Acheron is one of the strongest DPS’s in Honkai: Star Rail, and she comes with a unique kit. Acheron is a Lightning-type DPS that follows the path of Nihility. So far, we’ve seen that the Nihility characters are mostly supporters who help debuff the enemies in the game.
However, Acheron is a strong DPS that can annihilate enemies but requires Nihility characters on the team. We will discuss her teams more under the ‘Team Compositions’ section below.
In this guide, we show you how to build your Acheron to maximize her damage output, including her best-in-slot relic set, her best lightcone for both premium and F2P players, and her best planar ornaments. We will also discuss what stats you must focus on when farming for her relics and planar ornaments.
Acheron’s Kit
First, let’s discuss Acheron’s kit. Without going into the intricacies of her kit, we will try to simplify it for you. Acheron’s kit revolves around her ultimate, which also determines her relic’s main stats. Her basic attack deals lightning damage equal to 100% of her ATK to a single target, which is nothing too crazy. Her skill deals lightning damage equal to 160% of her ATK and also deals damage to adjacent targets equal to 60% of her ATK.
The skill is quite useful, as attacking the enemy will allow Acheron to gain one point of Slashed Dreams. Slashed Dreams are basically the points needed for Acheron to use her ultimate. She can use her ultimate once she has gained 9 points. She does not have an energy system, making her one of the most unique characters in Honkai: Star Rail. Her skill also inflicts one stack of Crimson Knot on a single target. Crimson Knot is an additional lightning damage mechanic activated upon removing Crimson Knot when Acheron uses Rainblade Slash during her ultimate.
Three stacks of Crimson Knots are removed every time Acheron uses her Rainblade Slash during her ultimate. She can use up to three Rainblade Slashes, which is followed by a major AoE attack called Stygian Resurge. When the Crimson Knot is removed, it immediately deals lightning damage equal to 15% of Acheron’s ATK to all enemies. And for every stack removed, this damage multiplier increases and can increase to a maximum of 60%.
Here’s another good part about her kit: if you use Acheron’s technique on regular enemies, they are immediately defeated. You won’t enter the battle. And if you do enter a battle using her technique, which would be against the elite enemies, Acheron will immediately gain five points of Slashed Dreams, meaning she will only need four more to use her ultimate. At the same time, she would also apply five stacks of Crimson Knot on a random enemy. If you fail to hit a regular enemy with her technique, you won’t lose any technique points. If you thought Ruan Mei has made your Simulated Universe runs faster, try Acheron!
If Acheron has already reached the upper limit of her Slashed Dreams, which is nine points, then she gains one stack of Quadrivalent Ascendance. It can stack up to three times. So, every time you gain another Slashed Dream point, it will be added to this stack for only up to three times max. Quadrivalent Ascendance basically deals lightning damage equal to 200% of Acheron’s ATK to all enemies and reduces their toughness regardless of their weakness type at the start of each wave. You will notice this effect quite frequently if you enter the battle using her technique.
The ultimate damage increases with each Quadrivalent Ascendance stack, so it is best to use her ultimate once you’ve acquired three stacks of Quadrivalent Ascendance. It is good practice regardless as it will allow you to still have three Slashed Dream points once you’ve used your ultimate.
Slashed Dream Points
So, to use her ultimate, you need nine Slashed Dream points, how do we get them? It is quite simple: Acheron gains one Slashed Dream point for every debuff your allies apply to the enemies, Acheron gains one Slashed Dream point. This does not mean that debuffing multiple enemies would allow you to stack up all those points quickly. Even if you’re debuffing multiple enemies, for example, by using Pela’s ultimate to shred enemy defenses, you will still get only one point of Slashed Dreams.
Different DoT sources also count as debuffs, such as Wind Shear, Shock, Frozen, Bleed, and Burn, also count as debuffs. This is why it is best to pair Acheron with other Nihility characters. It is also important to know that, if you have one or two Nihility characters with Acheron, her basic attack, skill, and ultimate damage increase by 115% or 160%, respectively. Acheron herself does not count, and the two Nihility characters should be someone other than her.
It is also worth noting, if you have a lightcone that can debuff enemies, that it will also count toward Acheron’s Slashed Dream points. For example, ‘Resolution Shines As Pearls of Sweat’ is a lightcone that can ensnare enemies when you hit them (basic attack, skill, or ultimate) which is basically shredding their defense.
So, any debuff applied by allies on the field will contribute to her Slashed Dream points. This also means Acheron does not need SPD boots, which brings us to our next topic – her relics.
Relic Sets
Relics
Acheron’s best-in-slot relic set is the new Pioneer Diver of Dead Waters. It is tailor-made for her as its 2-pc set bonus increases the damage dealt to debuffed enemies by 12%, and the 4-pc set bonus increases the crit rate by 4%.
The crit damage also increases by 8% or 12%, if the 2 or 3 enemies are debuffed, respectively. And it will always be the case with multiple Nihility characters in your team, so you can expect almost a 100% uptime of these set bonuses.
Planar Ornament
Acheron’s best planar ornament set is the Izumo Gensei and Takama Divine Realm, which you can farm from Simulated Universe 9. The 2-pc set bonus that comes from this planar ornament is too good to pass. First, just having a 2-pc on will give you a 12% ATK increase.
On top of that, if you have an ally other than Acheron (the one wearing this set), following the same path as her, she will gain a 12% crit rate. This won’t be difficult to achieve, as you’re supposed to run Acheron with at least two or three other Nihility characters to maximize her damage potential.
Stats
Acheron is a pure DPS and scales off of ATK%. You need to build her like any other standard DPS. Stack as much ATK, Crit Dmg, and Crit Rate as possible so that she can be a strong DPS. You don’t need SPD boots as she deals damage from her ultimate, which is charged based on the Slashed Dream points gained when allies debuff enemies. Acheron doesn’t even need many turns to function, which helps us maximize her damage by putting ATK boots on her.
You should be aiming for the following stats:
- Head: ATK%, Crit Rate, Crit Dmg.
- Hands: ATK%, Crit Rate, Crit Dmg.
- Body: Crit Rate / Crit Damage.
- Feet: ATK%
Planar Sphere: Lightning DMG Boost (focus on ATK%, Crit Rate, Crit Dmg sub-stats).
Link Rope: ATK% (focus on ATK%, Crit Rate, Crit Dmg sub-stats).
For the body, you primarily need to go for a crit rate piece since you already get a lot of crit dmg from her traces. You get 24% crit damage just from her traces, which is a lot. This is on top of the base 50% you get by default. However, it ultimately comes down to your RNG luck, and if you have better sub-stats on your crit dmg body piece, by all means, go for it. The key here is to maintain a 1:2 ratio for consistent crits. It is best to aim for at least 60% crit rate and 120%+ crit dmg.
For the sphere, it’s a very close call between an ATK% sphere and a Lightning DMG Boost sphere. You can choose whichever has better sub-stats.
As mentioned before, she does not need SPD boots as her Slashed Dream is charged thanks to the rebuffs applied by her teammates. However, this won’t be the case if you plan on getting her E2.
If you have her E2, she will gain one point of Slashed Dreams and apply one stack of Crimson Knots on an enemy with the highest Crimson Knots every time she gets a turn. In this case, you must put SPD boots on her and ensure she meets the standard 134 SPD minimum. The more turns she gets, the quicker she will get her ultimate ready.
Lightcones
Sadly, Acheron does not have a lot of F2P options but that does not mean you’re completely out of luck. There are some F2P options that will still allow your Acheron to dominate the content in this game. Obviously, her signature is going to shoot her damage through the roof but that does not mean that she can’t function without it. Let’s talk about her lightcone options.
Along the Passing Shore
The best lightcone for Acheron is her signature lightcone, ‘Along the Passing Shore,’ which absolutely knocks every other lightcone in the game out of the park. Acheron’s signature lightcone increases her crit dmg by 36%. This lightcone is just an overall damage boost and by a huge margin when compared to other lightcones. This is because of the passive it comes with.
‘Along the Passing Shore’ has a passive that applies Mirage Fizzle on enemies that Acheron attacks. Acheron deals 24% more damage to enemies inflicted with Mirage Fizzle, and her ultimate damage also increases by an additional 24%. And since her main source of damage is her ultimate, this is a huge damage boost to her kit.
What’s even more broken about this lightcone is that Mirage Fizzle is is counted as a debuff and adds to the Slashed Dream points, allowing Acheron to get her ultimate up in no time. This means if you do a basic attack with her lightcone, she will gain one Slashed Dreams point. And if you attack an enemy with her skill, she will get two points.
Good Night And Sleep Well (S5)
Good Night and Sleep Well (GNSW) is obtained through wishing or the gacha, but it is still considered the best “F2P” option, as you can get it for free just by wishing on the banner. The good thing is that during Acheron’s banner, it is present as a four-star lightcone option on the five-star signature lightcone banner. So, you can get multiple copies of it.
If you have this, it is the best option for you if you have this, especially at superimposition 5. GNSW increases Acheron’s damage by 24% for every debuff. It can stack up to three times, which can increase Acheron’s damage by up to 72%.
Fermata (S5)
Fermata operates under the assumption that the enemy is consistently affected by shock or wind shear. While it’s a viable F2P choice, it falls short compared to top-tier options and comes with a notable limitation. This limitation affects team composition, as it necessitates units capable of applying wind shear or shock debuffs to enemies. At Superimposition level five, the damage inflicted on enemies with wind shear or shock is increased by 32%.
This isn’t necessarily a bad limitation as you can get these debuffs from most of the Nihility characters present in the game. Only problem is that you will be restricted to just these two debuff types making it difficult for you to use other characters.
The good thing about Fermata is that you can purchase it from the Memory of Chaos store along with several copies to superimpose it to level 5. So, you can have it at S5 overtime as you play the game more.
Some other viable options include ‘Incessant Rain’ (Silver Wolf’s signature lightcone), ‘In the Name of the World’ (Welt’s signature lightcone), and ‘Resolution Shines as Pearls of Sweat (S5)’.
Team Compositions
Pela + Silver Wolf
The standard “template” to build a team around Acheron is as follows: Acheron + Nihility + Nihility + Sustain.
You need to have at least two Nihility characters along with a sustain to maximize her potential. The best team for Acheron to follow this template is to pair her with Pela and Silverwolf. Pela is an excellent option as she shreds enemy defenses and also applies a debuff with her skill when she is at E4. However, that could cause her to become SP-negative.
But to fix that, give Pela the ‘Resolution Shines as Pearls of Sweat’ lightcone, which will apply a debuff even if she does her normal attack. And with her quick energy regeneration, she will have her ultimate up in no time, which will debuff the enemies by shredding their defenses and contribute toward Acheron’s ultimate points. On top of that shredding every enemy’s defense will sky rocket your Acheron’s damage.
Silver Wolf needs no explanation as her basic attack, skill, and ultimate all debuff the enemies. If you pair Silver Wolf with Pela in a team with Acheron, Acheron will have no issues having almost 100% uptime on her ultimate.
Kafka + Black Swan
This is the team that everyone meme’d around and wanted to run with Acheron just because everyone loves Black Swan and Kafka. And after seeing the trailer with Black Swan dancing with Acheron, it was a no-brainer to have them on a team together. However, to everyone’s surprise, Acheron synergises really well with both Black Swan and Kafka.
If you’re using Black Swan, you must start the battle by using her technique, which will count towards Acheron’s Slashed Dream points by dealing Arcana damage to enemies. The standard Arcana damage you do during the battle whenever enemies get a turn won’t contribute to Acheron’s Slashed Dream points.
Whenever a new wave starts and new enemies enter the battle, and Arcana applies to them, it will also count as a Slashed Dream point for Acheron. This is because it is a “new” debuff applied to a new enemy who had no debuff before entering the battle.
Kafka is also a superb Acheron teammate, especially if you pair her with Black Swan. Kafka applies shock to enemies which counts as a debuff and helps increase Acheron’s Slashed Dream points. Kafka has the potential to give Acheron three points in a single turn – one debuff from her skill, one from her follow-up attack, and one from her ultimate.
Kafka’s skill doesn’t apply a debuff on her own unless you are using her signature lightcone. If you don’t have her signature lightcone, it shouldn’t be an issue if you pair her with Black Swan as she will apply wind shear on enemies and whenever Kafka uses her skill on enemies inflicted with wind shear, it will reapply it contributing to Acheron’s ultimate points.
The third option can be your sustain – a healer or a preservation character for shields.
You can practically run Acheron with any Nihility character and also substitute one of the Nihility characters with a Harmony character such as Sparkles or Ruan Mei for more defense penetration and ultimately deal more damage. Acheron is a flexible unit to build around as long as you have some good Nihility characters such as Pela, Sampo, Guinaifen, and even Welt.
