Ember does have the potential to be good. It’s not quite perfect, but it feels so close that it could be with a few tweaks that will flip the heat mechanic on its head. With just a simple change there can be dramatic effects: Have heat slowly drain over time instead of accumulating and have players use her abilities to keep her heat up.
Even if they kept the drain on Fire Blast as an extra cost for the armor strip, I could see that being fair trade. But the most frustrating thing is the penalty for max heat. It feels like something you should be rewarded for working towards and keeping up, rather than penalized for reaching and having to “fix” it.
Ember actually can kill higher level enemies now but at the same time like you say her kit just doesn’t feel right. But the heat meter and the new ult you actually have to do something now instead of just turning on “World on fire” and running around, but the increased energy drain from your Immolation at max heat kinda doesn’t make sense.
Another Ember Rework Please
Ember’s rework is a step in the right direction but definitely doesn’t work quite as intended. By making the punishment incurred on her Immolation and Fire blast a bit less harsh, a lot of the problems with her kit would be fixed. If Immolation’s energy drain didn’t scale up as far, and Fire Blast reduced her heat gauge by a bit less. But also reduced the rate at which heat is gained further, you’d be able to dance around 90% a bit more effectively. And stay in 90% with a little less punishment when needed.
Being rewarded a bit more for casting her Fire blast would make a big difference in terms of her gameplay. While on paper, her kit has more applications now. It somehow feels like a step back from old Ember. Old Ember while by no means is a good DPS frame but the newly reworked Ember is like a confusing mess of a frame that has a counter-intuitive play style and is still outclassed in every aspect of her gameplay.