Acheron is Honkai: Star Rail's new top tier 5-star Nihility DPS character! Here's how you build her plus her best gear and teams
Acheron's kit revolves around inflicting debuffs on enemies in order to charge her powerful ultimate, which lets her unworldly attack that can reduce all her enemies into nothingness.
Honkai: Star Rail version 2.1 is finally here, and with it comes the much-anticipated debut of the game's latest 5-star character in Acheron!
Acheron wields the Lightning element and follows the Path of Nihility, being the first character of her Path designed for a purely Crit-based DPS role and boasting the most unique kit in the game so far. Acheron's kit revolves around inflicting debuffs on enemies in order to charge her powerful ultimate, which lets her unworldly attack that can reduce all her enemies into nothingness.
If you were lucky enough to get Acheron, then read on as we break down how to build her properly as well as her best Light Cones, relics, and teammates!
Acheron's kit and how to best utilise her
The Emanator of Nihility
Acheron's unique kit is centered around inflicting debuffs on enemies to gain stacks of 'Slashed Dream' for herself and 'Crimson Knot' for enemies. Slashed Dream charges up Acheron's ultimate and replaces the typical energy gauge used by other characters while Crimson Knot increases the damage dealt by her ultimate.
Acheron's primary way of building up stacks of Slashed Dream and Crimson Knot by herself is with her skill, Octobolt Flash.
When used, Acheron's skill gives her 1 stack of Slashed Dream and inflicts 1 stack of Crimson Knot on a single target enemy. At level 10, it also deals Lightning DMG equal to 160% of Acheron's ATK on the ability's target as well as Lightning DMG equal to 60% of her ATK to adjacent enemies.
Acheron's Talent, Atop Rainleaf Hangs Oneness, also lets her allies help her build up stacks of Slashed Dream and Crimson Knot when they inflict debuffs on enemies.
When an ally inflicts a debuff on an enemy, Acheron's Talent causes her to gain 1 stack of Slashed Dream and inflicts 1 stack of Crimson Knot on the target enemy. In addition, if an ability inficts debuffs on multiple targets, then the 1 stack of Crimson Knot will be inflicted on the enemy with the highest amount of existing Crimson Knot stacks.
Should an enemy with Crimson Knot stacks leave the field or get defeated, then their Crimson Knot stacks will be transferred to the enemy with the highest amount of stacks on the field.
Once Acheron reaches 9 stacks of Slashed Dream, then she will be able to use her powerful ultimate, Slashed Dream Cries in Red.
When used, this ability lets Acheron sequentially unleash 'Rainblade' 3 times and 'Stygian Resurge' 1 time. At level 10, this ultimate deals Lightning DMG up to 372% of Acheron's ATK to a single target enemy as well as Lightning DMG up to 300% of her ATK to all other targets.
Rainblade deals Lightning DMG equal to 24% of Acheron's ATK to a single target enemy while also removing up to 3 stacks of Crimson Knot from them. When a stack of Crimson Knot is removed from the target, then Lightning DMG equal to 15% of Acheron's ATK will also be dealt to all enemies and each stack removed also increases the DMG multiplier, up to a maximum of 60%.
Stygian Resurge then deals Lightning DMG equal to 120% of Acheron's ATK to all enemies while also removing all stacks of Crimson Knot from them.
Acheron's Talent also causes her ultimate to reduce enemy Toughness regardless of their elemental weakness while also reducing their All-Type RES by 20% at level 10 during the ultimate's duration.
Acheron's major Traces gives her additional sources of DMG boosts while also giving her unique synergies with characters who also follow the Path of Nihility.
Acheron's A2 Trace, Red Oni, lets her start a battle with 5 stacks of Slashed Dream and immediately inflicts 5 stacks of Crimson Knot on a random enemy. It also lets her be more efficient with stacks of Slashed Dream.
When Acheron has 9 stacks of Slashed Dream already, additional stacks gained afterwards will be turned into stacks of 'Quadrivalent Ascendance' up to 3 stacks. After using her ultimate, each stack of Quadrivalent Ascendance gives Acheron 1 stack of Slashed Dream and inflicts 1 stack of Crimson Knot on a random enemy.
Acheron's A4 Trace, The Abyss, boosts the DMG of her basic attack, skill, and ultimate depending on the number of Nihility characters other than herself in the party. If there is 1 other Nihility character, the DMG boost is equal to 115%, and if there are 2 other Nihility characters, then the DMG boost is 160%.
Meanwhile, Acheron's A6 Trace, Thunder Core, makes it so that when Rainblade from her ultimate hits an enemies with Crimson Knot, then her DMG is increased by 30%, stacking up to 3 times and lasting for 3 turns. In addition, it also causes Stygian Resurge to deal DMG 6 more times to a single random enemy equal to 25% of Acheron's ATK as Lightning DMG.
Finally, Acheron's Technique, Quadrivalent Ascendance, is hands-down one of the best in the game.
When used against standard enemy mobs in the Overworld or in the Simulated Universe, it will immediately defeat them and grant the player all rewards from the battle. When not hitting enemies, this Technique will also not consume any Technique Points.
When used against all other enemies it can't automatically defeat, it will deal Lightning DMG equal to 200% of Acheron's ATK to all enemies and reduce their Toughness regardless of their elemental weaknesses. It will also grant Acheron 1 stack of Slashed Dream and inflict a random enemy with 1 stack of Crimson Knot.
When leveling up Acheron's abilities, her ultimate should be your first priority followed by her Talent then skill — though they should all be maxed out eventually. You also don't need to level up her basic attacks as they don't generate any stacks of Slashed Dream, meaning you will only be using her skill.
In battle, make sure to use Acheron's Technique first to immediately build up 6 stacks each of Slashed Dream and Crimson Knot. Then use her skill and other ally abilities that inflict debuffs on enemies to reach 9 stacks of Slashed Dream to use her ultimate.
After using Acheron's ultimate, repeat that process of inflicting debuffs on enemies in order to use her ultimate again until all your opponents have been reduced to nothingness.
Acheron's best gear
Light Cones
All DPS characters in Honkai: Star Rail need their signature Light Cone in order to reach their full potential, and this is especially true for Acheron.
Acheron's signature, Along the Passing Shore, passively increases her Crit DMG by 36%. In addition, it also lets her inflict the 'Empty Bubbles' debuff on enemies she attacks for 1 turn. Enemies inflicted with Empty Bubbles receive 24% more DMG and an additional 24% more ultimate DMG from Acheron.
The best thing about Acheron's signature is that it lets her receive 2 stacks of Slashed Dream whenever she uses her skill, letting her charge up her ultimate faster. Of course, the 36% Crit DMG and huge DMG buffs are massive boosts too.
But what makes Acheron's signature so important is that she doesn't really have a strong alternative for it. Other Nihility Light Cones currently available can only provide her either a DMG boost or an additional debuff to increase stacks of Slashed Dream when she attacks, but not both at the same time.
If you can't get Acheron's signature, then your best alternative will be the 4-star Light Cone Good Night, Sleep Well, which provides a DMG boost for every debuff on an enemy target attacked by its wielder.
At Superimposition level 5, this Light Cone provides a 72% DMG boost when an enemy has 3 debuffs. However, it doesn't help Acheron gain more stacks of Slashed Dream and doesn't provide her with Crit stats either, making it a significant step down from her signature.
Relics
Acheron's go-to Cavern of Corrosion relic set is the 4-piece Pioneer Diver of Dead Waters set. It increases its wielder's DMG by 12% with its 2-piece bonus while its 4-piece bonus increases their Crit Rate by 4% and makes them deal 8/12% increased DMG to enemies with at least 2/3 debuffs. Additionally, the aforementioned buffs will be doubled for 1 turn if the wielder inflicts a debuff on enemies themselves.
Meanwhile, Acheron's best bet for Planar Ornament relics will be the 2-piece Izumo Gensei and Takama Divine Realm set. It increases the wielder's ATK by 12% and increases their Crit Rate by 12% if there is at least one other ally following the same Path as them in the party.
But since the Izumo Gensei and Takama Divine Realm set comes from the new Simulated Universe World 9, it might take a while for you to have a usable set.
You can therefore go with the 2-piece Inert Salsotto set as an alternative while you farm up the Izumo Gensei and Takama Divine Realm set. Inert Salsotto increases its wielder's Crit Rate by 8% and increases their ultimate DMG by 15% if their Crit Rate reaches 50% or higher.
The main stats you should go for Acheron are Crit Rate/DMG for the body, Speed or ATK% for the feet, ATK% or Lightning DMG Bonus for the Planar Sphere, and ATK% for the Link Rope. Substats you should go for are Crit Rate/DMG, Speed, and ATK%.
Acheron's best teammates
Unlike most other DPS characters in the game, Acheron's best supports are Nihility characters instead of Harmony characters. Not only will most Nihility characters inflict debuffs to help her gain stacks of Slashed Dream, having two of them in the party gives Acheron the 160% DMG boost from her A4 Trace.
Therefore, your Acheron should always have two other Nihility characters, with the last slot either going to a sustain character to give the party survivability. If you're feeling bold enough, you can instead put a Harmony character in that fourth slot and hope your party can kill the enemy before they kill you.
However, if you have Acheron's second Eidolon, you can be more flexible with her party composition as it lets her gain the full DMG bonus from her A4 Trace with just one other Nihility character in the party.
With that out of the way, let's break down the best teammates for Acheron.
The two best supports for Acheron are Silver Wolf and Pela with the Resolution Shines as Pearls of Sweat Light Cone. If you have both of them, then we recommend running them together to form a powerful Nihility trio with Acheron.
Silver Wolf inflicts a debuff on enemies with just her basic attacks, letting her reliably help Acheron build up stacks of Slashed Dream.
Silver Wolf's ultimate also provides a huge DMG boost for Acheron by massively reducing the DEF of a single enemy. Her skill's ability to inflict enemies with Lightning Weakness is also icing on the cake.
Meanwhile, Pela can inflict debuffs with her skill and ultimate, with the latter boosting Acheron's DMG by reducing the DEF of all enemies.
But in order to make Pela an effective Acheron teammate, you should give her the Resolution Shines as Pearls of Sweat Light Cone. That Light Cone lets Pela inflict a debuff on enemies with just her basic attacks, with the debuff providing an additonal source of DEF reduction on enemies while also making Pela a skill point-positive support.
Another great Acheron teammate is Welt Yang, who can take on dual roles of sub DPS and pseudo-sustain.
Welt's kit lets him reliably inflict the Slow and Imprisonment debuffs on enemies, helping Acheron build up stacks of Slashed Dream while preventing enemies from taking their turns. However, Welt's ability to sustain the party is still inferior to that of a healer or shielder, so be careful when using him as your only sustain character.
Other Nihility characters with damage-over-time kits like Kafka or Black Swan can still help Acheron build up stacks of Slashed Dream, but that's about the extent of their synergy. While you can still run them together, you're better off having them in their own respective teams where they can each shine.
With that said, Guinaifen can be a good substitute for Pela or Silver Wolf, though she isn't skill point-positive unless she also uses the Resolution Shines as Pearls of Sweat Light Cone.
As for your sustain character in an Acheron team, we recommend going for Preservation characters and giving them the Trend of the Universal Market Light Cone. That Light Cone inflicts a debuff on enemies that attack its wielder, giving Acheron an additional source of Slashed Dream stacks.
The best Preservation characters for this job are Gepard and the Preservation Trailblazer due to their ability to force enemy aggro on themselves. While Fu Xuan doesn't have that ability, she can still solo sustain the party and provide Crit buffs.
With that said, don't be afraid to run healers if you don't have the Trend of the Universal Market Light Cone to give to the aforementioned Preservation characters.
It is worth noting that Gallagher is the only healer that can inflict debuffs on enemies with his ultimate and enhanced basic attack, making him the best bet for a healer in an Acheron team.
Finally, if you have Acheron's second Eidolon, then feel free to pair her with powerful Harmony supports like Sparkle, Bronya, or Ruan Mei as long as you already have one other Nihility character. It is worth noting that Acheron doesn't synergise with Tingyun as the latter's energy regeneration ability doesn't do anything for a characer without an energy gauge.
Honkai: Star Rail version 2.1 will be released on 27 March and will see the release of three new characters in Acheron, Aventurine, and Gallagher, reruns for Luocha and Jingliu, and two new areas in Penacony. Not only that, version 2.1 will be Honkai: Star Rail's first-year anniversary patch and as such will give players tons of rewards!
If you're still on the fence on who you should pull for in the first half of version 2.1, then check here and we'll help you decide.
Once version 2.1 drops on 27 March, then the wait begins for version 2.2 in May featuring two new 5-star characters in Robin and Boothill.
Yan Ku is a full-time dog parent, part-time (gacha) gamer, and part-time writer.
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