Thoughts are fleeting, but Diamonds are forever.
Can take whatever you throw at her.
Slaps harder than anyone - in the most literal sense.
Stands in circles and doesn't afraid of anything.
Makes allies tougher when she uses her signature.
Almost makes Excalibur worth taking.
Is not actually British, don't believe her lies.
Is originally from Boston. Can you imagine?
She knows you read that.
You didn't read that.
Extremely durable.
Fights in caltrops.
Surprising Damage.
Slaps.
That Fit, tho.
We're all thinking it. Emma's signature means a mental build is always going to be miles stronger. Right? Well, yes, but also no. With hardened armor, every 1,000 Defense rating is 3% more base damage for her Diamond Melee, and this hybrid Diamond Tank has high enough defense rating that all her melee attacks deal 135% more damage. This makes the base damage of her slaps worth more than an eighth of her signature, which is quite a lot considering their charges, low cooldown, and execution scaling. With 28% Extra Area Damage reduction, this build also very face-tanky, and Bulwark of Muspelheim will add 1% more base damage per stack. Haven't you ever wanted to just slap Surtur in the face? Be the change you want to see in the world.
Emma's signature cooldown will be reduced by 2 seconds whenever you Astral Whip or Show Off, and they each have an eight second cooldown. This means if they're off cooldown once you fire off her signature, you can get them off twice in 8 seconds, shaving a total of 8 seconds off. By the time they come around again, the 16 second mark, using them again will bring the cooldown down another 4 to 2, and it should be off cooldown. A 17-ish second signature is pretty quick, you can reasonably add some dashes and mistakes in there and it'll still be 20 seconds. Always keep Astral Whip, Show Off, and Diamond-Bladed Spin Kick up, which should trigger Sinister's Diamond and Sabretooth's mane, and her slaps will NOT be weak.
This build is themed around the Sins of Sinister storyline, where Mr. Sinister implanted his consciousness into the resurrected X-Men — but the plan backfired. Each host became an independent version of Sinister with their own personality intact. Emma didn't become Sinister's puppet. She became Sinister's upgrade.
The red diamond isn't merely cosmetic. It's a design philosophy. Sinister's Diamond artifact, Fragment of Twilight, and Sabretooth's Mane all lean into the Defense as offense schtick. Tougher is stronger.
Defense rating as a damage boost is the best use of a terrible stat that the game throws you a ton of. Emma doesn't compromise. She doesn't choose between being durable and hitting hard. She does both. The Telepathic Illusion holds aggro so she doesn't have to. She's not tanking, she has people to do that for her, darling.
Whoso pulleth out this sword... Excalibur is here because this is a defense means more damage build and sometimes you commit to the bit. It's not the optimal legendary. It is, however, the correct one.