Ember Guide and Best Build

Kit Intro

Ember is a 6-star, Heat, Great Sword survivalist based unit whose kit primarily focuses on keeping the team alive through healing and shielding. She also has solid utility thanks to both her Combo Skill and Battle Skill having Knock Down. This allows her to apply Vulnerable and inflict a sizable amount of Stagger, which, when combined with her abilities' already high base Stagger amount, adds up to quite a bit.

Ember’s Combo Skill heals the controlled operator on use, which is solid but not too crazy when compared to Snowshine, who can do something similar but for the whole team. What makes it strong, though, is its short cooldown and the fact that all it takes to activate is being hit by any attack at any time, meaning it’s almost certain to trigger when you need it. It’s very easy to trigger forcibly if you want to ensure it’s being used on cooldown every time.

Ember’s shielding, on the other hand, comes from her Ultimate and grants the entire team a shield based on Ember’s own maximum HP, allowing you to bulk up teammates in a pinch to protect them from large threats.

Ember can slot into pretty much any team, but despite being a Heat unit herself, she’s definitely a higher value unit in Physical teams, thanks to her ability to apply Vulnerable with both her battle and Combo Skill. The latter of which, being free, is incredibly valuable to Physical teams looking to generate as many Vulnerability stacks as possible.

Combo

Ember’s Combo Skill is one of the major reasons you’d consider bringing her to your team; it’s responsible for the entirety of her kit's healing and her free Vulnerability stack generation. To activate Ember’s Combo Skill, all that’s required is that the controlled operator receives an attack. On use, it causes Ember to perform a leap slam that, upon connecting, deals Physical damage, heals the controlled operator for a flat amount plus a percentage of Ember’s will, and applies Knock Down. Despite how stacked and generic this Combo Skill is, it can sometimes be a little inconsistent or dangerous to trigger, depending on the enemy you’re facing. Getting hit can lead to being Staggered for a short time or taking more damage than you’d recover with Ember's heal.

Note: If Ember doesn’t hit an enemy with her Combo Skill, she will not trigger the healing effect. It is entirely possible that if you don’t time it correctly, you’ll lose not only the damage, Vulnerability stack, and Stagger but also your opportunity to heal.

Battle Skill

Ember’s Battle Skill causes her to perform a leap slam, which deals Heat damage to enemies it hits while also applying Knock Down. If Ember is hit at any point before landing the Battle Skill, it will become enhanced and will deal double Stagger when it lands. This bonus is strong, but just like her Combo Skill, going for it can open up Ember to danger and being Staggered.

The main reason to use this ability is the fact that it’s an ability that can inflict Vulnerability stacks while dealing a higher-than-normal amount of Stagger compared to other similar abilities. The trade-off for this, though, is that it needs to be timed correctly to gain its bonus. Not to mention, Ember usually isn’t built for damage, meaning using this instead of a damage dealer’s Vulnerable Battle Skill usually results in some loss of damage.

Talents

Ember’s first talent, Inflamed for the Assault, might not seem impressive, but it is actually a major power boost to her supportive capabilities. After it’s unlocked, it causes both her Battle Skill and Combo Skill to apply up to a 50% Protection to her during their cast animations, in addition to lowering both abilities' chances to be interrupted mid-cast. These bonuses make it less punishing to forcibly go for the extra Stagger on her Battle Skill, but also allow her to reliably trigger the very strong Xiranite support set that activates when the wearer grants Protection.

Ember’s other talent, Pay the Ferric Price, grants her a stacking ATK% boost, granting up to 9% each stack every time she’s hit for 7-second stacking up to 3 times (27% total). When played with a supportive setup for gear and weapon, Ember won't be doing much of the team’s damage to begin with. However, if you can maintain these ability stacks, it can be a solid boost to the little damage she does contribute.

Ultimate

Ember’s Ultimate costs 100 energy and deals Heat damage and a higher-than-average amount of Stagger compared to other Ultimates in an area around her. It also grants the entire team a shield based on a % of her own maximum HP value for 10 seconds, which, if you’ve built Ember tanky, can serve as an outstanding defensive tool.

The primary thing to consider with this ability is knowing when, and when not to use it, you can slam it as soon as it's ready to take advantage of its Stagger or, you can hold it for when you know boss or elite enemies are likely to threaten your team with massive attacks. How valuable this ability is boils down a lot to how you choose to use it.

Gameplay

Ember’s gameplay isn’t rotational like some other characters and boils down to how you plan to use her in teams. When using her as a sustain-based character, just having her in the team and using her Combo Skill when available in order to keep the team healthy, and her Ultimate when you need its shield is enough.

Alternatively, if you’re playing Ember in Physical-based teams and want to make use of her Vulnerability stack generation, you may instead want to forcibly trigger her Combo Skill in order to add its Vulnerability stack to your team's rotation. You can also weave in Ember’s Battle Skill for its higher Stagger Knock Down trigger if you’re able to time it correctly and consistently without interrupting the flow of the team.