Wohoo! I has an Ashe build :D

Basically I just love Ashe! Her Ultimate can be easily used to snipe runners and create oppenings for ganks, and that is just priceless considering how "easy"* she is to play with.

This build is about babysit bottom lane Ashe, so this is what you should expect to see here.

NOTE* Playing Ashe isn't a matter of spamming Volley and using Enchanted Crystal Arrow whenever you see an enemy on low health. I'm just pointing this out as it's a misconception that she is a "right click to play" champion, when the truth is, you MAKE HER be as such, because first of all, you have to build her, therefore, your early game has a great impact on your carrying

My masteries follow a quite standard 21 / 0 / 9 for AD characters.

This allows me to get the benefit of Executioner , a great mastery point that makes Enchanted Crystal Arrow be an even better idea.

On the support tree, I take mp and mp regen since Ashe has early game mana hunger and I take movement speed from Swiftness to compensate her lack of mobility.

Alternatively, you could swap the two points in Swiftness for Hardiness , which might save you from this or that enemy carry.

My runes follow the common setup for AD carries, except that I take mana regen/lvl seals in order to remove her mana problems by the mid game.

I take armor penetration quints and marks, and magic resist/lvl glyphs.

This page allows me to have a good damage output and a few extra Volleys during the laning phase while still keeping me alive against AP casters as the game goes.

It's not a perfect rune page, as it lacks the armor needed to fight against other AD carries and / or assassins in some cases. Also, the mana regen might not be needed for skilled players who know when to place their shots, yet it's a good idea to keep the mana stable during the laning phase.

My choices

Ghost - Ashe just MAY depend on this for her early game run if you get a brush fight, but to be honest, it's useful at any point in the game, and the extra movement speed just CANT be missed.

Ignite - This can be used in two ways: to set up a kill for your ultimate or to last hit those pesky little runners

Other choices

Pretty much anything, really. I once tried to use Promote + Clairvoyance, it was an amazing combo, specially since I was able to snipe their jungler on red buff and dragon xD

This is why I can assure you that Ashe is a carry, and a carry only.

Early on, you pretty much NEED the Faerie Charm, since your first real problem gets solved:
Ashe can go mana hungry with ease after a few Volleys.

Then you want the Philosopher's Stone to have extra gold income as you play and to avoid running out of mana.

Mainly, AVOID ATTACK SPEED for early on, as you have a toogle slow on your Q, and therefore, having to use a pretty hefty much of an 8 mana for shot once you have 2.0 attack speed means that your mana will drain REALLY fast.

In my oppinion, you should try to get the Philosopher's Stone as far early as you can, so get a kill and farm 5 minions, that should be enough, recall and go back to your lane. If you had too much action and you waited some more, you might as well grab your Boots in that same run.

Then you can literally rage at me, you're bound to have trouble until you get your Pickaxe now, as the enemy team is most likely trying to harass you to avoid your last hitting and make your way to level 6 slower. You must get this item no matter what, and a The Brutalizer just wont work, even if you can get it earlier, because what we want from the Pickaxe is one of it's future choices of upgrade, the Infinity Edge.

Why only a Zeal for so long? To be honest, really, I hate going OOM, so I ease myself as much as possible to reduce my mana costs. And so, buying a Zeal results in a good 1.1 AS with extra movement speed along with it ( the crit chance is almost unoticeable at this point of the game), those stats allow Ashe to freely use Frost Shot without accidentaly re-applying the debuff for too long and waste mana in the process.

Finish your boots, and trust me, as Ashe, Boots of Swiftness will really be a great choice, as it will allow you to kite pretty much any melee character with your Frost Shot on. And since she has no way to escape other than using her ulti for a stun, these boots will surely help you get around and probably save your Enchanted Crystal Arrow for more offensive purposes.

You may actually skip the Vampiric Scepter, but I must advice you not to, it gives you some nice sustainability for your attacks, making fights be easier and enemies more and more favorable kite targets.

Getting two B. F. Swords is not much of a MUST, but if you can, grab them both and dont turn them into The Bloodthirstier or Infinity Edge early on, but rather stack them as you would do with Doran's Sword, and get their upgrades once you've settled a good ammount of money. (NOTE* this is only possible if you decided to skip the Vampiric Scepter)

The finishing touches should be made by the late game, where you buy yourself a Phantom Dancer and an Eleisa's Miracle, the last will sustain you for long teamfights, allowing your Volley spammage, damaging several enemy champions. That also gives us a healthy supply of mana, leaving always what's enough to cast Enchanted Crystal Arrow and still be able to Frost Shot for long periods of time, another perk that comes along with this item is the Tenacity, which will reduce incoming Crowd Control effects and allow you to get away from this or that situation.

Lastly, the reason to get a Phantom Dancer is simple, the movement speed from it. In fact, if Phantom Dancer were not to give bonus movement speed, I'd have picked another Bloodthirstier or a Madreds' Bloodrazor, just because Ashe is too slow even with Boots of Swiftness, therefore, more and more attack damage would be a better choice, but once again, getting too much attack speed might be bad for your mana pool no matter how great your regen is.

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Situational Items

Force of Nature - This item is my personal recommendation for Ashe against AP heavy teams, since it provides a great amount of MR, while also increasing your movement speed, furthermore, it allows you to take a few hits on a teamfight and still be able to recover without having to go back. You may also get yourself a Banshee's Veil but I still prefer the extra movement speed against the shield provided by BV.

Thornmail - Another personal choice of mine, this time, because this item is pretty cheap and offers a really nice passive for it's cost. Useful against heavy AD teams that stack more AS than AD, but still works great for single heavy hitters (like Tryndamere for example).

Guardian Angel - This item grants armor and MR in a nearly perfect balance, enough to pretty much save you from both AD and AP carries sometimes. It's passive is pretty much worth 5k, so I consider it a really nice choice, specially since I haven't seen many times where people expect you to get this item as Ashe, and so, you result in extra surprise for them. An alternative choice can be an Aegis of the Legion for better teamfighting capabilities while raising your armor and MR by a little until you can get yourself the Guardian Angel. If you don't like these items, there are more choices, such as the Warmog's Armor.

Ashe is a VERY VERY useful character in an overall basis:

Her passive is Focus - Ashe stacks critical chance over time as long as she isnt attacking, upon performing an attack the bonus is consumed and she begins to recharge again.

Normally, I can assure you that the very first shot you do when you head to your lane is a killing shot, it results in an almost certain critical hit, dealing double damage to your target. THIS IS Ashe's LANING POWER!, so feel free to recall as many items as you can, since your way back to the lane is also a way to recharge that passive and deal some nice high damage to your target.


Her Q ability is a toggle on-hit-effect, Frost Shot - Upon activation, this will cause your next auto attack to apply a slow on your target for 8 mana per shot, please note that this is NOT A STACKABLE DEBUFF.

This is the MAIN REASON you shouldn't buy much attack speed, as you will always use 8 mana no matter what, so it's better to deal 100 damage in every second and waste 8 mana per sec rather than dealing 50 damage every 0.5 sec, wasting 16 mana per sec.


Her W ability is a skillshot nuke, Volley - Ashe instantly fires 7 arrows in a cone, each doing damage to the first enemy target they hit. If Frost Shot has been leveled, the arrows also apply Frost Shot's slow.

Basically, you wait for this skill to come out of CD and cast it on enemy CHAMPIONS. Using this on minions is an amazing waste of mana, as the damage done could sometimes mean a champion dead rather than a minion dead.


Her E ability is a passive gold per kill and a free Clairvoyance, Hawkshot - Ashe passively gains more gold for every unit she kills and can activate the ability to briefly reval an area of the map, be aware that this skill has a limited range.

Pretty much a range-limited Clairvoyance that grants you extra gold per kill. I must admit: this skill can be rewarding in specific circumstances, such as trying to snipe an enemy champion with your Enchanted Crystal Arrows or predicting a gank.

Her ultimate skill is the oh-so-known Enchanted Crystal Arrow - Ashe fires an arrow in a straight line, ignoring everything in it's path until it hits an enemy champion, stunning them according to how much distance did the arrow travel.

Honestly, this is THE ULTIMATE skill. you can basically hit an opponent that is inside his spawn and kill him, for instance. BUT, this is your ONLY DISABLE, it's CD is pretty high, so don't go shooting arrows like the world is about to end since you won't randomly grab several kills. This is the BEST SKILLSHOT one could ask for, since it pretty much ignores anything but enemy champions. When teamfighting, SAVE THIS SKILL, please do not use it from the spawn unless you're sure to kill whoever it hits or grant an ally the chance to do so.

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Arrow storm!

This was previously called "Arrow Blitz" or something like it, from ANOTHER GUIDE!!

The credit to this trick is not mine, but I'm posting it here to make sure you all know it too.



This is a very very easy trick, it's basically, instant skill spam, to be honest, but oh well, basically, you have to shoot all of your skills but E in this order (preferably):

Volley
Toogle Frost Shot on
Auto Attack
Enchanted Crystal Arrow
Keep Auto attacking if target isn't dead


BUT, make sure you have at least 250 mp before doing so, this is a calculated expectation of about how much mp you need to hit both Volley and Enchanted Crystal Arrow while still having enough to hit them with a few Frost Shots.

Suggestions:

I should listen to suggestions as soon as I release the guide (rofl)

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Updates:

V1.0 - Guide released 12 / 10 / 2011

V1.1 - added extra information for those sneaky people who somehow managed to find my guide xD 12 / 11 / 2011

V1.2 - Checked some minor typos and changed few parts of the guide 12 / 25 / 2011

V1.3 - Added more information on Runes and Masteries
- Changed Manamune for Eleisa's Miracle 12 / 26 / 2011