Himeko Nova uses several terms that are easy to blur together during a fast battle: Assist Skill, Starblazer Visioscape, Companion Protocol, Source Energy, Extra Turn, Trailblaze Companions, Eidolon, Erudition, Light Cone, and Relic. This glossary defines them in the context of her kit. It does not replace the beginner guide or build guide. Use it when a team recommendation says a character is a trigger, when a relic condition asks for a tag, or when an Ultimate description changes from beams to a pulse.
Command and field
Assist Skill
Assist Skill is the special party command created by Nova’s Talent. When Starblazer Visioscape is active, every ally receives one use. The active ally spends its current turn to command Starblazer. Starblazer’s attack resolves as an Extra Turn, so the command is not a normal Skill action with a delayed follow-up. On PC, the input is F. On PlayStation and Xbox controllers, it is Down on the directional pad.
The normal cap is one use. Nova’s Skill restores all uses, and Navigator’s Semaphore returns one at the start of each turn during its three-turn duration. E1 and E2 raise the capacity and improve recovery further. The Assist Skill is the resource both Companion Protocols use, which is why it must be assigned to a team plan rather than spent whenever the button is available.
Starblazer Visioscape
Starblazer Visioscape is the field Nova deploys through her Talent. It summons Starblazer and gives the team the shared Assist Skill command. The field is also the mechanical bridge between her story and combat identity. Starblazer represents the star-faring vessel at the center of Nova’s journey, while the party command turns that vessel into a collaborative attack rather than a private summon.
The field also grants Nova 10%-22% All-Type RES PEN and 40%-88% Critical Damage. Her attacks can reduce Toughness regardless of enemy weakness, then apply a Fire Weakness Break when she breaks. These personal effects make the field more than a utility zone. It is the source of Nova’s offensive baseline and the reason she can maintain pressure even outside an enemy’s natural Fire weakness.
Protocol and team terms
Companion Protocol
Companion Protocol is the two-branch system unlocked by a Trailblaze Companion using Assist Skill. Verdict is activated by Trailblazer, Dan Heng, Dan Heng - Imbibitor Lunae, Dan Heng - Permansor Terrae, or Sunday. It raises Nova’s damage and Ultimate damage. After allies actively use two Ultimates, Nova gains a free Assist Skill.
Decimation is activated by March 7th, Evernight, Welt, or original Himeko. It raises party Critical Damage and adds the same bonus to Nova’s Skill Critical Damage. Enemy hits build stacks. At nine stacks, Nova gains a free Assist Skill. Verdict and Decimation are mutually exclusive. A team cannot turn both on at once because each branch begins from the same shared command economy.
Trailblaze Companions
Trailblaze Companions is the official character tag for the group that can interact with Nova’s protocols. It includes Trailblazer, the Dan Heng forms named in Verdict, Sunday, March 7th, Evernight, Welt, and original Himeko. The tag is important in two places. It identifies who can trigger one of the protocols, and it satisfies the extra Critical Damage condition on Fallen Star Anchorage when Nova and another ally both carry it.
Do not use the term as a generic nickname for every Astral Express ally. It is a specific gameplay classification. A character can be strong beside Nova without being a Trailblaze Companion, but that character does not activate the same protocol rule. Always check the actual tag before deciding that a support belongs in a protocol slot.
Ultimate resources and turns
Source Energy and Orbital Annihilation Pulse
Source Energy is Nova’s Ultimate resource inside We, Too, Stride the Stars. Hyperluminal Particle Beam grants one Source Energy when it is fired. Nova can spend Source Energy to use Orbital Annihilation Pulse, which damages all enemies. If more than one Source Energy is available, each extra unit adds a random-target hit before the AoE damage resolves. When the beam uses are gone, the pulse triggers automatically, then three Final Hits follow.
The default Source Energy cap is three. E6 raises it to six and adds an extra 160% ATK AoE Fire hit when the pulse is fired at six or more. The term should not be confused with ordinary Energy. Ordinary Energy fills Nova’s 150-Energy Ultimate meter. Source Energy exists only after that Ultimate starts and controls its pulse choices.
Extra Turn
An Extra Turn is an action that resolves outside the usual normal-turn sequence. Nova’s Assist Skill creates one because the ally spends its turn to command Starblazer, then Starblazer’s attack resolves as an Extra Turn. This matters for turn planning. The command can advance a protocol or clear enemies without being mistaken for the ally’s normal Skill line.
Nova’s major trace Hark! The Express’s Pulse Roars adds another Extra Turn rule. A Trailblaze Companion other than Nova gets an Extra Turn after using Assist Skill and can insert an Ultimate into it. At E2, non-Trailblaze Companions receive the same support. The term is a rules description, not a damage type. Check the current protocol and turn order before assuming every Extra Turn has the same value.
Investment terms
Eidolon
An Eidolon is an additional character copy upgrade. Nova’s E1 increases Assist Skill capacity and lowers the conditions needed for both protocols. E2 raises the capacity to two and improves Ultimate and Assist Skill damage. E3 and E5 add trace levels. E4 turns a Talent RES PEN bonus into a party effect. E6 expands Source Energy and strengthens Assist Skill plus pulse damage.
Eidolons improve a character but do not replace the core build. Nova at E0 still deploys Starblazer Visioscape, activates either protocol, and uses the full Ultimate sequence. A player should complete a protocol team, relic set, and Critical Rate plan before treating an Eidolon number as the only measure of performance.
Erudition, Light Cone, and Relics
Erudition is Nova’s combat Path. It identifies which Light Cones she can equip for their Path effects and describes her multi-target damage role. Her signature Light Cone is A Star That Lights the Night. It provides DEF ignore, Energy from Assist Skill, and Sail stacks for Assist Skill and Ultimate damage. The Seriousness of Breakfast is the budget alternative currently used in community recommendations.
Relics are the equipment pieces that provide main stats, substats, and set effects. Nova’s target four-piece set is As Navigator Isee Sees It, which grants ATK then builds Skill and Ultimate damage after battle entry or Skill use. Her target planar ornament is Fallen Star Anchorage, which grants Critical Rate and a Trailblaze Companion conditional Critical Damage effect. Together, these equipment terms describe the build shell around the team mechanics defined above.