Official Acheron Introduction (image via Hoyoverse)

Acheron is a 5★ Lightning character from the Nihility Path in Honkai Star Rail. Unlike Kafka or Black Swan, she does not rely on damage-over-time (DoT) to deal DMG - she is built like your usual DPS with ATK and CRIT stats.

This guide will help you learn more about Acheron's playstyle, her best relics, light cones, teammates and eidolons. Additionally, there will be a dedicated section for recommended stats and team compositions.

Archeron Character Overview

Acheron is a powerful all arounder and future proof DPS whose main source of damage comes from her Ultimate. She deals both Blast (3 enemies) and AoE (5 enemies) damage, making her extremely versatile in all content As of Version 2.1, she is the only character that has no Energy.

Guide by PandaFlyh, Graphic Design by Elwenz

In order to unleash her Ultimate ability, she needs to gain 9 Slashed Dream - which are gained whenever a unit in the fight applies a debuff to the enemies. As such, Acheron wants to have units that apply debuffs in her team and will shine even more against enemies that apply debuffs to themselves.

To promote this playstyle, Acheron has severe restrictions and requires 2 Nihility characters (outside of herself) in the team so that she can get her full buff from her Traces. The current flaws around Acheron are not her kit itself, but the current options that are available, making her not super F2P friendly because of the lack of strong F2P options and specific teammates / light cones that new (or even older) players might not have.

Pros & Cons

Note: In this guide, F2P (Free-to-play) means that a player can get something directly from the game, without the need of gacha. For example, the Light Cone Fermata is F2P because it is possible to get it in Echo of Wars or Light Cone Manifest, but Good Night Sleep Well is not F2P as it is gacha-locked.

[pros-cons]

Skills & Traces

TL;DR

Acheron does not have Energy. Instead, she can stack up to 9 Slashed Dream to unleash her Ultimate.
When a unit inflicts a debuff on the enemy, it grants 1 Slashed Dream to Acheron and applies 1 Crimson Knot.
Crimson Knot are removed when Acheron deals DMG with her Ultimate and causes her to additional Lightning DMG.
Skill makes her gain 1 Slashed Dream.
To maximize her DMG (A4 Trace), she needs 2 Nihility characters at E0, and only 1 at E2.
When Acheron has 9 Slashed Dream, she can gain Quadrivalent Ascendance and stack up to 3. After using Ultimate, they are consumed to gain Slashed Dream and Crimson Knot stacks.
Rotation: Spam Skill, Ultimate as soon as possible or after setup.

Slashed Dream & Crimson Knot Stacks

Slashed Dream stacks (6) — 6 Slashed Dream stacks

Slashed Dream (SD) can be seen as the Energy required for Acheron, and Crimson Knot is a debuff for additional DMG. They coexist together and always have the same number of stacks.

Acheron gains 1 Slashed Dream and applies 1 Crimson Knot:
- When a unit inflicts a debuff on the enemy.
- When she uses her Skill.
Acheron gains an additional Slashed Dream when she is wearing Along the Passing Shore or Incessant Rain (if the debuff is applied).

In other words, she requires debuffers in her team so that she can get her Ultimate as fast as possible, which aligns with her A4 Trace that requires 2 Nihility characters.

Crimson Knot stacks (9) — 9 Crimson Knot stacks

Crimson Knot (CK) stacks are consumed when Acheron uses her Ultimate, causing her to deal additional DMG. Also, for the first 3 hits (Rainblade) of the Ultimate, she can only hit enemies with Crimson Knot. To maximize DMG against a single enemy, it is better to focus all the Crimson Knot stacks on them.

Quadrivalent Ascendance Stacks

Quadrivalent Ascendance (QA) can be seen as a special resource for Acheron, stackable up to 3 times. For each Quadrivalent Ascendance stack that Acheron has, after her next Ultimate, she will consume all of them to gain the equivalent number of Slashed Dream & Crimson Knot stacks. In other words, it is a mechanic that allows more flexibility on her Ultimate rotation, as Acheron will not be required to use her Ultimate as soon as she has it.

Gain 1 stack with Technique.
Gain 1 stack if Acheron gets Slashed Dream when she already has 9 stacks of it.

Technique

Immediately attacks the enemy. At the start of each wave, gains Quadrivalent Ascendance, dealing Lightning DMG equal to 200% of Acheron's ATK to all enemies and reducing Toughness of all enemies irrespective of Weakness Types. When Weakness is broken, triggers the Lightning Weakness Break effect.

Quadrivalent Ascendance: After using the Ultimate, Acheron gains 1 point of Slashed Dream and inflicts 1 stack of Crimson Knot on a single random enemy. If attacking a normal enemy, immediately defeats them without entering combat. When not hitting any enemies, no Technique Points are consumed.

Additional Notes

Instant kill works in Simulated Universe against normal enemies, and provides all rewards, including Blessings.
Instant kill does not work in Memory of Chaos or Pure Fiction.
Technique can be spammed as long as Acheron does not hit an enemy.

Light Cones

Acheron is not very F2P Friendly when it comes to her Light Cone choices. She has, in fact, no real good 4* Light Cone aside from Good Night and Sleep Well, and the difference between her signature Light Cone and other options is huge. However, she can still make use of It's Showtime as a F2P option and still deal very decent DMG.

In the Name of the World and Patience is All You Need are also decent options.

Note: The It's Showtime description is misleading as Acheron's Ultimate, despite not inflicting a debuff, still gains 1 stack whenever she deals DMG through her Ultimate, allowing her to get the full stacks. This weird interaction makes it a decent F2P option, though Fermata is better if there is an ally that can apply Wind Shear or Shock to the enemies.

Relics & Ornaments

Pioneer Diver of Dead Waters (4p) is Acheron's best-in-slot relic, granting 12% DMG + 4/8% CRIT Rate + 16/24% CRIT DMG, basically a total of 40 CV, which is very strong. Fuel efficient to farm.
Band of Sizzling Thunder (4p) is a decent set for Acheron, providing 10% Lightning DMG + 20% ATK, though there is no reason to farm this set. Semi-fuel efficient to farm if the player uses Gepard otherwise, not fuel efficient.
Izumo Gensei and Takama Divine Realm is the strongest Ornament set for Acheron, basically providing free 12% ATK + 12% CRIT Rate bonuses.
Inert Salsotto is a good alternative that grants 8% CRIT Rate + 15% DMG on Ultimate & follow-up attacks, with a quite easy condition. Fuel efficient to farm if the player uses Gepard.

Sigonia, the Unclaimed Desolation is the strongest Ornament set in Pure Fiction only. Does not work well in other content.
Space Sealing Station is a viable alternative if the player has nothing else.

Stat Recommendations

70+% CRIT Rate - Necessary for consistent DMG.
180+% CRIT DMG - Necessary for high DMG output.
- 3,700+ ATK (ATK% boos and ATK% orb).
- 3,400+ ATK (ATK% boots).
- 2,800+ ATK (SPD boots).
[E2/E0S1] No SPD - Hyperfast Sparkle/Bronya (160 SPD) or Hyperfast supports*
134/143 SPD - No Sparkle/Bronya, not E2.

*If all supports have 160 SPD, ATK% boots Acheron is better than SPD boots!

E0S1 Build, Lightning orb — E0S1 Build + Lightning Orb

Stats Example
SPD BOOTS	ATK% BOOTS
E0S1 Build + Lightning Orb	E0S1 Build + Lightning Orb

ATK% vs Lightning Orb

ATK% orb is slightly better than Lightning orb for Acheron. It is, in average, 2% better.

It is recommended to use the orb with the best sub-stats.

Team Compositions

These are example teams that work well with Acheron.

Nihility Characters

(From left to right) Pela, Silver Wolf, Welt, Black Swan, Guinaifen. Image by Hoyoverse.

Pela - As an AoE DEF Shredder that is completely skill point (SP) positive, it is no wonder that Pela is among the best partners for Acheron. However, she requires Resolution Shines As Pearls of Sweat to be able to apply 1 debuff per turn.
Silver Wolf - Currently the strongest single-target debuffer in the game, Silver Wolf is amazing as she always applies a debuff no matter what she does, making her quite flexible in her SP management too, as she can be SP positive or SP neutral/negative. She's also very easy to build, requiring only Speed and Effect Hit Rate (EHR).
Welt - Built with SPD, EHR & ERR, Welt is a great placeholder for the 2nd Nihility slot in a no sustain team. Paired with Before the Tutorial Mission Starts, Ruan Mei and proper rotation, this team can easily destroy all enemies without them acting/dealing enough DMG to kill the team. Otherwise, Welt is a decent choice to play if the player has nothing else, though he is SP negative.
Black Swan - Black Swan is a decent support for Acheron thanks to her great DoT DMG + DEF Shred and her ability to always apply a debuff. However, Black Swan does not benefit from Acheron at all, and her own DMG will always be lower than in a true DoT team.
Guinaifen - Among DoT characters, Guinaifen is a decent partner for Acheron, as she reliably applies a DoT and Vulnerability on the enemy. She doesn't provide much outside of that though, and her DMG does not shine a lot.

Sustain Characters

(From left to right) Gallagher, Gepard, Fire Trailblazer, Fu Xuan. Image by Hoyoverse.

Gallagher - As a 4* character in the same banner as Acheron and being free from a 4* selector as well, Gallagher is a great partner for Acheron, providing healing and 2 debuffs with his Ultimate + Enhanced Basic ATK. Very easy to build as well, as he only requires SPD, Break Effect and an ERR rope.
Gepard - A permanent unit with a very strong shield that is able to tank the whole game, alongside increased aggro, Gepard is simply an amazing wearer of Trend of Universal Market. Although a bit reliant on RNG, his increased aggro is more than enough to get hit a lot of times and make him a very good choice for Acheron.
Fire Trailblazer - Completely F2P, the Fire Trailblazer is amazing as they can taunt all enemies (and it counts as a debuff, so 1 stack for Acheron!) and wear Trend of Universal Market, making them extremely relevant on Acheron teams. However, the only issue is that they might not be enough to solo sustain depending on how invested Acheron is.
Fu Xuan - Despite not being able to efficiently use Trend of the Universal Market, she is still an amazing sustain character and provides 12% free CRIT Rate to Acheron, which is always welcome.

Harmony Characters

(From left to right) Ruan Mei, Sparkle, Bronya.
Image by Hoyoverse.

Harmony characters can mostly be played at E0, but only if Acheron has her signature Light Cone (or Incessant Rain), or that they are played in a no sustain team. This is because her signature Light Cone makes her able to gain 2 stacks for her Ultimate instead of 1.

Ruan Mei - Simply the best general support for any DPS, including Acheron. She provides so many offensive buffs of different layers (DMG%, All-Type RES PEN) on top of being SP Positive that she is able to negate the DMG loss from Acheron's passive. However, as she does not inflict any debuff, it is not recommended to use her in a E0 team outside of a no sustain team.
Sparkle - Amazing support that negates any SP issue in the team, on top of her powerful CRIT DMG buff and Advance Forward, making Acheron able to build ATK% boots without any issue. Sparkle can be used either in a no sustain team, a E0S1 team with Hyperfast/-1 SPD build or a E2 one.
Bronya - Basically Sparkle, but with potential SP issue without E1 or S1. Played with -1 SPD in most cases, Hyperfast is also possible.

Acheron E0 F2P Team

Acheron E0S1 Premium Team

Acheron E0 No Sustain Team

Acheron E0 DoT Team

Acheron E0S1 / E2 Team

Acheron E2 No Sustain Team

Eidolons

E1 provides 18% free CRIT Rate, which makes her easier to build.
E2 is her best eidolon as it makes her teambuilding more versatile by limiting the condition to only 1 Nihility character instead of 2. This makes her able to fully benefit from Harmony characters.
E4 is a small bonus DMG that is always nice to get.
E6 is her second strongest eidolon, making her the most universal DPS in the game by ignoring all Weakness Types and dealing absurd DMG.

Thank you for reading this guide. We hope it has helped you gain a better understanding of Acheron and how to utilize her effectively. Keep an eye out for more Honkai: Star Rail guides and happy 1st anniversary!

Black Swan Feather

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