Honkai: Star Rail – Cerydra build and ascension guide

Execute the most masterful gambit with the best Honkai: Star Rail Cerydra build and put your enemies into checkmate. Okhema’s cunning Imperator is a follower of The Harmony and deals Wind DMG, but she primarily specializes in bolstering one of her allies.

Cerydra’s Skill, Pawn’s Promotion, bestows the Military Merit status on the targeted ally as well as giving Cerydra one point of Charge. Military Merit grants the target ATK based on Cerydra’s ATK and allows the character to restore Charge to her by using their Basic Attack or Skill. Her Talent, Ave Imperator, further allows Cerydra to deal Additional Wind DMG based on her ATK to enemies targeted by the character with Military Merit. This can happen up to 20 times, before Cerydra’s Ultimate or a switch of Military Merit to a different ally reset the counter. Only one ally can have Military Merit at a time.

Cerydra can hold up to eight points of Charge. At six points of Charge, Military Merit is upgraded to Peerage and dispels any crowd control debuffs on the targeted ally. The ally with Peerage still gets all benefits from Military Merit and additionally has their CRIT DMG and All-Type RES PEN increased when using their Skill. Their Skill can also trigger Coup de Main, which consumes six points of Charge and downgrades Peerage back to Military Merit. Coup de Main allows the Skill to be triggered an additional time without consuming any Skill Points.

Cerydra’s Ultimate, Scholar’s Mate, restores two points of Charge and deals Wind DMG based on ATK to all enemies. If no character has Military Merit, Cerydra bestows it on the first person in the party’s line-up automatically.

Her Traces further increase Cerydra’s own damage output as well as providing a SPD boost to herself and the ally with Military Merit.

Obtaining duplicates of Cerydra increases her Eidolon Level and unlocks additional buffs:

Honkai: Star Rail – Cerydra: best Light Cones

Cerydra’s main consideration is ATK and her signature Light Cone, Epoch Etched in Golden Blood, delivers that in spades. Additionally, the equipment recovers a Skill Point for the team when the wearer uses their Ultimate. Finally, when the wearer uses their Skill on an ally, the target’s Skill DMG is increased for three turns. A perfect fit for the Chessmaster Monarch.

Best Light Cones for Cerydra in HSR:

• Epoch Etched in Golden Blood (5-Star)
• Flowing Nightglow (5-Star)
• A Grounded Ascent (5-Star)
• The Forever Victual (4-Star)
• For Tomorrow’s Journey (4-Star)

Honkai: Star Rail – Cerydra: best Relics

ATK remains at the top of your priority list for Cerydra’s stats alongside SPD and CRIT DMG. The first needs to be high to bestow her buff early and keep pace with the Main DPS, while a robust CRIT DMG will increase her own damage output. Cerydra doesn’t need CRIT Rate, as one of her Traces sets this to 100% automatically. 

If you don’t feel like you’re getting your Ultimate often enough, such as to reset the counter of Cerydra’s Additional Wind DMG attacks, you should consider getting a Link Rope with Energy Regeneration as its main stat. Effect RES or additional HP are great fillers to enhance Cerydra’s toughness on the field.

Best Relic Sets for Cerydra in HSR:

• Sacerdos’ Relived Ordeal (4) – +6% SPD, +18% CRIT DMG for two turns (stacks up to two times) for the allied target of the character’s Skill or Ultimate.

Best Planar Ornaments for Cerydra in HSR:

• Lushaka, the Sunken Seas (2) – +5% Energy Regeneration, +12% ATK for the first character in the team’s line-up if the wearer is not in the first position.

Best stats for Cerydra in HSR:

• Head – HP (Primary), ATK %, SPD, CRIT DMG, ATK
• Hands – ATK (Primary), ATK %, SPD, CRIT DMG, Effect RES
• Body – ATK % (Primary), SPD, CRIT DMG, ATK, Effect RES
• Feet – SPD (Primary), ATK %, CRIT DMG, ATK, Effect RES
• Planar Sphere – ATK % (Primary), SPD, CRIT DMG, ATK, Effect RES
• Link Rope – ATK % (Primary), SPD, CRIT DMG, ATK, Effect RES

Honkai: Star Rail – Cerydra: best teams

Cerydra is most effective when she supports characters that rely on ATK and Skill DMG to deal with their enemies.

• Phainon (Main DPS), Cerydra (Support), Sunday (Support), Huohuo (Support)

Phainon benefits massively from Cerydra, since most of the damage he deals in Khaslana form counts as Skill DMG. Sunday, Bronya, or Sparkle are ideal picks for the second Support slot, as their ability to manipulate the turn order is key to generate more Charge on Cerydra, which helps Phainon by upgrading Military Merit to Peerage. Huohuo delivers extra Energy and ATK, making her the best healer for this composition.

Cerydra is also a fantastic Support for Anaxa as Main DPS. For a more lore-accurate approach, you can certainly team her up with Hysilens and another DoT character, though triple DoT is the stronger version of that composition.

Honkai: Star Rail – Cerydra: ascension materials

Here’s everything you need to know to get Cerydra ascended to the maximum level and upgrade all of her talents.

Cerydra requires the following ascension materials to get to level 80 in addition to the necessary XP:

• Credits x308,000
• Ethereal Omen x15
• Echoing Wail x15
• Eternal Lament x15
• Charred Bud of Twilight x65

You can collect Ethereal Omen, Echoing Wail, and Eternal Lament from enemies on Amphoreus as well as the Simulated Universe. You can create or exchange them through the Omni-Synthesizer on the Astral Express, too. Ethereal Omen is one of the materials you can easily farm through the Daily Assignments to your characters, making for a steady income of the material. Charred Bud of Twilight is dropped by the Stagnant Shadow (Eye of Twilight, Fortress of Dome) on Amphoreus. The best source of Credits are the Golden Calyxes found around the universe.

Cerydra requires the following materials to upgrade her combat abilities and Traces:

• Credits x3,000,000
• Ethereal Omen x41
• Echoing Wail x56
• Eternal Lament x58
• Firmament Note x18
• Celestial Section x69
• Heavenly Melody x139
• Daythunder Anamnesis x12
• Tracks of Destiny x8

For the materials already mentioned, check above. Firmament Note, Celestial Section, and Heavenly Melody can be farmed in the Crimson Calyx (The Reverie, Dreamscape) on Penacony. As usual, you can create the high-level materials by using up lower-level materials in the Omni-Synthesizer on the Astral Express.

Daythunder Anamnesis is boss material only gained from the Echo of War (Eye of Twilight, Fortress of Dome) domain on Amphoreus, while Tracks of Destiny can be obtained during time-limited events, the Embers Exchange, the Nameless Honor, or as a Simulated Universe Points Reward.