Building Himeko: An In-Depth Character Guide
Welcome to a comprehensive guide on how to build the ultimate Himeko, one of the best AOE damage dealer in Honkai Star Rail besides Jing Yuan.
If you've been lucky enough to pull her, it's strongly recommended you invest in her build.
In this guide, we'll cover everything you need to create the perfect Himeko, from light cones and team compositions to relics.
Let's get to it!
Building the Ultimate Himeko: An In-Depth Character Guide
Understanding Himeko's Abilities
Himeko is a formidable damage dealer capable of decimating large groups of enemies with her potent AOE and blast attacks.
Her fire damage is especially potent, capable of taking enemies from full health to zero in a single hit.
With her high damage potential, she can hard carry your teams. Let's break down her abilities:
- Basic Attack: This single-target damage attack targets one enemy.
- Skill: This blast attack targets the chosen enemy and the two enemies adjacent to it. It deals fire damage equal to 200% of Himeko's attack (at level 10) and deals additional fire damage to adjacent enemies.
- Technique: This technique allows her to create a dimension lasting for 15 seconds. All enemies within the dimension have a 100% base chance to have their fire damage taken increased by 10 for 2 turns.
- Ultimate: This massive AOE fire equal to 230% of Himeko's ATK hit every single enemy on the field and regenerates 5 energy per enemy killed. It costs 120 energy.
- Talent: This follow-up attack triggers after breaking the enemy three times or a boss one time (3 points of Charge). Himeko throws her suitcase at the enemy, dealing fire damage up to 140% of her attack.
Himeko's Traces: Enhancing Her Fire Power
Starfire
Unlocked at A2, the Starfire Trace transforms Himeko's basic attack into a burning nightmare for her enemies.
After using an attack, it gives a 50% base chance to inflict Burn on enemies for two turns. Enemies afflicted with Burn will take Fire Damage over Time (DoT) equal to 30% of Himeko's Attack at the start of each turn.
Magma
Unlocking at A4, the Magma Trace fuels Himeko's fire damage even further, making her a real threat to her enemies. This trace increases her Skill damage by 20% to enemies currently afflicted with Burn. This means that not only will Himeko inflict a painful Burn status with her attacks, but she'll also deal significantly more damage to those who are already burning.
Benchmark
Unlocked at A6, the Benchmark Trace gives Himeko a significant advantage when she's in a healthy state. When her current HP% is 80% or higher, her CRIT Rate increases by 15%. This means that keeping Himeko at high health levels not only ensures her survival but also makes her a more potent damage dealer. This underlines the importance of having a good healer on your team to keep Himeko's health above 80% for maximum damage output.
Light Cones for Himeko
Light cones can significantly enhance Himeko's abilities. Here are some suggestions:
- Birth of Self: This light cone increases her follow-up damage by 24 at max level, and by an extra 48 if the enemy is below 50% HP. This pairs well with Himeko's unique ability to perform follow-up attacks after inflicting weakness break on three enemies, although it's not the optimal option for her.
- Today is Another Peaceful Day: This light cone increases your damage based on max energy, offering a 24% damage boost at max energy.
- Seriousness of Breakfast: This light cone gives a flat 12% damage increase at max level. For every enemy defeated, it gives an 8% attack increase, stacking up to three times.
- Night of the Milky Way: This light cone increases your attack by 9% for up to five stacks for every single enemy on the field.
- Before Dawn: This light cone increases your crit damage by 36% and increases the wearer's skill and ultimate damage by 18.
For free-to-play players, the "Seriousness of Breakfast" light cone is highly recommended. It's easily attainable from the trailblaze missions or the Forgotten Hall and will be able to reach S5.
To understand the impact of light cones on Himeko's performance, let's compare two light cones: the easily accessible "S5 Breakfast" and the more potent "S1 Before Dawn."
Using Himeko's optimal attack pattern and assuming that Himeko performs two follow-up attacks per Ultimate Cycle, an S1 Before Dawn is 12% stronger than S5 Breakfast.
However, due to Himeko's massive base attack stat (756), the difference between these two light cones is less pronounced than it might be for other characters.
Himeko's Eidolons
Eidolons enhance Himeko's abilities further, though they cater to a minority of players willing to spend significantly on the game. Notable eidolons include:
- Eidolon One: After using Victory Rush, Himeko's speed increases by 20% for two turns.
- Eidolon Four: When Himeko's skill inflicts weakness break, she gains an additional point of Charge.
- Eidolon Six: Allows the ultimate to deal damage two extra times to enemies, each of which deals Fire DMG equal to 40% of the original DMG to a random enemy.
The first eidolon is considered the best and is highly recommended.
Here's an in-depth guide for an E0 Himeko:
Himeko's Relics
The best four-piece relic set for Himeko are Ashblazing Grand Duke for its follow-up attack damage boost and Pioneer Diver of Dead Waters for its DMG and Crit stats boost (if enemies have 3 debuffs on them).
Another viable option is the Firesmith of Lava Forging. This set increases your fire damage by 10% and skill damage by 12%. After unleashing the ultimate, the wearer's fire damage increases by an additional 12%.
As for the planar ornaments, the top recommendations are:
- Firmament Frontline Glamoth: If you can reach the 135-160 speed breakpoints, it boosts ATK% and damage dealt.
- Space Stealing Station: Increases your attack by 12% and an extra 12% if your speed is 120 or higher.
- Rutilant Arena: Crit Rate +8%, and if you have 70%+ Crit Rate, your attack and skill damage increase by 20%.
- Inert Salsotto: Increases your Crit Rate by 8%. If you have a crit rate of 50% or higher, your Ultimate and follow-up attack damage increases by 15%.
Optimal Late Game Stats for Himeko
ATK: 2,700+
Speed: 135+
Crit Rate: 70%+
Crit DMG: 140%+
Himeko's Optimal Attack Pattern
Identifying an efficient attack pattern for Himeko is crucial to ensuring her energy usage is optimal and no energy is wasted.
Without triggering any follow-up attack, if Himeko performs four skills consecutively, she will generate enough energy for her ultimate. The "overflow" of five extra energy is within acceptable bounds.
This attack pattern provides a solid foundation for calculating how different factors, such as light cones, affect Himeko's performance in fine detail.
Himeko's Battle Technique and Playstyle
Himeko's battle technique is unique and can greatly influence the outcome of battles.
Before entering a battle, Himeko can apply a debuff on all enemies, increasing the fire damage they take by 10% for two turns. Techniques like these are invaluable as they can help your team easily clear the first wave in Memory of Chaos (MoC) battles.
Against a single boss, the strategy is straightforward: keep spamming her skill. Timing her ultimates to break the enemy's toughness bar can maximize her damage output.
In battles against multiple bosses, the strategy becomes more nuanced.
The team should focus on one boss at a time until their toughness bar is broken, triggering Himeko's follow-up attack against both bosses.
Then, switch focus to the other boss, allowing the first boss to recover their toughness bar.
Himeko's playstyle takes advantage of the Fire element's strong break effect and her follow-up attacks. The more breaks you do, the more you can utilize the strong break effect damage.
Additionally, the more breaks you do, the more you let Himeko perform her follow-up attacks for extra damage.
This also means that Himeko is anti-synergistic with characters that delay an enemy's action or apply slow debuffs, so try not to pair her with characters such as Welt.
Synergizing with Other Characters
Himeko's playstyle makes her a perfect partner for SP positive characters.
Asta, for example, is currently one of the best supports for Himeko. Asta provides all allies with an 18% fire damage increase and a speed buff through her ultimate, which can help Himeko overcome her relatively slow base speed.
Fire Trailblazer is another excellent partner for Himeko, providing valuable shields and damage reduction to the team, helping Himeko maintain her HP above 80% to activate her A6 Trace, which provides a 15% critical rate boost.
The third slot in your team should ideally be filled by a Healer like Natasha or Bailu, to ensure survival in more challenging content.
Wrapping Up
Himeko is a versatile character, effective at farming in the Overworld, fighting Echo of War bosses, and even carrying in Memory of Chaos.
Her kit allows her to maintain competitive damage output against single targets, while her fire element's break damage makes her potent against multiple enemies.
The key to maximizing Himeko's potential lies in understanding her abilities, optimizing her build, and coordinating effectively with other characters.
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