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Honkai: Star Railhas many ways to obtain its long list of incredible characters, with some tied exclusively to its Warp system (Gacha) and others unlocking automatically as you progress through the game’s decently lengthy story and other activities.
Hertais among these characters and is, fortunately,obtained via the game’s storyafter youcompletetheSimulated Universe: First Closed Beta.While she pales in damage compared to other DPS-focused characters, she can be competent with proper focus and dedication.
Updated June 11, 2025, by Seth Parmer:It’s been a hot minute since we’ve last focused on this guide, allowing us to add some more excellent Light Cones, Ornaments, and Team Compositions for Herta in the mix, allowing you to get her to perform at her best in all combat situations!
Best Relics And Planar Ornaments For Herta
In the grand scheme of things,Hertais asurprisingly underwhelming DPS characterwho needs quite a bit of work to compete with most of the other characters in the role. Fortunately,shecan shine bright with the right build and teamaround her.
Equipping the most optimalRelics and Ornamentsis the first step to making a solid build. Theycan make or break your overall performancein battle by a substantial margin, so equipping the right Sets will go a long way to maximizing any character’s potential in combat.
Hunter of Glacial Forest
Four Pieces
This is the best Relic Set for Herta as it grants her asubstantial buff to her Ice Damageand will further increase herCritical Damageby25 Percentfortwo turns aftersheperformsher UltimateAttack.
Musketeer of Wild Wheat
If youneed more Speed or Basic Attack Damageout of Herta, this Relic Set will be your best choice, as itdoes an excellent job at striking a balance between granting her more Speed without sacrificing her overall Damageoutput.
ATK +12 Percent, SPD +6 Percent, Basic ATK DMG +10 Percent
The Ashblazing Grand Duke
Attack increases by four percentwhen landingfollow-up actions,which canstack up to eight times,lasting for three turns, making this the perfect set to equip on Herta if she’s constantly attacking.
Reason For Synergy
Sigonia, the Unclaimed Desolation
Arguably thebest optionfor Herta, as itraisesherCritical Ratebyfour percent.Defeating a targetwill furtherincreaseherCritical Rate by an additional four percent,stacking up to ten times,making her land Criticals consistently for massive damage.
Critical Rate +4 Percent, with the potential gain an additional 40 percent.
Space Sealing Station
This Ornament Set is one of the best in the game and works wonders for Herta. Its ability tosignificantly increase her overall Attack based on her Speed Statallows her to attack first in most situations, making work of her excellent Ice Skill and Element.
ATK +12 Percent, Adds another +12 Percent to ATK if Speed is at least 120
Insert Salsotto
If you wanteven more Critical Damageout of Herta, this is an excellent option to pair with the Glacial Forest Relics. Itraises her Critical Rate significantlywhile increasing herCritical Damage and Follow-Up Attack Damageby15 Percentif herCritical Rate is or exceeds 50 Percent.
Critical Rate +8 Percent, Critical/Follow-Up Attack DMG +15 Percent
Celestial Differentiator
One ofHerta’s best Ornaments,thanks to its ability to raise herCritical Damageby16 percent.Not only that, if herCritical Damage reaches at least 120 percent,she willgain an additional 60 percentuponentering battle,ending after her first turn.
Critical Damage +16 percent. Adds an additional 60 percent at the start of an encounter if her Critical Damage reaches or exceeds 120 percent before entering battle.
Firmament Frontline: Glamoth
Raises Herta’sATKby12 percent.If herSPD Stat is at least 135 or 160,she will deal anadditional 12 to 16 percent damage.
ATK +12 percent with an additional 12 to 16 percent damage increase if SPD is at least 135 or 160.
Rutilant Arena
Herta’sCritical Ratewill beincreased by eight percent.If herCritical Rate reachesor surpasses70 percent,herBasic and Skill Damagewill be raised by20 percent.
Critical Rate +8 Percent, Basic and Skill Damage +20 Percent if Critical Rate is at least 70 percent.
Best Light Cones For Herta
Nailing thepairingofLight Coneand characteris crucial.With tons of options to choose from, selecting the best Light Cone can be overwhelming and a bit daunting at first, but you should absolutely not take them lightly or neglect them.
Light Cones are thebackbone of any good build,andevery character has several Light Cones you can utilizeto help get the most out of them. This is particularly useful as there are some Light Cones you can only acquire via Warps (Gacha), but others that come by simply playing the game.
We haveseparated Herta’s best Light Cones into two tables,one outlining the best options you can only get viaWarps,with the other focusing on theFree-To-Playside of things, allowing you to get the most out of her no matter your playstyle!
Description
Before Dawn
IncreasesCritical DMGby60 Percentand raisesSkill and Ultimate DMGby30 Percent.Using aSkill or Ultimate Attackwillgrant a stack of Somnus Corpus,which will beconsumed when performing a Follow-Up Attack.The Follow-Up Attack will be enhanced by80 Percent.
HP +1058, ATK +582, DEF +468
The Birth of the Self
Follow-Up Attack DMGis increased by48 Percent.If yourtarget is at half HP or lower,yourFollow-Up Attack DMGwill be raised by anadditional 48 Percent.
HP +952, ATK +476, DEF +330
Night on the Milky Way
YourAttackis raised by15 Percentforevery enemy on the battlefield,stackingup to five timesfor atotal of 75 Percent.Landing aWeakness Breakon your target will raise your overallDamageby50 Percentforone turn.
HP +1164, ATK +582, DEF +396
Today Is Another Peaceful Day
Raisesyour overallDMG outputdepending on your Max Energy, raising your DMG by40 percent per Energy Point,maxing out at160 Energy Points.
HP +846, ATK +529, DEF +330
Geniuses' Repose
User’sAttackwill beraisedby32 percent.Defeating a target will increase the user’sCritical Damageby48 percentfor three turns.
HP+846, ATK +476. DEF +396
An Instant Before A Gaze
Increases yourCritical Damageby60 percent.YourUltimate Damage will also be raised by .60 percent for every point of Energy you haveup to 180 Energy Points.
HP+1058, ATK +582. DEF +463
Yet Hope Is Priceless
Critical Damage Rateis raised by28 percent.Anytime yourCritical Damage exceeds 120 percent by an additional 20 percent,yourfollowing action’s damagewill be increased by20 percent,stacking up to four times.Basic Attackswill also have yourUltimate Attack or follow-upactionsignore 36 percentof youropponent’s Defensefor two turns.
HP +740, ATK +370, DEF +264
The Seriousness of Breakfast
Raises yourDamageby24 Percent,whichincreases every time you get a kill,stackingup to three timesfor atotal of72 Percent.
HP +846, ATK +476, DEF +396
Eternal Calculus
Attackisraised by 12 percentand can befurther raised by an additional eight percentfor every target hit by an attack,stacking up to five times.Hitting multiple targets will raise user’sSpeedby 16 percent.
HP +1058, ATK +529, DEF +397
The Day The Cosmos Fell
Increases yourAttackby24 percent.Attacking at least two enemies with their weakness will raise yourCritical Damage by 40 percentfor two turns.
HP +953, ATK +476, DEF +330
TheStatsof theLight Conesabove are of theirmaxed-out properties,meaningyours will likely be substantially less potentwhen you first acquire them. You will have toSuperimpose and Ascend themto reach what’s shown above!
Herta Traces Overview And Priority
As covered in the sections above,Herta’s damage is slackingcompared to the vast majority of other DPS characters, making her struggle without a specific build and team composition. However, shecan become reasonably competentonce you hone in on these aspects.
Traceswill be our last focus, as they willgive her a substantial boost during combat,getting her closer to what you’d expect from her role. TheTraces below are the ones we suggest upgrading first,butmake sure not to neglect the others,as they are also crucial!
It’s Magic, I Added Some Magic
This is Herta’s Ultimate Attack, whichdeals Ice Damage to all enemies on the field,making it an excellent option toWeakness Break several targetsweak to the element, with thepotential to Freezesome of them.
Upgrading this Trace willsubstantially raise Herta’s Ice Damageduring herUltimate,making it arguablyone of the best Ice AoE actionsin the game, especially whenpaired with Light Cones, Relics, and Ornamentsthatfurther enhance its capabilities.
DealIce Damage to all enemiesthat isequal to 240 PercentofHerta’s Attack.
One-Time Offer
The other crucial Trace you should focus on for Herta is herOne-Time Offer Skill,which has herdeal Ice Damage to all enemies on screen,witha little extra to targets who still have 50 Percent of their HP remaining or greater.
Enhancing One-Time Offermakes her a force to be reckoned with when facing large amounts of enemiesthat areweak to Ice Damage.Like her Ultimate,the more emphasis you place on her Ice Damage, the better she gets.It will just take time and effort to get there.
Level 1
Level 15
DealIce Damage to all enemiesthat isequal to 50 PercentofHerta’s Attack.If atarget has 50 Percent or more HPremaining, they receive anadditional 20 Percent Damage.
DealIce Damage to all enemiesthat isequal to 125 PercentofHerta’s Attack.If atarget has 50 Percent or more HP remaining,they receive anadditional20 Percent Damage.
Best Team Compositions And Character Synergies
On her own,Herta isn’t particularly a high-damage dealer,but whenpaired with a solid team, the proper Light Cones, Ornaments, and Relics,she canshine immensely bright,becoming a very solid and useable character.
While it willtake lots of time and effort to get her up to snuff,we feelHerta makes a solid party member,especially if you have other characters to help prop her up, highlight her strengths, and cover her weaknesses. The team compositions below are the best for Herta that you should aim to build if you want to see her at her best!
