Ashe Build Guide by Bloosnail

Introduction

Hello everyone. My guide is a fairly in-depth and comprehensive guide on Ashe. This build is meant for carrying, in that if you use my build you will do a lot of damage but will also be squishy. In addition to stating items, masteries, runes, summoner spells, and skilling seqeuence, I also go over some tips on how to play Ashe more effectively. I have played something like 450 games (including customs and dominion) with Ashe, and have tried out numerous builds on the way. This build is the product of a lot of experimentation and trial-and-error, and I feel like I've settled on a fairly decent build for Ashe.

I recently received several downvotes... if you don't like my guide that's perfectly alright but please comment so I know what to fix. Thanks.

1/31/12 YEAHH ASHE BUFF EASY MODE ON ahaha

Now on to the guide.

The Breakdown of Ashe

Like any champion, Ashe has her Pros and Cons:

PROS

+ Ashe can carry so hard
+ Amazing at kiting
+ Massive single target late game damage output
+ Enchanted Crystal Arrow has cross map range -- nothing more satisfying than finishing an enemy recalling in a bush after they thought they won the fight
+ Way more utility than your average ranged DPS -- toggle slow Q, free CV every 60 seconds E, Cross map stun R
+ The thing people tell me they love about Ashe the most: she has the largest breasts in the game. Sona doesn't come close... ok fine maybe Gragas


CONS
- So, so squishy
- Focused so fast in team fights
- Initial movement speed is dreadfully slow
- Initial damage is infantile
- High expectations of Ashes (the same with any carry really)
- Extremely difficult to come back if shut down early (often raged at by teammates and slandered by opponents)
- Arrow is more difficult to land on desired target than it looks -- expect misses (another source of rage by teammates and slander by opponents)
- Countered by champs who stack armor

So basically...
Ashe is standard ranged DPS carry but with a lot of utility. Like most ranged DPS carries, her initial damage and movement speed are atrocious, while her defense remains terrible the entire match. However, her damage snowballs so hard late game (unless the opposing team has stacked armor), especially if fed. Fed Ashe = gg.

Starting Items and Mid Game Items

STARTING ITEMS

As Ashe, there are really only two choices for starting items:

DORAN'S BLADE
Doran's Blade is awesome. It gives +100 health, +10 AD, and 3% lifesteal, all for 475 gold. All three of those stats Ashe desperately needs -- the +100 health is a godsend early game (438 health to 538 at level 1), the +10 AD is vital for last hitting and harass, and the life steal coupled with masteries bring you up to 6%, which is necessary for the lane sustain unless you want to waste money on potions. Some people think of it as a "filler item", just to be sold afterwards to make room for other items. But some people are wrong.



Boots and 3 Health Potions
This setup is not as aggressive and is more suited for a solo lane. The health potions keep you alive, but it's more difficult to get last hits and you won't be dealing as much damage. It's really a matter of preference but I always go Doran's. If you don't suspect any early buff steals or anything before the creep waves spawn, you can wait for the first 15 gold for 4 health pots and then go to lane.


FIRST RECALL
B.F. SWORD
If you're farming well, you should be able to get B.F. sword and boots on the first time you recall. B.F. gives +45 AD and is such a huge damage boost. After you get it, last hitting will be much easier and you'll really start being able to dish out damage.

However...
More often than not, the first recall will not be just enough for B. F. Sword and Boots of Speed. Say you were getting harassed badly and had to recall when you only had 800 gold. So do you just buy a potion or two and head back to lane while all your gold is sitting in your wallet unused? No way man. Pick up boots now and a Vampiric Scepter for some nice 12% more life steal to sustain yourself in lane instead of going back to lane rich but weak.

OH WAIT, WHICH TIER 2 BOOTS DO I GET?
As Ashe, there are only 3 choices for boots:


BERSERKER'S GREAVES
Serker's Greaves give a nice 25% attack speed boost, along with the same 70 MS as most tier 2 boots. Berserker's Greaves offer a nice early game advantage, but aren't as useful late game.


MERCURY'S TREADS
Mercury's Treads offer a much needed +25 MR, but their really usefulness comes with the illustrious tenacity stat. Tenacity reduces the effects of stuns, silences, etc., and Merc Treads come with +35 of it, translating to 65% duration of said debuffs. More useful than Serker's Greaves overall, but early game not as much.


BOOTS OF SWIFTNESS
Swifty boots don't offer any special passive, but give 90 MS instead of 70 MS. The extra MS from Boots of Swiftness isn't really necessary, unless you have armor pen quints instead of MS quints.


CORE BUILD
After the first recall, your build should center around the next few item sequences. You should get straight to finishing that Infinity Edge, and then proceed to building that Phantom Dancer. These two items are your core.

Infinity Edge
This item is delicious. +80 AD, 25% crit chance... but the main thing is the UNIQUE Passive: 250% damage from crits instead of 200%. So yummy.

Phantom Dancer
This item is the icing on that delicious Infinity Edge cake. A ridiculous 55% attack speed, 30% crit chance, and 15% movement speed... if all is well and you're fed, opposing champs will have yet to build armor and you will demolish all of them, especially other carries. Kiting is also much easier with the increased movement speed, and Ashe's total crit chance is 59%. Tasty.

Late Game Items

LATE GAME
By now, you will have a Doran's, maybe another Doran's/Vamp Scepter, Infinity Edge, Merc Treads or Berserker Greaves, and a Phantom Dancer. At this point, the build order is much more flexible.

ARMOR PENETRATION
The item for the exorbitantly important armor penetration comes down to three items: Black Cleaver, Last Whisper, or Madred's Bloodrazer. Each has their own pros and cons.


THE BLACK CLEAVER or LAST WHISPER

The Cleaver is a great item. +55 AD, 30% AS, and -15 armor on hit capping at 3 hits = 45 armor penetration total on the same target. Not to mention the armor reduction from cleaver doesn't stop at 0 armor, so enemy champions can go into negative armor. Generally, you shouldn't be attacking high armor opponents such as the tank, so 45 armor pen from the Cleaver, 21 from runes and masteries, and another 10% from masteries is a 66 initial armor penetration with another additional 10%. Say your target is a champion with 100 armor. 66 initial armor penetration brings the armor down to 34, 10% off that =31 armor.

On the other hand, Last Whisper has 40% armor pen and +40 AD instead. There would be a 50% armor decrease with 21 armor pen from runes and masteries. This would bring the 100 armor target first down to 79 armor, and then to 40 armor, leaving the champion with 9 armor more than the Cleaver would. In addition, the Cleaver also has +15 more AD than LW, not to mention 30% more AS. So more damage-per-second would be dealt to that 100 armor target. Therefore, on mid-low armor targets, the Cleaver is the champion.

Additionally, one aspect that is often overlooked when people compare LW and BC is that LW has armor penetration while BC has armor reduction. Armor reduction reduces a champion's armor, in that that champions armor is reduced for the rest of your team as well. Armor penetration reduces the armor solely for yourself.

However, the Cleaver's total cost is 2865g, while LW only costs 2290g. 575 gold is quite a bit of gold (about two champion kills), and LW really gets you done with your items faster. Furthermore, as the game goes on, as champions level up and get more of their items, their armor really starts to stack up and Black Cleaver loses much of its effectiveness. If you're feeding, by the time you have your Phantom Dancer champions will already have high armor and you'll need some good armor pen on the cheap, making Last Whisper a much more attractive option.


Summarized:
-BC is more effective midgame but doesn't scale well into late game
-BC is more expensive
-BC reduces armor for the rest of your team, LW penetrates armor just for the user


BOTTOM LINE:
Get The Black Cleaver when you're fed. Get Last Whisper when your early game was poor or when the enemy team is stacking armor.


MADRED'S BLOODRAZOR
Madred's is purely a situational item, only used when the enemy team is stacking health. It offers +25 armor, 40% AS, and +30 AD -- however, the main thing is it's UNIQUE Passive. Each auto attack deals bonus magic damage equal to 4% of the targets health. So if that Nasus just isn't dying to you because he stacked health and bought 3 Warmog's Armor, break out the Madred's and melt his health away.


Now it's time for...
LIFESTEAL

First off, why do we need life steal anyway?

Early game, life steal is used more for lane sustain. However, late game life steal is used to well, steal life from other people and give it to yourself to keep yourself alive during fights. It also helps for soloing dragon late game and getting buffs. For Ashe, there are two main choices for life steal items:

THE BLOODTHIRSTER
The Bloodthirster is awesome. It gives a base +60 AD and 15% life steal, each of those stats increasing with each minion kill at a cap of 40, resulting in +100 AD and 25% life steal.


SURVIVABILITY
Now that you're dealing out awesome damage, you need a survivability item if you want to survive, or at least do enough damage to let your team win before you die. For Ashe, there are several main survivability items.

GUARDIAN ANGEL
Guardian Angel is a great item for Ashe. It gives +68 armor and +38 magic resist, but the main thing about it is its passive. Upon death, you are restored with 750 health and 375 mana, and the effect can be used once every 5 minutes. At this late in the game, if you die, one of two things will usually happen: your team will lose the fight and upon revival you will be instantly killed OR your team will have won the fight, successfully guarding you upon revival and allowing you to clean up.


BANSHEE'S VEIL
Banshee's Veil gives +50 MR, and +375 of health and mana. The lovely thing about it is the passive, which blocks one negative spell every 45 seconds -- even Ultimates! Awesome. BV is great against avoiding Annie's Tibbers death combo or a stun from Ryze or Morgana. Unfortunately, opponents will see that you have Banshee's veil and attempt to poke you with a weaker spell breaking your veil, such as an offending Ashe's Volley. You will then be susceptible to death combos, and will not be able to revive unlike if you had Guardian Angel. I find Guardian Angel more useful, but it comes down to preference.

QUICKSILVER SASH
The sash is an alright item. It gives +56 MR and its active allows you to remove all debuffs (even Ultimates such as Mordekaiser's Children of the Grave). However, unlike BV it doesn't give any health or mana, and the cooldown for its active is 90 seconds opposed to 45 with BV. The plus is that is it very cheap, being only 1440g, while BV costs 2715g.

HEXDRINKER
Hexdrinker is an item I've started to use more frequently these days. The shield it offers is especially useful early game, even more so if you're laning against AP champions. Late game, the shield isn't quite as useful, but it's still a fantastic item.

Late Late Game Items

Ok, so the game has been going on for around 50 minutes, both sides have been pushed to the nexus turrets, everyone is level 18 and you have just finished your build. I would do either one of two things: if I was getting CC'd really hard during team fights I would sell my Berserker's Greaves and get Mercury's Treads for the tenacity OR if I was going for max damage I would sell my Berserker's Greaves and buy another Phantom Dancer. Either way the Berserker's go. The additional PD brings the crit chance up to a ridiculous 85%, not to mention another 55% increase in AS (but with diminishing returns), and movement speed reduced reduced only from 443 to 440 (with MS quints and masteries).

After the Serker's are gone, then it's time for Elixir of Fortitude and Elixir of Agility.

The "Please Don't" Builds

These are items and builds that I sometimes see other Ashes building. They don't work.

CRIT AND ATTACK SPEED ASHE
This is the Ashe that builds an Infinity Edge and then proceeds to buy 2-3 Phantom Dancers. Two Phantom Dancers very late game can be a decent choice, but earlier on you NEED armor pen and life steal. Straight up AS and crit won't cut it.

AP ASHE
No. Stop. Volley scales with both AD and AP, so the damage from it is similar if you go AP or AD. Yeah, it's fun for trolling when you can literally take out 3/4 health from that Veigar across the map but in a real game it's a terrible idea.

Frozen Mallet
Please don't build this. You already have a 35% slow with Frost Shot -- the slows do stack but with diminishing returns so it comes out to like 50% slow or something. It's not necessary. Though it does give +700 health with a paltry +20 AD, there are better items for survivability.

Hextech Gunblade
Before it was nerfed, the Gunblade wasn't a bad choice. It used to give +60 AD, +70 AP, 20% lifesteal, and 25% spell vamp for 3625g, which was better than an unstacked The Bloodthirster, not to mention some AP for the Enchanted Crystal Arrow... but now it only gives +40 AD, +70 AP, 15% life steal, and 20% spell vamp for the same price. Get The Bloodthirster instead.

Runes

THE SEALS

Greater Seal of Clarity
Mana regen per level seals are great for Ashe. Early game Ashe has mana problems, since her starting out mana pool is small and mana is being consumed fairly quickly with all the Volley harass you're dishing out. In addition, Ashe's ultimate Enchanted Crystal Arrow uses 150 mana, which is really a lot for a champ with such a small mana pool.

"Hey wait a minute, if this Bloosnail guy says early game mana regen is so important, then why doesn't he get flat mana regen seals instead of scaling with level mana regen seals?"

Great question. Well inquirer, this is because the turnover for the flat vs. scaling seals is surprisingly low, occurring at level 6. This also happens to be right when you get your ult, which is when you really need the extra mana regen. So as soon as you hit 7, you'll be healing more mana per 5 with the scaling seals than the flat regen seals.

Other choices:

Greater Seal of Resilience
Again, Ashe is very squishy and more armor is never a bad thing. But personally I think mana regen is more important.

Greater Seal of Alacrity
Attack speed is important for any damage per second champ, but again the mana regen is a problem.


THE MARKS

Greater Mark of DesolationGreater Mark of Desolation
There is no other choice for marks. Armor penetration for Ashe is so dreadfully important. No contest here.


THE GLYPHS

Greater Glyph of Shielding
Ashe is extremely squishy, but her end game MR is only about 30 while her armor is about 60 (depending on masteries). Therefore, Ashe needs more MR to have more balanced defense, especially against those nasty LeBlancs and Brands.

Other Choices:


Greater Glyph of Celerity
CD glyphs are also a solid choice. At level 18, these offer about 8% cooldown. This reduced CD helps with spamming volley during team fights, but it's mainly for lowering the cooldown of the Enchanted Crystal Arrow.


THE QUINTESSENCES

Greater Quintessence of Swiftness
Ashe's base movement speed sucks. At 300, it's tied for last among the other ranged carries. MS quints are so helpful -- kiting is much easier, and it's much easier to chase down champions.

Other Choices:

Greater Quintessence of Desolation
Greater Quintessence of Desolation
Armor Pen quints are equally vital to Ashe as MS quints. Once again, Ashe's damage is countered by armor, and she needs all the armor penetration she can get, but then again movement speed is vital for escaping, chasing, and kiting. Both are solid choices, it's really a matter of preference.


Greater Quintessence of Strength
Flat AD quints are also a viable option, solely for the purpose of lane domination. With 21 flat armor pen from runes/masteries with an additional 10% armor pen from Weapon's Expertise, offending enemy champions' armor is basically neglected at low levels in lane. The additional +7 AD can give you an edge on the opposition, especially if you're trying to get that First Blood, and is also helpful for last hitting.

Masteries

For masteries, I go 21-9-0.

Offense
Since Ashe is a ranged DPS carry, I put most of her points in offense to increase her damage output. I do not get extra CD reduction or the 10% magic penetration -- they are helpful for lowering the cooldown and magic pen of Ashe's Ultimate, but they serve no other real purpose. I also do not get Havoc , which with 3 points gives 1.5% more damage. I believe the points are more useful Vampirism for the lane sustain early game.

Defense
I put 3 points in Hardiness for +6 armor and then put 1 point in Resistance . Ashe's armor scales later, but initially it's only about half of her MR. Next I get Durability , which adds a decent amount of health which is especially helpful if you op for Guardian Angel instead of Banshee's Veil. And that 1 point in Veteran's Scars does help a good sum early game, especially at level 1.

Utility
I don't op for any points in the Utility tree since 15 seconds CDR on Flash doesn't amount to much and while 10% less time spent dead with Good Hands can be helpful, for the majority of games it won't do anything for you. Really, the only helpful lower tier Utility mastery is Swiftness , but the points needed to be able to get to Swiftness are basically wasted.

Summoner Spells

As Ashe, I almost always go with Flash and Exhaust.

AWESOME SUMMONERS FOR ASHE

Flash
Flash is so useful. It lets you escape, chase, position, kite, dodge an Ultimate -- you can even flash through walls. It's awesome.

Exhaust
Exhaust is also useful. It reduces movement speed by 40%, reduces AD by 70% and AP
by 35%, and reduces armor by 10 and MR by 10 for 2.5 seconds. It's perfect for use on other ranged DPS carries (be careful for the enemy team using it on you!), and also on AP nukers like LeBlanc who can burst you down in one combo.


DECENT SUMMONER SPELLS FOR ASHE

Ghost
Ghost is also amazingly useful. Similar to Flash, it helps in escaping, chasing, positioning, etc.. I like to think of Ghost as a more drawn out version of Flash, in that it lasts longer and Flash is well, a flash.

Teleport
Teleport is also very useful for Ashe. It allows you to teleport to an allied minion or turret, and also to Teemo, Shaco, and Heimerdinger's shrooms, boxes, and turrets, respectively. You can even teleport to Annie's Tibbers. TP can be used for ganking, saving an ally or turret, farming a creep wave, returning back to lane -- it's very useful. IMO, at least one person should have this on your team. In addition, if you ult from across the map and then TP nearby, if timed perfectly an enemy will be stunned just as you arrive and then it's kills for you. More on that later.


MEH SUMMONER SPELLS FOR ASHE

Ignite
Ignite is a great spell for finishing people off. It deals 70-410 true damage over 5 seconds based on your current level while also reduces healing effects on the target. It's great for finishing off nasty Tryndameres, with his ult Undying Rage. However, other spells are more useful for Ashe and will take precedent over this.


Heal
Heal is now a decent summoner spell. Still, it's more useful early game but it's great for baiting an enemy to tower dive you, only to you Heal yourself and kill him instead.


Cleanse
Cleanse is also a decent choice. It allows you to remove all debuffs on your champion, while reducing new ones by 65% for 3 seconds. However, Ashe doesn't have any escapes so Flash and Ghost are usually more useful. Cleanse is more common on ranged AD carries that already have an escape, such as Caitlyn and Tristana.

Skill Sequence

In general, I go R>W=Q>E. Obviously Enchanted Crystal Arrow takes precedent over the rest of the skills, and then Volley W is great for harassing and farming early game. Frost Shot is also extremely important, for chasing and kiting. Then finally Hawkshot E, which is basically a free CV every 60 seconds. Early game, Hawkshot is mainly used for checking bushes in case a Lee Sin is trying to gank you, or scouting to see if the enemy team is trying to get Dragon . Additionally, you get +1 gold for each minion kill with each point of Hawkshot you have, but it doesn't amount to that much and you really need the extra points in Volley and Frost Shot for early game damage/farming and the slow.

I treat Volley and Frost Shot equally, getting Volley at level 1 and alternating from there. Then I get 1 point of Hawkshot for every 2 points of Volley and Frost Shot each -- so after they're both at level 4. Obviously, get Enchanted Crystal Arrow whenever you can.

My deepest, darkest tricks on playing Ashe: Passive

Up until this point, my entire build has been pretty standard and there isn't really information that you couldn't find anywhere else. But now, I will reveal all my most intimate secrets about how I play Ashe.

THE PASSIVE
Ashe's passive Focus is extraordinary early game. I always see some people say how it's one of the most useless passives in the game, but some people have no idea what they're talking about. Basically, the percent chance for a critical is increased with time, and resets to 0 after your next auto attack. Here are scenarios in which you can see it's usefulness:

Scenario 1:
It's level 1 and the creep waves have just spawned and you're laning with a Taric. You're both waiting in bush when an innocent Vayne and Sona pop in and face check. Taric stuns Sona who didn't get a Doran's item and only has 450 health, you auto attack and crit for 140 damage, then Volley for 110 damage for a whopping 250 damage in less than a second at level 1. She flashes away but both you and Taric flash with her and take her out with auto attacks, while Vayne has been focusing you this whole time but you're still 2/3 health since she only has auto attacks and no crit.

Scenario 2:
Say you're laning with a Cho'Gath and he has been harassed pretty hard. So you switch places and wait in the bush while you let him get the cs so that he can life steal his health back. All the while your crit is charging up... as soon as he has enough health, he uses Rupture on that darn Vayne. You charge in with your Volley and your auto attack. Even though your crit chance was only 60%, it still landed. She flashes, but both you and Cho flash to her as well and finish her off with auto attacks.

Scenario 3:
Say you're laning with a champ who is also needs a lot of farm to be useful, such as Lux. You both switch off getting the cs and waiting in bush. While in bush, you wait for your crit to go to 100% and then charge in. Lux lands her stun on that Vayne, and you pop Volley and begin attacking. She was full health and managed to escape with Flash, but she is now down to 1/4 health and is forced to recall.

Scenario 4:
Your jungling Lee Sin was getting blue for the second time when their jungling Skarner popped in and attack him. Lee Sin runs towards bot lane and you intercept. When you met, your crit chance was only at 42% but it still landed on the Skarner. He now tries to escape but with your Frost Shot he is slowed and is killed.


BOTTOM LINE
Ashe's passive is extremely useful early game. At level 1 and upon returning to lane after a recall, the crit chance is 100% and great for getting First Blood or some deadly harassment. However, even when the crit chance is not 100% there still is a chance that it could land and deal a lot of damage. But yes, Ashe's passive is not nearly as useful late game, since her crit chance is already very high thanks to Infinity Edge and Phantom Dancer.

My deepest, darkest tricks on playing Ashe: The Ultimate

Ashe's Ultimate Enchanted Crystal Arrow a.k.a. the hugeflippin' ice arrow coming from bot lane is infamous for its cross map capabilities. The ice arrow (yes, it is supposedly a crystal arrow but it looks like an ice arrow) is so useful: initiating ganks, saving teammates, disabling enemy carries, finishing off enemies recalling, initiating from across the map, saving yourself, etc. I will now go through several tips on how to use the arrow to its maximum usefulness.

First off, there's one not obvious fact that you should know: The arrow stuns for more time the longer the range of the shot -- an arrow at point blank will only stun for like a half a second while a cross map arrow will land for the max of 3.5 seconds.

ENEMIES RECALLING IN BUSH OR BEHIND TURRET
Now, in general you should try to make shots that you will probably make; don't try to go for crazy cross map shots unless you can predict with a good amount of certainty where the enemy will be. For instance, after a fight, a living enemy at low health will usually go into the nearest bush to recall. So send your arrow right at that bush and more often than not the enemy will be right at the entrance of the bush even if you can't see him. Keep in mind that the time for recall is 8 seconds, so time your shot accordingly.

Also, enemies that have been harassed badly and are low health usually recall behind the turret. Not a bush, since they wouldn't be safe from your jungler in a bush. So even if you don't have sight and the enemy is in the fog of war, send your arrow a little behind their turret and it usually will hit.

KILLS AND SAVES DOWN LANES
Also, the arrow is easier to make going straight down the line ex. after you have just recalled. Say that the enemy Ryze at mid is low health. Ping and send your arrow straight down the lane -- it may miss but there's a good chance it will land, stunning and damaging the enemy and allowing your LeBlanc to snag a kill. Another use is for when you have just recalled and one of your lanes is getting tower dove from a gank. If you detect the gank early, send your arrow down the lane at the turret and you may save your teammate and snag an assist.

SAVING TURRETS
If a lane is being pushed hard and nobody is around to defend it, you can use your arrow to try to ward off opponents. However, this situation is always difficult to read. You want to use your arrow when there are only several creeps left, as the AOE damage from the arrow will finish them off, thus leaving the offending pusher stunned and getting hit by the turret. However, if you wait too long, the offending pusher may decide to back off out of fear from your jungler. So it's difficult to know when exactly to use the arrow. Additionally, sometimes if you just fire the arrow when there is still a large creep wave, the offending pusher will back off from fear.

CLOSER RANGE ARROWS
More often than not, the arrow will instead be used at a closer range, usually in your own lane. If your jungler is a Shyvana and has poor initiation abilities, the arrow can be used instead to initiate the gank. You have to anticipate where your target is going to move and a good tip to do this is by looking to see the next last hit they're trying to get. Or if you or your laning partner is being tower dove, pop your ult and stun the offending diver when they're in turret range. When you're being dove, remember to try to use your arrow at the longest distance possible, to get the most stun out of it. The arrow is also great for disrupting other champions' Ultimates, such as Katarina, Miss Fortune, or Warwick.

INITIATING LATE GAME TEAM FIGHTS
Generally, this is not such a good purpose for the arrow. This is because the enemy tank will usually be in front of the carries, who should be your targets. The tank will consequently block the arrow, especially if he's a Cho'Gath with full stacks, and the arrow will be basically wasted. Your tank should really be initiating, and you should save your arrow when you have a clear shot at an enemy carry, especially before that Malzahar can unleash his combo.

CHASING DOWN ENEMY CHAMPIONS
This is always difficult. You must predict and time perfectly where you think a fleeing champion will be when you shoot your arrow; even if the enemy is close it is difficult. The thing I always do is say "what path would I take if I was fleeing", then shoot my arrow down there.

STEALING DRAGON AND BARON
Stealing Dragon with your Enchanted Crystal Arrow is difficult and stealing Baron is even harder. It can be done however, especially if you're close and you have good timing. Since on hit the arrow applies AOE damage, when it hits an enemy champion trying to get Dragon, Dragon too will be damaged a little. Then follow up with a Volley and, if timed well, you'll have succesfully stolen Dragon. The same thing applies to Baron.

FINALLY, THE AWESOME TELE-ULT COMBO
Yes, this is awesome. Basically, when your turret is being pushed and there is nobody to defend it, you send your ult from far away and Teleport in... if timed perfectly, the arrow will land on the champ and you will TP in just as the arrow hits. The enemy AOE damage from your ult will have hurt the creeps, you'll finish off the rest with Volley as soon as you TP in, the offending pusher will be getting destroyed by the turret and your auto-attacks for 3.5 seconds, and then you chase with Frost Shot activated. However, the scenario in which this happens is very rare: first off you must have Teleport instead of Flash, the offending pusher must be a squishy champ or already low health (if you want a kill), and there must be only some creeps and they must be slightly damaged already. In addition, you must time it perfectly. I rarely get TP so I haven't ever done it flawlessly (gotten a kill), but yeah it's awesome if done right. Not sure if this is the real HotShotGG or not, but this is an example of it being done perfectly:

Not as deep and dark secrets: Toqqle Q and Volley and Hawkshot

Frost Shot and Volley are more straightforward than Ashe's Ultimate. When going for some light harass in lane, if you just auto attack don't put on the Q; you won't get another hit and you'll have used 8 mana. If however, you go for an auto attack and a Volley, put on the Q so that the enemy will more likely be in range for the Volley. Or if you lead in with Volley for some harass, don't bother toggling Q since Volley applies the current level of Frost Shot on hit. Also, NEVER use Q on minions or neutral monsters, it's a complete waste. Always have Q toggled on in team fights, even if the enemy is not really moving -- they may Flash away and they will escape since they won't have any slow on them. Also, Volley is great for slowing down several enemy champions who are on your tail.

However, the main use of Frost Shot (since Volley also applies the on-hit slow) is kiting. Kiting is a technique which is easy to do on melee champs with no gap closers. If the champion has a gap closer, you can still kite them if you have lots of movement speed or if you Flash away. While their gap closer is on CD you can either 1. kill them before the gap closing ability is off CD or 2. life steal with Vampiric Scepter/ The Bloodthirster all the health you lost back and kill them even if they use the gap closing ability again. One thing you need to watch out for is champions who build Frozen Mallet, since it's extremely difficult to kite them if they get the first hit on you. Kiting is a little difficult to explain with words -- below, I posted some YouTube video I found of some random dude doing some good kiting on a silly Udyr.

Hawkshot is also fairly straightforward. It's great for checking bushes in case you may be getting ganked, scouting Baron, scouting your jungle for counter-junglers, or scouting your own bushes in lane. There's really only one tip that's not obvious I have for Hawkshot: when chasing down a melee DPS or AP nuker, if they go into a bush scout the bush first. This way you can see if they're waiting for you to burst you down/disable you at close range. Since you now have sight you can auto attack them and finish them off/kite them if they go for you. Another tip, which I have had limited success with, is shooting your Hawkshot at enemies during a team fight as to try to trick them in to burning Flash since they'll be expecting your Enchanted Crystal Arrow. This doesn't really work too often though.

Here's the video of that random guy I found on YouTube kiting well and also Hawkshotting a bush before going in:

Ashe during team fights

During team fights, the standard focus should be Carries>Tanky DPS/AP>Support>Tank. However, it can be difficult to get to the carries because they will be behind your team, and you will be behind yours. Therefore, it's ok to target the tanky DPS/AP if no other target is available. However, don't be afraid to just hang back for a couple seconds after initiation for the fight has occurred. Enemies will be looking to focus you down first, but if you aren't there they will burn their skills on other tankier champions first. Additionally, if you show up once they are already low on health, you can take them down before they kill you, even if they focus you. Or if they are still high health, use your Ultimate in order to disable them before they can do too much damage too you. Or better yet, if a squishy AP nuker like LeBlanc is trying to focus you, ult her before he can unleash her combo on you and take her out instead. There are several champions that are extremely good at targeting carries that you need to watch out for:


Akali
Akalis are my worst enemy. With Twilight Shroud, Akali can go invisible, only to burst out with her Shadow Dance with a 1 second cooldown and melt your health away. During a team fight, I advise someone to place down a Vision Ward so that that Ak can be detected and focused down before she kills you. Or better yet have your tank buy Oracle's Elixir. Also, keep in mind that your arrow can land on Akali even if she is in her shroud.

Olaf
Olaf is also a big enemy of mine. With his ultimate Ragnarok, he is completely immune to all disables, including stuns, which mean even your ultimate won't stop him in his tracks. He doesn't do quite as much damage as Akali but he is much tankier -- your best bet is to try to kite him with Ghost.

Shyvana
Shyvana is also a problem. With her Ultimate Dragon's Descent, she goes dragon mode, flying into one direction which is usually at you. Fortunately, she can still be kited while in dragon mode, but she is fairly tanky and has an assortment of ranged abilities.

Nocturne
Nocturne is also friggen' annoying. With his Ultimate Paranoia, he can launch himself at you from about half the map away. He then uses Unspeakable Horror to fear you, making you unable to Flash away and kite him. One way to counter him is to get Banshee's Veil to block the fear, and then he can be kited. Be careful of Shroud of Darkness, which allows him to block a spell such as your Enchanted Crystal Arrow. Also, if he successfully blocks it his attack speed is doubled for 5 seconds, and then you're screwed.

Those champions tend to give me the most trouble as Ashe during team fights, apart from AP nukers who focus me, but they can be fended off with your Ultimate and Flash/Ghost. There are two other champions who are tanks that also are a real problem

Rammus
Rammus is cute, but a real pain in the ashe. My nickname for Rammus is "Ashe-Killer". With his Powerball, he can chase you down even if you Ghost and kite him. Once he hits you, it's all over. First with Puncturing Taunt and then Defensive Ball Curl (not to mention most Rammus build Thornmail), he makes you kill yourself with all the damage he returns. I advise you ignore him late game. One way to somewhat counter him is to build magic resist and Mercury's Treads, to reduce the length of the taunt and the damage given back to you.

Amumu
With Amumu's pull Bandage Toss, he locks in on you and then proceeds to cry his eyes out with Despair, giving you a surprising amount of damage. The Mummy is so dangerous since he can close in on you so well if he lands his pull, and if he has built Thornmail he can't be kited without damaging yourself.

Laning Partners

Early Game
For Ashe, early game is the most important. If the early game goes well and you're fed, you'll most likely stay fed since Ashe is a late game carry and her damage really snowballs. If however you feed early game, it's incredibly difficult to come back late game. Early game advantage can be gained by dominating in lane and controlling Dragon kills.


Preferred Lane Partners
Preferably, you'll want your lane partner to be a support with a stun and a heal, and is not dependent on farm so you can take the majority. Four outstanding laning partners are:

Taric
Taric is the man. He has a ranged stun and a heal -- it's awesome. Not to mention he's tanky, unlike other supports. Additionally, you don't have to worry about him trying to hit on you because apparently he might be gay.

Alistar
Alistar has a special place close to my heart. Like Taric, he also has a heal and a stun. And he's also tanky! Wonderful. You also don't have to worry about the cow hitting on you; I don't think he's gay but he's a cow.

Sona
Sona is also a good laning partner for Ashe. She has a heal, but doesn't get a stun until her Ultimate Crescendo. She is also not as tanky, but she is ranged and can help harass unlike Taric and the cow. In addition, she plays nice music and is almost as busty as Ashe.

Soraka
Soraka is a unicorn I think. She can heal and give more mana, so that's a nice plus to help with the mana pool. She doesn't have a stun, but she does have a silence. She is also not tanky, but like Sona she is ranged.

Champs You Can't Lane With
You absolutely DO NOT want to lane with another AD ranged carry. Your initial damage output and will be so abysmal, and you both will be shut down so hard. You shouldn't even have another ranged AD carry in your team comp in the first place. This includes Tristana, Caitlyn, Corki, Vayne, Miss Fortune, Graves.

Standard Gameplay

EARLY GAME
Early game, in the laning phase, you want to be concentrating on last hitting and playing safely. Your damage output isn't high and you're very squishy. However, if you are harassing the opposition very well, then by all means go for a kill if you can make it. Once you hit 6, you always want to keep a tab on all the other lanes to see if a scenario presents itself in which you can probably make an arrow for an assist or even a kill. After you have purchased B. F. Sword and Boots of Speed, your damage and movement speed have suddenly jumped up and you can now focus on playing more aggressively. Also, don't be afraid to buy Sight Wards if you have extra money.

MID-LATE GAME
By now, at least one turret has been downed and ganks are occurring all over the place. As you finish your core of Infinity Edge and Phantom Dancer, you can start on building your next item. Always build to the situation -- if you're fed build more AD but if you aren't doing so well play more defensively and build some more armor. By pressing Tab, you can see the items and K:D ratios of all your teammates and enemies. If they're stacking armor, go for Last Whisper, if they're stacking health go for Madred's Bloodrazor. If they're AP carry is fed, build a Banshee's Veil or a Force of Nature -- at this point it's really up to you and you have to build to the situation.

Summoner Level 1-20 play

At lower level of play, the game is a little different. People don't really build armor, mainly damage, so you can basically have no armor pen and still deal ridiculous damage. In addition, people are terrible at focusing in team fights and usually just attack the first thing they see. Since you'll be towards the back, you usually won't be attacked. You don't really need a survivability item like Guardian Angel or Banshee's Veil and you can just build glass cannon and completely faceroll. I remember back in my level 15 days my final build was Infinity Edge, 2 Phantom Dancers, and 3 The Bloodthirsters and it was awesome.

However, some people also don't understand the role of an AD carry, in that you need to do well early game to be helpful late game. So your own teammates with better early game such as Renekton will often take your cs and ks you. In addition, people also rage much easier at early levels, and will often blame you and hurt your feelings if you feed (which happens if your early game is poor) or miss an Enchanted Crystal Arrow. One way to counter this is by not solo queueing and doing premades with friends who won't get mad at you.

People also tend not to use Sight Wards and people don't really jungle either. Both of these things are usually a pretty big advantage, so if you have teammates who ward and a jungler you'll have a leg up on the opposing team.

In addition, while people are still learning champions and their different Ultimates, people will usually not know/expect your Enchanted Crystal Arrow. As you level up, people will learn and try to dodge the arrow especially with Flash.

Also, people don't have full runes nor masteries (or don't even know what they are). I recommend you buy Tier 1 runes which can be purchased at the store (orange button on the menu screen after you log in). Tier 1 runes offer 55% of the effect of Tier 3 runes and are much, much cheaper. I don't recommend buying Tier 2 runes since I don't think it's worth it; IMO the money is better spent saving up for those pricey Tier 3 runes. As for masteries, I recommend putting the points in Utility and Defense first, and then working on the Offense. I also recommend first putting 3 points in Expanded Mind instead of Good Hands , since you won't have sufficient runes for mana regen yet and a larger initial mana pool helps. Then at level 20, put all the points in Offense. This is because by then you can get Tier 3 runes, which will supply sufficient defense, mana regen, and movement speed.

As for Summoner spells, I would get Teleport and Ghost and then at level 12 switch to Flash and Ghost.

En Conclusión

Ashe is a great DPS but is extremely squishy. In order to be effective, you must be very careful while still dishing out a ton of damage. I hope it helped you and gave you some new insights on how to play Ashe. I am always open to constructive criticism and would love to hear feedback. Thanks.

P.S. If you found my guide helpful whatsoever, please don't hesitate to upvote it or if you are a guest don't be afraid to make an account then upvote it. It takes about 40 seconds.

P.S.S. I just published this guide and am still making a ton of edits. I'm planning to add the following things:

Pictures of final builds
More situational items
More on elixirs
More on hawkshot vs. frost shot
More on warding

Terminology

AS - attack speed
AD - attack damage
AP - ability power
carry - n. a champion whose damage scales and is able to "carry" the team, usually is squishy
CC - crowd control (silences, slows, stuns, snares, fears, taunts, etc.)
cs - creep score (amount of creeps killed)
CV - Clairvoyance
DPS - damage per second
farm - to get more cs
fed - has a lot of gold due to high cs or kills; a fed champ typically will build more damage in order to carry
harass - to deal damage without the intention of killing, usually in lane
ks - kill steal
minion - synonymous with creep
MS - movement speed
squishy - easy to be killed; has low health and armor
tanky - not easy to be killed; has high health and armor
taunt - n. debuff that makes you attack the offending taunter
TP - Teleport
zoning - "zoning" enemy champions in lane out of cs and experience range