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[Guide] Ashe - The Team Queen

 
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Eledhan ?? Senior Member
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12-09-2010

Contents
-Patch Notes
-Changelog
-Introduction
-Pregame Options
-Skill Order
-Itemization
-Strategies and Tactics
-Closing

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Patch Notes
v1.0.0.135
Guide up to date as of this patch
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Changelog
3/13/12
Guide overhaul still in process. All that's left is to finish the Strategy & Tactics section, but most players will understand the basics of supporting. I'll post the update for that section soon! I’m re-writing the guide to show people who are interested in a less-popular way to play Ashe...as a Support.
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Introduction
Ashe is one of the greatest champions in the game, simply because her ultimate is THE greatest ability in the game. Only Karthus’ ult comes close to competing with an Ashe Arrow for the top spot. Because of this, I’m writing this guide to show people how to play Ashe as a support champion.

I know this is quite unorthodox, but it’s lots of fun shooting Arrows all over the map all the time. This guide focuses on this method for playing Ashe instead of the traditional Ranged AD builds. She becomes a MUCH more team-oriented champion late game when compared to other supports. Her ult is better for initiations, and her aoe slows are almost as good as MS buffs from champs like Sona and Janna.

The one place she lacks is sustain. However, she can make up for this with summoner Heal and her free “CV” from Hawkshot. She is best in a harass lane, since her Volley will deal significant damage and opponents will be slowed for her lane mate to pound on them.

I hope you find this guide to be intriguing, and that you enjoy your time with Queen Ashe!
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Runes
Marks – Armor Penetration
Seals – Gold Per 10
Glyphs – Flat Cooldown Reduction
Quints – Gold Per 10

These runes give Ashe more damage on her critical that she’s usually saving up, more damage on Volley, more gold to spend to buy wards and CDR items, and CDR to increase the number of Volleys and Arrows during the early game.
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Masteries
This is a slight tweak to standard support masteries. Since Ashe needs the CDR to optimize her support capabilities, I run some in offense for the CDR masteries. Check out the link below for the details.

http://leaguecraft.com/masteries/030...30031400240031

I prefer this setup because it means you have high CDR early in the game for lower cooldowns on your Arrow. You can always swap around some of the masteries in the utility tree. Like you might prefer the MS over the XP or the Mp5. It doesn’t really matter, as long as you get the CDR, gold, and Heal masteries, you can use the remaining points how you see fit.
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Summoner Spells
I recommend Flash and Heal. Of course, you can always take Heal and any other option between Flash / Ghost / Teleport / CV. I just feel like Flash is useful in more situations than the others.
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Skill Order
This is largely dependent on the game’s circumstances, but in general, I feel like the scaling on Volley is better than the slow at early levels. And since you don’t get lower c/d on Hawkshot, it’s not as useful to level up first since you aren’t going to be getting CS as a support. So, in general, I feel like the best order is as follows...

W - Q - W - E - W - R
Then R > W > Q > E

However, if you find that you need stronger slows, you can always swap W and Q and level up the slow strength first. It’s really up to the player in each game to determine what is more useful. As another note regarding skill order...you might also want to consider taking Hawkshot at an early level in order to have early map vision if your team is going for an early invade.

Main thing to learn here is that there is no “best” order. Each player must pick an appropriate order for each game.
Continued in next post...

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Eledhan ?? Senior Member
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12-09-2010

Continued from previous post...

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Core Items
As a support, you want to start the game off with 2 green wards, 1 pink ward, and 1 health potion along with a Faerie Charm, which will be upgraded into a Philo Stone. And every time you return to base, do NOT purchase anything else until you have purchased a MINIMUM of one Ward

As you continue to amass some gold from your G/10 runes/masteries/items, you should focus on G/10 first and CDR second. Go ahead and get Heart of Gold and Avarice Blade after you get Boots of Speed.

Since you start the game with 15% CDR, you can hold off on additional CDR until you see how the game is going. If you feel like you are not going to achieve the final build at the end of the item section, go ahead and take the CDR boots. Otherwise, take the Boots of Swiftness...since Ashe is...well...the Queen of kiting / chasing!

At this point, your build order should have occurred like this...
WARDS
Faerie Charm
Philosopher’s Stone
Boots of Speed
Heart of Gold
Boots of Swiftness (CDR Boots if you had slow start and need the CDR sooner)
Avarice Blade
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Mid-Late Game Items
At this point, you filled 5 item slots, so you only have room for one more. I recommend grabbing Kindlegem next. If you built Swiftness, your CDR will be at 25%. If you were having a rough game and had to build CDR boots, you will already have 40% CDR, which is a bit of a waste of gold for any other CDR items you purchase.

Kindlegem upgrades into either Shurelia’s Reverie or Zeke’s Herald, both of which help your team immensely. However, I would go for Zeke’s before Shurelia’s because that means you get to keep the G/10 from Philo a bit longer, and you can provide AS and Lifesteal for your AD teammates at a crucial point in the game.

Item Upgrades
Now it’s time to upgrade to the advanced items. Your inventory should look like this...
WARDS
Philo
HoG
Avarice
Swiftness / CDR Boots
Zeke’s Herald

At this point, all you can do is upgrade the G/10 items or sell them. Upgrade Philo > Shurelia’s and HoG > Locket of the Iron Solari. But Avarice Blade upgraded into Youmuu’s puts you WAY over the CDR cap, and you will be wasting gold. Just hold onto it until you get a chance to sell it and purchase one of the following items...
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6th Slot Item
These items are the kind of items you are more likely to find on carries or tanky DPS champions...not on supports. I toss them in here because, if the game goes on long enough, you should be able to afford one of these items and become more than a useless CC robot like most late game support champs become.

Phage
As if your slows weren’t already powerful enough, adding this sucker to your build turns you into an inescapable trap. Obviously, this item will be upgraded into either Trinity Force or Frozen Mallet. If you want more damage, go with TriForce. Your low CD’s on Volley ensure that every time you fire Volley, you can follow it up with a Triforce proc. For more survival and a stronger, more reliable slow, go with Mallet. The slow stacks with Frost Shot, and the extra HP is great for your kiting role.

BF Sword
To turn yourself into a threat late game, replace Avarice Blade with this, and upgrade it into Black Cleaver. Now, when you slow your targets, you will be dropping their armor for your team to clean them up. You will also be dealing some decent damage yourself. BC is the one of the cheaper BF sword upgrades, and you will probably be low on gold, so that’s why it’s recommended.

Recurve Bow
This sends your AS sky high...allowing you to more easily chase / kite opponents with auto attacks. Upgrade this into either Wit’s End or Madred’s Bloodrazor. Wit’s End is the most likely upgrade choice, since it’s much cheaper and allows Ashe to obtain some nice damage and some MR for when she’s auto attacking. MBR is only useful if you get to late game and there is just this monster of a champion with high HP.
Continued in next post...

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Eledhan ?? Senior Member
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12-09-2010

...continued from previous post

Quote:
Strategies and Tactics
Currently, I have not had time to update this portion of the guide. I will go ahead and say that Ashe is similar to playing any other support without a heal/shield (such as Nunu). Just play her in a similar manner that you would a harass Sona lane. I’ll update this section soon...too much updating for one edit!!!
Closing
Man...this guide has been through two MAJOR changes...the first time, I altered so much of the guide that it became this massive collection of builds...This time, it’s morphed into a completely unorthodox method of playing Ashe...as a support. If you enjoyed the guide’s update, I hope you’ll comment and give it a thumbs up! I have really enjoyed working on this guide through all 3 versions, and I hope the readers find it entertaining, if not informative and viable!

Happy Summoning!

Eledhan

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Castorid ?? Junior Member
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12-09-2010

Well thought out and well written. I think you are going to catch a lot of heat for not going with the more accepted "rush IE" build.

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Eledhan ?? Senior Member
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12-09-2010

Quote:
Originally Posted by Castorid View Post
Well thought out and well written. I think you are going to catch a lot of heat for not going with the more accepted "rush IE" build.
Why, thank you!

You would be surprised...I just wish I could have updated my old guide so people could see the concepts presented by those who critiqued it.

The concept of rushing Infinity Edge is great for most carries, but since Ashe can contribute so much to the team by having low cooldowns, this build is designed to do that without the masteries.

Obviously, the core items could be swapped for any other item in the build (such as Infinity Edge) if the player prefers that. This guide is designed to show the most well-rounded build for Ashe, not necessarily every single option. I'll consider adding some alternative build orders in Appendix C.

The reason the build above is what I recommend is because my recommendation is to solo mid as long as possible. Most of your opponents are going to be squishy...armor pen really makes them suffer. Plus, the components of this build are much cheaper, which allows you to build towards your final items instead of always building more Doran's.

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Ornerok ?? Senior Member
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12-09-2010

I agree wit rushing a ghostblade, though i think a SITUATIONAL starting is the long sword to get a faster brute. With a longsword and a hp pot with a confident team, at lvl 6 you can gank a sidelane (or you could net a few kills by going to one if needed) and from then on get a gank off every ~70 seconds. By doing this and being afk for 5mins (i had to do some chores) i end up with kd's like 10-2 with only ghost as i farm my inf. Dorans is for either higher level or harder lanes where you need the health and lifesteal, and cant guarantee lane dominance.

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Eledhan ?? Senior Member
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12-10-2010

Quote:
Originally Posted by Castorid View Post
Well thought out and well written. I think you are going to catch a lot of heat for not going with the more accepted "rush IE" build.
Again, thanks for the compliment...

I've taken your advice to heart and updated the item section to indicate that there is not a SPECIFIC order you should build items in...I've also altered my Early Game section to show what players should buy when they return back to base the first time. The rest is really up to them based on how the game is going, and their personal play style.

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Eledhan ?? Senior Member
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12-10-2010

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ornerok View Post
I agree wit rushing a ghostblade, though i think a SITUATIONAL starting is the long sword to get a faster brute. With a longsword and a hp pot with a confident team, at lvl 6 you can gank a sidelane (or you could net a few kills by going to one if needed) and from then on get a gank off every ~70 seconds. By doing this and being afk for 5mins (i had to do some chores) i end up with kd's like 10-2 with only ghost as i farm my inf. Dorans is for either higher level or harder lanes where you need the health and lifesteal, and cant guarantee lane dominance.
Good tip!

However, the whole purpose of this guide is to show how Ashe should be played similar to the way a chess player handles his queen. Keep her safe, use her to control the board, and save your aggression for late game.

I have found that staying in the middle lane and farming instead of ganking is much more important to my team's success. The reason for this is that Ashe has a very dominant position in-lane, and in team-fights, but not that great at ganking (other than her stun). The shortest distance between the two bases is middle lane, and controlling that lane's creep progression is perhaps one of the most important thing until you get into the team fights. In addition, you can almost always force the team fight to take place at mid if you are a constant pressure there.

This is exactly what you want to do with Ashe...force your opponents to pay attention to you while staying alive. Of all the champions, Ashe is perhaps the most suited for doing this solo, due to her unrivaled kiting ability.

Since I think Ashe should stay in lane as long as possible (unless, of course, she can prevent a loss of a side tower by going there), I believe that Doran's is the better item. Doran's is a faster route to rushing Infinity Edge. I altered some of the guide to allow for an IE rush instead of a Ghostblade rush if you can farm the gold. This is even more reason to start Doran's.

Is there a time when starting Long Sword will be better? Sure...when you won't be facing ANY harassment from your opponent...which is usually never.

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MJS ?? Junior Member
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12-10-2010

i think this is a great guide. i usually rush IE when i play ashe but i might try to rust ghostblade instead.

good work!

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Xandal ?? Senior Member
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12-10-2010

A little critique, I know this guide is for newer players (as most experienced players tend to understand most of the champions in the game), but I gotta point out one MAJOR flaw. Your masteries. 21 in offense is absolutely fine, but do not. I swear do NOT neglect getting Awareness in the Utility tree. Especially if you are going to solo lane. Every other solo laner will outlevel you and make your life hell. Awareness is the most important mastery in the game. Seriously do not neglect to grab it. Otherwise, everything else is fine. Summoner's are truly a preference, although I don't think any high level player runs Ashe without Flash.

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