Emberward tier list: characters and relics
Emberward hands you nine characters and a relic pool that reshuffles every run, and no in-game ranking of either. This is our tier list for the 1.0 build: every character ranked, the relic priority ladder, and the pairings that decide runs. New to the roster? Start with the beginner guide and read the characters page before judging any placement below.
How this list is built
Characters are ranked by how much they change what a run can do, not by raw damage. A specialist that wins its archetype outranks a generalist that is fine at everything, and a character that only matters while you are learning sits at the bottom even though everyone should play it once. Relics are ranked as decisions: a relic that upgrades something you have already committed to beats a relic that adds a new thing to manage.
Two exclusions. Special event characters are not ranked — they are gated behind completing the whole game and are banned from Emberwarder, so they cannot be part of a standard plan. And nothing here depends on numbers we could not read off the current build; exact tooltip values always win over this page.
Character tier list (1.0)
| Tier | Character | Why they sit here | Play them when |
|---|---|---|---|
| S — run-shaping | Tana the Sorcerer | Buffs and debuffs scale with wave count in a way raw damage does not; the community endless writing is built around her | Deep endless runs, anything past the first wall |
| S — run-shaping | Silas the Merchant | Changes when you buy, not what you buy; the Monopoly achievement is designed around him | Economy runs, achievement hunting |
| A — reliable | Chunk the Builder | The structural half of the game: blocks and maze shaping, the answer to "my maze is always one tile short" | Any run where your routes keep failing |
| A — reliable | Belloc the Pyroguard | Cashes in talent points you already committed to Fire | Fire-committed runs, Heroic pact play |
| A — expert ceiling | Astra the Corruptweaver | The highest ceiling and the least forgiveness in the roster | Once corruption mechanics are second nature |
| B — specialist | Chrono Traveler | Rerolls and cooldown compression — consistency rather than power | Tempo builds, reroll-hungry setups |
| B — specialist | Estelle the Astromancer | The Academy and star-magic toolkit, referenced in the Void Depths era | Academy support builds, late-region pushes |
| B — specialist | Tiny the Bot | Machine and tower support; the S.C.R.A.B. line is what it touches | Turret-support runs, achievement lines |
| C — starter | Feri the Novice | The baseline — exists so a bad run is your fault, not the character's | Your first runs; never after |
Read the "why" column as the actual ranking rationale — the tier letters group the reasoning, they are not a power level.
Best relics: the priority ladder
Rarity is a weak signal in the relic pool. The strongest picks multiply a commitment you have already made. The ladder we would take them in:
- Set relics that name a tower you run. The Scrap Master trio is the worked example: the Note takes a Scrap Tower from 30 shots to 45, the Wrench changes what happens when one is destroyed, and one relic alone is a small buff while all three turn a tempo tower into a plan. If you are running Scrap, these outrank everything — the tower list explains the family.
- Scaling relics when the run has no finish line. In endless mode, Tome of Endless and anything that grows instead of adding a flat amount is worth more than its usual tier — the endless mode guide covers the setups that use them.
- Economy and tempo relics when your bottleneck is buying. Wealth Vault, Golden Roulette, Microtransactions, Time Saving Device, Craftsman's Luck Charm — the pool that pays for the rest of your build.
- Your committed element's pool. Flamekeeper's Guard, Ember Guardian and Lava Bucket for Fire; Flash Freeze Device and its family for Ice. A relic pool only pays if the towers to use it exist in your maze.
- Structural relics for maze-heavy runs. Aggressive Construction, Explosive Demolition, Vengeance Statue — picks that matter exactly as much as your maze does.
Pairings that carry runs
- Silas + the economy pool. The cleanest archetype in the game: buy earlier than anyone else and let compounding do the rest. Budget a Monopoly attempt around it — see the achievements guide for the steps.
- Belloc + Fire pool + altar pact. Talent points into Fire, relics from the Fire list, a Heroic pact on top — the fire-committed run end to end.
- Tana + scaling relics. Buffs that scale with waves plus relics that scale with waves: the endless spine.
- Chunk + structural relics. Blocks that cheat the grid plus relics that change demolition and construction.
Heroic, shards and the Emberwarder note
The ranking is built around the standard nine because Emberwarder — all five regions on Heroic at Infernal Shard level 24 without an event character — forbids the event roster entirely. If that achievement is your goal, Astra and Estelle are the two placements that matter most: both are in the standard nine and both are referenced in the endgame systems. Pacts and shard effects are covered on the Heroic and shards page.
Quick answers
Who is the best character in Emberward? For most players, Tana — her buffs keep scaling, so she is the pick you will not outgrow, and she is the deepest endless choice. For pure economy play the answer is Silas. If your runs keep dying to bad routes rather than bad damage, Chunk is the fix.
Are the special event characters better than the nine? They are gated behind a full-game clear and excluded from Emberwarder, so they never change a standard plan. Compare them only after you finish the game.
What is the single best relic? There is not one — relics are commitments. The Scrap Master set is the best answer when you run Scrap; economy relics are the safest first pick because every run buys things.
How often does this list change? After balance patches. The patch history tracks what moved; the date on this page shows when it was last re-checked.