Ashe support?

[quote=CrysJaL]Recently I got the Queen Ashe skin from the mystery gifting in April and I've wanted to try out Ashe again after a long time owning her and very rarely playing her. I've heard a few times about using [[Ashe]] as a supporting champion (my most common role is support) and I can sort of see what these people are talking about. Considering her abilities and their potential usage as a Support I want to try out this Ashe support. There are very few guides on this type of Ashe so I want to discuss potential ideas etc with you guys, and hence this thread was born. So my current theory involves the following masteries which is a fairly starndard set which I haven't actually used before. I generally stick to high damage output champions like [[Sona]] where I go 21/0/9 or tanky champs like [[Blitzcrank]] or [[Thresh]] where I use 0/21/9 instead. This si the mastery set I have produced: [masteries=http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/mastery-tree-planner#&tree1=0-4-1-0-0-3-0-0-0-0-0-2-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0&tree2=0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0&tree3=1-3-0-0-3-0-1-3-1-0-0-1-1-0-2-1-3-0&v=2] Ashe needs to fulfill the roles of a Support whilst also providing damage as she cannot really provide much else such as healing aside from the Slows her Q provides and her ultimate stun. Sadly there are some must have items to go in here which severely reduce this damage output but I have come up with 4 item slot filled with one or two items which I mostly cannot decide between: [[Infinity edge]] for the extra damage on that critical hit that Ashe's passive grants you aswell as the 70 Ad boost which helps this set out alot. [[Ruby Sightstone]] for obvious reasons as this is a supporting Ashe which will need to make use of wards. [[Trinity Force]] or [[iceborn gauntlet]]. One of the items that grants a greater damage output after an ability is cast. For example Ashe's ultimate where I see this combo happening alot or possibly the use of her Q or even E and W casts. I'm hoping that the bonus damage will stack with the Critical strike and do some awesome damage, making Ashe more of a threat. I see Iceborn as more of a defensive item here with Trinity force dealing significantly greater damage. Iceborn would play more of a defensive role, granting Armour and the slow from the active at the cost of less damage. [[Talisman of ascension]] or [[Face of the Mountain]] I know the second option sounds strange at first. I considered Ashe's abilities, specifically the E which grants extra gold on a kill. Face of the Mountain would allow this passive to be useful in the Supporting role and Ashe wouldn't waste it and the active is still pretty awesome though it will be reduced by Ashe's limited health potential. As always Talisman of Ascension is a great item and should blend in well with the Masteries above. I'm not entirely sure about a 5th item or the boots. There are a few possibilities such as [[Statikk Shiv]] and a variety of possible boots which I can see all being useful in different situations but I'm not sure what would work. Obviously there needs to be some variability in this set to compete with different teams. Love it or hate it? Any feedback appreciated and any ideas for improvement would be awesome.[/quote]

[quote=Vynertje]It has been done before, but it doesn't really work. You'll probably want to get spellthief; even though ashe doesn't benefit much from AP, the gold income is still great and you can sell it later on for talisman. You're a support so you don't want to get big damage items anyway, but [[liandry's torment]] might be a cool niche pick if you can spam volley.[/quote]

[quote=Latest Legend]I've seen people run [[Runaan's Hurricane]] on her, to let her Q and other on-hits shine. I'm not sure how it stacks up, but have you tried [[frozen mallet]] yet? Everything it gives looks useful on support [[ashe]]. If it doesn't stack nice with her Q then I wouldn't go for it though. Other things that might be nice looking into: [[zeke's herald]], [[the black cleaver]](with a capital M), [[last whisper]], [[blade of the ruined king]](scaling damage and active) Again, I would take [[iceborn gauntlet]] over [[trinity force]] if the slows stack up nicely. I think [[talisman of ascension]]'s active is too much to give up for the gold. It will provide some mana for the [[volley]] spam too. I don't think ashe support is god-tier by the way :D[/quote]

[quote=extradelicious]dont see the point of getting frozen mallet on adc or support ashe. Personally, I think that the support ashe has a bit of potential. Personally, I'd use her as a high poke potential support (dem crits tho, man) who will become a CC bot in team fights and then eventually continue being a cc bot or a second ADC depending on the length of the game. I dont agree wtih trinity or iceborn: trinity is the most expensive item int he game or pretty much up there. How is a support going to feasibly get that in a meaningful time period? Iceborn is just not worth it since you already have slows and you're not going to be able to turn ashe into a tank no matter how you try.[/quote]

[quote=utopus]You know, [[infinity edge]] is like the 2nd most expensive item in the game. And certainly the most unforgiving item when it comes to build paths. I'm not sure how a champ with a support income can easily afford something of that magnitude[/quote]

[quote=Firehusary]NO. What Ashe offers, hmm? Her Q will be basically a worst version of Nami E. Her W base doesn't look amazing and offers no burst. In current meta: supports=burst. Well, [[hawkshot]] looks good... but hello, just buy wards. And her ulti... Well, looks ok. But to have a long stun, you can't use it during a 2 vs.2:P[/quote]

[quote=Master Ironfist]Support Ashe works, the problem is she only works with certain ADC's and she can get countered really hard by champs with gap closers. She works best when your adc has longer range that their adc so you can kite easily with your slows and not take damage back. She works great with cait for this reason. I would start coin or dagger (don't under estimate the gold and bonus damage on hit even though you don't need the AP) then either Sightstone or Tear. Tear isn't very good on adc Ashe because it delays her damage too long. Support ashes abilities are more important than her raw DPS so the tear is a good buy for her to keep slows on the enemy and keep poking with volley. Next you need to look at how the game is going and make some choices. If you need more defense and need to help keep your adc alive you should get Aegis working towards Locket. If you're team fighting a lot or pushing lanes and taking towers get static shiv. The earlier you get shiv the better because it's bonus damage is a static 100. This is more meaningful when minion and champion HP totals are smaller. Shiv also gives move speed with further increases your ability to kite and chase. The third option would be Zekes Herald, this is for when your ADC is kicking ass and you want them to snowball even harder. The 20 bonus AD and lifesteal you give them will make a huge difference fighting in lane. I only buy this item if laning phase is lasting really long and we are still in lane farming and fighting, if the tower is down and we are grouping for teamfights I like shiv first. Finishing out your build is really going to depend on what your team needs. I like items with on hit bonuses and items that make my team better or their team weaker, Black Cleaver gives you everything you need, more HP, CDR, more damage and you auto attacks AND your volleys will lower the enemy champs armor. Wits End adds on hit damage and lowers enemy MRES, this helps you a little but can really help the AP champs on your team. If you took the tear it should be upgraded to manamune. If you went manamune frozen heart can be an OK choice, the extra mana gets turned into AD and bonus damage, it gives a ton of armor and an area attack speed debuff but Ashe should never be in the middle of the enemy team so I don't really like this item on her unless your back line is getting constantly jumped on by attack speed dependent champs (Nocturn, Udyr, etc..). If you need a major damage boost grabbing an IE on Ashe is always good, especially paired with static shiv. IE is a total luxury item tho so make sure your defense and utility are covered first.[/quote]

[quote=extradelicious][quote=Firehusary] NO. What Ashe offers, hmm? Her Q will be basically a worst version of Nami E. Her W base doesn't look amazing and offers no burst. In current meta: supports=burst. Well, [[hawkshot]] looks good... but hello, just buy wards. And her ulti... Well, looks ok. But to have a long stun, you can't use it during a 2 vs.2:P [/quote] her w base is actually pretty decent if you get even a decent amount of AD, because you can AA cancel with it. hawkshot, theres always going to be places where you cant ward safely or the enemy team clears out so you need vision, and not everyone wants to get a blue trinket. and idk man, id rather have like a 40% perma-slow than nami E. like ashe pretty much gurantees if you are chasing, you will get the kills[/quote]

[quote=MegaGmat]Ashe support is viable if certain circumstances are met. For it to work the enemy bot lane either has to be squishy, or your adc has to be sturdy (i.e urgot). Ashe support is completely utility. Her chasing power gaurentees kills if she can land an aa. Her volley, while not a large amount of damage still hurts a considerable amount and it does slow. Against enemy adc's such as Varus, maybe Jinx, Sivir pre-6, enemies who don't have good escape skills would be a great match up. It's usually a squishy lane. Although the level 6 burst is what makes it amazing. Coupled with a strong adc (maybe draven?), ashe can make a great support. Her late game abilities also helps with picks, taking towers quickly, and when your teammates start moaning about lack of wards at baron, just hawk shot. (I don't imply not to ward baron, that's just bad supporting) She should be played like Sona, poke and retreat until 6, when you go all in. TL;DR Ashe support works, build into what your team needs, poke and retreat during lane phase, all in at 6.[/quote]