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What would you think when you see a support picking Ashe? Probably nothing positive. In this guide I'm going to explain to you, why support Ashe actually IS viable and NOT a trollpick at all. Just believe me and try it out: you'll see that she makes a great supporter. In fact, Ashe is one of the champs with the strongest CC/SLOWS in the whole League and will annoy the hell out of your enemies when you harass them out of your bush in bottom lane. I'll also give you an explanation about the summoner spells, runes, masteries, ability sequence and my usual item build when I play as support Ashe.

When to pick support Ashe?

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Support Ashe is a good pick when you are forced into the supporter role, but still feel the urge to carry the game. But don't get me wrong:
she is not meant to be played the "OMG I WANTED TO PLAY ADC I PICK ASHE I EFFING GO ADC" style, but simply is a good support that can do a great comeback later in the game and kind of "transforms" into an adc to provide an additional damage output in the lategame.


Keep in mind:

Always try to keep up the AD/AP balance on your team.

Support Ashe is a good pick if your team already is really AP heavy
(for example with an Annie mid, a Vladimir top and an Elise jungle).

But you shouldn't pick support Ashe when your team already is very AD heavy
(for example with a Zed mid and a Master Yi jungle)
... it just makes it really easy for the enemy team to counter you by building plain armor.

Also don't pick Ashe support when you recognize a lack of tankyness in your team;
Ashe isn't tanky at all, even with Frozen Mallet and Randuin's Omen.
Better choose some tanky support, such as Alistar or Leona.

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Pros + strong CC + good poke + good kiting + bonus vision with E + good initiates with R + damage in lategame + even more CC!

Cons - no heal - no escape mechanism - squishy in earlygame - slow movement - weak in close combat - low dmg early (might be unusual/hard to handle)

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I usually go with 13/0/17 masteries because i found out it works the best for me. If it doesn't for you, go ahead and change them by your own choice. Also, if you like to invest some points in the defense tree, because you feel like that is more usefull as a support, try it out and choose whatever you prefer.

Utility

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As a support the utiliy tree obviously is very important, especially in the early game. Due to the fact, that you shouldn't take any farm, but help your adc to farm the best he can, to get an advantage over the enemie adc, the gold masteries are the core masteries for every support. Beeing: Greed , Scavenger , Wealth and Bandit . You should always put at least 17 points in the utility tree to get to Bandit ; I often save the 13 remaining point for the other trees, because I don't think Intelligence and Wanderer are that important, especially not on support Ashe. But if you want to use them: go ahead! In order to get to Bandit you have to invest some points into other masteries in the utility tree. I like to go with Fleet of Foot, because movement speed is always a good thing on a support and it helps to balance out Ashe's naturally slow movement speed. Also I almost always get Scout as a supporter, because you should play an important role in the vision game. When you are going to ward river real quick with Stealth Ward, when you are checking, if river is warded by the enemies with Sweeping Lens or when you are checking bushes with Scrying Orb: an additional trinket cast range is always a well invested point. I chose Summoner's Insight , Alchemist and Culinary Master next because the other masteries appeared to be kind of useless for me; but again: those are completly up to you. The last utility masterie you should get is Inspiration. Supports easily fall back in level, because they obviously don't kill that many minions. Inspiration helps you out a bit to fix that issue.

Offense

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I usually spend my remaining 13 points in the offense tree. As already mentioned I like to "transform" my support Ashe into a second adc later in the game. That gives your team a nice boost when it comes to damage, but you'll still be able to provide the massive CC, which is the core of Ashe's support role. In this case, any additional bit of damageoutput helps you out to perform that "transformation" much more easily. Fury , Brute Force , Martial Mastery , Executioner and Warlord just make the most sense then. But instead of Double-Edged Sword I put one point in Sorcery, because the aditional 1,5% damage the enemies deal to you might even make it harder for you, as support, to sustain in lane. And you can't go wrong with cooldown reduction, right?

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Marks

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Marks are usually the OFFENSIVE runes. As already mentioned, I like to play support Ashe as a lategame ADC. Greater Mark of Critical Damage harmonizes good with Ashe's passive Focus and gives you a nice little earlygame poke-advantage. As a supporter you shouldn't be attacking that much anyway, meaning effectivly, that you should be able to get your Focus up much more often. What I'm trying to explain here is: with Greater Mark of Critical Damage you'll be able to gift your enemies with tasty crits from time to time, without even having a based chance to crit, only with your passive ability Focus. Optional you could also go Greater Mark of Attack Damage or even Greater Mark of Armor, if you feel like playing full support.

Seals

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So this is an easy one. Seals are almost always the DEFENSIVE runes. I highly recommend picking Greater Seal of Armor, especially when you are laning against an ADC. And that is most likely the case when you are playing bottom lane. So with support and even as ADC: Greater Seal of Armor is always your Go-To-Rune. But if you like to experiment and try different runes... I WILL KICK YOU IN YOUR NUTS! Lol, just kiddin go ahead and play the way you like to. I mean... you are already playing as support Ashe so why not have some fun, amiright? xD

Glyphs

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In my opinion, the most useful Glyph is the Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist, giving you an adiitional bit of survivabilty later on (in the laning phase you won't need that much magic resist already, that's why I usually choose scaling over flat). Another useful option is the Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction; always a viable rune for supports and it comes handy with the high cooldown of Hawkshot and, obviously, Enchanted Crystal Arrow. And that's it.

Quints

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With preseason 4 came a lot of changes, many of them making it easier for supports to get gold. Thanks to the new gold income items and the new masteries, Greater Quintessence of Gold is not a 100% must-have anymore. Additionally, Hawkshot's passive also gives you a slightly increased gold income. Therefore I like to go with Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed, because Ashe is naturally slow due to her initially low base movement speed. It also helps you out early (before you get your upgraded boots). If you don't feel like you need to fix that issue with your quints, you could possibly go with attackdmg, critdmg, lifesteal or even armor quints instead.

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The first summoner spell you should always get on Ashe is the generally popular Flash. Ashe has no escape mechanism and even her amazing kiting potential doesn't do the trick in all possible situations. Flash helps you, to get out of many sticky chases and decides between dying and surviving. Next I like to go with Exhaust, because it can turn around fights realy quick and it helps out your ADC a lot, especially in the laning phase. Though, Ashe already has a amazing slow, therefore Exhaust isn't that much needed on support Ashe as on other supports. Another great summoner spell I choose from time to time is Heal. One of the big downsides of support Ashe is the fact, that she has no heal by herself and pre-level 6 she is kind of weak in fights. Heal can balance that problem slightly. I DO NOT recommend Clairvoyance as an summoner spell, simply because Ashe has that spell already integrated in her Hawkshot. And if you really demand that aditional bit of vision, you might also get Scrying Orb instead.

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Ashe's passive ability Focus: Ashe gains 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 Focus stacks each second while not attacking. These values increase every 4 levels. Upon reaching 100 stacks, Ashe's next basic attack will automatically critically strike. Ashe starts out with a number of Focus stacks equal to her critical strike chance value. This is the Reason why I like to run Greater Mark of Critical Damage on Ashe. Even with no item based chance to critical strike you'll be able to crit-poke the enemy adc from time to time. This passive even works better on support than on adc, because you should be able to get your Focus up faster while you are not farming.

The Q, support Ashe's key skill: Toggle: Ashe's basic attacks slow her target's movement speed by 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 % for 2 seconds. This is the part, where support Ashe starts shining. Frost Shot effectivly provides a strong slow without any cooldown. It can help you and your adc in chases or in escapes, it gives Ashe her amazing kiting ability.

Ashe's W: Ashe fires 7 arrows in a cone, dealing 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 (+100% attack damage) physical damage to each target hit. Each arrow will only hit one enemy, and each enemy will only be hit by one arrow. It also applies a slow equal to the one in the current rank of Frost Shot even if it is not active. A nice skill for poking due to its relatively long range. It also applies your current level of Frost Shot, technicall turning it into an useable aoe slow. It is also a skillshot; you can check bushes from save distances.

Another useful support skill, Ashe' E: Passive: Ashe gains 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 extra gold whenever she kills a unit or destroys a structure. Active: Ashe sends her Hawk Spirit on a scouting mission to a target area in the map, revealing terrain as it travels in a straight line and granting vision of the target area for 5 seconds. The Hawk Spirit will reveal units in the brush but will not reveal stealthed units or objects. Provides you with an additional bit of extra vision. This integrated Clairvoyance can help you avoid traps and ganks before it's too late. Hawkshot can be also used to quickcheck bushes, dragon or baron etc.

Ashe's awesome ultimate: Ashe fires a missile of ice in a straight line that will pass over all other units until it collides with an enemy Champion or leaves the map. If the arrow collides with an enemy Champion, it will deal 250 / 425 / 600 (+100% of ability power) magic damage, stun and add a slow to the champion hit. It will also explode after the hit to slow and deal half damage to all other enemies in a small area around the champion hit. The duration of the stun increases the farther the arrow travels before impact and caps at 3.5 seconds. Both slows are 50% and last for 3 seconds. If you ask me, Enchanted Crystal Arrow is one of the best ultimate abilities in the game. It is global, therefore you can assist you team from everywhere on the map (with some aiming skill, practise and prediction of course). Best used for initiates or when picking up low enemies. If used right, this ability can easily turn games.

Leveling Sequence

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I highly recommend maxing out Frost Shot first, because each level actually increases your slow with every autoattack. Also, her huge slowing potential is support Ashe's main function in the team and it harmonizes amazingly good with my core item build, I'll be explaining in the next chapter. Volley should be maxed next, because each level reduces its cooldown and you'll be able to have your longranged poke-slow available more often. Leveling up Hawkshot doesn't make much sense, because it only increases the bonus gold and its range. Though, you should definitely invest one point into Hawkshot early; it is still an useful ability. Not to forget: always upgrade Enchanted Crystal Arrow.

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SO, this is probably the most important chapter of this whole guide; therefore a big THANKS to everyone who took his time to read this far. With the right item choices, Ashe really starts to shine as support, because there are a few items, which harmonize perfectly well with support Ashe's main task: providing SLOWS 4DAYZ. Now I'll explain my earlygame item order, these important core items you should always get and lategame options.

Earlygame

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talisman of ascension

Right at the spawn I usually buy Ancient Coin, one Stealth Ward and two pots. I highly recommend talisman of ascension as your golditem, because Frost Queen's Claim doesn't make to much sense on Ashe (only her ultimate scales with ap and her slow was not included in the support changes preseason 4 introduced). face of the mountain is an option, but I personaly think, the active of talisman of ascension is more useful overall and supports your team better. For the trinket I often get Sweeping Lens, because once you got Sightstone, a Stealth Ward would be pretty much useless. Still, you should always react to your teammates trinket descions. Always get Sweeping Lens, if the jungler gets Stealth Ward (trust me, your team will need at least one lens). IF the jungler gets the lens you can still upgrade your totem into a Greater Vision Totem. I also recommend not to get Scrying Orb; your Hawkshot has the same effect. Try to back for the first time, when you've got at least around 1800 gold, so you can instantly buy boots, Nomad's Medallion and the Sightstone. Also, in 90% of my games as support I don't even buy Ruby Sightstone anymore. Due to the 3 wards limitation it doesn't serve any purpose except from giving you slightly more healt. Better invest your money in some other items.

Sneakers or Chucks?

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I already mentioned Ashe's naturally slow movement. Obviously boots are used to fix that issue. I highly suggest getting either Boots of Swiftness or Mobility Boots; both giving you a nice speedboost. This descision really depends on your playstyle, but if you are using support Ashe the right way, you should be poking, harrasing and kiting a lot. Thats why I choose Boots of Swiftness in most matches (the hyper-speedboost of Mobility Boots resets while autoattacking). Also the other boots do have some nice effects; you are really free to choose between them (as long as you don't buy Sorcerer's Shoes xD). For the enchantment I recommend Captain, just to make you feel more like a support. And it IS useful, especially when you are standing on the edge of a teamfight, which is wise as a ranged, squishy support-adc. Other good enchantments are Furor, Alacrity and -situational- Homeguard.

Core

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These items are important to maximize Ashe's amazing slows and make your enemies wish you were playing a regular support champ. You should always get these items as support Ashe as soon as possible and I also recommend them on ADC Ashe. Frozen Mallet: It gives you dmg and health, which is always a good thing on AD-Supports. And the most important thing is: its passive "icy" actually does stack with Frost Shot giving you an additional 30% slow with every autoattack. This slow is being added after Frost Shot's effect, SO, if you do the math you can have a huge 47.7% slow on-hit with every autoattack at level 9 (when you maxed your Frost Shot first, toggle it on and if you already own a Frozen Mallet). Convinced? Runaan's Hurricane: It gives you a nice boost of attackspeed, which is really useful for kiting (when you are autoattacking an enemy he'll be slowed the whole time). This item is so good on Ashe, because its passive applies on-hit effects. So basically you are now able to slow 3 enemies at once by 47.7%... which is in fact a ridiculously large aoe slow if you ask me. Randuin's Omen: It provides a good bit of tankyness and you should buy it, just for the sake of maximum slow. If you are getting attacked, you own a Frozen Mallet, toggle Frost Shot on AND activate Randuin's Omen... well this time you can do the math by yourself :). I'm just saying: ín the end you'll get a slow comparable to Nasus' annoying Wither. Give it a try!

Lategame Options

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zeke's herald

You might be asking now: "I already have my fullbuild of six items, why are there more suggestions?". Good question. These options are meant for the really late lategame (like >50min). I only included this section, because I myself like to get rid of talisman of ascension and/or Sightstone in such long matches and replace them with more useful items. These items heavily depend on the situation: get zeke's herald, if your main adc is fed at this point. It pushes his dmg even more and also gives you these nice little effects. By far my favourite item to get is Infinity Edge, for obvious reasons ( Focus, crit dmg marks and overall strong dmg boost). You might also consider getting a Guardian Angel, if you get focused down a lot in teamfights, or Banshee's Veil/ Maw of Malmortius if you are going against a strong ap burster. All the other items I included into the "support, defensive or offensive options" are more or less useful, but definitely worth a try.

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Thanks a lot for reading my very first guide on mobafire! I really hope I inspired you to give support Ashe a try :). I'd also appreciate every positive feedback/rating if you like this guide. If you don't, feel free to give me a bad rating, BUT in this case please give me some constructive feedback in the discussion section. Feel free to leave any suggestions about what I could've done better and also PLEASE report any kinds of mistakes I made, beeing spelling/gramatical mistakes (english is not my main language) or possible aesthetik improvements.

In case you are wondering: yes, Solwolf did give me the idea of support ashe and inspired me to make my mind about her/ write this guide.

And now for some music:
Instalok - We are the supports