The newest version update for Reverse: 1999, Version 1.5, is taking us to the arid sands of Australia for the Revival of the Uluru Games. Along with a new event, this update also introduces four new playable characters, one of whom is the strange and adorable living flame, Ulu. As her appearance suggests, Ulu is a unit that supports the new [Burn] debuff, and she plays a big part in the Revival of the Uluru Games main event quest. Alongside Spathodea, Ulu is the other side of the [Burn] coin in Version 1.5, serving as Reverse: 1999’s only dedicated [Burn] support, at least as of right now. While she is very, very niche, her debuff application is really consistent and she can expand the utility of the [Burn] debuff beyond its normal means.
Here’s how to build Ulu, the latest 5-star Mineral support, in Reverse: 1999 Version 1.5. This guide will include a look at her kit and how you should be using Ulu in combat, what kind of Psycubes and stats she needs to be effective, and what team compositions she works well in.
If you’re looking for more Reverse: 1999 content, including several other build guides, then you can find it here on KeenGamer:
- Reverse: 1999 Spathodea Build Guide
- Reverse: 1999 Tooth Fairy Build Guide
- Reverse: 1999 In The Storm Trail Riddle Guide
- Reverse: 1999 Fish and Chips Trail Riddle Guide
- Reverse: 1999 Unexpected Audience Trail Riddle Guide
Revival of the Uluru Games
Ulu Role and Kit Overview
Before we go any further, let’s first take a look at Ulu’s role and playstyle in Reverse: 1999, alongside her Skills and Insight Passives. Ulu is a 5-star Mineral unit with the role classifications of Support, DPS, and Burn. Of those three, the two most important are the Burn and Support tags as that’s exactly what she is: a dedicated support for the new [Burn] debuff, which was just added in 1.5.
[Burn] is an interesting debuff. Firstly, it’s a stacking debuff, with all stacks being considered as a single [Negative Status]. Secondly, [Burn] reduces Healing Taken by -15% and it deals Genesis DMG equal to the holder’s ATK x4% at the end of a round. Finally, and a bit of a bummer, is that [Burn] stacks will decay after dealing damage, losing 50% of its stacks each time damage is triggered.
As for how Ulu fits into [Burn], she’s a dedicated support who excels in spreading [Burn] to multiple targets and in increasing its utility. However, there are more than a few road bumps for both Ulu and the [Burn] playstyle, the least concerning of which is that [Burn] currently only has two dedicated units – Ulu and Spathodea – with Ulu’s own shortcomings coming into clear focus as you build her.
A Living Flame
Skill 1: Opening Ceremony
Ulu’s first Skill is Opening Ceremony, a single-target attacking ability. When cast, this attack will deal Mental DMG to 1-target, with the attack gaining an increased Penetration Rate if the target is currently afflicted with [Burn]. For the unaware, Penetration Rate is the stat which determines how much a character will ignore Mental and Reality DEF when dealing damage, allowing the unit to output more overall damage.
At higher Incantation levels, Opening Cermony’s Mental DMG and Penetration Rate increase with each star rank:
- Opening Ceremony, Lv. 1: Deals 160% Mental DMG, with +25% increased Penetration Rate against targets afflicted with [Burn].
- Opening Ceremony, Lv. 2: Deals 240% Mental DMG, with +30% increased Penetration Rate against targets afflicted with [Burn]
- Opening Ceremony, Lv. 3: Deals 400% Mental DMG, with +35% increased Penetration Rate against targets afflicted with [Burn]
Opening Ceremony is, unfortunately, one of Ulu’s worst abilities because it simply doesn’t align with her overall playstyle or role in combat. Ulu isn’t a damage-dealing unit, she exists to support a very niche playstyle for [Burn] DPS character (which, as of 1.5, there is only one in Spathodea) so having a damage-focused Skill with increased Penetration does very little. Sure, you’re always likely to benefit from that increased Penetration Rate as Ulu has superb [Burn] application per round but the overall damage and the lack of synergy with her main role make this a pretty wasted Incantation in the grand scope of things.
Attack Skill: Opening Ceremony
Skill 2: Beating Heart
Ulu’s second major Skill, Beating Heart, is where things get a lot more interesting. This mass-attack Debuff ability will strike two random targets on the field, dealing Mental DMG to both while also afflicting them with several stacks of [Burn].
At higher Incantation ranks, Beating Heart’s Mental DMG will increase and it will afflict the targets with increased amounts of [Burn] stacks:
- Beating Heart, Lv. 1: Deals 120% Mental DMG to 2 targets and inflicts 1 stack of [Burn].
- Beating Heart, Lv. 2: Deals 180% Mental DMG to 2 targets and inflicts 2 stacks of [Burn].
- Beating Heart, Lv. 3: Deals 300% Mental DMG to 2 targets and inflicts 3 stacks of [Burn].
Beating Heart is, humorously, the core of Ulu’s entire kit and the best thing she has to offer. While the damage is nothing to ride home about, the wide [Burn] application is great and weaves wonderfully into her main role as a support for [Burn] DPS characters. When paired with her final Insight passive, Ulu has the potential to afflict multiple targets with upwards of 6 [Burn] stacks per round. This is not only excellent for spreading the effects of [Burn] itself but also for giving her main damage dealer more targets to work with for their unique abilities.
Debuff Skill: Beating Heart
Ultimate: Indomitable Fire, Scorching Heat
The final major ability Ulu has access to in Reverse 1999 is her Ultimate, Indomitable Fire, Scorching Heat. This is a mass-buff ability which increases all allies’ DMG Dealt by +15% and reduces their DMG Taken -15% for 3 rounds. Additionally, the potency of the DMG Dealt effect will be doubled to +30% when the [Burn] stacks on targets meet or exceed a total of 15.
As a part of Ulu’s kit, Indomitable Fire, Scorching Heat is a nice bonus which allows her to fulfil her support capabilities more efficiently. The buffs, while nothing crazy, are good enough to be noticeable and your main DPS will thank you for it. Furthermore, between all of Ulu’s Beating Heart and Insight Passives, reaching 15 or more stacks shouldn’t be an issue, especially if you run her with her intended main DPS, ensuring that you’ll almost always have that bonus damage ready.
Although, when looked at in the context of other supporters in Reverse: 1999, things quickly come undone. Ulu’s Ultimate buffs are quickly outclassed by even the most basic Skills from F2P units like Sonnetto. This really limits Ulu’s potential in teams not centred around [Burn], pigeon-holing her even further into that style of play. As it stands, Ulu’s Ultimate is a serviceable part of her kit which will meaningfully improve your gameplay experience but don’t expect to be blown away by it like you might be with other supports: it simply exists as a bonus to her main role of crazy [Burn] application.
Ultimate: Indomitable Fire, Scorching Heat
Inheritance Passive: Fire Worship
Finally, let’s go over Ulu’s Insight Passive, Fire Worship, and its various effects. Once you reach Insight 1 with Ulu, the first part of Fire Worship allows Ulu to recover 8% of all allies’ Lost HP each round after she attacks an enemy in the [Burn] status. While this Insight does little to make Ulu a main healer, it will be effective in keeping her, as well as her squishier main DPS, alive for longer while providing more utility to the [Burn] status as a whole.
Secondly, at Insight Level 2, Fire Worship will reduce Ulu’s DMG Taken by 8% after she enters battle. One of Ulu’s greatest shortcomings is her relatively low health, making this a very helpful boost to her defences.
Lastly, once you unlock Ulu’s Insight Level 3, Fire Worship will inflict 3 stacks of [Burn] to all enemy targets at the start of each round. This Insight Passive is where Ulu’s might and magic really come from as it allows her to passive generate [Burn] stacks without needing to spend any AP, letting you sidestep RNG somewhat and ensure that, at the very least, you’ll be building up [Burn] each round: once this effect is unlocked, it will be virtually impossible for enemies to escape being [Burned].
Overall, Ulu’s Insights is a bit of a mixed bag aimed at mainly raising her consistency and survivability while attempting to flesh out her utility. While the [Burn] healing and DMG Taken reduction are nice at reducing her squishiness, her Insight 3 is really the hot ticket item you’ll want to obtain if you plan on using Ulu with Spathodea. Without it, her [Burn] application rate does slow considerably.
Fire Worship, Ulu’s Inheritance
How to Play Ulu
When it comes to playing Ulu, your main goal is to simply spread as many [Burn] stacks as possible. Her two main ways of accomplishing this are going to be Beating Heart, which has a maximum [Burn] potential of 3 stacks onto two separate targets, and Fire Worship’s Level 3 passive, which will passively apply [Burn] at the start of combat. Unfortunately, Opening Ceremony will do very little for you or your team aside from generating Moxie for Ulu’s Ultimate, making it a wasted Skill in comparison to Beating Heart.
Ulu is a very interesting and polarising unit in Reverse: 1999. Getting the bad out of the way first, she’s incredibly niche and, even within that niche, she isn’t very powerful. So much of her kit revolves around [Burn] – whether that’s inflicting [Burn] or exploiting it for healing and buffs – that it traps her into a very small pool of available teams. What’s worse is that her damage is very low, meaning that she thrives as only a very niche supporter, one who, as of 1.5, can only realistically support a single unit, which is Spathodea.
Of course, if you happen to have Spathodea, Ulu is one of your best supports as of right now because she alleviates a lot of the burden when it comes to applying [Burn] stacks. If Ulu is good at one thing it’s applying [Burn] at a steady, consistent rate to multiple targets, something Spathodea cannot accomplish readily. Additionally, Ulu adds extra utility like healing to all [Burn] stacks, even ones she didn’t inflict, increasing her support potential considerably.
In short, Ulu is very strange and, if you don’t plan on pulling Spathodea, there’s very little reason to build her. Furthermore, she’ll soon be completely outclassed as a [Burn] support by a future 6-star, Isolde in Version 1.7, who even excels in non-[Burn] teams. As such, while Ulu is perfectly serviceable in the meantime and you should realistically try and build her if you enjoy playing around with [Burn] and Spathodea, prepare to bench her in the near future if you really want to take that playstyle to new heights. However, for right now, Ulu is a good, if very limited and very niche, supporter for one of Reverse: 1999’s strongest burst DPS.
Ever Burning Flame
Ulu Portraits (Duplicates)
Whenever you happen to pull a duplicate character in Reverse: 1999, no matter that character’s rarity, you will gain their associated Artifice. You can then spend this Artifice to unlock their Portraits, especially buffs and bonuses to the associated character’s kit which will make them stronger and more effective in battle. As of 1.5, Ulu – and the Artifice of Ulu required to unlock her Portraits – will only be available on Spathodea’s Summoning Banner during Phase 1. Once we reach Version 1.8, Ulu will join the standard 5-star pool of characters.
- Opening Ceremony: At Incantation rank 1/2/3, Mental DMG increased to 180/270/450%.
- Opening Ceremony: At Incantation rank 1/2/3, Penetration Rate increased to 30/35/40%.
- Beating Heart: At Incantation rank 1/2/3, Mental DMG increased to 140/210/350%.
- Fire Worship: HP recovery increased to 10% LLost HP for all allies.
- Indomitable Fire, Scorching Heat: DMG Dealt increased to +20% for all allies.
When it comes to which of Ulu’s Portraits is the best, everything from P3 to P5 is a meaningful boost to her playstyle and kit. Her first two Portraits only benefit her Opening Ceremony ability which, as we’ve already discussed, is easily the weakest part of her kit. Meanwhile, her P4 makes her [Burn] healing a bit more effective whereas her P5 makes her Ultimate’s DMG Dealt buff far more impactful, especially if you’re able to double it for a +40% bonus.
Ulu’s Portraits
Ulu’s Best Psycubes in Reverse 1999
Choosing Ulu’s Psycube is a difficult affair because she doesn’t really fit into many of the existing role categories. As a support built around accommodating a single debuff, DMG-enhancing Psycubes won’t provide a ton of value for Ulu. Instead, the only other route to take is to increase her healing capabilities. To that effect, we recommend running either Her Second Life or That Inquisitive Dear on Ulu. Both of these 6-star Psycubes are available to purchase from the Fragment Shop for 210 Thoughts in Entirety.
- That Inquisitive Dear: 360 ATK / 2600 HP / 180 Reality DEF / 160 Mental DEF | When the carrier casts a basic Incantation debuff, HP + (the carrier’s ATK x48%) for the ally with the lowest HP percentage. This effect can only trigger once per round.
- Her Second Life: 350 ATK / 2800 HP / 120 Reality DEF / 220 Mental DEF | After the carrier casts a mass Ultimate, HP + (the carrier’s ATK x23%) for all allies.
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- That Inquisitive Dear
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- Her Second Life
No matter which Psycube you choose, Ulu will gain the ability to heal outside of [Burn], giving her a bit more utility and allowing you to run another support alongside your main DPS instead of having to resort to a healer. The main difference between the two effects is how often you’ll feel their effects. The healing from Her Second Life is teamwide with the downside of it only triggering on Ulu’s Ultimate, whereas Inquisitive Dear’s healing activates every time Ulu casts Beating Heart. Between the two, Inquisitive Deer is likely the stronger Psycube, especially with its Healing Done bonus substat.
Alternatively, if turning Ulu into a sub-healer isn’t to your liking, there’s also the 5-star Psycube A Free Heart. This Psycube increases its carrier’s HP while also reducing their DMG Taken if they are attacked while below 50% HP. Ulu is quite squishy and, if she gets taken out early, her passive [Burn] generation goes with her, making her survival a top priority if you want to ensure battles go as smoothly as possible.
A Free Heart
Ulu’s Most Important Stats
- HP
- ATK
- Mental DEF / Reality DEF
At baseline, Ulu is incredibly squishy and fragile. To counter this, you’ll want to run a decent amount of HP Resonance buffs to add to her lower overall health pool. The more defensive and tanky you can make Ulu the better as you need her alive to keep spawning [Burn] stacks. Furthermore, throwing in some DEF stats – Reality and Mental – will be very appreciated as you can help Ulu protect against some pretty nasty blows.
Lastly, while it’s true that Ulu won’t be dealing much damage, she will need a decent amount of ATK if you plan on running her with a healing Psycube like Her Second Life or That Inquisitive Dear. The healing effects from both of these Psycubes rely on ATK to be the big driving force of the healing so having high ATK is vital for making Ulu work as a pseudo-healer.
Flammy’s Dream
Ulu’s Best Team Compositions
Spathodea
As of 1.5, Ulu is in a really tricky spot when it comes to teammates because of her exclusive focus on [Burn]. Fortunately, as we’ve alluded to several times in this article, she has a stalwart companion in the form of Spathodea, the first new 6-star of Reverse 1999 Version 1.5. Spathodea belongs to the Beast Afflatus and she’s a damage-dealing machine capable of some of the highest single-target burst damage in the entire game.
Spathodea’s main gimmick is that she’s able to increase her own Critical Rate and Critical DMG stats to inflict massive damage with her Ultimate. However, to get those buffs, she needs to stack a bunch of [Burn] onto her targets. This is why Ulu and Spathodea is such a good pairing. On her own, Spathodea needs near-perfect rotations in order to generate enough [Burn] stacks to properly hit her damage bonuses; meanwhile, with Ulu by her side, that requirement becomes a lot less stressful thanks to Ulu’s passive [Burn] generation, allowing you to play Spathodea with a calmer, clearer mindset.
Additionally, Ulu’s [Burn] healing will trigger on any of Spathodea’s [Burn] stacks (which she can generate via her Preignition buff) for extra survivability and her Ultimate’s DMG Dealt bonus can help Spathodea’s damage ascend even further. While it’s true that Spathodea’s best in slot support will change to Isolde in a later version, Ulu is one of her best pairings right now and you should consider using them together if Spathodea’s deliberate burst playstyle is to your liking.
If you’d like to learn how to properly build Spathodea in Reverse: 1999, then you can find more information in our Spathodea build guide here on KeenGamer.
Fiery Burst DPS Spathodea
Other Team Members
Unfortunately, Spathodea is Ulu’s only real synergistic pick when it comes to teammates. Because Ulu is just focused on [Burn] and basically nothing else, she doesn’t provide a lot for main DPS units who aren’t named Spathodea.
One unit that Ulu could work with is Jessica, a [Poison] focused DPS who arrived in Version 1.2. [Burn] and [Poison] are two forms of DoT which deal Genesis DMG at the end of a round, so pairing them together allows you to deal multiple instances of damage. Furthermore, Jessica’s Good Friends Skill will deal more Reality DMG if the target is in a [Neg Status]. [Burn] is a [Negative Status] and Ulu’s Insight 3 will ensure that Jessica is always able to deal that bonus damage. While she isn’t Ulu’s best partner, Jessica and our fiery little friend can certainly work together if you have them.
Poison DPS Jessica
That was how to build Ulu in Reverse: 1999.
