.

Slightly increases the ATK buff and damage of The Herta’s Ultimate, but not a particularly notable damage increase otherwise.

Personal Damage Increase Over Previous Eidolon: ~3%Personal Damage Increase Over E0: ~101%
Eidolon 6

Eidolon 6 | Sweet Lure of Answer

The Herta’s Ice RES PEN increases by 20%. When the number of enemy targets on the field is 3 (or more)/2/1, Ultimate’s DMG multiplier increases by 140%/250%/400%.

An unconditional 20-25% increase to all of The Herta’s damage, along with a significant increase to her Ultimate’s damage multiplier.

This Eidolon is strongest when facing a single target, which happens to be The Herta’s biggest weakness.

Personal Damage Increase Over Previous Eidolon: ~35%Personal Damage Increase Over E0: ~171%

Build

Calculations presented below are done with the following assumptions:
E0 The Herta equipped with 4-Pc Scholar Lost in Erudition and 2-Pc Rutilant Arena or 2-Pc Izumo Gensei and Takama Divine Realm (whichever gave better results)
E0 Jade equipped with S1 Today is Another Peaceful Day, 4-Pc Genius of Brilliant Stars, and 2-Pc Inert Salsotto
E6 Pela equipped with S5 Before the Tutorial Mission Starts and Broken Keel
E0 Lingsha equipped with S5 What is Real? and Fleet of the Ageless

Keep in mind that since The Herta will usually not be the only character in the team that deals damage, especially when paired with another 5-star Erudition character like Jade or Argenti, the numbers shown overestimate the team’s overall damage increase.

Light Cones

Light ConePersonal DamageNotes

Into the Unreachable Veil (S1)
~127%Into the Unreachable Veil offers strong bonuses with effectively permanent uptime, and would be The Herta’s strongest Light Cone even without the third effect.

The SP generation ensures The Herta can always use her Enhanced Skill immediately after using her Ultimate and significantly reduces her overall SP consumption, making teams with lower SP generation, such as those with Robin or Lingsha, much more comfortable.

Today is Another Peaceful Day (S5)
~113%The Herta gains an unconditional 64% DMG Boost from this Light Cone at S5. Combined with its higher-than-usual Base ATK for a 4-star Light Cone, this makes it an excellent option in all teams and against all enemy matchups.

An Instant Before a Gaze
~111%High Base ATK, 36% CRIT DMG, and a 64.8% Ultimate DMG Boost make this Light Cone a strong and consistent option.

Before Dawn
~109%For The Herta, Before Dawn is effectively a copy of An Instant Before a Gaze that offers 18% Skill and Ultimate DMG Boost instead of 64.8% Ultimate DMG Boost.

Geniuses’ Repose
~91% – 104%In Pure Fiction and at a high superimposition, Geniuses’ Repose is a great Light Cone, performing better than all 4-star options except S2+ Peaceful Day.

Outside of Pure Fiction, it can still work, but only if The Herta can defeat an enemy at least once per every 3 of her own turns — and since she Advances her own action with her Ultimate, this can sometimes be difficult (e.g. small numbers of tanky enemies), if not downright impossible (e.g. many enemies with shared HP).

Without the CRIT DMG buff, however, this Light Cone’s performance suffers greatly.

Today is Another Peaceful Day (S1)
100%Even at S1, Today is Another Peaceful Day is a strong Light Cone, beating all free options at maximum potential with its high Base ATK and permanent 32% DMG Boost.

Night on the Milky Way
~92% – 116%With two highly conditional effects, Night on the Milky Way’s performance varies greatly depending on the number of enemies and whether they are Weakness Broken frequently enough.

This Light Cone is generally strongest in Pure Fiction, where The Herta already dominates even with a weaker Light Cone, and weakest in battles with few enemies, where The Herta suffers the most. As such, a more consistent option than Night on the Milky Way is usually a better choice, unless you are willing to level and swap multiple Light Cones, or you simply have nothing better.

The Seriousness of Breakfast (S5)
~93% – 99%The Seriousness of Breakfast provides a permanently active 24% DMG Boost at minimum, making it The Herta’s most consistent free option. If she can defeat at least 3 enemies, an extra 24% ATK brings it to the level of S1 Today is Another Peaceful Day.

The Day the Cosmos Fell (S5)
~90% – 100%If you’re facing at least two enemies with Ice Weakness for the entire Battle, The Day the Cosmos Fell can match the performance of a fully-stacked The Seriousness of Breakfast. Without the CRIT DMG buff, however, The Day the Cosmos Fell falls far behind.

Relics

Relic Sets

Calculations presented below are done with the following assumptions:
E0 The Herta equipped with S1 Into the Unreachable Veil and 2-Pc Rutilant Arena or 2-Pc Izumo Gensei and Takama Divine Realm (whichever gave better results)
E0 Jade equipped with S1 Today is Another Peaceful Day, 4-Pc Genius of Brilliant Stars, and 2-Pc Inert Salsotto
E6 Pela equipped with S5 Before the Tutorial Mission Starts and Broken Keel
E0 Lingsha equipped with S5 What is Real? and Fleet of the Ageless

Keep in mind that since The Herta will usually not be the only character in the team that deals damage, especially when paired with another 5-star Erudition character like Jade or Argenti, the numbers shown overestimate the team’s overall damage increase.

Relic SetPersonal DamageNotes

4-Pc Scholar Lost in Erudition
100%The Herta’s “signature” Relic Set, and her best option in all scenarios. Provides a notable increase to all of her damage, especially her Enhanced Skill.

4-Pc Hunter of Glacial Forest
~94%While The Herta usually cannot maintain 100% uptime on the CRIT DMG buff from this set, it is active during the vast majority of her damage, making it a decent choice.

Additionally, this set drops alongside Eagle of Twilight Line, a set for AV min-maxing and unique SPD tuning. If you are willing to sacrifice a bit of The Herta’s damage and want Eagle anyway, farming this Cavern is perfectly fine.

4-Pc Poet of Mourning Collapse
~94%Poet of Mourning Collapse can provide a potent CRIT Rate buff, but for The Herta to activate the full 32% CRIT Rate bonus, she must have no SPD substats and cannot unlock both her SPD Traces, as either one would put her over 95 SPD at the start of battle.

Even with the full Set Effect active, it will not outperform 4-Pc Scholar Lost in Erudition. With only the 20% CRIT Rate bonus, this set will perform about the same as 2-Pc combinations. Not recommended to farm for The Herta.
2-Pc Combinations~92%2-Pc options include: Scholar Lost in Erudition, Pioneer Diver of Dead Waters, Hunter of Glacial Forest, and 2-Pc sets that grant 12% ATK: Musketeer of Wild Wheat, Prisoner in Deep Confinement, and The Wind-Soaring Valorous.

Note that 2-Pc Pioneer is ineffective without debuffs.

Planar Ornaments

Calculations presented below are done with the following assumptions:
E0 The Herta equipped with S1 Into the Unreachable Veil and 4-Pc Scholar Lost in Erudition
E0 Jade equipped with S1 Today is Another Peaceful Day, 4-Pc Genius of Brilliant Stars, and 2-Pc Inert Salsotto
E6 Pela equipped with S5 Before the Tutorial Mission Starts and Broken Keel
E0 Lingsha equipped with S5 What is Real? and Fleet of the Ageless

Keep in mind that since The Herta will usually not be the only character in the team that deals damage, especially when paired with another 5-star Erudition character like Jade or Argenti, the numbers shown overestimate the team’s overall damage increase.

Planar OrnamentPersonal DamageNotes

Izumo Gensei and Takama Divine Realm
100%Because Herta’s A4 Bonus Ability provides such potent effects that her teams are always stronger with a second Erudition character, Izumo’s CRIT Rate bonus will always be active.

This Planar Ornament offers roughly the same performance as Rutilant Arena. Pick whichever one has better substats.

Rutilant Arena
~100%Rutilant Arena’s CRIT Rate and Skill DMG Boost makes it an excellent option for The Herta, boosting her primary source of damage.

This Planar Ornament offers roughly the same performance as Izumo Gensei and Takama Divine Realm. Pick whichever one has better substats.

Firmament Frontline: Glamoth
~98%
(135 SPD)
If The Herta has at least 135 SPD, Firmament Frontline: Glamoth performs only slightly worse than the above two options. At 160 SPD or higher, it matches their performance. However, this is typically only feasible with Jade and/or Sunday, as SPD Boots are usually not an ideal choice outside of teams with Sunday.

Space Sealing Station
~97%The Herta’s large self-ATK buffs make Space Sealing Station essentially a worse version of Firmament Frontline: Glamoth.

However, you get bonus points for using a lore-accurate set.

Sigonia, the Unclaimed Desolation
~93% – 105%*While this Planar Ornament can technically outperform every other option on this list when fully stacked, Sigonia typically only reaches its peak performance in Pure Fiction, where The Herta already dominates with ease. As such, it’s not a great choice unless you’re willing to swap Relics for different scenarios.

Stats


Body

Boots

Sphere

Rope
CRITATK | SPD*Ice DMG Boost > ATKATK

Substats

CRIT > ATK%SPD*

When balancing The Herta’s CRIT Rate and CRIT DMG, remember to take into account the extra 80% CRIT DMG she gains when another Erudition character is in the team. This means that if you can reach at least 120% CRIT DMG out of battle, it is optimal to go for 100% CRIT Rate before pursuing further CRIT DMG.

*Because The Herta can Advance Forward her own action with her Ultimate and gains Energy from ally attacks, SPD Boots and substats are usually less valuable on The Herta than on many other damage dealers, especially when she is Jade’s Debt Collector. However, when played in certain optimized teams with Sunday, Robin, or even Lingsha, SPD can be valuable.

E1 or S1?

The Herta’s first Eidolon (E1) and signature Light Cone (S1) both offer a significant damage increase on top of a quality-of-life feature. The damage increase from each is relatively similar, with S1 coming out slightly ahead — though S1’s advantage increases further if you’re upgrading from one of her weaker Light Cone options (Geniuses’ Repose or lower). More importantly, the SP generation provided by S1 is useful in every team, because all of The Herta’s teams benefit from multiple party members using Skill Points. On the flipside, while the reset to 15 stacks of “Interpretation” (instead of 1) offered by E1 is nice, it usually has no effect outside of 1- or 2-enemy encounters, where The Herta already fares poorly.

Additionally, given the same number of Special Passes, the Light Cone Event Warp offers a much higher chance at obtaining the desired item, thanks to its higher 5-star rates and rate-up drop chance. This means S1 is nearly always a better choice, with one exception: E2 is a massive upgrade, more than doubling the number of Enhanced Skills The Herta can launch and increasing her effective SPD by over 50%. If you have enough pulls for two Eidolons and you want to upgrade The Herta even further, going for E2 over E1 + S1 is a better choice.

Of course, none of these upgrades are necessary. The Herta is a complete and functional unit at E0 without her signature Light Cone, with strong team options regardless. While her signature Light Cone and Eidolons do make her stronger and more comfortable to play, none offer such game-changing utility as to make her “unplayable” without them.

For calculation results on the estimated damage improvement offered by The Herta’s Eidolons and signature Light Cone, see the Eidolons and Light Cones sections.

Character Comparisons

Acheron

Acheron and The Herta share more than a few similarities: Both are playable Emanators with significant incentives for running other characters of the same Path in their teams. Both charge their Ultimate primarily via allies’ actions, and both require their Ultimate to enable the vast majority of their damage, with some flexibility in when it is delivered (Acheron can hold up to 3 points of Slashed Dream beyond the 9 required to use her Ultimate, and The Herta can use her Basic ATK to delay the consumption of “Inspiration”). Both also deal significant AoE damage with a bias toward stronger enemies, giving them flexibility across multiple types of encounters .

Within these similarities, however, there are some differences. Acheron opts out of the Energy system entirely, relying on discrete points of Slashed Dream that can only be obtained when she uses her Skill or once per action when debuffs are applied to enemies. The Herta uses the standard Energy system and regenerates additional Energy when allies attack enemies, scaling with the number of enemies hit. Both have their benefits and drawbacks: Acheron’s “Energy” gains are very consistent, because she gains Slashed Dream in discrete amounts exactly once per action. This means she will always charge her Ultimate in roughly the same amount of time regardless of enemy composition, but it also means she cannot take advantage of Energy gained from ally abilities, stage effects, defeating enemies, or being attacked. The Herta can benefit from these external sources of Energy, but thanks to her varying Energy gains depending on the number of enemies attacked by allies and whether she defeats enemies or receives enemy attacks, the rate at which her Ultimate charges depends quite heavily on the enemy composition.

Lastly, while Acheron carries over all Crimson Knot stacks left on enemies when one wave ends and the next begins, The Herta does not carry over stacks of “Interpretation”, starting only with the initial 26 from her Talent. This means that when a new wave starts, it’s often better to wait for several ally attacks to stack up “Interpretation” before using The Herta’s Enhanced Skill. However, since most of the damage amplification available to Acheron comes from debuffs applied by allies, it is usually best to save her own Ultimate until her allies have debuffed the enemy — so in the end, the strategy is much the same.

Notable Synergies

Erudition


Jade
As of Version 3.0, Jade is The Herta’s best Erudition teammate when facing 3 or more enemies. Jade offers excellent “Interpretation” stack application without sacrificing her own personal damage or SP positivity.

It is usually ideal for The Herta to be Jade’s Debt Collector, primarily for the SPD boost. The Herta also launches many AoE attacks, accumulating Charge for Jade reasonably quickly.

However, if you also have Lingsha, it can be more comfortable to assign Lingsha the role of Debt Collector. If she uses her Skill on most of her turns, Lingsha generates more points of Charge for Jade than The Herta does, which means Jade will do more damage and The Herta will regenerate more Energy. This is only recommended if you have The Herta’s signature Light Cone, however, because SP will be difficult to manage otherwise.
Argenti Sticker 01 - The Crepuscule Zone
Argenti
Madam Herta’s inimitable beauty should make it no surprise that a Knight of Beauty is an excellent teammate. Argenti’s bonus Energy regeneration when attacking enemies, paired with his ability to use an AoE Ultimate at 90 Energy, allows him to rapidly stack “Interpretation” and regenerate Energy for The Herta. In Pure Fiction, he can even do reasonable damage at the same time.

A build utilizing Passkey and an Energy Regeneration Rate Link Rope will generally be ideal outside of Pure Fiction, as it supercharges his Energy regeneration to such a degree that he can use his 90-Energy Ultimate every one or two turns.

Puppet Herta
Somewhat appropriately, The Herta’s puppet supports her creator well, reliably applying stacks of “Interpretation” and regenerating Energy for The Herta with her frequent AoE follow-up attack, Ultimate, and Skill. In Pure Fiction, Puppet Herta can even deal significant damage of her own, thanks to the constantly respawning enemies.

Outside of Pure Fiction, Puppet Herta is best built with as little damage and as much SPD and Energy regeneration as possible, in order to maximize the number of AoE attacks she launches. If her follow-up attack can be triggered against each enemy individually (without chaining itself), you can achieve many more AoE attacks than you otherwise would have.
Serval Sticker - Second Closed Beta
Serval
As a teammate for The Herta, Serval is essentially a budget Argenti, with higher stat requirements and less damage. Even so, she can still be quite effective.

With Passkey, an Energy Regeneration Rate Link Rope, and at least 66.67% Effect Hit Rate, an Eidolon 4 or higher Serval can act as a potent “Interpretation” stack generator for The Herta.

This build ignores Serval’s personal damage to maximize the number of Ultimates she can perform. As such, it is ideal to stack as much SPD as possible, and even to use sets like 4-Pc Eagle of Twilight Line and Sprightly Vonwacq for more frequent actions and greater Energy regeneration.

Note that without her 4th Eidolon, Serval can struggle to keep up even with Puppet Herta.

Support


Remembrance Trailblazer
Mem’s Support significantly increases The Herta’s damage, offering a 50% independent damage increase that is not diluted by any of The Herta’s significant self-buffs. Mem’s and Trailblazer’s AoE attacks also regenerate Energy and apply stacks of “Interpretation” for The Herta.

Unless Mem ends up exploding, Trailblazer can also be played fully SP-positive after summoning Mem for the first time. If SP allows, however, Trailblazer’s Skill can be used to generate additional Charge for Mem.

However, SPD tuning for Mem’s Support can be difficult, because Mem gains Charge from Energy generated by defeating enemies or receiving enemy attacks. You may need to save the Trailblazer’s Ultimate even through their own turns to ensure Mem reaches maximum Charge at the right moment.

Sunday
With proper SPD tuning, Sunday can effectively double The Herta’s actions, allowing her to inflict twice as many stacks of “Interpretation” on enemies and significantly increasing her Energy regeneration, all the while offering strong buffs to her damage. His Ultimate’s Energy regeneration can also come in handy, helping raise The Herta’s damage against lower numbers of enemy targets.

However, because Sunday essentially doubles The Herta’s SP consumption, this pairing is not recommended unless you have at least one of Sunday’s or The Herta’s signature Light Cones, and ideally both.

Sunday is best played with the Slow Skillspam playstyle.

Check out the KQM Bronya Guide for an explanation of playstyles, including Slow Skillspam.

Robin
As for any CRIT-scaling damage dealer, Robin’s full-team Action Advance and strong universal buffs make her a good support for The Herta. Additionally, when the second Erudition character is built for damage, like Jade, Argenti, or Puppet Herta in Pure Fiction, Robin’s teamwide buffs become doubly effective.

However, Robin can struggle with Energy regeneration and SP generation, forcing you to use Basic ATKs where you may want to use Skills, or to take less powerful but more SP-positive teammates. With frequent attackers like Jade and Lingsha or an excellent Quid Pro Quo holder and SP generator like Gallagher, she can feel more comfortable.
Pela Sticker 01 - Second Closed Beta
Pela
Pela can be played fully SP-positive while providing regular AoE attacks and a strong debuff via her Ultimate. 

Before the Tutorial Mission Starts is Pela’s best Light Cone when used to support The Herta, because it allows Pela to recharge her Ultimate with just two Basic ATKs. However, if enough Skill Points are available or enemies attack frequently enough for Pela to charge her Ultimate every two turns without the extra Energy from Tutorial, Resolution Shines as Pearls of Sweat is a better option.

In Pure Fiction, Pela’s E1 can sometimes even regenerate enough Energy for her to get an Ultimate every turn, further increasing her AoE attack frequency.

Sustain


Lingsha
Lingsha’s plethora of frequent AoE hits via her Skill, Ultimate, and Fuyuan’s attacks allows her to apply stacks of “Interpretation” to all enemies and regenerate Energy for The Herta. Even her emergency healing generates stacks of “Interpretation” and Energy!

Because Fuyuan will expire naturally unless Lingsha uses her Skill, she is less SP-positive than would be ideal. With Lingsha in the team, you may need to have The Herta or her fellow Erudition use a Basic ATK at times or risk Fuyuan leaving the battle. Alternatively, for those with extra pulls, The Herta’s signature Light Cone and Jade generate enough SP that Lingsha’s SP needs are no longer a problem.

Gallagher
The Herta is fairly SP negative, and this problem is compounded with the addition of SP-negative teammates like Argenti and Serval, so Gallagher’s strong SP generation helps keep the team afloat. Additionally, he can apply stacks of “Interpretation” and regenerate Energy for The Herta with his AoE Ultimate. 
Luocha Sticker 02
Luocha
Similarly to Gallagher, Luocha is fully SP-positive and has an AoE Ultimate. He has slightly weaker SP generation in exchange for much more comfortable healing and cleanse.

Aventurine
Aventurine provides a strong shield and can generate a decent amount of “Interpretation” through his follow-up attack.

However, that relies on him actually launching his follow-up attack frequently. Since The Herta teams generally don’t have much space for follow-up attackers, Aventurine will rely mostly on enemy attacks to gain Blind Bet points. Additionally, the full Action Advance provided by The Herta’s Ultimate will cause her Shields to expire faster, further compounding the problem.

If enemies are very aggressive, Aventurine is good. If not, you will probably struggle.
Huohuo Sticker 04 - The Crepuscule Zone
Huohuo
While on paper Huohuo may sound like a good teammate for The Herta with her teamwide Energy regeneration and ATK buff, her low attack frequency and relatively high SP consumption for a sustain make her less than ideal.

She still works with The Herta, but it’s not a great pairing.

Teams

The Herta — Erudition — Support — Sustain

The Herta’s teams are fairly rigid in structure. Her Talent and A4 Bonus Ability forces a second Erudition unit; she has no self-sustain, so a sustain is needed; the best remaining option is a support, to further amplify her and sometimes her fellow Erudition character’s damage.

Example Teams

The Herta — Jade — Robin — Lingsha

The “premium” team option for The Herta. In this team, The Herta is generally the better Debt Collector, as she benefits from the SPD more than Lingsha, who is needed to generate SP and can build SPD without sacrificing other important stats. Note that without both Jade’s SP positivity and Lingsha’s attack frequency, this team can struggle to fulfill Robin’s Energy needs and offset her low SP generation.

The Herta — Jade — Sunday — Lingsha

This team looks similar to the above, but can be played in two very different ways, depending on who Jade’s Debt Collector is. If The Herta is the Debt Collector, Sunday should target her with his Skill and Ultimate and Lingsha should be as SP-positive as possible without letting Fuyuan leave the field. If Lingsha is the Debt Collector, Sunday should target her instead, and she should use her Skill as often as possible, only using her Basic ATK if someone else needs a Skill Point. Note that because Sunday’s SPD needs to be tuned to his target’s SPD, you need to decide who the Debt Collector will be before starting battle, and stick to that choice.

Both variants work well. The variant with The Herta as Debt Collector will give you stronger burst damage over fewer attacks, and the variant with Lingsha as Debt Collector will give you more balanced, continuous damage spread across more attacks, with a nice bonus of better healing.

Note that because this team includes Jade, it fares poorly against 1-2 target matchups unless Jade is E1 or higher.

The Herta — Argenti — Trailblazer (Remembrance) — Gallagher

With two strong SP generators in Remembrance Trailblazer and Gallagher, Argenti can freely use his Skill on every turn for maximum “Interpretation” application and Energy regeneration for himself and The Herta. This team is incredible in Pure Fiction, but can also work quite well even against fewer enemy targets.

The Herta — Serval — Pela — Luocha

Much like Argenti, Serval wants to use her Skill as often as possible, to apply “Interpretation”, regenerate Energy for The Herta, and regenerate Energy for herself via Passkey and her E2. Pela and Luocha’s fully SP-positive playstyles sustain the heavy SP cost this incurs, forming a fully-functional and very cheap team. Take note — this team is best suited for modes where enemies do not die constantly (i.e. Memory of Chaos and Apocalyptic Shadow), because Serval needs to apply Shock for her E2 Energy regeneration to work.

 The Herta — Herta — Trailblazer (Remembrance) — Gallagher

An excellent Pure Fiction team. Puppet Herta constantly launches AoE follow-up attacks and Ultimates, regenerating Energy for The Herta and applying stacks of “Interpretation,” all while helping clear waves of smaller enemies.

Credits

Authors

jas
Soul Fish

Calculations

jas

Editors

N[L]Rem
skylarke
Bonk

Publishers

spphrs

References

The Herta Gear and Eidolon calculations by jas

Changelog

  • 29 January 2025 – Added E1 or S1? and Character Comparisons sections. Minor edits for clarity.
  • 17 January 2025 – Calculation numbers updated for greater accuracy. No rankings changed.
  • 16 January 2025 – Published for v3.0

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