Himeko is one of the best five-star characters in Honkai: Star Rail that you can pull to have an easier time in the early stages of the game. The navigator of the Astral Express is a Fire-type and belongs to the Erudition patch, specializing in dealing massive multi-target damage.
Here’s how you can build Himeko to have maximum impact in enemy encounters.
Himeko’s skills in Honkai: Star Rail
Himeko is one of the best multi-target damage dealers in the game. Except for her basic attack, all her skills deal AoE damage or some form of debuff to enemies. When complimented with an appropriate Light Cone, Relic Set, and fully leveled-up Traces, Himeko can clear multiple enemy waves, irrespective of their weakness to her element. You should focus on increasing her Fire damage as all her skills are dependent on this stat.
- Basic Attack: Himeko deals Fire damage equal to 50 percent of her ATK to a single enemy.
- Skill: Himeko deals Fire damage equal to 100 percent of her ATK to a single enemy and Fire damage equal to 40 percent of her ATK to any adjacent enemies.
- Ultimate: Himeko’s Ultimate deals Fire damage equal to 132 percent of her ATK to all enemies. She also regenerates an additional 10 Energy for each enemy defeated by her ultimate.
- Talent: If an enemy’s Weakness is broken during a turn, Himeko gains a stack of Charge. She can store a maximum of three stacks. When her stacks are fully Charged, she deals Fire damage equal to 68 percent of her ATK to all enemies in a follow-up attack after an ally attacks. She consumes all her stacks after this attack. Himeko gains one stack of Charge at the beginning of the battle.
- Technique: After using her technique, a satellite beam creates a Burning Zone that lasts for 15 seconds. After entering the battle with enemies in this zone, Himeko has a 100 percent base chance to increase Fire damage taken by target enemies by 10 percent for two turns. Only one character dimension can exist at the same time.
Himeko’s abilities become more overpowered as you level her up. She also has Traces that you can unlock and ascend according to their Equilibrium Level to improve her abilities.
- Starfire: After using an attack, Himeko has a 50 percent base chance to inflict Burn on enemies for two turns. When afflicted with Burn, enemies take Fire DoT equal to 30 percent of Himeko’s ATK at the start of each turn.
- Benchmark: When Himeko’s HP percentage is 80 percent or higher, her CRIT Rate increases by 15 percent.
- Magma: Himeko’s skills deal 20 percent more damage to enemies afflicted with Burn.
Himeko’s best build for Honkai: Star Rail
Light Cones
Himeko’s signature five-star Light Cone, Night on the Milky Way is the best one to go for. This Light Cone or weapon makes her stronger when more enemies are present on the field. You should always level up Himeko and her Light Cone simultaneously.
Since it is a five-star Light Cone, you might find it hard to get in the Warp pulls. But there are other Light Cone options that work with her like The Seriousness of Breakfast, The Birth of the Self, or Geniuses’ Repose.
As Himeko is able to damage multiple enemies at once, you should use Light Cones that buff her ATK or damage. It allows here to clear enemy waves faster.
Related: How to get 80 free pulls in Honkai: Star Rail
Night on the Milky Way
- Rarity: Five Stars
- Path: Erudition
- Ability: For every enemy on the field, increases the wearer’s ATK by 9 percent, up to five stacks. When an enemy is inflicted with Weakness Break, the damage dealt by increases by 30 percent for one turn.
The Seriousness of Breakfast
- Rarity: Four Stars
- Path: Erudition
- Ability: Increases the wearer’s damage by 12 percent. For every defeated enemy, their ATK increases by four percent stacking up to three times.
The Birth of the Self
- Rarity: Four Stars
- Path: Erudition
- Ability: Increases the damage dealt by the wearer’s follow-up attacks by 24 percent. If the current HP of the target enemy is below or equal to 50 percent, increases the damage dealt by the follow-up attacks by an extra 24 percent.
Geniuses’ Repose
- Rarity: Four Stars
- Path: Erudition
- Ability: Increases the wearer’s ATK by 16 percent. When they defeat an enemy, the CRIT damage is increased by 24 percent for three turns.
Relics
There is one core Relic set that is tailored up for Himeko’s use, the Firesmith of Lava-Forging. For her Planar Sphere and Link Rope, players can go with Herta’s Space Station and Herta’s Wandering Trek respectively. The ATK buffs provided by this Space Sealing Station set work perfectly for Himeko.
All of these are four-star relics and can be found by completing the mainline quest eventually.
Firesmith of Lava Forging
- Two-piece set bonus: Increases Fire damage by 10 percent.
- Four-piece set bonus: Increases the wearer’s Skill damage by 12 percent. After unleashing Ultimate, their Fire damage by 12 percent for the next attack.
- Location: An Eye for an Eye, Wayward Expedition, Silvermane Guard Restricted Zone.
Space Sealing Station
- Two-piece set bonus: Increases wearer’s ATK by 12 percent. If their speed is 120 or more, it raises ATK by a further 12 percent.
- Location: Simulated Universe World Three, Herta’s Office, Herta Space Station.
The Light Cones and Relics can be leveled up and ascended as your Equilibrium Level increases. You should focus on maxing out damage dealers like Himeko first as it will make it easier to complete missions and other tasks.
If you want to build up a team around Himeko, pairing her up with Herta is a must. This combo will help you clear out almost every enemy wave in the game. Just remember to put a healer (like Natasha or Bailu), and the final spot can be taken by a tank, single-target damage dealer, or a buff/debuff character depending on your needs.
You can also check out our guides for other five-star characters like Yanqing and Bronya in Honkai: Star Rail.
