Solo Leveling: AriseEmma LaurentInformation and Guide

Emma Laurent is a unit that does it all - from supporting to breaking to dealing damage. Her AOE potential is massive, and with all of her skills having break effect, she is a unit that is amazing in most scenarios.

She serves as a top-tier support for fire DPS that is able to increase Fire Damage and Defense Penetration for the team. While doing all of this, she is also applying burns. You will not regret getting her, be it for farming gates or slaughtering bosses.

Emma is an exceptionally versatile unit, adept at handling both speed-running content and prolonged, drawn-out battles due to the various effects provided by her skill set. Let's delve into her abilities and explore how to make Emma a crucial component of your roster.

To start, it's important to discuss her Passive Ability, as all of her skills are intricately linked to it. Her passive is divided into two interconnected parts: Heat Absorption and Heat Emission. Heat Absorption is applied by all skills and attacks, whether delivered or received, with the exception of Flame Cleave. This effect grants Emma defensive buffs and utility when certain thresholds (5/10/15) are achieved. On the other hand, Heat Emission provides offensive buffs either to Emma herself or her entire team, depending on the threshold of Heat Absorption reached before using Flame Cleave. The strategy is to consistently increase your Heat Absorption to its maximum before unleashing Flame Cleave, which will provide Emma and her teammates with permanent offensive buffs and additional defensive utility. This utility will extend to her fellow Hunters once Emma has reached sufficient advancements.

In addition to her passive abilities, Emma’s skills feature short cooldowns, and her Core Attack cannot be charged by Flame Cleave. However, her Burn Up ability compensates for this by instantly readying her Core Attack. Emma's Ultimate ability is distinctive, as its effects vary based on which passive buff is active at the time. If the Heat Emission effect is active, you will deal extra damage from the Ultimate. Conversely, if only the Heat Absorption effect is active, you'll benefit from reduced cooldown and a substantial refund of your spent Power Gauge, though this comes at the cost of reduced damage.

In terms of advancements, A1 and A2 offer standard Break-focused buffs. While any additional buff is beneficial, these particular advancements do not make Emma a standout Breaker, especially when compared to competitors like Nam, Baek, or Seo. Instead, Emma’s strengths lie in her versatility as a unit, balancing Support, Break capability, and personal damage. Higher levels of advancements enhance her utility: A3 provides team-wide Shielding, while A5 introduces additional burst windows for Emma herself.

Her weapon, Night-Thoughts, is a potent self-targeting Damage Buffer that increases Emma’s personal damage. However, it does not position her to compete with dedicated DPS. Consequently, there is no immediate need to prioritize upgrading her weapon. Instead, focus on enhancing characters that benefit from Emma’s buffs, such as Yoo Soohyun or Choi Jong-In.

Yoo Soohyun and Choi Jong-In are Emma’s default teammates in the Fire team. Both are effective but fragile DPS who will gain significant advantages from Emma’s offensive and defensive support. Emma’s role is also crucial in the Battlefield of Time Challenges, where wide area-of-effect (AoE) attacks are essential—a field in which few can match her prowess. It’s important to note that while the Fire team is known for its high damage output, Emma is not the top choice for damage buffering. Other, more offensively oriented supports like Min or Lee Bora might be preferable, especially if you frequently use Dark weapons, as many players do. Her effectiveness relative to these alternatives will also depend on the sets you use, which will be discussed next.

Moving on to the artifacts, Emma, like all Breakers, greatly benefits from the Burning Greed set. This set enhances any Breaker’s capability to support DPS while also boosting their own damage output. For Emma, already a formidable Support unit, equipping the Burning Greed set solidifies her role as Fire’s premier Support/Breaker. This enables the Fire team to uniquely accommodate two DPS within a three-man lineup.

Other viable artifact sets include the One Hit Kill set, ideal for a full damage-focused Emma when paired with the Concentration of Firepower jewelry set, or the Guardian set for increased support abilities. However, realistically, any set other than the full Burning Greed set is a suboptimal choice and generally not recommended unless transitioning to the Greed set. In such cases, the Solid Analysis set for armor and the 4-piece Greed jewelry set—or, to a lesser extent, the 4-piece Concentration of Firepower set—are the most effective options for maximizing break capability.

For gear, HP/HP% helm is recommended as HP% improves with level cap increases. Boots with HP%/Defense Penetration/Crit Damage are also viable options. Due to Fire’s lack of in-fight crit buffs, the crit stat becomes more reliant on RNG. On the jewelry side, consider using Fire Damage bracelets and HP/HP% rings. Pay attention to HP substats, as well as other universal offensive stats such as Damage Increase, Defense Penetration, or Crit stats, particularly if your gear is finely tuned.

Should You Pull?

If you're considering whether to pull for Emma, it's worth noting that she is a highly viable choice for a Breaker/Support role in your teams, even at low advancements. This makes her an excellent Hunter to prioritize early on in the custom banner. Emma’s offensive buffs and the effective use of the Greed set are achievable even at A0. At A2, her Break potential reaches its peak, and by A3, she becomes a comprehensive team-wide Supporter, providing constant Shielding and maintaining high uptime on her offensive buffs. Given that Break damage benefits from elemental advantage, securing at least one copy of Emma is highly recommended, especially if you intend to focus on your Fire team.

However, keep in mind that no super challenging content specifically designed for the Fire element has been released yet. Therefore, consider the needs of your roster carefully before making summoning decisions.

Investment

• Emma is a viable option for players at A0, allowing F2P players to experience her capabilities even with minimal investment. However, her Break power will be relatively low at this stage, making A1 a valuable upgrade to enhance her efficiency in her primary role.

• For those tackling difficult content, A3 is the minimum recommended level. At this stage, Emma’s spammable Shield and Healing capabilities make her one of the top defensive Supports for mixed-element teams.

• To fully capitalize on Emma's damage potential and for scoring content, aiming for A5 is highly advisable, but not recommended to F2P players and occasional spenders as diversifying their account is a better investment. This advancement level will significantly enhance her overall performance, providing that extra boost to fully exploit her strengths.