Can anyone give me an outline for what items to go for as Ashe?
What items are to be prioritized first etc.
Thanks : )

typically start with dorans blade, and get several of these + boots 1 for early laning: cost effective damage + hp. If against a strong harasser you may want to consider dorans shield, or regrowth pendant + potions, because doran blades do not provide good sustainbility.

Go for BFsword if you can, or pickaxe if your farming hasnt been so great. Upgrade your boots after you get this first big damage item (zerker greaves, treads, or swiftness), then finish making infinity edge. After this, if you want more pure dps, you can either get another large damage item (bloodthirster IMO) or get zeal for crit/AS (and MS for kiting). If they are stacking armor, get last whisper. If you need more survivability, then get banshees veil. Most of the time i will make either LW/zeal, BV, then whichever one i didnt make first, and then upgrade to phantom dancer.

Tangent:
Black cleaver sounds like a good item for ashe but i don't really like it. As a first big damage item, infinty edge blows it out of the water. As an arpen item, the thing is that volley will make use of LW's arpen on everyone you hit with it. But with BC, you first need to get 3 stacks on them with auto attacks (which makes volley's extra range worthless) and only will work on one person at a time. Plus, your guaranteed crit is for your FIRST hit, but again you can't make the most of that because your target doesnt have any stacks yet. And it's only more cost effective than LW when they have like something between 50-100 armor: the window of its optimal efficiency is real small by the time you've finished IE already.

Definitely second the notion that IE is the first big damage item to get. If I'm farming well, I build a Catalyst after a BF sword for extra survivability to build into Banshee's later on. Phandom Dancer is not that great on Ashe... It's a late game item, and usually games don't even last that long. Plus, there are better items to get like Last Whisper, Madred's Bloodrazors, and a Bloodthirster before considering PD. PD costs a lot and gives little compared to LW and Bloodthirster. I'd say only get it if it's late game and you want some boost to your movespeed and crit chance.

I'll third the Infinity Edge recommendation. It's not even close - it's THE item to get for her since it synergizes well with her passive. Buy either a Doran's Blade or Doran's Shield for your first item then first trip back buy either a pickax or BF sword, depending on how much you've farmed and how much cash you have. Next items should be either basic Boots or another IE piece, depending on timing/cash. Then finish IE and upgrade Boots -- either to Berzerker's or the movespeed 3 ones (I prefer Berzerker's since the extra attack speed does help when you're kiting).

After that, it's a bit more situational, but I usually go Phantom Dancer - more move speed and if you run the math it works well with IE. Then I build a Banshee's if the other team has spells I need to stop or go for a Last Whisper. Frankly, by that point, the game should be getting on towards over and you need to go situational - if they're stacking armor, get LW and Bloodrazor, otherwise I often just get green elixirs.

For a great Ashe guide, go to the Guides and Strategy forum and look for "Ashe - the Team Queen". Tons of analysis and well-thought out build tips. It's really helped my game (I used to build mana first then brutalizers so I could spam volley, but the IE build gets you more damage faster, as the Team Queen thread details).

What about survivability? IE is 4k gold which takes a while unless you're getting fed. I tried to main AD Tristana which had a similar play style, build order and she was just felt too squishy and I wasn't good enough to solo carry without team support.

Someone recommended that I try Ashe since she has a slow and stun. I'm somewhat concerned I'll have the same issue. Is going BFS into Blood Thirster first a viable alternative? I've learned to kite with Tristana so this might mesh with my play style. None of the guides seem to treat this seriously though, but then again I also see them all recommend some variation of the glass cannon builds.

i play ashe a lot , and nothing improved my play more than not following the traditional build. try this, it's boss.

21-0-9
arpen, attsp, attsp, health flat q
longsword pot start
brutalizer/ boots/ zeal/ boot2/ bt, pd, ie, fon

i take tele/ clar but if you need an escape flash.

now go dominate.

I really don't agree with AS on Ashe, for the main reason that her passive gives you a higher crit chance when you are NOT attacking. So the quicker you attack, the less chance you have of critting--and this essentially makes Ashe's passive useless, especially since she has very low base damage. This is why IE is the best item to get on Ashe first, as it increases her crit chance, and has good synergy with her first auto attack crit.

As for survivability, I mentioned above that I like getting a Catalyst after a BF sword for extra health and mana. You can do the same with Tristana.

1. Doran Blade or Boots & 3 health pots.
2. Boots lvl 1 if you haven't already
3. Ionian Boots or Brutalizer. Get Brutalizer first if you can afford it on your next buy (get a green ward and health pots if you have money).
4. If you got Brutalizer first, now get Ionian Boots (also vice versa)
5. BF Sword or vampiric scepter (if you cant afford the bf sword just get a vamp scepter
6. Combine to Blood Thirster
7. Banshees Viel with an emphasis on Negatron Cloak and Health Crystal first (start red potting)
8. Get a Last Whisper or Black Cleaver

From Dan's Cooldown Ashe guide
http://www.epikgamer.com/forums/inde...57-ashe-guide/

I can't give personal advice, Ashe is one of my weakest champions.

Doran's Shield (used to be the recommend start by Riot, then they changed to Doran's Blade). I like the shield because if you are last-hitting like you should be, then the 3% lifesteal is 0-3 health per shot. Not very useful, as compared to 8 HP regen every 5 seconds, plus 20 extra health and 10 armor (good against minions and other AD champs, like Ashe or Sivir). Now, if they use an AP champ, like Veigar or Vlad at mid (or at top/bot, usually Ashe is mid though), the Shield still protects you from minion damage, plus the health regen means you don't have to worry about staying in range to deal damage to heal faster. Granted, Doran's Blade is good for a heavy harasser Ashe, but I still like the defense.

At any rate, boots come next. Get a BF Sword or Pickaxe, upgrade your boots (Berserker Greaves, Merc Treads (if against lots of CC/AP), or Swiftness (just your preference)), and build that Infinity Edge. You now have the raw firepower to get you through the mid-game. You should grab Zeal, then Last Whisper. Upgrade you Zeal to a Phantom Dancer, and grab a Banshee Veil if you need it (maybe earlier if enemy mages are fed).

For the last 1-2 items, I usually grab Black Cleaver (if a teammate doesn't have it), Bloodthirster, another Phantom Dancer, or Brutalizer --> Ghostblade (maybe Madred's Bloodrazor as well), depending on the team I am facing. If I need to be slowing a lot, then I will go for some Attack Speed with a Phantom Dancer/Black Cleaver to make sure my targets don't go anywhere with my Frost Shot. If I need to penetrate more Armor, Ghostblade adds APen, with some Crit Chance and Damage, plus the active (movement/attack speed buff for 4 seconds). If I seem to be dying in teamfights, a Bloodthirster might keep me alive with lifesteal (getting the cap with Ashe isn't hard. Minions die pretty quickly at higher levels). If I have an AD-based team, Black Cleaver reduces the armor of enemy champs, letting my team do more damage to them. Also, Madred's Bloodrazor works well against enemies will no Magic Resist, since you can just autoattack them to death with high attack speeds and magic damage, plus great AD and crits.

TL;DR: Doran's Shield, basic Boots, IE, upgraded Boots,Phantom Dancer, Last Whisper, Banshee's Veil/another defensive item (if needed), final item (Bloodthirster, Black Cleaver, Ghostblade, another Phantom Dancer, Madred's Bloodrazor). The recommended items are rather spot-on, minus the order and the Doran's Blade

Dan Dinh's guide on cooldown Ashe is pretty good. That's where I got the idea to use Ghostblade from. For my suggestion, you may want to get the Brutalizer earlier and wait on the Ghostblade, like Dan Dinh suggests in his guide, since the Ghostblade doesn't add much a Phantom Dancer or IE couldn't add better.

And in response to xpsychedelico two posts above, AS is mainly since she is dependent on her autoattack. If you wait for her passive to take effect (3 seconds) in a team fight, you will be dead before you can put off three shots, if that many. It's really an early-game thing. Sure, the first attack in a teamfight will be a crit, but then you have to rely n items/masteries/runes to get the rest of the crit chance. Of course, rushing AS isn't good on Ashe, since AS without AD is pointless. IE is the best thing to get first, then go for AS/Crit Chance, finishing with APen/AReduction, more AD, and whatever else fits the situation.