There’s a time in Honkai: Star Rail when you must abandon the prospect of honorably defeating each enemy one by one. Because there’s no better time-saver in a gacha game than good old-fashioned nukes, and that’s where the Erudition Path comes in.
Simply put, the Erudition Path in Honkai: Star Rail is a fancier term for the AoE DPS role or characters that specialize in carpet bombing multiple enemies. And if you’re fighting pesky groups or bosses that love to spawn their minions, it’s time to take them down the violent road of the Erudition Path in Honkai: Star Rail. This guide should help you become more familiar with it.
What is the Erudition Path in Honkai: Star Rail?
Lore wise, The Erudition is a Path governed by the Aeon Nous (Honkai: Star Rail’s god beings). It was once a machine or AI consciousness that managed to ascend into godhood, but even then, Nous’s goal was still mostly incomprehensible to mere mortals or those below him.
Nous’s path of Erudition is one that puts knowledge and understanding above all else, which is ironic enough given his cryptic intentions. Characters who thus follow The Erudition Path tend to be wise, intelligent, or inventive, which is why they almost always tend to resort to the quickest way of defeating their enemies via mass slaughter. Usually paired with some devastating Elements.
Characters in The Erudition Path are smart combatants and tacticians who can make short work of multiple weak enemies or at least hit all enemies. And naturally, the Light Cones for The Erudition Path characters in Honkai: Star Rail focus on all-out offense.
Erudition Light Cones
As of now, there are plenty of choices for The Erudition Path Light Cones. There’s a total of 10 though some of them are of lower rarity. In any case, here they are, along with their bonuses.
5-star Erudition Light Cones
- Before Dawn: Increases the wearer’s CRIT DMG by 36~60%. Increases the wearer’s Skill and Ultimate DMG by 18~30%. After the wearer uses their Skill or Ultimate, they gain Somnus Corpus. Upon triggering a follow-up attack, Somnus Corpus will be consumed and the follow-up attack DMG increases by 48~80%.
- Night on the Milky Way: For every enemy on the field, increases the wearer’s ATK by 9.0~15.0%, up to 5 stacks. When an enemy is inflicted with Weakness Break, the DMG dealt by the wearer increases by 30~50% for 1 turn.
4-star Erudition Light Cones
- Geniuses’ Repose: Increases the wearer’s ATK by 16~32%. When the wearer defeats an enemy, the wearer’s CRIT DMG increases by 24~48% for 3 turn(s).
- Make the World Clamor: The wearer regenerates 20~32 Energy immediately upon entering battle and increases Ultimate DMG by 32~64%.
- The Birth of the Self: Increases DMG dealt by the wearer’s follow-up attacks by 24~48%. If the current HP of the target enemy is below 50% of Max HP, increases DMG dealt by follow-up attacks by an extra 24~48%.
- The Seriousness of Breakfast: Increases the wearer’s DMG by 12~24%. For every defeated enemy, the wearer’s ATK increases by 4~8%, stacking up to 3 time(s).
- Today Is Another Peaceful Day: After entering battle, increase the wearer’s DMG based on their Max Energy. DMG increases by 0.20~0.40% per point of Energy, up to 160 Energy.
3-star Erudition Light Cones
- Data Bank: Increases the wearer’s Ultimate DMG by 28~56%.
- Passkey: After the wearer uses their Skill, additionally regenerates 8~12 Energy. This effect can only be triggered 1 time per turn.
- Sagacity: When the wearer uses their Ultimate, increases ATK by 24~48% for 2 turn(s).
As for the best among all of those, “Before Dawn” is generally awesome for all Erudition characters for the 5-star category, while it’s situational for the 4-star and 3-star category, but you’d want something like “The Seriousness of Breakfast” for a universal budget Erudition Light Cone.
Erudition Path Characters in Honkai: Star Rail
Currently, The Erudition Path has the most characters out of all the combat roles in Honkai: Star Rail. There are five characters in this role pool, and all of them are competitive additions to any party as they tend to shorten fights significantly.
1. Jing Yuan (Lightning, 5-star)
The latest to be added to The Erudition Path roster, Jing Yuan, is quite a handful. He’s the general of the Xianzhou Alliance’s Cloud Knights and someone who can easily pull some strings or override a high council’s orders. As a general, Jing Yuan is deceptively clever and even stealthily managed to use the Astral Express crew as his pawns.
And sure enough, he’s someone who prefers to hide his full might until the need arises and compels him to go all out. This is well-reflected in his Ultimate ability which literally unleashes a giant lightning avatar to wipe out the battlefield.
2. Himeko (Fire, 5-star)
Himeko is the only other 5-star Erudition Path character in Honkai: Star Rail, and she easily encapsulates the AoE nuker role. Her Ultimate ability involves calling down an orbital bombardment strike on some hapless plebs. Talk about overkill.
Like Jing Yuan, Himeko holds a high spot on the Astral Express, Herta Space Station, and The Nameless. She’s a scientist who was also responsible for repairing the Astral Express back into its current operational state in-game.
3. Herta (Ice, 4-star)
Like most other Erudition Path characters in Honkai: Star Rail, Herta is another genius who is well-recognized by her peers. She created the Herta Space Station and functionally made herself immortal through cybernetics. Herta also holds the Member 83 spot in the Genius Society, a faction whose members are cherry-picked by Aeon Nous.
That’s proof enough of Herta’s genius; she’s one of the few characters in Honkai: Star Rail to be recognized and favored by a god. Too bad the developers didn’t give her the same respect and made her a free 4-star character.
4. Qingque (Quantum, 4-star)
You’re excused if you thought Qingque didn’t belong in The Erudition Path. This professional slacker likes to sneak out of her workplace to play Mahjong and pester Astral Express crew members during strict working hours. It’s almost as if her Erudition label was a mistake.
However, she gets the job done somehow, and her brilliance is unconventional as it revolves around her laziness– often choosing the path of least resistance. It takes a different kind of genius to avoid that kind of responsibility.
5. Serval (Lightning, 4-star)
Before Serval resigned to a leisurely life as Belobog’s mechanic, she used to be the top researcher and inventor for the Technology Division of the Architects (until Cocolia sacked her to protect the Stellaron’s secrets).
Thus, there are no limits to Serval’s potential as she has achieved a lot despite Jarilo-VI’s relatively “primitive” conditions. And sure enough, Serval is a budget-friendly version of Jing Yuan, but she’s cooler since she can play the guitar.
