Editorial analysis Strategy on this page is editorial: it is our reasoning from verified mechanics, not a measured result. Where a recommendation relies on a specific number, the number links to its source.
1. Rem's gameplay identity
Rem is built around keeping teammates in the fight. None of his four abilities is a reliable way to secure kills on his own. Instead they move enemies away (Pillow Toss), move him to safety while healing (Tag Along), add value elsewhere on the map (Lil Helpers) and hold enemies in place for others to punish (Naptime).
Technically, Tag Along is a targeted heal. In practice it is also your main defensive cooldown, because while you're napping on an ally you can't be targeted or damaged. Much of playing Rem well comes down to knowing when to use it as a heal and when to save it as an escape.
When this framing fails
If your team has no one who can survive at the front, a heal-and-peel plan has nothing to protect. In those games your Helpers and your own farm may matter more than Tag Along does.
2. The early game
Rem's gun, Long Night, holds 13 rounds and has a reduced headshot bonus. It is steady rather than threatening, so in lane your goals are to secure your own souls, keep your lane partner healthy and avoid losing trades you can't win.
Your first ability
Pick your first unlock based on the lane. Against an aggressive opponent who dives, Pillow Toss gives you an immediate answer. If your lane partner is the one taking trades, Tag Along keeps them topped up and gives you both a way out. Lil Helpers early is a farming choice: a Helper on your trooper wave heals it and makes it stronger.
Trading in lane
- Shoot when the enemy steps up to take a last hit. That is when they are least able to answer.
- Hold Pillow Toss for when an opponent commits forward. Every hit takes 5 seconds off Tag Along, so landing it during a trade often makes Tag Along available again by the time you need it.
- Tag Along on your partner after they take a big hit, not before. The burst heal scales with missing health.
When this fails
Against a lane opponent with strong burst who can kill your partner faster than you can heal them, playing for sustain just delays the loss. Back off, keep the wave near your guardian and let your Helper absorb some of the pressure.
3. Using Lil Helpers for map pressure and objectives
A Helper can be sent to break boxes, work a Sinner's Sacrifice machine, buy queued items from a Curiosity Shop, or follow an ally hero or trooper. Each Helper has its own cooldown, so as you upgrade the ability and gain more Helpers, you can run several jobs at once.
Following a trooper
This is the Helper's most useful job for map pressure. The trooper gets a full heal on cast, a steady heal afterwards and a large damage and resist boost. It also becomes a Tag Along target, so a Helper-supported wave is both a push and an escape route back into that lane.
The catch is that the enemy hero who kills that trooper earns 20% more souls. Pushing with Helpers works best in a lane the enemy is not watching, or where your team can follow up. Sending them into a lane held by a strong farmer just hands that player extra souls.
Shopping and economy
Helpers can buy items in your queue from any Curiosity Shop, including the enemy team's, though not base shops, and Rem doesn't need line of sight to the shop. That saves the walk back and lets you spend souls without leaving the fight.
Changed by the September 29, 2026 map update
The map overhaul gave Sinner's Sacrifice variable bonus timings and added Tough Crates that require a heavy melee. We have not yet confirmed how Helpers behave with either, so this guide does not rely on older advice about Helpers always securing the jackpot. If you test it, tell us what you find.
4. Supporting allies with Tag Along
The ability is simple to describe. You jump onto an ally, you both get a burst heal based on missing health, then a short heal-over-time, and you can hop to further allies to heal each of them once. Using it well depends on three choices.
Who to ride
Ride the ally most likely to stay alive and stay in the fight, which is often your frontliner rather than the lowest-health player. If your ally is stunned by an enemy ultimate, you get knocked off, so a teammate already caught in a big ultimate is a risky target.
When to arrive
The burst heal is larger the more health your ally is missing, but the heal-over-time only lands in full if you stay on for its whole duration. Arriving after a big hit and then staying put gets the most out of both.
When to leave
Jumping off early costs a stamina bar and launches you further, which is useful for escaping. Leaving too early cuts the heal-over-time short, though. If your ally is about to die regardless, hop to another ally to reset the nap rather than being left exposed where the first one fell.
While you're napping, your self-cast items target your ally instead of you. Tag Along's second upgrade also boosts item range, item duration and barrier strength while you nap. Together these make targeted support items stronger on Rem. The core items are chosen around this.
When Tag Along goes wrong
- An enemy Slowing Hex on you stops the cast entirely.
- Healing reduction on your target cuts the value of both heals.
- It can't attach to or follow an ally during some movement, such as an express lane ride or Mo & Krill's Burrow.
- You drop the Soul Urn when you cast it.
5. When Pillow Toss is useful for disengaging or disrupting
On paper, Pillow Toss is a damage ability with knockback. In practice the damage is the least important part. It has three jobs:
- Peel. Knock a diver off your carry. The slow it leaves behind fades over a few seconds, which gives your ally time to turn around or walk away.
- Disengage. When someone dives you and Tag Along isn't available, the knockback buys the distance you need.
- Cooldown engine. Every hit takes 5 seconds off Tag Along and Naptime, and hits on any unit count. In a long fight, throwing it on cooldown at something speeds up your whole kit.
The second upgrade adds radius and a fire-rate debuff, which helps against gun-focused divers. The third adds a second charge, so you can keep one ready for peel while using the other for cooldowns.
When this fails
Knockback can work against your team. Pushing an enemy who is low on health out of your carry's range can save their life. Throw it to protect your allies, not just because it's off cooldown.
6. How to approach Naptime and coordinate with teammates
Naptime is a 1.9-second channel that projects a gaze through walls and floors. Enemies in it are slowed, dash shorter and can't use movement abilities. When the channel ends they fall asleep, and on waking they take heavy spirit damage. Sleep breaks early once a target takes enough damage, though damage to barriers doesn't count.
Make it a team call
Tell your team what you're planning before you start the channel. Without that, teammates spread damage across everyone and wake them up too early. With it, your team can either burst one priority target together or wait for the wake-up damage and fight from there.
Where to cast
Enclosed spaces where enemies can't spread out are ideal. The gaze passes through walls, so you can channel from behind cover in a corridor or the floor below a fight.
Protecting the channel
Until the third upgrade, the channel can be interrupted. If it is, you get half the cooldown back. The third upgrade adds unstoppable and damage reduction while channeling, and cuts the cooldown by 55 seconds. Given the 200-second base cooldown, many players will want that upgrade as soon as it's affordable.
When Naptime fails
- Enemies with Indomitable can't be disabled by it, and Unstoppable suppresses it.
- Debuff resist shortens the sleep.
- An enemy's Reactive Barrier triggers on it, adding a barrier your team must break first.
7. Positioning and survival
Rem's safety depends on the 23-metre radius around his teammates. Inside it, Tag Along is an escape. Outside it, your only defensive tool is a knockback, plus whatever items you've bought.
- Stand behind or beside the teammate you plan to ride, with cover between you and the enemy's damage dealers.
- Keep an eye on stamina. Jumping off Tag Along early costs a bar, and you may need it for the next dodge.
- When Tag Along is on cooldown, you're at your most vulnerable. Step back until it returns, or land a Pillow Toss to bring it back sooner.
- Vent travel is a strong way to rotate between areas, but it doesn't work in combat, so it won't get you out of a fight you're already in.
8. Common beginner mistakes
- Riding an ally who is about to die. You gain a few seconds of safety, then you're alone in the middle of the enemy team.
- Leaving Helpers idle. A Helper that isn't doing anything is wasted value.
- Using Naptime as a solo combo. Without follow-up, sleeping enemies wake up, take the wake-up damage and fight back with full cooldowns.
- Using Pillow Toss for damage only. Throwing it at a far target while a diver is on your carry wastes your best peel.
- Carrying the Soul Urn and then casting Tag Along. You drop the Urn.
- Pushing every lane with Helpers. Helper troopers are worth more to the enemy, so careless pushing can fund their best farmer.
9. Adapting to different team compositions
Your team
- With a durable frontliner: ride them into fights, and use Pillow Toss on anyone who turns around to chase your backline.
- With a fragile carry: stay near them and keep Tag Along for when they get dived. Buy single-target saves (see the team-dependent items).
- With a team that groups tightly: group heals such as Healing Nova and auras such as Heroic Aura become more valuable.
- With a team that splits up: lean on Helpers for map coverage and accept that Tag Along will often be out of range.
The enemy team
- Lots of crowd control: debuff resist on you, and consider holding Tag Along until the crowd control has been used.
- Anti-heal buyers: your heals are weaker. Lean on peel, Naptime and barrier items rather than healing items. See dealing with anti-heal.
- Mobile divers: keep Pillow Toss ready for them rather than using it for cooldowns.
10. Practice checklist
Work through these in practice games or low-stakes matches. Focus on one or two at a time.
- Stay within 23 m of at least one teammate for a full match.
- Send a Helper out every time one is ready.
- Land Pillow Toss on a diver who is on top of an ally, rather than on the closest target.
- Arrive with Tag Along after your ally takes a big hit, and stay for the whole heal-over-time.
- Hop to a second ally before your first target dies.
- Call Naptime in voice or chat before channeling, every time.
- Channel Naptime from behind a wall at least once per match.
- Queue items, then have a Helper buy them while you stay in the fight.
- Check the enemy items for Slowing Hex, anti-heal and debuff resist before each big fight.