The Herta is the true form of Herta, the puppet-wielding researcher many players know from the Simulated Universe. Debuting as a 5-Star Ice character of the Erudition Path, The Herta specializes in stacking debuffs and unleashing devastating area-of-effect (AoE) attacks. If you plan to pull her during her Message From Beyond banner rerun, you’ll want to understand her full kit, farming needs, and Eidolon upgrades.
The Herta’s Kit Overview
The Herta’s gameplay revolves around applying and manipulating Interpretation stacks while powering up her Enhanced Skill with Inspiration. Here’s how her abilities work:
Basic Attack – Did You Get It
- Deals Ice DMG to a single enemy based on her ATK.
- A simple attack that serves as filler when other abilities are unavailable.
Skill – Big Brain Energy
- Hits a single target and adjacent enemies, applying Interpretation stacks.
- The effect repeats up to two additional times, making it strong for wave clear.
Enhanced Skill – Hear Me Out
- Activated by consuming Inspiration.
- Delivers stronger Ice DMG to the target and adjacent enemies, followed by an AoE strike.
- Damage scales higher with more Interpretation stacks on the primary target.
Ultimate – Told Ya! Magic Happens
- Redistributes Interpretation stacks across enemies, prioritizing Elites.
- Deals heavy AoE Ice DMG and increases The Herta’s ATK for three turns.
- Immediately grants one Inspiration stack and advances her action, ensuring aggressive follow-up turns.
Talent – Hand Them Over
- Automatically applies Interpretation to enemies at battle start.
- Interpretation increases damage dealt by Enhanced Skill, stacking up to 42.
- Defeated enemies pass their stacks to remaining foes, prioritizing stronger targets.
Technique – Vibe Checker
- Boosts The Herta’s ATK at the start of the next battle.
- Reveals up to three treasure locations on the map.
- In Simulated/Divergent Universe, deals massive True DMG at battle entry.
Bonus Traces
- Aloofly Honest: Allies’ attacks generate Interpretation stacks and restore Herta’s Energy.
- Message From Beyond the Veil: Grants all allies Crit DMG when teamed with another Erudition character.
- Starved Landscape of Vacua: Increases her Ultimate’s damage multiplier based on her “Answer” stacks, which scale with Interpretation.
See also: Evernight Build Honkai Star Rail: Best Light Cones, Relics & Teams
The Herta Ascension Materials
Fully leveling The Herta to Lv. 80 requires a mix of Core materials and Dream Fridge drops.
Total Ascension Materials:
- 15 × Extinguished Core
- 15 × Glimmering Core
- 15 × Squirming Core
- 65 × Dream Fridge
- 308,000 Credits
Dream Fridge can be obtained from Shape of Nexar in The Reverie (Penacony).
The Herta Trace Materials
Unlocking The Herta’s full damage potential means maxing her Skills, Talent, and Bonus Abilities.
Total Trace Materials:
- 8 × Tracks of Destiny
- 12 × Auspice Sliver
- 18 × Rough Sketch
- 41 × Extinguished Core
- 56 × Glimmering Core
- 58 × Squirming Core
- 69 × Dynamic Outlining
- 139 × Exquisite Colored Draft
- 3,000,000 Credits
These can be farmed from Calyx (Crimson): Bud of Erudition and weekly boss fights like Shadow of “Feixiao”.
The Herta’s Eidolons
Pulling duplicates unlocks new Eidolon levels, amplifying her role as an AoE powerhouse:
- E1 – Night at Shorefall: Enhanced Skill counts extra Interpretation stacks; resets stacks to 15 instead of 1.
- E2 – Wind Through Keyhole: Grants extra Inspiration after Ultimate; action advanced by 35% after Enhanced Skill.
- E3 – Door into Summer: Skill and Talent +2 levels (max 15).
- E4 – The Sixteenth Key: Erudition characters in the team gain +12% Speed.
- E5 – Bitter Pill of Truth: Ultimate +2 levels (max 15); Basic Attack +1 level (max 10).
- E6 – Sweet Lure of Answer: Ice RES Penetration +20%. Ultimate damage greatly scales depending on number of enemies (up to +400% multiplier against single targets).
The Herta is designed for explosive AoE battles where Interpretation stacks can snowball into huge damage spikes. With the right farming prep and a second Erudition ally, she becomes a centerpiece DPS capable of shredding both mobs and bosses alike.
If you’re preparing for her rerun, start farming Dream Fridge, Cores, and Trace scrolls now to hit the ground running when she joins your roster.
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