How to Play Umbral — TFT Set 11: Inkborn Fables
Welcome to our TFT trait guide series, where I’ll be covering the Umbral trait and how to play it.
Set 11 is releasing very soon, and there’s a whole new roster of traits to cover. The Umbral trait combines a lot of aspects from previous traits we’ve seen, like highlighted hexes and execute mechanics.
I’ll be covering how Umbral works, cover each champion, and go through some potential team comps.
Let’s get right into the guide.
If you haven’t checked out all of the Set 11 information yet, check out out Set 11 Reveal Page!
How Umbral Works
Umbral Trait Bonus
The moon illuminates hexes, Shielding units placed in them at the start of combat. Umbral units in illuminated hexes execute low Health enemies.
- (2) 200 Shield; 10% Health execute
- (4) 450 Shield; 18% Health execute
- (6) 900 Shield and illuminate the whole board; 25% Health execute
- (8) Executed enemies have a 100% chance to drop loot; 60% Health execute
Champions: Darius (1), Yorick (2), Alune (3), Yone (3), Sylas (4), Sett (5)
The Umbral trait is similar to K/DA from Set 10 with how certain Hexes light up. Placing units on these hexes will grant a shield, with Umbral units also gaining an execute bonus.
When you activate Umbral (2), you’ll illuminate 6 Hexes on the board. (A moon shape on the right or left) With Umbral (4), 3 additional Hexes will illuminate on the opposite side. Lastly, at (6) Umbral, the entire board will illuminate.
You can check these images to see the two layouts. The larger group illuminates at (2) and the other 3 hexes at (4).
Umbral Synergy
Here’s a list of the traits you can branch into from the Umbral units:
- Duelist (Darius)
- Behemoth (Yorick)
- Invoker (Alune)
- Reaper (Yone)
- Bruiser (Sylas)
- Fated (Sett)
- Warden (Sett)
There are 6 units in the Umbral trait, and unfortunately, none of them have an overlapping Class Trait. If we look at damage types, 4/6 Umbral units deal magic damage with their abilities (Darius, Yorick, Alune, Sylas). The other two (Yone/Sett) deal Physical damage.
As it stands, you can definitely play Umbral comps focusing on either AP or AD. AP carrys like Sylas and Alune pair nicely, while Yone can become an AD carry with an Umbral supporting cast.
Umbral Champions
Let’s briefly go over each Champion in the Umbral trait and what you can do with them. To check the updated stats and ability values, be sure to check each Champion Page.
Darius (1) — Umbral + Duelist
[Link to Champion Page]
Darius is the first Umbral unit of the trait, and he is a Duelist, but deals magic damage with his ability. Because of this, he does synergize with the AP theme of Umbral. However, he is still just a 1-cost unit, meaning he likely won’t make late game team comps unless you can hit Umbral (6) or (8).
There is some potential for Darius to be a reroll carry along with Yasuo, another 1-cost Duelist. Yasuo synergizes with Shields, which is something the Umbral trait provides, making for a strong early pair.
Yorick (2) — Umbral + Behemoth
[Link to Champion Page]
Yorick is a simple frontline tank that gains Health and deals some magic damage with his ability. His Behemoth trait doesn’t pair with Sylas, but you can always use him alongside any Behemoth for a makeshift frontline. Even still, there are some notable Behemoths you can try pairing with Umbral teams.
Thresh is a 3-Cost Behemoth/Fated which will pair with Yorick and Yasuo if you plan to go for a Darius/Yasuo reroll comp. This will give you Behemoth (2) and Fated (2/3) with these four units.
Udyr is a 5-Cost Behemoth/Inkshadow who can be a strong late game carry if you 2-star him. Malphite is a Behemoth/Heavenly which doesn’t particularly synergize, but he is a low cost unit you can use early game.
Alune (3) — Umbral + Invoker
[Link to Champion Page]
Alune is a 3-cost support/damage unit as her ability provides buffs to your team while also debuffing enemies. The debuff applies Sunder, reducing the Magic Resist of enemies. This is a strong effect as most of the Umbral units deal magic damage.
Her ability also buffs allies in the same row as her. However, this buff can be difficult to utilize as the Umbral trait makes you position in a certain way.
Even still, for backline units, you can choose to omit the Umbral Hex in favor of Alune’s Attack Speed buff. You still will want Alune to be on the Umbral Hex, though, as it will give her an execute ability.
Lastly, her Invoker trait pairs with a unit like Lillia, a 4-Cost Mythic/Invoker. This is because Tahm Kench is a 3-Cost Mythic/Bruiser. These 4 units will give you Umbral (2), Mythic (2/3), and Invoker (2).
Yone (3) — Umbral + Reaper
[Link to Champion Page]
As previously mentioned, Yone doesn’t particularly synergize with the Umbral trait which is largely a magic damage trait. However, his ability is one of the few in the set that gives him backline access, making him a potential reroll carry.
In a Yone carry comp, you can look to play many Umbral units and try to splash in Reaper to buff up Yone further. Since the Umbral trait provides survivability, Yone can decimate the enemy team while the other units tank.
Sylas (4) — Umbral + Bruiser
[Link to Champion Page]
Sylas is the only 4-Cost Umbral, and he can be the main carry for the trait. His Bruiser trait makes him tanky, but his ability deals damage and provides healing, which can be powerful.
It’s very possible that Sylas becomes the main carry for a Bruiser/Umbral comp, with consistent and slow damage. These comps rely on their tankiness to whittle down enemies.
Sett (5) — Umbral + Fated + Warden
[Link to Champion Page]
Lastly, we have Sett, who can slowly become a monster if you find him early in the game. As he squats allies with his ability, he will gain permanent Attack Damage based on their Health. This means Sett will synergize with Bruiser comps as they naturally have high Health.
Sett deals physical damage with his ability, but he’s a strong 5-cost unit that can hold extra AD/tank items. His Fated trait also pairs with Thresh/Yasuo who we talked about previously.
This makes him synergize with Sylas comps and potential Darius/Yasuo reroll comps. He’ll likely be a decent unit in Yone comps as well due to his 5-cost strength, but he may not be a priority.
Umbral Best Augments
For this section, I’ll be covering some Augments that particularly synergize with the trait. Lots of Augments are universal, like economy based Augments or item Augments, but I’ll try to cover particular synergies to look out for.
You can check out the full list of Augments here.
Wrath of the Moon
Umbral champions deal 2% more damage every second they attack the same enemy. Resets when they swap targets. Gain a Darius and a Yorick.
This Umbral Augment is interesting, as it doesn’t particularly synergize with the Umbral trait thematically. However, if we look at Sylas as the main carry for the trait, the Augment makes some more sense.
Since Sylas is a Bruiser carry, he isn’t bursting down enemies like other carries. As such, this ramping damage can be very strong to take down tanky enemies that Sylas might struggle with.
There’s also potential anti-synergy with this Augment as well. Sett’s ability will pull the target away, meaning that your units might retarget, dropping the buff from this Augment.
Even still, overall, this Augment is likely quite good for Umbral comps, especially if you’re struggling to take down enemy tanks.
Umbral Crest
Gain an Umbral Emblem and a Yorick
Since the Umbral trait doesn’t have a ton of overlap, having Emblems will be great to reach higher tiers. This way, you can still run strong units and activate other traits while hitting 6 or more Umbral units.
You can build the Umbral Emblem as well, but having one from your Augment is a nice bonus if you commit to playing Umbral.
Midnight Siphon
Gain a Yorick. Your Strongest Yorick gains 25% max Health and additionally deals 25% of his max Health with his ability.
This Augment is basically a “Hero Augment.” This was a mechanic in Set 8 where Augments buffed up a particular unit, allowing you to build them as a carry when you generally wouldn’t be able to.
This Augment buffs up Yorick tremendously, giving him the strength to become your main carry.
Big Gains
Your team gains 80 bonus Health, and permanently gains 10 Health every 2 takedowns.
If you’re planning to play around Sylas and the Bruiser trait, you can look for Augments that provide additional Health. This Health will be scaled by the Bruiser trait, allowing you to make your team even tankier.
There are plenty of other Augments that provide additional Health, this is simply one example.
Keep in mind that stacking a ton of Health is nice, but isn’t the only thing you want to focus on. Mixing other defensive layers like Armor/MR will also be important. And of course, having sufficient offense for your team is important as well.
Harmacist
Your units heal for 15% of the damage they deal, and they convert 75% of excess healing to magic damage on their next attack.
When you have a melee carry like Sylas or Yone, having some form of Omnivamp (healing based on damage dealt) is nice to have. This will help them survive for longer and avoid being bursted down.
Heavy Hitters
Your units with at least 1600 maximum Health gain Attack Damage and Ability Power equal to 2% of their maximum Health.
This Augment can be a strong choice if you’re playing around Bruiser and Sylas. This will help you convert some of your tank stats to offense.
With (6) Bruiser in, you can gain a ton of extra Health on your team, which will then convert to some nice AD/AP for the team.
Umbral Team Comps
With the meta settled for the most part, here are some of the standout Umbral comps.
As the player base plays more and more games, stronger meta comps will definitely rise up or old comps may be nerfed. Be sure to stay up to date on the current meta at our TFT Team Comp Tier List.
Umbral Yorick Reroll
[Link to Full Guide]
This team comp utilizes the Midnight Siphon Augment mentioned above to build around Yorick as the main carry. Since this comp utilizes a specific Augment, you won’t be able to force this comp every game.
However, when you do find the Augment, you likely will be able to play toward this comp as your units are generally uncontested in the current meta.
The Augment buffs up Yorick, so we simply reroll for Yorick 3 star. After that you can push levels to add more Umbral/Behemoth units to further buff up Yorick.
Vertical Umbral Yone/Alune
[Link to Full Guide]
For this comp, we have a vertical Umbral comp that has Alune and Yone as the main carrys. Yone with Reaper will shred through enemy teams, while Alune will deal damage from the backline.
The 6 Umbral trait gives you more flexibility when positioning, since the entire board will illuminate.
For the extra two slots, we have Lillia for Invoker, but this could also be Azir or any other Invoker. Kayn is also the strongest Reaper other than Yone, so he is a natural inclusion.
Sylas Sage
[Link to Full Guide]
This comp doesn’t actually use the Umbral trait, but it uses Sylas as one of the main carrys. Instead of Umbral, this comp goes deep into the Sage trait to grant a lot of bonus AP to the backline units.
With an Emblem, you can easily get Umbral (2) for some extra Shield on your units, as well as an execute on Sylas.
Thanks for reading! Be sure to check out our meta team comps page, or head to our Team Builder to try and come up with your own comps.
