Mastering Acheron in Honkai Star Rail: A Comprehensive Guide

Discover the potential of Acheron, Honkai: Star Rail's Nihility DPS, through an in-depth guide exploring her gameplay, optimal builds, and synergies.

With her unique abilities and raw power, Acheron is ready to dominate HSR.

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A Comprehensive Acheron Guide: Best Builds and Team Comps

Acheron's Abilities Explained

Skill: Octobolt Flash

By gaining 1 Slashed Dream point and inflicting 1 Crimson Knot stack on her primary target, it enables her ultimate’s effectiveness.

The ability’s damage spreads, hitting adjacent enemies for 60% of Acheron's ATK, showcasing her AoE potential.

The key is to use this skill wisely to ensure Crimson Knot is applied strategically, enhancing her subsequent attacks’ damage output, especially her ultimate.

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Ultimate: Slashed Dream Cries in Red

This ultimate skill delivers a barrage of Lightning DMG through Rainblade and Stygian Resurge.

Sequential attacks not only deal massive damage but also dismantle enemies by removing Crimson Knot stacks, each removal increasing damage further.

Target selection and timing are crucial.

Maximizing the ultimate’s impact involves ensuring a significant number of Crimson Knots are present on key targets, leveraging the enhanced damage potential through strategic debuff management.

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Talent: Atop Rainleaf Hangs Oneness

This talent increases Acheron’s debuff strategy, rewarding her with Slashed Dream points for each debuff inflicted by any unit, and prioritizing the accumulation of Crimson Knots on the most afflicted enemy.

Coordination with team members to maximize debuff application becomes key in using Acheron effectively.

The talent’s passive transfer of Crimson Knots from defeated enemies ensures no setup is wasted.

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Technique: Quadrivalent Ascendance

Deals significant Lightning DMG and reduces enemy toughness.

Following her ultimate, the gain of Slashed Dream points and Crimson Knot application via Quadrivalent Ascendance is crucial for keeping her momentum, allowing Acheron to cycle back to her ultimate with increased speed.

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Major Traces

Red Oni (A2)

This trace significantly boosts Acheron's readiness for her Ultimate right from the battle's start.

Starting with 5 points of Slashed Dream puts her closer to unleashing her devastating Ultimate at an earlier phase of the combat.

The addition of 5 stacks of Crimson Knot on a random enemy not only prepares that target for increased damage but also synergizes with her ability to generate additional Slashed Dream points through debuff application.

The ability to accumulate up to 3 stacks of Quadrivalent Ascendance further enhances her flexibility and damage potential post-Ultimate usage, allowing her to maintain high momentum in battles.

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The Abyss (A4)

This trace emphasizes Acheron’s synergy with Nihility characters, offering a substantial damage boost that scales with the number of Nihility allies.

The damage increase to 115% with one additional Nihility character or to 160% with two underscores the strategic importance of team composition.

This trace makes Acheron particularly potent in Nihility-focused teams, increasing her damage output significantly.

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Thunder Core (A6)

Thunder Core is a cornerstone for maximizing Acheron's damage during her Ultimate phase.

Each hit of Rainblade not only removes Crimson Knots to increase damage but also boosts Acheron's damage by 30% per hit, potentially stacking up to a massive 90%.

The added mechanic of Stygian Resurge dealing additional Lightning DMG six times to random enemies accentuates her role as an AoE damage dealer, ensuring that she can dish out considerable damage across the enemy lineup.

Viewed as part of the Ultimate DMG, these additional hits benefit from any damage amplifications applicable to her Ultimate.

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Traces Prioritization

Ultimate

Acheron's ultimate is her best move, delivering devastating lightning damage to all enemies.

Since her gameplay revolves around quickly charging and effectively using her ultimate, it should be the first ability to maximize.

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Talent

This talent is essential for accelerating the charge of Acheron's ultimate.

By granting Acheron a Slashed Dream point and a Crimson Knot stack for each debuff inflicted by any unit, it synergizes perfectly with her ultimate-centric strategy.

This trace not only enhances her solo performance by ensuring more frequent ultimates but also boosts team synergy by leveraging debuffs from allies.

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Skill

Serving as the initial mechanism for applying Crimson Knots and generating Slashed Dream points, this skill is a foundational element of Acheron's kit.

While the ultimate and talent take precedence for upgrades, strengthening this skill increases Acheron's debuffing capabilities and damage consistency.

It's especially crucial in fights where spreading debuffs across multiple targets can significantly enhance her and her team's performance.

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Basic Attack

Acheron's basic attack, while integral to her overall damage output, is less impactful compared to her other abilities.

It serves as a filler between her more powerful skills and ultimate.

Once the key areas of her kit have been optimized, you can consider enhancing her basic attack to round out her damage potential.

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Best Light Cones

Signature Light Cone: Along the Passing Shore

This Light Cone is design-made for Acheron, enhancing her critical damage and introducing the "Mirage Fizzle" debuff.

The crit damage boost is significant, providing a substantial increase to her overall damage output.

The Mirage Fizzle debuff synergizes with her kit, enabling additional Slashed Dream points and Crimson Knot stacks upon hitting debuffed enemies.

This synergy not only accelerates her ultimate charge but also increases her damage multiplicatively, especially when considering the enhanced damage against Mirage Fizzle-debuffed enemies.

Using "Along the Passing Shore" to its fullest involves optimizing Acheron's debuffing capabilities and focusing on enemy targets afflicted by Mirage Fizzle to maximize damage output.

This Light Cone pushes Acheron into a league of her own, making her ultimate attacks devastatingly powerful.

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Alternative Light Cones

While "Along the Passing Shore" stands out as the optimal choice for Acheron, there are other Light Cones that can be considered based on availability and specific combat scenarios.

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Good Night and Sleep Well

For players without access to her signature Light Cone, this four-star option provides a damage bonus against debuffed enemies.

Though it lacks the debuff-inducing capability of her signature, it still enhances her damage against targets affected by any debuff, aligning well with her debuff-centric approach.

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Fermata (Free-to-Play Friendly Option)

‍For players looking for a more accessible option, Fermata"can serve as a stand-in.

While not as potent in enhancing Acheron's DPS directly, it provides a stopgap solution until more suitable Light Cones are acquired.

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In the Name of the World

Offers additional damage against debuffed enemies and an attack percentage boost.

Like "Good Night and Sleep Well," it doesn't apply debuffs but synergizes with Acheron's playstyle of targeting debuffed enemies for increased damage.

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Incessant Rain

This Light Cone inflicts a debuff at a base chance and provides crit rate, which is beneficial for increasing Acheron's critical hit potential.

While the debuff application is subject to effect hit rate, it can still contribute to her Slashed Dream and Crimson Knot stacking mechanics.

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Relics Recommendation

Optimal Relics for Acheron

Pioneer Diver of Dead Waters Set (4-piece Set)

This set is the gold standard for Acheron, enhancing her damage against debuffed enemies and boosting her crit rate and crit damage significantly.

It synergizes perfectly with her ability to apply debuffs through her attacks and her reliance on crits for maximizing damage output.

Equip Acheron with this set to ensure she benefits from increased damage against enemies affected by any debuff, including her unique Crimson Knot.

The crit rate and crit damage bonuses further amplify her lethal capabilities, making each attack more devastating.

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Alternative Relic Options

While the Pioneer Diver set is ideal, you may need alternatives based on availability or specific combat requirements.

• Genius of Brilliant Stars Set: For a more general approach, offering ignore defense bonuses that can be particularly useful against high-resistance targets.
• Band of Sizzling Thunder Set: Enhances Acheron's elemental damage, making her lightning attacks even more potent.
• Hunter of Glacial Forest Set: Though not directly aligned with her elemental type, the crit damage bonus during ultimates from this set can be beneficial in absence of better-suited options.

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Best Planar Ornaments for Acheron

Inert Salsotto Set

Offers a substantial increase in Crit Rate and Ultimate Damage, especially valuable for characters like Acheron who rely heavily on their Ultimate for massive AOE damage.

The set's condition for activation, having a Crit Rate above 50%, aligns well with Acheron's need for high critical hit chances.

This set effectively boosts Acheron's ultimate damage output while ensuring a higher frequency of critical hits.

The additional crit rate helps reach the critical hit rate threshold more easily, allowing to focus on maximizing Crit Damage in other areas of her build.

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Izumo Gensei and Takama Divine Realm Set

Provides a boost to Attack and Crit Rate for characters of the same path, making it an excellent choice for increasing Acheron's damage output.

The Crit Rate bonus is particularly beneficial, complementing her crit-focused damage model.

With its straightforward attack and crit rate enhancements, the Izumo set boosts Acheron's raw damage and critical hit capabilities.

This set supports a more aggressive build, prioritizing damage output over specific combat mechanics.

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Sigonia, the Unclaimed Desolation Set‍

Focuses on incrementally increasing Crit Damage, which can be particularly potent for characters like Acheron, who can consistently land critical hits thanks to her high Crit Rate.

This set is more situational, depending on whether additional Crit Damage or Crit Rate is needed based on the rest of Acheron's build.

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Main Stat Priorities

• Body Piece (CRIT Rate/CRIT Damage): Depending on your Eidolon unlocks and overall crit rate from other sources, choose CRIT Rate to ensure reliability or CRIT Damage to maximize damage output.
• Boots (ATK%): A straightforward choice, increasing Acheron's base attack further fuels her damage potential across all abilities.
• Orb (Lightning DMG%): Amplifies her elemental damage, making her specialty in lightning attacks even more deadly.
• Rope (ATK%): Additional ATK% solidifies her role as a DPS by increasing her overall damage.

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Substats Priorities

• ‍Crit Rate & Crit Damage: To fully exploit Acheron's DPS capabilities, a balance between crit rate and crit damage is paramount. Aim for a crit rate that ensures consistent critical hits, then stack crit damage to heighten the impact of each critical strike.‍
• ATK%: After securing crit rate and crit damage, additional ATK% as a substat contributes further to raising Acheron's overall damage. It's a reliable stat that boosts the base damage of all her attacks.‍
• Speed: While not as crucial as the other substats, speed ensures Acheron can take turns more frequently, allowing for quicker application of debuffs and faster cycling through her Ultimate. Speed becomes more of a focus when your team lacks external turn rate boosts or when facing enemies that can outpace your team.

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Team Synergies

Core Team Composition Principles for Acheron

Debuff Application

‍The cornerstone of Acheron's strategy revolves around saturating the battlefield with debuffs.

Including characters like Pela, Silverwolf, and Gallagher not only facilitates this but also enhances the overall team's damage potential through debuff exploitation.

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Sustainability‍

Characters that offer healing or damage mitigation ensure Acheron and her allies can withstand prolonged engagements.

Gallagher's dual role as a healer and debuffer is particularly valuable, offering a seamless blend of offense and defense.

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Weakness Exploitation

‍Beyond debuffs, focusing on characters that can exploit specific elemental weaknesses or offer additional damage through vulnerabilities can significantly enhance Acheron's impact.

This includes selecting allies with complementary elemental attacks or those capable of applying unique status effects that Acheron can leverage.

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Ideal Teammates

Nihility Allies

• Pela: Offers debuffs that contribute to Acheron's stack accumulation while also providing significant damage amplification. Pela's abilities complement Acheron's, making her a top pick for any Acheron-centered team.
• Silver Wolf: Excels in single-target scenarios, enhancing Acheron's damage against bosses or elite enemies. Her debuffing capabilities align well with Acheron's needs, solidifying her position in her ideal lineup.
• Guinaifen/Luka: A solid F2P option that can debuff enemies, contributing to Acheron's ult charge. Although not as potent as Silver Wolf or Pela in damage amplification, Guinaifen or Luka remains a viable choice for players without access to premium units.

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Harmony Allies

• Sparkle: Exceptional in AoE situations, Sparkle can replace Silver Wolf when facing multiple enemies. Her damage boosts are invaluable, making her a worthy consideration for a spot alongside Acheron, particularly with high-speed setups and the right light cone to maximize ult frequency.

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Support Units

• Gallagher (Abundance): Provides both SP regeneration and debuffs through his ult and enhanced basic attacks. Gallagher's role is crucial for maintaining Acheron's momentum, ensuring she has the resources to unleash her ult frequently.
• Preservation Units with Trend of the Universal Market Light Cone: Units like Fire MC can taunt and draw enemy attacks, each of which counts as a debuff due to the Trend Light Cone's mechanics. This strategy significantly boosts Acheron's ult charge rate, making Preservation units equipped with this light cone invaluable.
• Welt (as Sustain): In high-investment teams, Welt can provide sustain while enabling the use of a harmony unit. This setup requires careful speed tuning and the enemy's susceptibility to CC but can yield the highest damage outputs for Acheron.
• Fu Xuan (Defensive Support): Provides essential defensive support, reducing incoming damage and enhancing the team's resistance to debuffs, thereby ensuring Acheron and the team can maintain offensive pressure without significant interruption.

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Team Composition Examples

• Balanced Debuff and Damage: Acheron, Pela, Silver Wolf, and Gallagher. This composition ensures a steady flow of debuffs for Acheron's ult charge while covering SP needs and offering strong damage amplification.
• AoE Focus: Acheron, Sparkle, Guinaifen, and Fire MC with Trend Light Cone. Aimed at maximizing AoE damage, this team leans on Sparkle's buffs and the debuffing prowess of Guinaifen and Fire MC to supercharge Acheron's ult.
• High Investment Sustain: Acheron, Pela, a harmony unit like Sparkle, and Welt for sustain. This setup is for experienced players who can manage the intricate balance of speed and buffs to unleash Acheron's full potential in both AoE and single-target scenarios.

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Acheron's Eidolons

E1: Silenced Sky Spake Sooth

Provides a substantial boost to Acheron's CRIT Rate against debuffed enemies.

This Eidolon directly complements her debuff-centric playstyle, ensuring her attacks are not only more frequent but also hit harder.

Given Acheron's reliance on debuffs for activating her ultimate and skill effects, this Eidolon enhances her damage output significantly, making it a foundational enhancement for her.

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E2: Mute Thunder in Still Tempest

This Eidolon is transformative for Acheron, not only reducing the team composition restrictions for maximizing her Trace "The Abyss" but also granting her an automatic gain of Slashed Dream points and Crimson Knot stacks at the start of her turn.

This accelerates her ultimate readiness and debuff stacking, enhancing both her individual damage potential and her utility in debuff synergy with the team.

It's a game-changer for players looking to optimize Acheron's debuff strategy and ultimate cycling.

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E4: Shrined Fire for Mirrored Soul

This Eidolon makes enemies more susceptible to Acheron's Ultimate, increasing the damage they receive from it.

Given the central role of her Ultimate in her damage dealing, this Eidolon further amplifies her ability to deal devastating blows in combat, particularly beneficial in longer battles or against tougher opponents.

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E6: Apocalypse, the Emancipator

Perhaps the most transformative of her Eidolons, it increases Acheron's Ultimate damage through All-Type RES PEN and rchanges her Basic Attack and Skill damage as Ultimate damage.

This not only broadens the utility of her entire kit but also enhances her ability to break enemy defenses.

This Eidolon is essential for Acheron, turning her into a versatile and relentless damage dealer capable of adapting to various combat scenarios.

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Maximizing Acherons' Potential

Understanding Acheron's Kit

Acheron's effectiveness hinges on her "Slashed Dream" and "Crimson Knot" mechanics.

Building her team with characters that can apply multiple debuffs quickly is crucial.

Each debuff not only edges her closer to unleashing her powerful ultimate but also amplifies its damage through removed Crimson Knots.

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Ideal Debuff Application

The cornerstone of Acheron's strategy is the consistent application of debuffs.

Characters like Pela and Silverwolf are vital, as they can apply debuffs that directly complement Acheron's need for enemies to be in a constant state of vulnerability.

Incorporating characters with abilities that either slow down enemies or reduce their attack power can ensure Acheron remains protected while she charges her ultimate.

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Energy Management

Although Acheron does not rely on traditional energy for her ultimate, managing the team's energy effectively to ensure frequent use of skills that apply debuffs is essential.

Characters that can offer energy recharge or reduce skill cooldowns synergize well with Acheron, enabling a faster cycle of debuff application and, consequently, more frequent ultimates.

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Tactical Combat Engagement

In battle, prioritize targets and timing.

Use debuff applications strategically to weaken enemies before unleashing Acheron’s ultimate.

Timing her ultimate to coincide with maximum debuff application ensures devastating impact on enemies, making short work of even the toughest opponents.