Meta Naito
∙
19 Min read The Herta is our first limited unit of 3.0, and a powerful one, with a lot of future potential to become even stronger. She is an Ice Erudition unit, much like her smaller counterpart. As an emanator of Erudition, similar to Acheron, she wants another Erudition unit in her party to increase her damage. With The Herta’s release, she becomes the best character when dealing with AoE content, but still performs great even in single/two target situations.
(will refer to “The Herta” as Herta and 4 star Herta as “Small Herta”)
Herta is the best character in Pure Fiction, with no close competition, and also a strong choice in both Memory of Chaos and Apocalyptic Shadow. She is particularly dominant in AoE battles, and we are seeing the game shifting towards multi-target enemies. Herta is a great pickup for new or returning players, as she doesn’t need a specific limited unit to be viable, which can’t be said for most other DPS.
If you’re just starting out, you’ll get a free standard 5* character to boost your account. Check out our 5 Star Selector Guide to select the best character for your account.
The Herta’s banner will be in the first half of Version 3.0 releasing on January 14th, 2025 and will run until February 4th, 2025.
The main source of Herta’s damage/AoE comes from her Enhanced Skill and Ultimate. Enhanced Skill requires/consumes 1 stack of Inspiration and will Blast (hits a primary target + the 2 adjacent targets) 3 times, dealing more damage to the primary target, and AoE all enemies 1 time.
Herta gains Inspiration from her Ultimate, which deals large Ice DMG to all enemies, increases Herta’s ATK by 80% for 3 turns, and rearranges Interpretation stacks, prioritizing Elite-level targets and above (more on this below). After using Ultimate, Herta immediately takes action and gains one stack of Inspiration (max 4).
Interpretation is another stack mechanic that increases the damage of Herta’s Enhanced Skill. When an enemy enters battle, Herta inflicts 1 stack. At the start of each wave, she applies 25 stacks to 1 target (prioritizing higher level targets).
When hitting a primary enemy with Interpretation, the damage multiplier of Enhanced Skill will increase by 8% per stack for the primary target, and 4% for adjacent enemies. If another Erudition character is on the team, this bonus will double.
Interpretation has 42 max stacks and will reset upon being hit by Enhanced Skill.
Most importantly, this damage buff is not the same as a DMG% buff. This increases the base multiplier of the Skill itself, so you don’t need to worry about Ice DMG% or DMG% buffs not being valuable to Herta.
For reference, at Trace level 10, Enhanced Skill deals 80% ATK to primary target, 40% to adjacent, and 40% AoE. With max stacks and double Erudition, Enhanced Skill will now deal 752% / 376% / 376%. This is almost 10x the amount of damage.
Herta’s Ultimate requires 220 Energy, which is quite hefty. By herself, Herta would require many turns to use her Enhanced Skill. Fortunately, her Ascension Traces further enhance her kit, giving her Energy Generation, more damage, and a teamwide buff.
Overall, Herta’s A2 and A4 Trace are extremely valuable and incentivize you to pair her with another Erudition character. For your other two slots, you may also want to use characters that hit multiple enemies to generate more Energy for Herta and apply more stacks of Interpretation. A6 is a nice damage boost, but not extremely important to get Herta running smoothly.
Deals Ice DMG equal to 100% of The Herta’s ATK to one designated enemy target.
Deals Ice DMG equal to 70% of The Herta’s ATK to one designated enemy, and inflicts 1 stack(s) of “Interpretation.” Deals Ice DMG equal to 70% 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.
Consumes 1 stack of “Inspiration.” Deals Ice DMG equal to 80% of The Herta’s ATK to one designated enemy and inflicts 1 stack(s) of “Interpretation.” Deals Ice DMG equal to 80% 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 40% of The Herta’s ATK to all enemies.
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 200% The Herta’s ATK to all enemies. When using Ultimate, increases The Herta’s ATK by 80%, 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.”
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 8%/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 8%/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.
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.
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 is 42, increases Ice DMG dealt by The Herta by 50% until the end of this attack.
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.
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%.
| E1 | 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. |
| E2 | 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%. |
| E3 | Door into Summer: Skill Lv. +2, up to a maximum of Lv. 15. Talent Lv. +2, up to a maximum of Lv. 15. |
| E4 | The Sixteenth Key: The SPD of characters following the Path of Erudition in the team increases by 12%. |
| E5 | 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. |
| E6 | 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%. |
Herta has one of those OP E2 Eidolons like Acheron/Firefly/Feixiao. E1 is a stepping stone to E2, but is still pretty good in itself. It recalculates Interpretation as if you have 63 stacks instead of 42 plus a QoL of where your Interpretation stacks after using Enhanced Skill now starts at 15.
Herta’s E2 gives her an extra Enhanced Skill when she enters battle and whenever she casts her Ultimate. In addition, she Action Advances herself by 35% after using her Enhanced Skill. This Eidolon is absolutely bonkers. You can expect to nearly double your damage from E0 in the best case scenario. E4 is a 12% speed buff to all Erudition units in the party, and lackluster like most E4s. Herta’s E6 as usual is even more damage, as if you need more.
Players looking to vertical Herta should go for her Eidolons before her Signature if they only care about higher damage, particularly her E2, since it’s so absurdly powerful. The extra SP given from her Signature though also is a really nice QoL for when you need to spam Skill every turn.
Increases the wearer’s CRIT Rate by 12% / 14% / 16% / 18% / 20%. When the wearer uses their Ultimate, increases DMG dealt by the wearer’s Skill and Ultimate by 60% / 70% / 80% / 90% / 100% , lasting for 3 turn(s). After the wearer uses their Ultimate, if this Ultimate consumed 140 or more Energy, recovers 1 Skill Point.
The QoL from the extra Skill Point after casting Ultimate is the biggest pro of her Signature. It also provides a good increase to her damage, but is nowhere near necessary compared to Acheron, Yunli, Rappa’s Light Cone.
After entering battle, increases the wearer’s DMG based on their Max Energy. DMG increases by 0.20% / 0.25% / 0.30% / 0.35% /0.40% per point of Energy, up to 160 Energy.
QQ’s LC is just really an amazing option for all crit Eruditions, including Herta. She will get the full DMG% since her Energy reqs are 50 over the 160 Energy cap, and it applies to all abilities.
For every enemy on the field, increases the wearer’s ATK by 9% / 10.5% / 12% / 13.5% / 15% , up to 5 stacks. When an enemy is inflicted with Weakness Break, the DMG dealt by the wearer increases by 30% / 35% / 40% / 45% / 50% for 1 turn.
Himeko’s Sig is great for PF, since it will always have 5 targets. Assuming Herta can inflict weakness break consistently, this LC would be the 2nd best option after her Signature in 5T. However many times the uptime and number of enemies in non-PF modes vary, making her damage fluctuate.
Increases the wearer’s CRIT DMG by 36% / 42% / 48% / 54% / 60% . Increases DMG dealt by the wearer’s Skill and Ultimate by 18% / 21% / 24% / 27% / 30% . After the wearer uses Skill or Ultimate, gains Somnus Corpus. Upon triggering a follow-up attack, consumes Somnus Corpus, and increases DMG dealt by follow-up attack by 48% / 56% / 64% / 72% / 80%.
JY’s LC is always a solid stat stick, but Herta cannot make use of the follow-up bonus. The increased DMG on Skill and Ultimate are helpful for Herta, since those are two main forms of damage she does.
Increases the wearer’s CRIT DMG by 36% / 42% / 48% / 54% / 60% . When the wearer uses Ultimate, increases DMG dealt by the wearer’s Ultimate based on their Max Energy. Each point of Energy increases DMG dealt by Ultimate by 0.36% / 0.42% / 0.48% / 0.54% / 0.6% . A max of 180 points of Energy will be taken into account for this.
Similar to JY’s LC, Argenti’s Sig is a good stat stick. Herta will of course reach the 180 Energy cap since hers is bigger. This LC unfortunately only boosts Ultimate DMG, whereas the bulk of Herta’s damage is from her Skill.
Increases the wearer’s ATK by 16% / 20% / 24% / 28% / 32%. When the wearer defeats an enemy, the wearer’s CRIT DMG increases by 24% / 30% / 36% / 42% / 48% for 3 turn(s).
Good LC if you can keep the CRIT DMG uptime high. It will be great in Pure Fiction since Herta is already amazing at clearing waves of enemies.
Increases the wearer’s ATK by 8%. After using an attack, for each enemy target hit, additionally increases ATK by 4%. This effect can stack up to 5 times and last until the next attack. If there are 3 or more enemy targets hit, this unit’s SPD increases by 8%, lasting for 1 turn(s).
Decent F2P LC from her own Shop. The SPD increase is not that beneficial, since her damage is not tied to her turns. Use as a placeholder until a stronger LC is acquired.
Increases the wearer’s DMG by 12% / 15% / 18% / 21% / 24%. For every enemy defeated by the wearer, the wearer’s ATK increases by 4% / 5% / 6% / 7% / 8% , stacking up to 3 time(s).
Decent F2P LC from the MOC shop. Herta should have little problem with this LC in Pure Fiction, but may run into uptime issues and getting the first kill since the LC is not doing much until you defeat enemies. Use as a placeholder until a stronger LC is acquired.
The Herta is a standard CRIT DPS, so her build and stats are cookie cutter like every other CRIT based character. For Body she wants either CRIT Rate / CRIT DMG, prioritizing high CRIT Rate since there’s ample source of CRIT DMG from supports, in addition to her 80% CDMG bonus when another Erudition is in the party.
Herta should be run with Speed boots, or Attack boots if you are using her with Jade as the Debt Collector. For planars Herta wants Ice DMG% / Attack, and Attack rope. ER Rope might come to mind, but the damage loss is not worth it, not to mention her teammates should be doing the energy batterying so that Herta can nuke.
Herta is a standard CRIT DPS, so wants to get the standard CRIT and Attack subs. Herta needs a bit of speed subs to hit 134 when she’s using Speed boots.
Herta’s damage is not dependent on her turns, but rather how fast her teammates and herself can charge her Ultimate so she can unleash her Enhanced Skill. Thus having very high speed on Herta won’t be as advantageous if her Enhanced Skill is not ready to go, and would be better invested into CRIT subs.
Best relic of Herta, pretty much tailor made for her since Herta’s damage distribution is all from Ultimate and Skill. She also gets action advanced right after using her Ultimate, making her Enhanced Skill get the full benefit of 45% increased DMG.
Good relic for Herta. The extra CRIT DMG increase after using Ultimate plays nicely to buff her Enhanced Skill from Inspiration. Players should still farm the Scholar set as this domain is not worth farming unless you also are actively farming for Eagle of Twilight.
Poet is an incredibly strong relic set when you meet the criteria. However, for Herta, in order to meet the low speed requirement, you can’t enable her SPD nodes and must dodge every SPD substat in her relics. Not to mention, overcapping on CRIT Rate is easy especially with a CRIT Rate LC like her Signature.
Herta can use this relic set, and calculations do put it as the top in terms of DPS, however there are too many hoops to go through for most players to be able to fully use this set.
Best general planar set for Herta. Herta should always have another Erudition character in her party, making the 12% CRIT Rate free to get.
Good alternative to Izumo. Herta’s nuke is tied to her Enhanced Skill, which she gets a 20% DMG increase from. The 70% Crit Rate is on the high end, but reachable with a CRIT Rate LC.
Best planar if you can get max stacks, which is only possible in Pure Fiction or heavy AoE battles. Not recommended for general use, but is great when fully utilized.
“The Herta” currently has an incomplete team, having shoddy synergy with many units, or her best options being 4 stars with low damage output. However that doesn’t take away from her strength, since she’s already strong without dedicated teammates. It’s up to Hoyo to release synergies for her, but she has a lot of potential to grow in terms of teammates.
Robin, to no surprise, makes another appearance as the best Harmony in the game; Action Advance for the whole team, 1K+ ATK buff, personal dmg, etc. Herta’s teams are also dual DPS, and since Robin’s Concerto is an Aura, is of great benefit to Herta’s overall team.
RMC’s True DMG buff is very strong for all DPS. Not to mention, RMC provides 10% CRIT Rate, teamwide CRIT DMG, and Action Advance at Full Charge. Mem also attacks frequently to charge Herta’s Ultimate, and vice versa.
Pela’s AoE Ultimate on short rotation is an easy way for Herta to gain Energy and Interpretation stacks. Pela at E4 also provides 12% Ice RES PEN when using Skill, something Herta can make use of.
Herta doesn’t have a perfect sub DPS option for her, but her base kit is good enough that she can make do with even 4 stars and still do well. Herta also always wants an Erudition in her team, due to the damage increase she gets for both herself and the team. Players should avoid SP intensive Erudition units like Qingque or Jing Yuan, and Rappa since she cannot benefit from Herta’s CRIT DMG increase and requires different supports.
Jade is the best limited Erudition for Herta to use. Her speed buff can help Herta get more turns on ATK boots, and will allow Herta to Skill without worrying about running out of SP since she only uses one per turn. Jade’s personal damage is also the best out of all the sub DPS choices.
Small Herta is an excellent sub DPS for Pure Fiction, where small Herta cam deal with the ads, while Big Herta can sweep the ads while also dishing out good damage towards the Elite that’s present in the revamped PF. Remember that small Herta’s attacks are also all AoE, so her stack generation for Herta will be good as long as her FUA can go off.
Serval is cited as a Sub DPS here but in reality she is just a battery for Herta’s Energy gain. She has a specific build in mind when being played with Herta. Serval with Passkey and Vonwacq can get a 1 turn Ultimate thanks to her low Energy costs. When equipped with the Eagle of Twilight relic, which advances Serval whenever she Ults, a fast Serval can generate more Energy and Interpretation stacks than any other unit.
Argenti and Herta make for an overkill duo for Pure Fiction, since both are so good at dealing with waves of enemies. Argenti can keep spamming his low 100 Energy cost Ultimate in order to battery Herta while Herta can make up for Argenti’s low ST damage.
Lingsha’s high frequency AoE attacks makes her one of the best sustains for Herta, helping her gain Energy and Interpretation stacks whenever Lingsha or a Bunny attacks the enemies.
Huohuo’s flat 20% Energy regen on her Ultimate to the whole team is great for Herta, since she herself has a huge Energy requirement on her Ultimate(220). Herta’s teammates also greatly appreciate the Energy to keep their tank oiled and running, such as Robin and RMC.
Gallagher’s SP positivity can help Herta on teams that are SP intensive. In addition, Gallagher’s Ultimate is full AoE, so can generate Energy and stacks for Herta, but to a lesser extent compared to Lingsha.
This team is actually surprisingly competent despite having only one limited character. It will have no problem in Pure Fiction, thanks to the surplus of AoE from both Hertas. RMC and Herta can battery each other to get their Ultimates to get many Action Advances. RMC also provides partywide CRIT DMG, which is great since Herta teams always have another sub DPS. Gallagher is our best 4 star healer. His strengths have been demonstrated many times before; SP positivity, AoE Ultimate for Herta stacks, and a cleanse. His only con is his weaker sustaining abilities compared to the limited variants, but that’s to be expected in a cheap team like this.
This is Herta’s best premium team comp as of 3.0, if you want to slap in all limited characters. Jade wants to make Lingsha the debt collector, because Herta’s attack frequency is not as often as Lingsha’s to charge Jade’s stacks. You can still make Herta the Debt Collector for the speed boost to run Attack shoes. This team will absolutely demolish any AoE content, since there are three AoE damage dealers and Robin that can buff all of them.
Batterying Herta to get Inspiration stacks up more frequently is the goal of this team, since her Enhanced Skill is such a hard hitting nuke. Passkey Serval is there for Serval to get a 1T Ultimate. Her damage will be abysmal since she’s built for speed and holding a 3 star LC, but Herta can make up for that. RMC and Robin both bring teamwide buffs. Robin will bring more damage, but RMC is a better battery for Herta. Huohuo of course is the premier battery unit, with her teamwide 20% Energy refill.
The Herta is a DPS that is already strong even with teammates that can’t fully synergize with her. When comparing her to fully decked out break/FUA teams she may not look stronger or perform similarly, but remember that those comps are at their peak and Herta is just getting started!
Another strength of Herta is that because she doesn’t have dedicated teammates and is working with scraps, she is a great unit for new or returning players who are wanting to work on a new competitive team without having to beg for a rerun of a certain character to even use them properly. Jade is her best limited pairing, but Herta doesn’t need Jade to work!!
In fact, there are very few characters that work well without their 5 star support/sub counterparts (JQ/Acheron, Robin/Fei, RM&Fugue/Break, Summon/Sunday), while Herta still can clear all content just fine with RMC and Small Herta. Herta also solidly dominates one mode of endgame, Pure Fiction, the best out of all characters that her relevancy should be more prolonged compared to other DPS. Recent MOC and AS also tend to have an AoE side, and there is no character that is better than AoE than the Emanator of Erudition herself.
The Herta is a great pull if you are looking for a strong DPS that will become even better in the future, and a solid recommendation for new/returning players. As always though, she is a DPS so is not a must pull if you don’t have any issues with clearing content.
Thanks for Reading! For more resources, check out our other Honkai Star Rail Guides.
League of Legends
Teamfight Tactics
Valorant
Lost Ark
Destiny 2
Diablo 4
Download APP