The Herta was recently announced as an upcoming playable character from Honkai: Star Rail on their social media platform. The Hetra will be retaining her Ice Element and will continue to follow her Path of Erudition. The Esteemed member #83 of the Genius Society will finally arrive at Honkai: Star Rail.

The Esteemed Madam Herta

The Herta or as she would like to call herself “Madam Herta” in the Japanese voiceover. Arrives in Honkai: Star Rail, seemingly in version 3.0. The projected time for The Herta to grace everyone’s presence would be Wednesday, January 15, 2025. It’s likely we will get a banner for her 3.0. Of course, it is all speculation as things are likely to change in the future if they want it to change, as HoYoverse has not given an exact date yet.

Herta is the 83rd member of the Genius Society and the mastermind behind the Herta Space Station. Also dubbed as the puppet master, she has several puppets running around that anyone playing the game would have run into several times. Thanks to her brilliant mind, she is one of the creators of the Simulated Universe alongside Screwllum, Ruan Mei, and Stephen Lloyd. Herta is an Emanator for the Erudition, which gives her immense power, intelligence, and understanding of the cosmos. Considering she has only been using puppets to run around and fight, can only mean her real power was split the entire time. In HoYoverse words;

If mortals receiving the grace of Aeons and grasping the power of Paths are viewed as a singular shattered foam, then the mighty feats of Aeons driving their Paths onwards can be likened to a towering tsunami that engulfs mountains.

In this empty stellar vastness, a small number of favored mortals can also draw upon the power of the Paths with the permission of the Aeons, creating huge waves that erode the coast.

With an Emanator having such power, it’s only natural that Herta is only using a portion of it through her puppets. The Herta’s design is top tier. Her staff and witch outfit match her perfectly and are absolutely beautiful in detail and design. It leads her to her regal attitude and further adds to her mystical abilities. I can’t help but become enthralled by her design, I can already see all the cosplayers wanting to hop on the train to get her design together and get to work on her.

The Leaks

This spoiler alert is for those who don’t want to see it, This is the only warning.

Let’s start off by saying, that this is all leaks, nothing is confirmed until The Herta arrives in Honkai: Star Rail. If her leaks are correct, she WILL retain her Ice abilities and Path of Erudition.

• Basic Attack: Deals Ice damage to a single enemy target.
• Skill: Blast Ice damage and apply several Spirit Key stacks to the main target.
• Enhanced Skill: Attacks a single target and deals Ice damage, applying several stacks of Spirit Key on them. Deals additional Ice damage to the main target and its adjacent enemies, and finally deals Ice damage to all enemies.
• Ultimate: Deals AoE Ice damage and gives Herta an immediate turn. Also, increases Herta’s Attack and grants one use of Enhanced Skill. One Skill point is recovered after using Herta’s Enhanced Skill.
• Talent: The damage multiplier of the Enhanced Skill of Herta is increased based on the Spirit key stacks on the enemy. After using the Enhanced Skill, all Spirit Key stacks are removed from the main target. This effect increases based on the number of Erudition characters in the team. Additionally, enemies get one stack of Spirit Key after entering the battle. If the target dies without the Spirit Key being removed by her Enhanced Skill, the stacks are transferred to the enemy with the highest HP. Spirit Key can stack up to a maximum of 42 times.
• Technique: Her technique summons a frame at her current location, which marks nearby common loot items, marking up to 3 nearby chests. Also gives an Attack buff for x turns when entering combat. When in the Simulated Universe, it deals 99% damage to non-elite enemies and 30% damage to Elite Enemies in each wave.
• Trace 1: When an ally attacks an enemy target, the enemy gains 1 stack of Spirit Key. Upon gaining Spirit Key stacks, Herta regenerates x amount of energy. This energy regeneration effect can be triggered up to 5 times per attack.
• Trace 2: The Crit Damage of all allies is increased when another Erudition character is on the field.
• Trace 3: When using her Ultimate, the multiplier of her Enhanced Skill increases based on the number of Spirit Key stacks on the main target.

Leaked Eidolons

• E1: Increases Herta’s Ice Resistance penetration and her Ultimate additionally applies X number of Spirit Key stacks on all enemies.
• E2: Enhanced Skill deals additional damage based on the number of stacks on the primary and secondary targets during damage calculation.
• E4: All Erudition characters on the field have increased Speed.
• E6: After using her Ultimate, Herta gains a buff. Using Enhanced Skill does not consume the primary target’s Spirit Key stacks for 1 turn. Additionally, using Enhanced Skill grants one extra usage of Enhanced Skills

Her Lightcone has also been leaked with the effects of: “Increases the wearer’s Crit Rate. If the equipped character’s current Energy is above a specific amount, attacking enemies restores an additional x amount of Energy. Both Ultimate and Skill deal increased damage.” Again, all of this is from leaked sources from Reddit by Shiroha, so shout out to them for their work. As said before and a million times after, these are leaks and should be taken with a grain of salt until confirmed.

Final Thoughts

The Herta arrives in Honkai: Star Rail, hopefully with 3.0 but regardless, if you want her this will be the perfect time to save up your stellar gems and tickets. She looks amazing and I can’t wait to pull for her myself. Regardless, it will be nice to finally meet Madam Herta herself and get an understanding of who she truly is. Honkai: Star Rail has also won the best Ongoing game in the Google Play Store, so congrats to them! Well Deserved. It is currently nominated for Best Ongoing in the 2024 Game Awards. Honkai: Star Rail is still in 2.6, with Acheron and Aventurine on display for their banner