Honkai Impact 3rd: Star Rails' Herta Shop Five-Star Light Cone Redemption Priority Ranking | A Must-Read F2P Cultivation Guide
In Honkai Impact 3rd, the simulated universe is not only a key gameplay element but also provides players with a stable income stream from Herta Bonds. The "five-star Light Cones" in the Herta Shop are jokingly referred to by players as 4.5-star Light Cones. While slightly less powerful than the limited pool five-star Light Cones, they are consistently available and well-suited for no-spending or casual players.
Due to the slow acquisition rate of Herta Bonds, players often have to wait a long time to redeem a Light Cone. Therefore, prioritizing Light Cones in the Herta Shop has become a key concern for many players. This article will provide a ranking of the Herta Shop's Light Cone redemption items, detailing their effectiveness, compatible characters, and redemption priorities to help you make the best choice with limited resources.
Overview of the Herta Shop's Five-Star Light Cone Redemption Rankings
The Herta Shop offers six five-star Light Cones, each corresponding to a different destiny: Destruction, Hunting, Void, Memory, Knowledge, and Preservation. Their performance varies widely. Some are practically must-have "graduation cones" for beginners, while others are relegated to the bottom of the list due to their limited versatility. Here's the ranking:
6th: Texture of Memory (Preservation)
5th: Eternal Calculus (Elaboration)
4th: The Veil of Memory Never Falls (Memory)
3rd: Lonely Healing (Nothingness)
2nd: Star Cruise (Hunting)
1st: Eternal Fall (Destruction)
Let's analyze each one.
6th: Texture of Memory (Preservation)
Attributes (Level 80): Health 1058 / Attack 423 / Defense 529
Skill Effect (Full Stack):
Effect Resistance +16%.
When attacked without a shield, gain a shield (equivalent to 32% of your maximum health) for 2 turns (3-turn cooldown).
When attacked with a shield, take -24% damage.
Suitable Character: Fu Xuan
This is a "self-protection" Light Cone, providing shields and damage reduction, significantly improving the wearer's survivability. However, its effects are limited to the wearer, not the entire team, making it less versatile. Most protection characters, such as Jeppard and Gallagher, are more focused on team support rather than self-protection.
For Fu Xuan, this Light Cone can improve her survivability to a certain extent, but she prefers the Star Soul Shop's exclusive weapon, "She Has Closed Her Eyes." Therefore, this Light Cone has a low redemption priority and is only recommended for collectors or those truly in need of a protection Light Cone.
Fifth Place: Eternal Calculus (Knowledge)
Attributes (Level 80): Health 1058 / Attack 529 / Defense 396
Skill Effect (5 stacks):
Attack Damage +12%.
After attacking, each enemy hit gains +8% Attack Damage (max 5 stacks).
If it hits 3 or more targets, it gains an additional 16% Speed for 1 turn.
Compatible Characters: Insight-type characters such as Black Tower, Blue Bird, and Jing Yuan
This Light Cone focuses on group combat, making it suitable for clearing small groups or challenging "Pure Fiction." Hitting multiple enemies quickly stacks its attack and increases its Speed, allowing for a faster damage cycle. However, its drawback is significant: its effectiveness is significantly reduced in single-target boss battles.
In comparison, the four-star Light Cone "Genius's Rest" and the event-given "Night on the Galactic Railroad" are generally more versatile. If your main is an insight-type character (such as Jing Yuan), prioritize other weapons; this Light Cone is more of a bonus.
Fourth Place: The Veil of Memory Never Falls (Memory)
Attributes (Level 80): Health 1058 / Attack 529 / Defense 396
Skill Effect (Full Stacks 5):
Speed +12%.
After using this skill, all allies gain +16% Damage for 3 turns.
Compatible Characters: Hanabi, Shiraku (Support), and some Memory-type characters
As a Memory-type Light Cone, it provides a damage bonus to the entire team while also increasing its own speed, allowing support characters to attack more quickly. However, with few mainstream Memory-type characters currently available, Hanabi is the most suitable, as she can frequently cast skills and consistently trigger team damage boosts.
However, compared to the Light Cone "Victory Moment" in the Forgotten Garden Shop, which provides critical damage and a team-wide damage bonus, this Light Cone is slightly inferior. If you lack a suitable Memory Cone, consider exchanging it; otherwise, it's not essential.
Third Place: Lonely Healing (Void)
Attributes (Level 80): Health 1058 / Attack 529 / Defense 396
Skill Effect (Full Stack):
Special Attack +40%.
When using an Ultimate, Damage Over Time is increased by +48% for 2 turns.
Defeating an enemy affected by Damage Over Time restores 8 Energy.
Compatible Characters: Black Swan, Herta's new Void character, Kafka
In its early versions, this Cone of Light wasn't highly regarded due to its lack of effect hit rate and attack damage bonuses. However, with the arrival of sustained damage cores like Black Swan and Kafka, its value has been rediscovered.
Particularly in the "Pure Fiction" playstyle, the frequent bursts of damage buffs and ultimates can greatly benefit DoT characters. Its downside is that it still lags behind the top-tier Cone of Light, "Boundless Dance," but it's a very useful free alternative.
Second Place: Star Cruiser (Hunter)
Attributes (Level 80): Health 952 / Attack 529 / Defense 463
Skill Effect (Full Stack):
Critical Hit Chance +16%.
Additional +16% Critical Hit Chance when attacking enemies with Health ≤ 50%.
After defeating an enemy, gain +40% Attack Damage for 2 turns.
Compatible Characters: Yanqing, Danheng, Xueyi, Jingliu
This is a versatile Light Cone for Hunter characters. It provides a stable critical hit rate boost and quickly stacks attack damage when clearing small monsters, increasing burst damage. For Hunter characters without specialized weapons, this is a near-must-have Light Cone.
It's particularly suitable for Yanqing and Danheng, who need high critical hit rates. Xueyi and Jingliu can also effectively utilize the critical hit and attack damage bonuses to improve sustained combat capabilities.
First Place: Eternal Fall (Destruction)
Attributes (Level 80): Health 1058 / Attack 529 / Defense 396
Skill Effect (5 stacks):
Each attack gains +16% attack damage (max 4 stacks).
Exploding a weak point gains +24% damage for 2 turns.
Compatible Characters: Clara, Blade, Trailblazer Destruction, Firefly, Vernon
This is widely considered the strongest Light Cone in the Heta Shop due to its ease of triggering, versatility, and cross-version compatibility. Destruction characters typically rely on high attack and direct damage bursts. This Light Cone provides continuous attack damage stacking, further boosting its damage output upon destruction.
It's a perfect match for Clara's counterattacks, Blade's self-damage bursts, and future Destruction Cs like Firefly and Fennon. For most players, redeeming "Eternal Fall" first is the best option.
Conclusion and Redemption Recommendations
While the six five-star Light Cones in the Herta Store aren't as powerful as the limited five-star versions, they're still solid choices for casual and low-spending players. The recommended exchange priority is as follows:
First Tier (Must-Exchange): Eternal Fall (Destruction), Star Cruise (Hunting)
Second Tier (Suitable for specific lineups): Lonely Healing (Void), Veil of Memory Never Falls (Memory)
Third Tier (Low Priority): Eternal Calculus (Knowledge), Texture of Memory (Preservation)
Recommended exchange order: Destruction > Hunting > Void > Memory > Knowledge > Preservation
For most players, first acquire Eternal Fall to ensure stable damage output for your main Destruction character, then exchange for other Cones of Light as your team develops to maximize the use of limited Heta Bonds.
Whether you're focused on the main quest or aiming for challenging levels, effectively utilizing the Cones of Light in the Heta Shop can significantly enhance your team's overall strength.
