Video Guide:
This is a free-to-play guide for the upcoming Lightning Nihility five-star character, Acheron. She is one of the characters to be released in Patch 2.1. Acheron has the most restrictive kit in Honkai Star Rail. Free-to-play players are concerned if Acheron is whale bait because her Eidolon 2 and light cone make her the best character in Honkai Star Rail. Is it even possible for free-to-play players to achieve Acheron’s full capabilities without spending money?
I will go over non-gacha options if you want to go for Acheron as a free-to-play player. Acheron is a Raiden Mei expy, so naturally, a lot of people will be going for her whether or not she is free-to-play friendly. I expect Acheron’s banner to have the highest revenue generated for Hoyoverse.
For this guide, I will not be going over any limited 5-star characters or 5-star light cones. If you have a limited 5 star character equivalent to one of the options I mention, replace the recommended one with your 5-star one. I will only be mentioning 5-star characters from the standard banner.
Acheron’s main restriction is that she requires two Nihility teammates to deal a tremendous amount of damage. Having one Nihility teammate will give her a 115 percent damage increase to Acheron, and with two Nihility teammates, that damage increase becomes 160 percent. Acheron’s ultimate does not require energy; instead, she needs nine Slashed Dream points to use her ultimate. The only way to get Slashed Dream points is by inflicting debuffs on enemies through abilities.
The best free-to-play character for Acheron is Pela. This is mainly due to the fact that Pela’s ultimate deals a debuff to all enemies, which reduces enemies’ defense by 40 percent for 2 turns. Pela’s ultimate helps Acheron gain Slashed Dream points. Acheron’s A.O.E. Ultimate does a lot more damage due to the 40 percent defense reduction by Pela’s ultimate. Now, a nice thing about Pela is that if you have her Eidolon 4, when you use her skill, you have a guaranteed chance to reduce the enemy's ice resistance by 12 percent for two turns. This counts as a debuff and gives a Slashed Dream point to Acheron. So now, Pela’s skill and Ultimate will inflict debuffs on the enemy, allowing Acheron to get her Ultimate faster.
Due to Pela’s talent, when she inflicts a debuff, she will restore 10 additional energy. This talent allows Pela to improve her Ultimate uptime. Pela can use a skill and ultimate in a single turn to provide Acheron with 2 points of Slashed Dream, allowing Acheron to easily get her Ultimate.
A great light cone option for Pela is Resolution Shines As Pearls of Sweat. Its effect is as follows: When the wearer hits an enemy, and if the hit enemy is not already Ensnared, then there is a 60 percent up to 100 percent chance to Ensnare the hit enemy. Ensnared enemies' defense decreases by 12 percent up to 16 percent for 1 turn. With this lightcone, Pela can now let Acheron get one point of Slashed Dream when she uses a Basic Attack. Acheron's damage output increases even more with this light cone equipped to Pela because it lowers enemies defenses by 12 percent up to 16 percent. Compounded with Pela’s 40 percent defense reduction from her ultimate, Acheron will deal an insane amount of damage, making her the best main D.P.S. in Honkai Star Rail.
Even without Eidolon 4 for Pela, this light cone is invaluable since it allows her to inflict a debuff with either her basic attack or skill on enemies. If you were playing Honkai Star Rail in patch 1.4 and completed Aetherium Wars during its initial run, you likely already have Pela because she was given away for free for completing the event, and she was easily the best option to pick. Since Pela follows the path of Nihility, Acheron receives a damage increase.
The best free-to-play light cone for Pela is the event exclusive 4-star Before the tutorial mission starts, which increases the wearer's effect hit rate by 40 percent. Additionally, when the wearer attacks defense-reduced enemies, they regenerate 8 energy. The light cone was only available in patch 1.1 by completing the event, Starhunt Game.
A truly free-to-play option is the 3-star light cone, Void. Its effect at superimposition level five is: At the start of the battle, the wearer's Effect Hit Rate increases by 40 percent for 3 turns. Unfortunately, this effect only benefits Pela as the wearer and not Acheron.
Another great 4-star character for free-to-play players is Guinaifen. You can get her for free after completing Hanu's prison break, which is still ongoing in Patch 2.0. Guinaifen is a nice option with Acheron, as her skill always inflicts burn, which counts as a debuff. Guinaifen’s talent, PatrAeon Benefits, is also crucial for Acheron’s damage capabilities. Its effect is as follows: When Guinaifen is on the field, there is a 100 percent chance to apply Firekiss to an enemy after their Burn status causes damage. While inflicted with Firekiss, the enemy receives 7 percent increased damage, which lasts for 3 turns and can stack up to 3 times. Acheron's damage output increases because enemies afflicted with Firekiss receive 7 percent increased damage. Firekiss also counts as a debuff, which allows Acheron to gain a point of Slashed Dream. With Guinaifen, you would have another sub-D.P.S. on your team who is also a debuffer. Since Guinaifen follows the path of Nihility, Acheron receives a damage increase. With both Pela and Guinaifen on a team with Acheron, Acheron would gain a 160 percent damage increase.
An amazing Eidolon for Guinaifen is Eidolon 6, which increases the stackable Firekiss count by 1. With four stacks of Firekiss on enemies, Acheron will deal even more damage to them.
Guinaifen could use the light cone Resolution Shines As Pearls of Sweat to apply a debuff to enemies with her ultimate. Normally, her ultimate does not debuff enemies, but with the light cone’s effect, her ultimate now applies a debuff. However, using this light cone would sacrifice 20 percent of Guinaifen’s damage because her best light cone option is Good Night and Sleep Well. At Eidolon Zero, unlike Pela, Guinaifen can inflict a debuff with her skill. So you should not equip Resolution Shines As Pearls of Sweat to Guinaifen and instead equip it to Pela. Unfortunately for free-to-play players, both light cones are only obtainable from gacha banners.
I would not recommend using Sampo because he does not have a guaranteed way to apply a debuff to enemies, as his talent only has a 65 percent base chance to inflict Wind Shear. It is also not recommended to use Resolution Shines As Pearls of Sweat on Sampo as Eyes to the Prey is better.
I also would not recommend using Luka because he is a single target focused character. Pela and Guinaifen can deal A.O.E. damage with their abilities, so they are better than Luka. Even though Luka can apply a guaranteed debuff with his skill, Resolution Shines As Pearls of Sweat is not recommended for him because, similar to Sampo, Eyes to the Prey is better for him.
Welt is a great standard banner five-star character to use with Acheron, if you have him. Welt is one of the best options because he follows the path of Nihility and is a fantastic sub-D.P.S. Both his skill and ultimate inflict a debuff on enemies. Welt’s skill has a 75 percent base chance to reduce the enemy's speed by 10 percent for 2 turns. Speed reduction would make it so that your team gets attacked less often. Welt’s Ultimate has a 100 percent base chance for all enemies hit by this ability to be imprisoned for 1 turn. Imprisoned enemies have their actions delayed by 40 percent and their speed reduced by 10 percent. Action delay allows your team to deal more damage to enemies before they can take a turn.
Welt’s talent: When hitting an enemy that is already slowed, he deals additional imaginary damage equal to 60 percent of his attack to the enemy. Welt's damage increases with his talent, making him a fantastic sub-D.P.S. So having another sub-D.P.S. on your team also functioning as a debuffer is really good for Acheron because she can get points for Slashed Dream every turn. Welt also has a bonus ability called Retribution, whose effect is as follows: When using Ultimate, there is a guaranteed chance to increase the damage received by the targets by 12 percent for 2 turns. This is another way for Acheron to deal more damage to enemies.
It's Showtime is a free-to-play 4-star light cone obtainable from the Light Cone Manifest, which is the Memory of Chaos and Pure Fiction shop. Its effect is at superimposition level five: When the wearer inflicts a debuff on an enemy, they gain a stack of Trick. Every stack of Trick increases the wearer's damage dealt by 10 percent, stacking up to 3 times. This effect lasts for 1 turn. When the wearer's Effect Hit Rate is 80 percent or higher, it increases attack by 36 percent. It's Showtime is the best free-to-play for both Welt and Guinaifen because they can inflict a debuff with their skill, allowing them to easily proc the light cone’s effect.
Now onto light cones for Acheron. Sadly, because Acheron is a Nihility character, there are very limited light cone options for her. Most of the Nihility Light Cones favor D.O.T. characters. Nihility Light Cones effects usually either increase effect hit rate or increase D.O.T. damage. Acheron does not value effect hit rate, and she cannot deal D.O.T. damage. Good Night and Sleep Well is the only 4-star light cone option for Acheron. Its effect is as follows: For every debuff the target enemy has, the damage dealt by the wearer increases by 12 percent up to 24 percent, stacking up to 3 times. This effect also applies to D.O.T. Since Acheron’s kit revolves around applying debuffs to get points for Slashed Dream, this light cone’s effect can be easily proc’d. Acheron’s damage increases by a lot with this light cone. Unfortunately, it is a gacha light cone, only available from banners.
You could use the 3-star Light Cone loop, which increases damage dealt by its wearer to slowed enemies by 48 percent at superimposition level 5. You only want to equip Loop for Acheron when Welt is a part of the team because Welt can reduce the enemy's speed by 10 percent with his skill and ultimate.
You could also use the 3-star light cone, Hidden Shadow. Its effect at superimposition level 5 is: After using Skill, the wearer's next basic attack deals additional damage equal to 120 percent of the attack to the target enemy. This light cone’s effect isn’t as easy to proc because, ideally, you want to always use Acheron’s skill. However, it’s decent since you want to aim for 2800 attack with Acheron.
A truly free-to-play 4-star option is We Will Meet Again, obtainable from the Memory of Chaos shop. It is an alternative to Hidden Shadow as its effect is similar: after the wearer uses a basic attack or skill, it deals additional damage equal to 96 percent of the wearer's attack to a random enemy that has been attacked. Unfortunately, Light Cone Manifest is difficult to obtain, so I would not recommend using it on this light cone.
Acheron is looking to increase her damage, so she values attack percent, critical rate, and critical damage stats. Unfortunately, most of the Nihility Light Cones do not provide these stats.
Now for the sustain character. A great free-to-play option is the Fire Trailblazer, and a great 5-star standard banner option is Gepard. They are both really good because they can equip the 4-star Light Cone, Trend of the Universal Market. Unfortunately, it is a gacha light cone, but it is overpowered for Acheron teams. Its effect is as follows: Increases the wearer's defense by 16 percent up to 32 percent. When the wearer is attacked, there is a 100 percent up to 120 percent base chance to burn the enemy. For each turn, the wearer deals D.O.T. that is equal to 40 percent up to 80 percent of the wearer's defense for 2 turns. When you burn an enemy with the Light Cone’s effect, this counts as a debuff, which allows for Acheron to gain a point of Slashed Dream. Due to his bonus ability, Gepard has a higher chance of being attacked by enemies. So, Gepard is more likely to proc this light cone’s effect. Gepard provides a shield to all allies with his ultimate. Gepard’s talent makes it so that he can cheat death once per battle.
On the other hand, Fire Trailblazer’s talent makes it so that they apply a Shield to all allies whenever they use a basic attack, skill, or ultimate. Their skill has a 100 percent chance to Taunt all enemies for 1 turn. So, the Fire Trailblazer is guaranteed to be hit, which procs Trend of the Universal Market’s effect.
March 7th could use Trend of the Universal Market if you use her skill on herself because her skill greatly increases the chance of enemies attacking the ally with the shield she applies. March 7th’s ultimate has a 50 percent base chance of freezing enemies, and her technique has a 100 percent base chance to Freeze a random enemy for 1 turn. Freeze is considered to be a debuff, so Acheron gets a point of Slashed Dream.
To my knowledge, no Abundance characters or light cones apply debuffs, so I would not recommend using one with Acheron. You also should not use any Harmony characters at Eidolon Zero because Acheron should have 2 Nihility teammates to increase her damage by 160 percent. No free-to-play Harmony character is good at being a sustain, so you cannot replace your preservation character.
Pela, Guinaifen, Welt, Gepard, March 7th, and the Fire Trailblazer are your best free-to-play options. Pela and Guinaifen are your best 4-star Nihility options. If you have Welt, I would remove Guinaifen from the team because she would be better used on a D.O.T. team. For your free-to-play sustain character, you can use either the Fire Trailblazer or March 7th. The Fire Trailblazer unfortunately cannot apply a debuff with their abilities, but can do so with Trend of the Universal Market. I would recommend March 7th, as she has a chance to apply freeze to enemies if you don’t have Trend of the Universal Market. If you have Gepard, replace March 7th because he has a chance to freeze enemies with his skill and his shield applies to all allies, unlike March 7th. So, the completely free-to-play team I recommend is Acheron, Pela, Guinaifen, and March 7th.