Honkai: Star Rail - The Herta\'s Best Light Cones

This guide explores the best Light Cones for The Herta in Honkai: Star Rail, a powerful 5-star Ice Erudition character. Her ideal stats focus on CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG, and ATK, benefiting from Light Cones that boost these attributes, particularly CRIT Rate due to her inherent 80% CRIT DMG buff. Improvements to Skill and Ultimate damage are also highly beneficial.

Character Overview:

The Herta excels as a damage dealer, leveraging strong self-buffs and damage multipliers. This guide ranks Light Cones based on their effectiveness with her kit.

Light Cone Rankings:

Tier S:

• Into the Unreachable Veil (S1): The Herta's signature Light Cone. Provides exceptional CRIT Rate, significant Skill and Ultimate DMG boosts, and Skill Point recovery upon Ultimate use. Boasts the highest base ATK among Erudition Light Cones. (/uploads/03/173692085067874f12957ad.jpg) Stats: HP 953, ATK 635, DEF 463. S1 Passive: +12% CRIT Rate; +60% Skill/Ultimate DMG for 3 turns after Ultimate use; recovers 1 Skill Point if Ultimate consumed 140+ Energy.

Tier A:

• Today Is Another Peaceful Day (S5): Excellent 4-star option. Provides a substantial, unconditional DMG boost scaling with Max Energy, perfectly complementing The Herta's high energy cost Ultimate. (/uploads/86/173692084967874f1127eb2.jpg) Stats: HP 846, ATK 529, DEF 330. S5 Passive: DMG increases by 0.4% per Energy point (up to 160 Energy).
• Night on the Milky Way (S1): Powerful 5-star Light Cone. Provides a significant ATK boost scaling with the number of enemies, and additional DMG when Weakness Break is applied. Performance is highly dependent on the number of enemies. (/uploads/80/173692084967874f11d6d05.jpg) Stats: HP 1164, ATK 582, DEF 396. S1 Passive: +9% ATK per enemy (up to 5 stacks); +30% DMG for 1 turn after Weakness Break.
• Before Dawn (S1): Strong option offering significant CRIT DMG and boosts to both Skill and Ultimate DMG. The follow-up attack buff is wasted on The Herta. (/uploads/06/173692084867874f10028b4.jpg) Stats: HP 1058, ATK 582, DEF 463. S1 Passive: +36% CRIT DMG; +18% Skill/Ultimate DMG; follow-up attack DMG boost (ineffective for The Herta).
• Geniuses' Repose (S5): Excellent 4-star option. Provides a substantial ATK increase and a CRIT DMG boost upon defeating an enemy. Effectiveness may decrease in prolonged fights against single targets. (/uploads/18/173692084667874f0e39084.jpg) Stats: HP 846, ATK 476, DEF 396. S5 Passive: +32% ATK; +48% CRIT DMG for 3 turns after defeating an enemy.

Tier B:

• An Instant Before A Gaze (S1): Provides a CRIT DMG boost and a significant Ultimate DMG buff scaling with Max Energy. However, The Herta benefits more from Skill DMG boosts. (/uploads/98/173692084767874f0f552ea.jpg) Stats: HP 1058, ATK 582, DEF 463. S1 Passive: +36% CRIT DMG; Ultimate DMG increases by 0.36% per Energy point (up to 180 Energy).
• Yet Hope Is Priceless (S1): Offers CRIT Rate and DEF penetration. The CRIT DMG scaling and DEF penetration are largely wasted on The Herta. (/uploads/68/173692084567874f0d7b10d.jpg) Stats: HP 952, ATK 582, DEF 529. S1 Passive: +16% CRIT Rate; Follow-up attack DMG increase based on excess CRIT DMG (ineffective for The Herta); 20% DEF Ignore for 2 turns after Basic ATK/Ultimate use.

Tier C:

• Eternal Calculus (S5): A decent free 5-star option. Provides a significant ATK boost scaling with the number of targets hit. Performance fluctuates greatly depending on enemy count. (/uploads/69/173692084467874f0cabc45.jpg) Stats: HP 1058, ATK 529, DEF 396. S5 Passive: +12% ATK; +8% ATK per target hit (up to 5 stacks); +16% SPD for 1 turn if 3+ targets hit.
• The Day The Cosmos Fell (S5): A serviceable free Light Cone. Provides an ATK boost and a conditional CRIT DMG boost. Performance is highly dependent on consistently hitting multiple enemies with weaknesses. (/uploads/40/173692084367874f0bd5848.jpg) Stats: HP 953, ATK 476, DEF 331. S5 Passive: +24% ATK; +40% CRIT DMG for 2 turns after hitting 2+ weak enemies.
• The Seriousness of Breakfast (S5): A basic free Light Cone. Offers straightforward DMG boosts but is outclassed by other options. (/uploads/17/173692084367874f0b33c93.jpg) Stats: HP 846, ATK 476, DEF 396. S5 Passive: +24% DMG; +8% ATK per defeated enemy (up to 3 stacks).

This ranking considers both stat values and passive effects, prioritizing those that best synergize with The Herta's abilities. Remember that team composition and enemy types can influence the effectiveness of certain Light Cones.