Ember Spirit

Xin the Ember Spirit is a highly mobile and versatile melee Agility carry, whose abilities make him a very slippery foe and enable him to dance around his enemies at will. His skill set allows for incredibly aggressive assaults on other heroes, as he can engage on them from long range using Sleight of Fist, and tie them down with Searing Chains to halt their movements. His Flame Guard ability deals damage while active and shields Xin from magic nukes, making him a force to be reckoned with by enemy casters. And finally, his Fire Remnant spell allows him to engage, escape or move instantaneously around the map, allowing him to show up where the enemy least expects and disappear just as quickly.

Despite a good HP pool early on, he lacks armor and a sizable mana pool, making him quite frail and easy to bring down with physical damage if caught or disabled. However, with good item choices and proper judgement, Ember Spirit can engage his foes using his speed and disables, dominating the battlefield with blinding speed. While he has only a limited presence in the early and mid game, in time Xin becomes a dangerous opponent even on his own, proving to friend and foe alike that for them, there is still much to be learned.

Tips

 * Ember Spirit is a very mobile and evasive carry due to his ability to strike from range or dodge enemy attacks using Sleight of Fist and Fire Remnants. Playing Ember Spirit effectively requires quick reflexes, good judgment and an aggressive mindset, as his instant cast animations and high mobility allow skilled players to outplay and outwit opponents, darting around the map to be where they least expect.
 * While he is an agility hero, Ember Spirit has very low armor and poor agility growth, making him vulnerable to physical damage despite his respectable strength growth. As such, he depends on using his spells and mobility to dodge attacks, disjoint projectiles and evade counterattack. His dependency on casting also makes him vulnerable to disables, particularly stuns and silences, as they prevent him from avoiding damage that his small HP pool is ill-suited to deal with.
 * In general, Ember Spirit is best played either as a core farmer in the safe lane, or as a mid. As a safe lane farmer, Ember Spirit can safely farm up the items he needs to become a late-game threat, and his mobility allows him to engage on the enemy off-laner unexpectedly and help disable them during ganks, or evade enemy ganks targeted on him. As a mid, getting fast levels early on allows him to gank side lanes and get kills with his mobility and disables, giving him a strong early-game presence and allowing him to snowball out of control.
 * is a powerful disable spell that stops up to two nearby enemies in their tracks and deals damage for the duration.
 * Searing Chains' scaling means that it can be used as a strong early-game damage nuke, and its low cooldown allows it to be cast multiple times in a fight if need be. As such, it is a good candidate for your first ability to max out.
 * Keep in mind, the targets for Searing Chains are chosen randomly, so creeps can be hit if they are within the spell's radius. When attempting to chain down an enemy player, ensure that there are no creeps nearby that can foul your attempts to disable them, or try to position Ember Spirit such that only the hero and at most one other unit are within the spell's radius.
 * This ability can be combined with Sleight of Fist, as the latter spell positions Ember Spirit next to the target to be slashed during each strike. This means that Sleight followed by Chains can allow Ember Spirit to root enemies from long range if the combo is timed correctly.
 * One strong aspect of Searing Chains is that it will root affected targets, preventing them from using true blink abilities as well as a few other escape abilities. As such, it can be very potent against certain heroes that rely on using true blink to escape, such as and.
 * Searing Chains will interrupt channeling spells upon cast. This is most useful for interrupting Town Portal Scrolls, and spells like or . However, in the case of Town Portal Scrolls, make sure to use the spell only after the enemy begins an attempt to teleport to safety, as Searing Chains' cooldown duration means that they can safely teleport after it has been used.
 * is best described as an area-of-effect physical damage nuke that allows Ember Spirit to apply auto-attack damage to all enemies within the spell's radius.
 * While this spell does not disjoint projectiles, Ember Spirit is invulnerable for its duration, so any projectiles that hit him during the spell will not affect him. As such, it can be used to effectively dodge damage and disables by becoming invulnerable as the projectile hits him.
 * Remember that creeps hit by this spell will take half damage from Ember Spirit's strikes and do not take the bonus damage, so it is a poor early farming ability. Only once Ember Spirit has accumulated enough raw damage and a cleave will it be useful for cutting down groups of creeps.
 * Conversely, as the damage dealt is based on Ember Spirit's attack damage, Sleight of Fist is one of the strongest scaling abilities in the game, since Ember Spirit can apply large amounts of physical damage as well as attack modifiers on the entire enemy team every six seconds. If Ember Spirit builds enough raw damage items, he can potentially wipe the entire enemy team in a single cast of this spell.
 * Mind that evasion, blind and disarm will affect Sleight of Fist, so it is possible that strikes during this spell will not hit their targets depending on any evasion items the enemy is carrying, or if Ember Spirit is affected by blind or disarm.
 * Invisible enemies will not be targeted for a slash by this spell, however it will hit enemies in the fog of war. Combined with Searing Chains, this allows Ember Spirit to jump at enemies in the dark and chain them down, which can prevent players from juking into the jungle and teleporting away.
 * Ember Spirit can still cast spells and use items during Sleight of Fist, though he will still return to his original position regardless. As such, it is possible to execute unorthodox combos such as beginning to channel Town Portal Scroll during the invulnerability or sending a Fire Remnant during the slashes and then jumping to it once done. Be sure to gauge your timing based on the number of targets within the striking area, however, as more targets means a greater slashing duration.
 * It's very important to remember that, no matter what, Ember Spirit will always return to the position he was in when Sleight of Fist was cast as soon as it's over - Using, , teleporting, among other things that can alter his position, are never queued, they occur as soon as they are activated and Ember will continue slashing any left targets if Sleight of Fist had not concluded by then no matter where he is, and then return to the cast position.
 * Regarding purchasing more than one, bear in mind that your second one will increase your cleave damage by 100%, and your third by 50%. Getting a fourth is not recommended as it increases the damage by 33.3% in relation to your current cleave damage, and as such, it is better to get a as the critical chance grants approximately a 35% overall damage increase.
 * shields Ember Spirit from magical damage, traditionally an agility carry's greatest weakness, while also allowing him to deal burn damage to all nearby enemies.
 * Besides the charge restore time on Fire Remnants, Flame Guard is Ember Spirit's longest cooldown ability. As such, try to use it sparingly, as casting it to farm creeps may leave you vulnerable if the enemy attempts to gank you shortly after.
 * In the early game, Flame Guard gives Ember Spirit protection against magic damage, as well as allowing him to deal it to enemies while chasing them down. As such, Xin is a potent early-game fighter if he has a few points in this ability.
 * In order to use this spell to its maximum effectiveness, particularly in mid match-ups, try to aim to only skill it to the point where you can ignore the enemy's burst damage attack and still have the shield up to deal burn damage to them. If facing a weak magic nuker in the mid lane, one or two points in this ability can allow you to shrug off their alpha strike, and then continue to deal burn damage to them while also expending the remaining points in Searing Chains, increasing its overall damage and disable duration.
 * allows Ember Spirit to place a Fire Remnant at the target location, and then cast to quickly dash to it, exploding it to deal area magical damage.
 * Fire Remnant is Ember Spirit's primary mobility, initiation and escape ability, as it allows him to re-position himself almost instantly, no matter his position relative to the remnant. As such, it can be used not only to quickly close the distance to an enemy while dealing nuke damage upon arriving, it can also be used to move across the map, whether to escape from an enemy gank or to arrive at a friendly one.
 * As with Sleight of Fist, Ember Spirit does not disjoint projectiles upon casting Activate Fire Remnant, but is invulnerable during the travel time. As such, it can be used to disjoint projectiles if they connect with him while he is invulnerable, though beware of projectiles continuing to chase you if the remnant's location does not allow you to path over the projectile during the spell. If this is the case, consider having Sleight of Fist ready to cast on any non-friendly creeps at your destination, in order to dodge any projectiles that might follow you across the map.
 * Beware of Activate Fire Remnant's heavy mana cost, as combined with Ember Spirit's small mana pool it can completely drain him of mana if he tries to cast it more than once or uses it in combination with his other spells. Always keep an eye on your mana to ensure that you're able to cast Activate Fire Remnant when needed, and try to avoid using it more than once in a short period of time as this also depletes your Fire Remnant reserve.
 * Fire Remnants give flying vision in a small area around them. While the remnants are visible to the enemy, having the remnant in an area such as Roshan's pit or the enemy base's high ground can give your team valuable intelligence as to the enemy's positioning.
 * While its most basic use is to initiate on an enemy over distance, Fire Remnants can also be used as an escape tool. By placing one in an area of known safety, Ember Spirit can instantly dash away in the face of overwhelming danger, evading ganks or quickly retreating after a successful kill.
 * Beware that the Fire Remnant's travel speed is based on that of Ember Spirit when it is sent forth. This means that if Ember Spirit is suffering from slow debuffs, the remnant will take longer to reach its destination, which can give the enemy more time to kill him. As such, it is wise to place a remnant beforehand, or to avoid being affected by slows before casting it. Conversely, this also means that its travel speed can be boosted by increasing Ember Spirit's movement speed, such as using Drum of Endurance's active.
 * Fire Remnants do not scale very well, as the only thing that increases is the amount of damage dealt by an exploding remnant upon arrival. Unless you regularly use the explosion damage as part of a damage nuke, it is usually wise to skill it at level 6 but to avoid taking additional levels until your other regular abilities are maxed out.
 * In concert to the above, a dangerous but powerful tactic is to cast all three Fire Remnants at a target location and then dash to them, dealing 300/450/600 near-instantaneous alpha damage. However, keep in mind that this will completely deplete your remnant reserve, greatly reducing your mobility for at least the next 35 seconds.
 * One useful trick with Fire Remnants is that, due to their global re-positioning potential, they can be dropped in place prior to using a Town Portal Scroll or other globally re-positioning item, and then return to your previous location if so desired. This can be useful for things such as quickly replenishing HP and mana at base, quickly teleporting to defend or counter-gank and then returning to farming/pushing, and so on. In particular, the first tactic is extremely strong when combined with a, as Ember Spirit can replenish his HP and mana, grab any items from stash, and refill his bottle all at the cost of a Town Portal Scroll and a Fire Remnant charge.
 * As well as the above, Fire Remnants can be used to quickly return to battle after buying back. If a Fire Remnant is placed near a battle and Ember Spirit is killed, buying back and then casting Activate Fire Remnant can allow him to instantly return to a fight, bringing his damage nukes and disables with him to turn the tide for his team.
 * Due to his flexibility and mobility, Ember Spirit can build numerous useful items.
 * in the early game can help Ember Spirit to chase down enemies. Combined with an early level in Sleight of Fist, the slow modifier can be applied to multiple enemies at once, slowing them down from range. It can either be sold once another Unique Attack Modifier is purchased, or kept to build into an Eye of Skadi.
 * can be a useful early-game pickup, as the increased agility, damage and armor give Ember Spirit more last-hitting power and protection against physical damage, while the small amount of mana regen can allow him to use his spells more often.
 * is very situational, but can drastically increase Ember Spirit's mobility, allowing him to initiate on enemies without having to use a Fire Remnant. It also allows him to move around the map more quickly and bypass trees and terrain, which lets him catch enemies unaware or run from fights more easily.
 * increases Ember Spirit's physical DPS, and gives him an additional method with which to initiate on enemies during ganks. As well, if Sleight of Fist is cast during the 0.3 second fade time, Ember Spirit will deal the 175 bonus damage to all slashed targets and remain invisible upon returning to the remnant. However, beware that this tactic does not apply to.
 * gives Ember Spirit a measure of defense against silences, as he can instantly purge off debuffs while also creating two illusions with which to confuse the enemy. The item itself also provides very useful bonuses, giving him all-around stats, more agility and attack speed, and a movement speed bonus that increases his mobility. Finally, as items can be used during Sleight of Fist, combining this item, Sleight of Fist and Searing Chains can allow Ember Spirit to root and place illusions near a target from long range.
 * gives Ember Spirit stats across the board, as well as passive HP and mana regen. The spellblock allows Ember Spirit to shrug off one targeted spell during a fight, hopefully a targeted disable, increasing his slipperiness and allowing him to fight without fear of being disabled.
 * is a strong damage item that also provides True Strike, eliminating any possibility of the enemy evading his Sleight of Fist slashes via evasion or blind. It can be a powerful purchase in the face of enemies purchasing evasion or when facing enemies with blind spells, and the mini-bash proc can allow Ember Spirit to deal even more damage during Sleight of Fist.
 * can be very powerful in the hands of Ember Spirit, as it grants him evasion while also increasing his physical DPS. The passive evasion decreases his vulnerability against physical damage, while the active can give him more mobility to flee from a fight or chase an enemy down.
 * is one of the strongest items that Ember Spirit can purchase, as, combined with a cleave and crit, can allow him to deal absurd amounts of physical damage to the entire enemy team during Sleight of Fist. While it is extremely expensive and extremely risky due to the possibility of giving it to the enemy upon being killed, Ember Spirit's ability to evade the enemy and avoid damage allow him to push this item to its limit and emerge victorious.
 * can be a powerful purchase on Ember Spirit in the mid-game. Aside from freeing up an inventory slot and saving gold from not having to constantly purchase Town Portal Scrolls, the increased movement speed gives Ember Spirit increased mobility, allowing him to chase down enemies more easily. As well, the teleport increases Xin's global presence, especially when combined with Fire Remnants, as he can make quick returns to base to grab items or replenish HP and mana, assist in gank opportunities on other parts of the map, and so on.

Trivia

 * , like, and , was a Pandaren in DotA. However, he was re-skinned to avoid copyright issues with Blizzard Entertainment, since Pandaren are a race of creatures in the Warcraft Universe.
 * Most of Ember Spirit's unit responses are exactly four words long, a reference to the traditional Chinese proverbs also known as ChengYu. According to Xin, himself: embr rare 03.mp3  "Four words is plenty."