Name: The Herta
Rarity: ✦✦✦✦✦
Path: Erudition
Element: Ice
Faction: Genius Society

Oh? So we meet again. You are the 345th person in the cosmos who's been able to meet me twice. That shall be your Herta Number. Remember it. Someone might test you on it.

The Herta is a limited Ice Erudition 5-star character whose fundamental role is to deal significant amounts of damage through her Skill and Enhanced Skill. While she is in combat, The Herta and her allies' attacks apply Interpretation, marking enemies and making her a burst-type damage dealer. The more stacks they have, the higher the damage she does through her Enhanced Skill.

Basic Attack: Did You Get It

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The Herta's Basic Attack is nothing special. In ideal circumstances, you'll almost never want to use this attack.

Skill: Big Brain Energy

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One of The Herta’s main damage sources. The Herta’s Skill can deal respectable damage and is most effective in Blast-to-AoE scenarios. It is what you will be using the majority of the time to inflict Interpretation stacks and give The Herta Energy for her Ultimate, which makes The Herta a SP-negative character in combat. It is also important to note that your Skill can only hit all 5 enemies if you aim the Skill at the middle enemy (This also applies to the Enhanced Skill).

Enhanced Skill: Hear Me Out

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The Herta’s bread and butter, her main source of damage. The low base multipliers shouldn’t be overlooked as this Enhanced Skill gets most of its DMG multiplier from her Talent, making The Herta hit like a truck against groups of enemies. Aside from that, another difference it has from her normal Skill is that it has a final AoE finisher, giving her a nuke or burst type of damage to play around with.

Ultimate: Told Ya! Magic Happens

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The Herta's Ultimate enables her to use her Enhanced Skill and allows her to immediately take action. (Note that this is different from Rappa's "extra turn" after her Ultimate). This Ultimate generally guarantees there will be at least 1 enemy that has 42 stacks of Interpretation before the stacks are consumed.

Talent: Hand Them Over

Interpretation is the root of The Herta’s entire kit, behaving similarly to Acheron’s Crimson Knot stacks. The more Interpretation is applied to the primary target, the higher the damage The Herta will do, specifically through her Enhanced Skill. After stacks are consumed, only the stacks on the primary target will reset, while the rest stay the same.
The Herta’s Talent states that if there are 2 or more Path of Erudition characters in the party, she obtains twice the multiplier granted by her Talent. This Talent already considers The Herta as a character following the Path of Erudition, meaning players only need another Erudition character to maximize her Talent.

Technique: Vibe Checker

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The Herta gains a huge ATK buff from using this Technique. However, its main selling point is its exploration capability and the quality of life it provides, as it can help players locate Basic Treasures in the map where the players use her Technique. Moreover, as The Herta is one of the founders and developers of our beloved Simulated or Divergent Universe, The Herta deals True DMG to enemies based on a percentage of their Max HP, aiding players to clear SU/DU faster. Plus, you get to see her smirk whenever she uses her Technique — an absolute win.

Eidolon 1: 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.

When The Herta uses her Enhanced Skill and the highest stack among the primary and adjacent targets is 42, E1 will cause 50% of 42 stacks to be added to all enemies, resulting in higher damage; it also resets Interpretation stacks to 15. Moreover, E1 gives her the leeway to be more than an AoE-dependent damage dealer and work against any enemy lineup. A great Eidolon to deal more damage and get a headstart on building up Interpretation stacks.

Increase over E0: 27.10%

Eidolon 2: Wind Through Keyhole

★★★★★

If enemy "Interpretation" reaches 42 when stacks are applied or transferred to them, then The Herta gains 1 stack of "Inspiration." When using Enhanced Skill, The Herta's action advances by 35%.

The Herta’s 2nd Eidolon gives her more access to gaining Inspiration, thus more usage of Enhanced Skill. Additionally, every use of the Enhanced Skill will advance The Herta's action by 35%, which allows her to act more often in cycles and deal more consistent nukes. This is considered her strongest eidolon when calculating cost for value.

Increase over E0: 119.53%
Increase over E1: 65.21%

Eidolon 3: Door Into Summer

★★★☆☆

Skill Lv. +2, up to a maximum of Lv. 15. Talent Lv. +2, up to a maximum of Lv. 15.

The Herta’s Skill and Enhanced Skill will deal more damage.

Increase over E0: 138.59%
Increase over E2: 7.53%

Eidolon 4: The Sixteenth Key

★☆☆☆☆

The SPD of characters following the Path of Erudition in the team increases by 12%.

Pretty straightforward; The Herta (and any Path of Erudition units you run alongside her) receive a 12% increase to their SPD.

Increase over E0: 159.38%
Increase over E3: 7.38%

Eidolon 5: 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.

Increases The Herta’s Ultimate DMG, as well as the scaling of the ATK% Buff granted by her Ultimate.

Increase over E0: 170.03%
Increase over E4: 4.67%

Eidolon 6: 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%.

Increases The Herta’s damage by gaining Ice RES PEN. Her 6th Eidolon however is mainly for increasing the damage of her Ultimate by giving it more DMG multiplier depending on the enemy targets on the field. It is not one of the strongest final Eidolons, but it makes her even more effective than previously in scenarios with few targets.

Increase over E0: 240.96%
Increase over E5: 22.21%

Anaxagoras is considered one of The Herta's best Sub-DPS units; he deals considerable damage whilst also providing significant DMG% bonus through his A4 trace (Imperative Hiatus). Due to his Talent proccing an additional casting of his Skill, he can also act as a battery to The Herta, building up both Interpretation stacks and Energy for her with his double Skill and consistent 2-turn Ultimate. (Note that said 2-turn Ultimate depends on either the Energy gain from his signature Light Cone or Hit Energy/ERR rope.)Anaxa allows for The Herta to be more versatile in scenarios with 1-3 targets, where AOE units normally struggle with. The lower the target count, the higher Anaxa's value will rise above all the other Erudition units listed below.For more information, feel free to check out Anaxa Mains' Anaxa + The Herta guide!

One of the best Erudition synergies or Sub-DPS for The Herta. While Jade is mostly used in Pure Fiction content, she is one of the best options we have right now when finding the 2nd Erudition to maximize The Herta’s Traces and Talent. Jade has high self-buffs, can dish out respectable damage, as well as high enough attack frequency due to her Follow-Up Attacks. Aside from that, she is different from most Erudition units in that she is an SP Positive unit, which helps The Herta teams in its SP economy.When choosing her Debt Collector, the ideal option would be Lingsha, because of her high frequency of AoE attacks. The Herta is also a viable Debt Collector if there are no better options as the SPD buff can also help her reach certain SPD breakpoints while using ATK or SPD boots.

Argenti as The Herta’s Sub-DPS/2nd Erudition synergy is also one of the best options available. He will need two different builds to serve as her Sub-DPS/Battery since he will be built with Eagle of Twilight Line (Wind set) for MOC/AS and Thief of Shooting Meteor for PF. and a choice of ER set for the ornaments. This build ensures he will serve as an Ultimate battery to constantly apply Interpretation stacks with his AoE-centered kit and funnel Energy for The Herta, while dealing decent damage due to having good self-buffs.Argenti may have different builds as Sub-DPS for different content. Look at the Example Team section for more information.

Serval is a good F2P option as The Herta’s Sub-DPS/Erudition synergy. She might be a 4 star but do not underestimate her, because with the right build and owning at least E2/E4 Serval, she is very competitive to current teams of The Herta that uses Jade as the Erudition synergy. Similar to Argenti, she’ll be using Eagle of Twilight Line (Wind set) as her relics and an ER ornament, like Sprightly Vonwacq. With Serval’s low Energy cost of 100 and utilizing her 2nd Eidolon, she can serve as an Ultimate battery. The main difference to Argenti, however, is she won’t be contributing a lot of damage to the team, but can still apply Interpretation constantly and funnel Energy to The Herta.There will be a detailed discussion in the Teams section below, showing how to build her properly so she can synergize well with The Herta.

4-Star Herta is another beginner-friendly F2P option for the 2nd Erudition slot in The Herta teams. She is an excellent pick for Pure Fiction, and performs very well in MOC/AS when the lineup fits her. She can’t fully utilize the Ultimate battery build since she has slightly higher Energy cost and does not have other ways to gain Energy from her base kit or eidolons. However, it's a different story in Pure Fiction since she is the unit that has the highest attack frequency in that game mode. In Pure Fiction, she’ll be one of the strongest options because of her high attack frequency and the ability to deal satisfactory damage to constantly clear smaller mobs.

Himeko is in the same boat as 4-Star Herta. Her attack frequency highly depends on how fast the team can break enemy toughness and the type of enemies; if they are normal or elite. Another downside that she has is her Skill is not AoE but Blast, which leads to lower Energy funneled to Herta. Although, in the right game mode, enemy lineup, and team, Himeko becomes a strong yet still niche option to synergize with The Herta as the 2nd Erudition unit. We have seen how strong Himeko is in Pure Fiction, as most enemies there have easy-to-break Toughness Bars, thus resulting in more instances of AoE attacks via her Talent.

Tribbie is considered The Herta's strongest support. The Herta already gives herself a lot of self buffs, ranging from ATK%, Crit DMG, to DMG%. Tribbie amplifies damage differently from other harmonies—she gives allies All-Type RES PEN and inflicts Vulnerability shred, which makes enemies take more damage. These are buffs that The Herta innately don't have, but that she wants for optimal damage. Tribbie highly synergizes with The Herta, not just because of damage amplification but also because of her Blast-type Basic Attack and AOE Follow-up Attacks that deal respectable damage while also helping The Herta gain energy and apply Interpretation stacks to enemies.

In The Herta’s team, Tribbie has two different builds depending on where you plan on using her. In Pure Fiction, 4PC Eagle of Twilight Line and 2PC Sprightly Vonwacq, along with S5 of the Dance! Dance! Dance! (DDD) Light Cone, is her best-in-slot, as she can effectively infinitely proc both Eagle and DDD with the sheer amount of energy generated. In Memory of Chaos, however, it may be more beneficial to build her to do damage with the Poet of Mourning Collapse set, as Eagle will not make much of a difference.To build “Fast Tribbie” (4PC Eagle/2PC Vonwacq/S5 DDD) in MoC, there are two possible breakpoints to consider:1. 135 SPD: 2-action (Wave 1) with 1 Ult, 3-action (Wave 2) with 2 Ults
1. Save 1 Ult from wave 1 and cast it on 0AV of Wave 2
2. 141 SPD: 3-action (Wave 1) with 1 Ult, 3-action (Wave 2) with 3 Ults
1. Functionally the same as the 135 SPD breakpoint, but with an extra action on Wave 1.

It's already common knowledge that Robin is one of the strongest support units in the game, be it in Hypercarry or Dual-carry teams. What sets her apart from other supports is her ability to advance the entire team with her Ultimate. Robin also offers teamwide DMG%, Crit Damage, and ATK buffs, along with dealing additional Physical DMG for the duration of her Concerto state. Since most of The Herta's teams consist of two Erudition characters, they greatly benefit from Robin's buffs while she deals respectable damage as a HarmONLY Harmony unit.It is important to note, however, that using Robin may cause issues in balancing SP as she spends much of the battle effectively not taking any action. This is especially apparent when considering The Herta's own SP-negativity; players should ensure that they are taking this into account and trying to generate SP with the other two teammates as necessary.

When using Robin as the support, players should not use The Herta’s Ultimate into Robin’s Ultimate, as this is to maximize the action advance as well as Robin’s buff after using her Ultimate.The Herta Skill > Robin Ultimate > The Herta Skill > The Herta Ultimate > The Herta Enhanced Skill

Remembrance Trailblazer (RMC)—and their Eidolons—are freely obtainable in 3.0’s story/exploration. They are a strong unit that can give a brand new buff, allowing an ally to deal a new type of damage called True DMG. Aside from that, RMC’s memosprite, Mem, can advance one character and let them deal additional True DMG while giving a CRIT DMG% buff to all allies in the party. In The Herta teams with RMC as the support, they will funnel Mem’s buffs to The Herta. Please refer to the below chart on how to run RMC with The Herta for the first cycle.

Sunday, despite being primarily a support for characters with summons or memosprites, is one of the strongest options as The Herta’s support. He can grant an ally (The Herta) with great CRIT DMG%, CRIT Rate, and DMG% buffs, and let them immediately take action. His strong Hypercarry buffs, resulting in The Herta’s higher personal damage will make up for the overall lower damage output of the 2nd Erudition unit, meaning he can compete with the other two best supports. However, beware that teams with Sunday as a support may have an issue in SP economy if he isn’t equipped with his Signature Light Cone, and potentially ruin any SPD tuning if a misplay happened in The Herta’s turn.

Ruan Mei is still a great support in general, offering high DMG% buffs to the party, enabling allies to do more Toughness Reduction on the enemy due to the Weakness Break Efficiency, and delaying enemies when they recover toughness for the first time. She also offers a RES PEN boost with her Ultimate, which is generally hard to come by in The Herta’s team at E0, amplifying their damage more than usual when The Herta and/or your second Erudition unit aren’t matching Weaknesses with the enemy. Ruan Mei also offers good synergy in teams that use Himeko as the 2nd Erudition unit, especially in Pure Fiction.For more information on how to build Ruan Mei, please feel free to check out Ruan Mei Mains' Ruan Mei guide!

Pela, Tingyun, and Jiaoqiu are our Honorable Mentions. These three are generally good supports with the buffs they apply or the debuffs they inflict. Pela can shred enemies’ DEF; Tingyun offers ATK, and DMG%, and can grant flat Energy boosts; Jiaoqiu can apply the Vulnerability debuff to enemies with 100% uptime. That being said, they aren’t as good as the options mentioned above and are generally only recommended if you do not have any other alternative.

Lingsha is arguably the best sustain for The Herta teams. She has a high frequency of AoE attacks, is able to deal respectable damage that might not be fitting for a sustain, and is an ideal Debt Collector option for Jade. Lingsha doesn’t only belong in break teams as she can also find her home within the beautiful genius The Herta. She is able to apply Interpretation stacks whilst funneling Energy to The Herta and sustaining the whole team without any major problems. The only downside to her is that she is most of the time, a SP-negative unit. Thus, it is important to consider the SP economy when creating a team for The Herta since the genius herself is already an SP negative unit.

Huohuo is another great option for sustaining The Herta teams. She might not have the ability to attack enemies as AoE attacks to funnel a good amount of Energy like Lingsha or Aventurine but she makes it up with her Ultimate that can give all allies excluding her in the party Energy and buff their ATK% while sustaining the team.Huohuo can also synergize well with RMC since her Ultimate—which gives allies Energy—also helps Mem build Charge%.

Aventurine is one of the top sustains in general. His value—apart from sustaining—may vary based on enemies’ attack frequency as his Follow-Up Attack frequency is dependent on the team being hit often to generate stacks/Energy for The Herta. As such, Aventurine is a very strong option against enemies who attack frequently (e.g. Hoolay) or always use Blast/AoE attacks; otherwise, it may be better to opt for another sustain.

Fu Xuan’s Ultimate is AoE, which can give Energy to The Herta whenever she uses it. However, be wary as she can be quite underwhelming in enemy lineups with strong AoE damage (e.g., Flame Reaver or Nikador) and may need to use SP to reactivate her field every few turns.

Gallagher will be the go-to sustain for players wanting an F2P option. Gallagher should be built to act fast which makes up for the Single Target attack from his Basic Attack. With his great synergy with the Quid Pro Quo Light Cone, Gallagher can funnel lots of Energy for The Herta in quick succession while still sustaining the team well.

Into the Unreachable Veil is The Herta's signature (and Best-in-Slot) lightcone. It provides Crit Rate and massive Skill/Ultimate damage boosts, which greatly buffs The Herta's damage. What makes this lightcone valuable, however, is the 1 Skill Point it provides after The Herta uses her Ultimate, which guarantees she will be able to use her Enhanced Skill afterwards. It can also offset her SP issues, which allows for more comfortable rotations.

Today Is Another Peaceful Day is obtainable through Nameless Glory, and is a strong alternative to The Herta's signature in terms of damage, as her 140 Ultimate Energy cost is just under the Energy cost required to fully maximise the damage increase. However, as she will lose out on the free SP that her signature provides, you may need to slot in more SP-positive teammates to mitigate it.

Geniuses' Repose is obtainable through banner pulls, and is a pretty great option for The Herta with its ATK and Crit DMG buffs, assuming you can kill an enemy every 3 turns to keep the uptime consistent. Other than that, it's not very remarkable.

Before Dawn is Jing Yuan's signature lightcone. It is already common knowledge that this is a strong Erudition lightcone due to its unconditional Crit Damage/Skill/Ultimate boost, and its value for The Herta is no exception. Even if she doesn't make use of the Follow-up Attack damage boost, these unconditional boosts make this lightcone a strong option if you happen to have a copy on hand.

An Instant Before a Gaze is Argenti's signature lightcone; it is a great Crit Damage statstick and it boosts The Herta's Ultimate damage based off of her Energy cost. However, as The Herta does not use her Ultimate as her main source of damage, and she gives herself 80% Crit Damage already, it is not recommended to pull for this lightcone or use it if you happen to have it.

Eternal Calculus is freely obtainable through Herta's Shop, and can be an option for The Herta to use. However, as the ATK boost on the lightcone's passive requires 5 targets to be hit to maximise the buff, it can only be fully and reliably utilised in Pure Fiction.

Night on the Milky Way is Himeko's signature lightcone, and is a great option for The Herta to use. However, it requires a 5-target scenario to maximise the ATK buff, which only reliably happens in Pure Fiction.

The Day The Cosmos Fell is freely obtainable through the Light Cone Manifest. It is a relatively great option when the enemy lineup contains at least two enemies with Ice Weakness, but should only be a placeholder until better options (Geniuses' Repose/Today is Another Peaceful Day/Night on the Milky Way/etc.) are obtained.

The Seriousness of Breakfast is freely obtainable through the Light Cone Manifest. While it is freely obtainable and more reliable to get stacks on over The Day The Cosmos Fell (the other Light Cone Manifest Erudition Light Cone), its performance drops significantly if you cannot meet the kill-3-enemies condition.