Honkai: Star Rail – Acheron build and ascension guide

Check out the best Light Cones and Relics for Acheron in Honkai: Star Rail

Show off the power of an Emanator of Nihility with the best Honkai: Star Rail Acheron build and leave naught but devastation. Acheron is a 5-Star character dealing Lightning Damage and, as implied above, follows the Path of The Nihility – both in the lore and for gameplay purposes. Her role is to be a team’s main source of damage, cutting down whoever’s in her way.

Acheron’s Skill, Octobolt Flash, deals Lightning Damage based on her Attack to an enemy and any adjacent targets. In addition, she gains one point of Slashed Dream and inflicts one stack of Crimson Knot on the primary target. Crimson Knot is a debuff that is removed from the enemy when Acheron targets them with her Ultimate, increasing its damage. Slashed Dream feeds into Acheron’s unique Ultimate mechanic as well.

Her Ultimate, Slashed Dream Cries in Red, can only be activated when Acheron has obtained nine stacks of Slashed Dream – she does not have an Energy Gauge. Triggering this Ultimate enables Acheron to attack with Rainblade three times, dealing Lightning Damage based on her Attack to a single target (she can assign the targets for each of these attacks manually). Each Rainblade can remove up to three Crimson Knot stacks from a target to increase the damage dealt. After the three Rainblade attacks, Acheron delivers a final blow called Stygian Resurge, which targets every enemy on the field and deals Lightning Damage based on her Attack. This move removes all remaining stacks of Crimson Knot.

Acheron's Ultimate is one of the most unique abilities added to the game so far.

HoYoverse

Acheron’s Talent, Atop Rainleaf Hangs Oneness, reduces the Toughness of all enemies without regard to their Weakness Type and decreases their All-Type Resistance during her Ultimate. In addition, this Talent allows Acheron to obtain Slashed Dream and inflict stacks of Crimson Knot whenever a debuff is inflicted on an enemy – this counts Acheron inflicting debuffs, her allies inflicting debuffs, and even enemies inflicting debuffs on themselves or their colleagues. When an enemy is defeated or otherwise leaves the field, its Crimson Knot stacks will be transferred.

It’s worth mentioning that her Technique can immediately kill lower-ranked enemies without the need for turn-based combat, though this won’t work against Trotters or Elites. This is perfect for quick runs in the Simulated Universe.

Her Eidolon Levels – gained by pulling additional copies of her – provide additional buffs. Eidolon 1 increases her Critical Hit Rate when attacking debuffed targets. Eidolon 2 reduces the number of Nihility characters required in Acheron’s team to use one of her Trace effects from two to one, in addition to enabling Acheron to generate Slashed Dream and Crimson Knot automatically in every turn. Eidolon 4 makes enemies Vulnerable to Ultimate Damage, while Eidolon 6 boosts her Ultimate’s All-Type Resistance Penetration and makes it so that damage from her Basic Attack and Skill counts as Ultimate Damage, making them ignore Weakness Types.

Honkai: Star Rail – Acheron: best Light Cones

Though her kit revolves around debuffs and is thus typical for The Nihility, it’s also very unusual, as all of her damage is based on Attack alone. While there are many great Light Cones for this Path and its existing characters, none works particularly well with Acheron aside from her new signature 5-Star Light Cone – Along the Passing Shore. 

It buffs her Critical Hit Damage and inflicts a debuff (allowing her to stack more Slashed Dream), which increases all damage dealt by the wearer to the affected target (with some extra damage for the Ultimate on top).

Best Light Cones for Acheron:

• Along the Passing Shore (5-Star)
• Patience Is All You Need (5-Star)
• In the Name of the World (5-Star)
• Incessant Rain (5-Star)
• Good Night and Sleep Well (4-Star)
• It’s Showtime (4-Star)
• We Will Meet Again (4-Star)
• Fermata (4-Star)
• Resolution Shines As Pearls of Sweat (4-Star)

Acheron's Skill clearly shows her allegiance to The Nihility.

HoYoverse

Honkai: Star Rail – Acheron: best Relics

You’ll want to play Acheron in a Nihility team for several reasons – she needs debuffs on the field to get her Ultimate up and running and she has a Trace increasing her damage the more Nihility units are present. To maximize her offensive capabilities, Critical Hit Damage, Critical Hit Rate, and Attack will be your primary stats. You’ll also want to have very high Speed to give her more actions.

Best Relic Sets for Acheron:

• Pioneer Diver of Dead Waters (4) – +12% damage to debuffed enemies, +4% Critical Hit Rate, +8%/12% Critical Hit Damage against enemies affected by 2/3 debuffs; after the wearer inflicts a debuff on enemies, these effects increase by 100% for a turn.

Best Planar Ornaments for Acheron:

• Izumo Gensei and Takama Divine Realm (2) – +12% Attack, +12% Critical Hit Rate if at least one party member of the same Path as the wearer is present.

Prioritize the following Relic and Planar Ornament stats for Acheron:

• Head – HP (Primary), Critical Hit Rate %, Critical Hit Damage %, Speed, Attack %
• Hands – Attack (Primary), Critical Hit Rate %, Critical Hit Damage %, Speed, Attack %
• Body – Critical Hit Rate % or Critical Hit Damage % (Primary), Critical Hit Rate % or Critical Hit Damage %, Speed, Attack %, Break Effect %
• Feet – Speed (Primary), Critical Hit Rate %, Critical Hit Damage %, Attack %, Break Effect %
• Planar Sphere – Lightning Damage % (Primary), Critical Hit Rate %, Critical Hit Damage %, Speed, Attack %
• Link Rope – Attack % (Primary), Critical Hit Rate %, Critical Hit Damage %, Speed, Break Effect %

Acheron's Technique is very unique and powerful.

HoYoverse

Honkai: Star Rail – Acheron: best teams

Acheron is an offensive powerhouse and enables you to play your beloved Nihility teams in a fresh way, as they’ll be less reliant on DoT and deal more direct damage instead – it’s Nihility with a pinch of Destruction.

• Acheron (Main DPS), Kafka (Sub DPS), Black Swan (Sub DPS), Huohuo (Support)

If you’ve got the holy trinity of Nihility mommies, then go right ahead and put them on the same squad. Kafka and Black Swan are both adept at inflicting debuffs on the enemy and whittling them down with DoT. Acheron can use that to feed her Ultimate and speed up the demise of all who face this team. Round the team out with a healer or other sustain and you’re good to go. Aside from the potent 5-Star options, Gallagher is a candidate with good pedigree, since he can help inflict debuffs on enemies.

• Acheron (Main DPS), Silver Wolf (Support), Pela (Support), Huohuo (Support)

Pivoting away from supporting Acheron via DoT, this team focuses on stat-based debuffs, which both Silver Wolf and Pela can deliver on a very consistent basis. Once again, this will enable the star of the show, Acheron, to quickly get her Ultimate going and deal massive damage. Naturally, you’ll want a healer or sustain to keep the team safe.

Honkai: Star Rail – Acheron: ascension materials

Here’s everything you need to know to get Acheron ascended to the maximum level and upgrade all of her Traces. Acheron requires the following ascension materials to get to level 80 in addition to the necessary XP:

• Credits x308,000
• Dream Collection Component x15
• Dream Flow Valve x15
• Dream Making Engine x15
• Shape Shifter’s Lightning Staff x65

You can collect Dream Collection Components, Dream Flow Valves, and Dream Making Engines from enemies encountered on Penacony or its Calyxes as well as the Simulated Universe. You can create or exchange them through the Omni-Synthesizer on the Astral Express, too. Dream Collection Components are one of the base materials you can easily farm through the Daily Assignments to your characters, making for a steady income of the material. 

Shape Shifter’s Lightning Staff is dropped by the Stagnant Shadow (Stargazer Navalia) on the Xianzhou Luofu or gained through exchange. The best source of Credits are the Bud of Treasures Golden Calyxes in the Great Mine, Artisanship Commission, and The Reverie (Dreamscape).

Acheron requires the following materials to upgrade her combat abilities and Traces:

• Credits x3,000,000
• Dream Collection Component x41
• Dream Flow Valve x56
• Dream Making Engine x58
• Fiery Spirit x18
• Starfire Essence x69
• Heaven Incinerator x139
• Past Evils of the Borehole Planet Disaster x12
• Tracks of Destiny x8

For the materials already mentioned, check above. Fiery Spirit, Starfire Essence, and Heaven Incinerator are available in the Crimson Calyx (Alchemy Commission). As usual, you can create the high-level materials by using up lower-level materials in the Omni-Synthesizer on the Astral Express.

Past Evils of the Borehole Planet Disaster is a boss material only gained from the Echo of War (Seclusion Zone) domain, while Tracks of Destiny can be obtained during time-limited events, the Embers Exchange, the Nameless Honor, or as a Simulated Universe Points Reward.