The Version 2.0 patches for Honkai: Star Rail are set to come to an end with the upcoming Version 2.7 update featuring Sunday and Fugue, which also marks the beginning of the drip marketing cycle for the next era of HSR beginning with Version 3.0. The first new 5-star revealed was a very pleasant surprise as the true form of Genius Society Member #83 will finally become playable when The Herta, Herta’s 5-star form, joins the game in Version 3.0.
At first glance, The Herta seems to just be a straight upgrade from her 4-star version. Firstly, The Herta shares the same Path and Element combination with her puppet form, with both of them being Ice Erudition units. Not only does this mean that The Herta is the first 5-star Ice Erudition character, but it also means that her Follow-Up Attack heavy playstyle may also be intact, albeit likely tweaked and buffed significantly. Additionally, The Herta’s is very similar to that of her puppet’s and, instead of wielding a giant hammer, the splash art has her brandishing a massive key-like weapon.
“The writers from the Intelligentsia Guild wanted to give me an extra title. Something like “Herta Prime” to separate me from my puppets. How banal. Are the puppets not “me” as well? So, I gave them a suggestion — if they dared to write that, then I would call myself THE Herta. It’s short, simple, straight to the point, and elegant.”
“Esteemed member #83 of the Genius Society, human, female, young, beautiful, attractive. It’s said that she lives in the far edge of the Cosmos, almost never leaving. Sounds like her appearance this time… must be to deal with an issue that has to be handled herself, right?”
The Herta Drip Marketing Description
The Herta, Puppet No More
Since her introduction back in Version 1.0 of HSR, fans have known that the various Herta bodies we find all over the Interastral Space Station were puppets that the real Herta could control at a whim but, until now, we had no idea how similar Herta’s real body was to that of her puppets. The Herta’s appearance was also teased during the most recent update, Version 2.6, where her silhouette headlined a major update to the Simulated Universe.
Drip marketing is a piece of gacha game terminology referring to promotional material released before a unit’s official reveal as a sort of teaser. Hoyoverse titles like Star Rail, Genshin Impact, and Zenless Zone Zero release their batches of drip marketing a full version before a unit becomes playable, giving players time to change their pulling plans or save up enough of the premium currency.
Herta’s 5-star form is shaping up to be the first new 5-star of Honkai: Star Rail Version 3.0, which is set to launch sometime in February 2025. Meanwhile, the last major update 2.0 – Version 2.7 featuring Sunday and Fugue as new playable characters – will begin in early December 2024.
