Pure Fiction is one of the permanent game modes in Honkai Star Rail, and due to its ever-changing nature, it’s made some characters like Herta shine with the right build. While many bench this Genius Society member, there are reasons to include her in your party. From her easy-to-trigger follow-up attacks and great AoE damage, she’s a force to be reckoned with in this instance. However, you need the right relics, Light Cone, and other things to make her sweep the battlefield in seconds.
Best Herta Build for Honkai Star Rail: Pure Fiction
In the base game, Herta is useful in certain situations like farming Calyxes. However, in Pure Fiction, Herta is one of the best DPS characters in Honkai Star Rail, with a build that is quite easy to make. Given how she’s a 4-star character, you won’t need to pull for rare Light Cones, and even Relics are much easier to get. To make this Erudition character shine, we recommend the following items.
Light Cone
While there are some 5-star Light Cones you can get for Herta, we recommend sticking to 4-star ones. They are easier to get, and Ascend and actually buff this character better. Here are the ones you should watch out for:
- The Birth of the Self (Best): Increases DMG dealt by the wearer’s follow-up attacks by 24%. If the current HP of the target enemy is below 50% of Max HP, it increases DMG dealt by follow-up attacks by an extra 24%.
- Geniuses’ Repose: Increases the wearer’s ATK by 16%. When the wearer defeats an enemy, the wearer’s CRIT DMG increases by 24% for 3 turns.
- The Seriousness of Breakfast: Increases the wearer’s DMG by 12%. The wearer’s ATK increases by 4% for every defeated enemy, stacking up to 3 times.
Herta’s signature Light Cone is the best because it increases the damage of follow-up attacks when enemies are below half their HP, which is when her attacks trigger, making it the best you can get for her. If not, any other superimposed Light Cone can do the trick.
Relic Set
After a bit of experimenting, we realized she does better if she has two different sets (two pieces of each). With this build, we need to increase Herta’s follow-up damage in the Pure Fiction mode of Honkai Star Rail while also buffing her elemental damage. These are the relics we recommend:
- Hunter of Glacial Forest (2 Pieces)
- 2-Piece Bonus: Increases Ice DMG by 10%.
- The Ashblazing Grand Duke (2 Pieces)
- 2-Piece Bonus: Increases the DMG dealt by follow-up attacks by 20%.
- Planar Ornament: Inner Salsotto (2 Pieces)
- 2-Piece Bonus: Increases the wearer’s CRIT Rate by 8%. When the wearer’s current CRIT Rate reaches 50% or higher, the wearer’s Ultimate and follow-up attack DMG increases by 15%.
While you could equip her with the four pieces of any of the sets we listed, we think it is better to give her a plain damage increase and forgo the 4-piece bonuses that aren’t that great in this game mode.
Team Comp
Given that the goal of Pure Fiction is eliminating enemies as fast as possible, bringing characters with AoE damage capabilities is the best. However, there are some characters that pair up better with this Genius Society member, such as:
- Herta
- Topaz
- Himeko/Clara/Argenti
- HuoHuo
If you want, you can switch Topaz for a buffer like Hanya or Tingyun, but you’ll be missing some damage output and might not reach the 3-star rating. Still, it is a flexible activity where you can mix and match teams as you see fit.
Ultimately, Herta’s capabilities might change depending on the current effects of Pure Fiction, but so far, she’s proven to be an invaluable member of any party composition. Here, we’re glad to see her appear on the battlefield once more, and we can’t wait to see what other things show up in this permanent mode.
