Hey everyone! I am Lionel, a Challenger ADC main since season 5 and have peaked rank 1 1364LP. I previously played profesionally in the OPL and LCO from 2020-2022. Ashe is probably my best champion and extremely fun to kite on. This was my winrate on her in 1000LP+ Challenger last year.

I'm sure some of you have seen the Ashe supports making rounds in your SoloQ games off late but I've always been a fan of Tradional Marksman Ashe. I will be sharing some concepts I found very useful when mastering Ashe.
I've started making videos on Youtube and you might remember me from my streaming days on Twitch!
Season 11 Rank 1

Pros:
- Strong Laning Phase
- Satisfying Kiting
- Provides amazing utlity
- Can fit into most team comps easily
- Scales well with flexible build paths
- Q buff on 12.18

Cons:
- Immobile
- Pressure that comes with possessing the engage tool (R)
- Not as flashy as other ADCS at times

Passive: Ashe has an incredibly underrated passive. Her basic attacks and abilities slow opponents. Her basic attacks also have a crit modifier (which IS affected by Infinity Edge), making crit a strong option on Ashe. The critical slow component of her passives makes crit strikes not do extra damage but instead double the slow depending on level. I'll go into this in more detail in the Items section of the guide but basically she has a very strong passive that can permaslow opponents in the mid to late game.

Q: The main thing to note with this ability active is that you can use it to reset your Auto attack cooldown. You can use Q once you have enough Focus stacks and reset your auto for extra DPS.




W: This ability is the main laning tool for Ashe. She shoots a volley in a cone that deals damage and slow champions hit but enemies cannot take damage from arrows beyond the first. This ability has a huge range and is very useful for poking enemies and zoning them off the wave at early levels.



E: This ability usage can usually separate a good Ashe from a great one. The way I like to think about this spell is like having map hacks with a very long cooldown. If you manage to get priority and can push the wave at early levels, you can send a hawk into the entire enemy jungle, almost certain spotting the first clear. There's nothing more tilting for a jungle than seeing a hawk at level 2, ruining his early game plans. In the mid to late game, this spell is very useful at neutral objectives for stopping Baron Nashor and Dragon. You can also use it to find flankers in teamfights, cover teammates on the opposite side of the map, split pushing and simply checking an area that might have a hiding Qiyana in it.

R: This is the main engage tool for Ashe. Ashe can shoot an arrow from anywhere on the map to the other side of the map and stun enemies upon impact. The main thing to note is the stun duration is based on distance travelled. Therefore, long range arrows are very practical not only for the satisfaction of sniping the opponent. It is good to pay attention to where the enemy places vision because if they see your arrow coming, it is quite easy to avoid. This makes it difficult to shoot an arrow from bot to top for example because the enemies will see it as it passes through mid. It is also quite important that you hide in Fog of War if possible when firing the arrow as it adds to the element of surprise.

Lethal Tempo: The durability patch made Lethal Tempo the premier Rune choice for Ashe. This is because it is more difficult to one shot opponents so Hail of Blades is not as potent. Some pros still take Hail of Blades for early lane pressure but I prefer Lethal Tempo, especially with the Ghost build. Lethal Tempo is stronger in long drawn out fights when it can be fully stacked. Also, it gives bonus attack speed per stack and can increase attack range at max stacks, which helps Ashe run opponents down in the long range with little counterplay. This rune also scales well and it can be very obnoxious to play against an orbwalking Ashe with permaslow.

Presence of Mind: Damaging an enemy increases your mana regen per second based on level. Ashe does suffer from some minor mana problems, especially after spamming Volley in lane phase. Presence of Mind is great because you don't have to worry about mana problems for the majority of the game. Overheal is not a bad option with champions like Soraka but you have to manage your mana more carefully.



Legend: Bloodline and Legend: Alacrity are both viable options on Ashe. Legend: Bloodline synergises better with the crit, Kraken Slayer build. Legend: Alacrity synergises better with the Immortal Shieldbow on-hit build.




Cut Down and Last Stand are both viable options on Ashe. Cut Down synergises well with the tank slaying Kraken Slayer build. Last Stand can be a strong choice in SoloQ due to the volatile nature of games and amount of fights. I prefer Last Stand with the Immortal Shieldbow build against team compositions with alot of assassins and backline threat. I will elaborate more on this in the Items section.

This rune is broken on Ashe because it gives you movespeed towards targets that are slowed and a 15% bonus if you impair their movement. This rune combined with her Frost Shot, Ghost, Lethal Tempo and Berserker's Greaves enables you to easily run opponents down early game in the long lane.



Biscuit Delivery: Although nerfed, I've found this rune useful to help sustain mana in the early game. It helps you stay in lane to poke out enemies with Volley for longer and reach your 1100 gold power spike for Berserker's Greaves. Avoid taking Magical Footwear so that you don't delay the Tier 2 boots rush. If you're not a fan of the cookies, Future's Market is not a bad choice either to reach your item thresholds faster.

Secondary Runes: Attack speed is an obvious choice for any ADC. Armor and MR are interchangeable depending on if you're laning against an AD or AP threat. Health is decent as a scaling option if you feel that you have an easy lane where the opponents will not fight back and you don't need the armor and magic resistance.

This spell is a must have because it teleports your champion towards your cursor. It can be used for dodging abilities, finishing off kills, repositioning and is very versatile for outplaying your opponents.
Flash is essential for most champions in the game, especially ADCs.



This is a new idea after durability patch that has been popular especially in pro play. Ghost is extremely satisfying to kite with on Ashe and is a deceptively strong combat summoner too. Ghost can be used to run down your opponents in the long bot lane, especially if the wave is frozen on your side. Synergises very well with Lethal Tempo and Berserker's Greaves. It also scales well and allows you to avoid unit collision. If you kite and space well, you can use Ghost to pick up kills and run down opponents in the early game.

Heal is another good option because it is a strong 2v2 summoner. The movespeed it gives to your support can be very useful in all in trades. This is probably a more reliable option if you are not super comfortable with kiting yet.




Cleanse is a very defensive option on Ashe. Usually you want to take it against supports like Amumu or Leona. While it is annoying to be forced to take cleanse against these champions, once they have used their initial crowd control, you can run them down easily. If possible, it is better to take Ghost or Heal for more combat power. Cleanse is strong if the enemy team has hard CC in other lanes too.

Starting Items


These are the most standard starting items for Ashe. Doran's Blade is very strong against melee supports and the Omnivamp and Health are very useful stats. You can usually start these items in most matchups.



These starting items can be a better option vs poke lanes like Ezreal Karma. One advantage to starting Long Sword is that it helps you reach your Noonquiver spike sooner. However, since the nerf to Health Potions on patch 12.14, I prefer the Doran's Blade when possible.

Early Game

If there is one thing you take out of this guide, it is that this MOST IMPORTANT POWER SPIKE on Ashe. Avoid taking the Magical Footwear rune because it prevents you from hitting this spike! Most ADCs will not rush Tier 2 boots to match your spike. With Ghost or Heal, Frost Shot, Approach Velocity and this spike, tag enemies with your slow very easily. Since bot lane is a long lane, tier 2 boots are very effective at closing the distance and with Lethal Tempo, you can easily chase kills down.

This item can be useful to sustain against some poke lanes. This item can be very practical if you're going down the Immortal Shieldbow build path. However, I prefer rushing the Damage items and boots first for greater all in threat.




This item can be useful if you're rushing Kraken Slayer. Prioritise Berserker's Greaves first and then buy this for the raw AD afterwards.




This is the premium early game ADC item. It gives Ashe a good combo of AD and attack speed but if you rush this before Tier 2 boots you lose gap closing power. Depending on the lane, it can be better to rush noonquiver over boots for the pure damage. It is important to use your discretion and decide whether boots or Noonquiver are better to rush. If the enemy bot is immobile and your support has hard CC, the pure damage and wave thinning power can sometimes be better than boots.

Mid-Late Game Items

Scenarios
Before continuing, it is important to make the distinction between different ingame scenarios. Itemising can be complex at times but it is an important skill to understand to keep a competitive edge over your opponents. In this guide, I will keep it simple and present 2 different scenarios to explain different item paths.

Scenario 1: Against Tanky Opponents
In this scenario, the enemy team has a lot of tanky champions that are easily kitable like Braum, Trundle and Cho'Gath. The tank killing build path of Kraken Slayer would be most optimal here to prioritise damage over survivability. Ashe also has a Soraka to heal and keep her alive and a Sion that can buy space and peel.
Scenario 2: Against Assasins and Dive
In this scenario, the enemy team has a lot of diving champions like Fizz and Talon. Ashe has a Brand and a lot of diving champions on her team that probably won't peel for her. Itemising survivability and going the Immortal Shieldbow route can be good in this instance.
Build Path for Scenario 1
Kraken Slayer is a great tank slaying item for Ashe. It also helps her scale into the late game and take down neutral objectives. The mythic passive empowers each of your other legendary items with 10% bonus attackspeed which synergises great with her kit.



Phantom Dancer synergises well with Ghost, Approach Velocity and the other movement effects in this build. It gives her an effect called ghosting which buffs MS and Spectral Waltz which stacks attack speed. Ashe can kite impeccably with this build and is still strong at 2 items.



Infinity Edge rounds out the core build for Ashe. Her passive has a crit modifier and her crit strikes increase her slow. She has insane DPS at this spike and can easily permaslow tanky enemies to death.





This item should be built when the opponent stacks armor and health. The unique passive deals bonus damage depending on health difference. It fits well into the tank shredding build. Her final item is usually situational and will depend on the game. You can also build this 3rd or 4th in scenario 2.



Build Path for Scenario 2
Immortal Shieldbow is better than Kraken Slayer when the opponent has a heavy diving team comp as in Scenario 2. The mythic passive gives you bonus AD and health for extra survivability and you can easily kite out melee champions to survive.




Guinsoo's Rageblade is usually the best second item with this build path. This item makes her more powerful earlier in the game but does not scale as well as the crit build. It gives her a lot of attack speed and helps her keep up with assassins who typically have cheaper lethality build paths.



Wit's End is very powerful against double AP threats on the enemy team. Not only does it give you magic resist, it also gives you "Basic attacks deal 15 − 80 (based on level) bonus magic damage on-hit and grant you 20 bonus movement speed for 2 seconds." The magic damage and movespeed are very useful, particularly if the enemy team starts stacking armor. This item can be built before Guinsoo's Rageblade if it is the right game for it. LDR can also be built instead of this item depending on the enemy champions.

This item is very useful against multiple melee champions. Often you will face a lot of diving champions and it can even be a strong 3rd item in a lot of cases. It is also extremely enjoyable to kite multiple melee champions at the same time with this item!



In some games it can be unclear which build path is best. The Immortal Shieldbow route is the more defensive option but you do trade off neutral objective damage and the dps that you would gain from Kraken Slayer. Use your discretion and experiment with both builds!


Situational Items
Quicksilver Sash is very useful if you do not want to take cleanse and are against champions with hard CC in the mid-late game like Kennen. You can upgrade it into Mercurial Scimitar later and it works great with both build parts.



In a lot of games, the enemy team often has one very strong, fed member. You should put your chains on them and it will also give you Ability Haste and reduce their tenacity so that your R stuns them for longer! [Anathema's Chains is an underrated defensive option for ADCs because it gives tankiness and is very good for late game situations.



Bloodthirster is a very situational item and useful vs poke compositions and in games where there are extended teamfights. Other items tend to be more practical on Ashe with the Immortal Shieldbow build path. However, with the Kraken Slayer path, Bloodthirster can be a great 5th or 6th item choice.



Galeforce is very situational and I only consider buying it when I desperately need to reposition. It can be practical against champions like Bard so that you don't have to blow your flash everytime he ults. For the most part, in games where you would have to buy this item, it would usually be better to play a different champion with mobility instead.




Blade of the Ruined King is a luxury item and is not necessarily core to the build path in my opinion. That being said, the Siphon effect which slows enemies and gives you movespeed, synergises great with Ashe's kit.

The most important laning tip for Ashe is to AVOID LEASHING. The reason for this is that it is important to control the bushes level one so that you can Hawkshot the entire enemy jungle with your level 2 powerspike. In some lanes, like Ashe + Soraka, you can zone the opponent off exp at level 1 with Volley and Starcall and get an amazing trade. It can be difficult to negotiate with your jungler not to leash at all elos. It helps if you can explain how not leashing will benefit them because it enables you to track the enemy jungler's entire first clear.

Examples of how you can use priority to scout the enemy jungle at level 2: Play Video Play Video


If you do have to leash, be aware your laning power is a lot weaker and you might lose the race to level 2 which changes how you would use Hawkshot. With the process of elimination, you can still have a good idea of where the enemy jungler might be. Ashe can be tricky to pick up for players that purely prioritise mechanics and don't think about the map holistically. If you have a decent idea of how junglers might path, you can use your Hawkshot accordingly. For example, tracking a Xin Zhao, Trundle or any other early ganking jungler by using Hawkshot on their redbuff can provide your team with a lot of valuable information early. Against a fullclearing jungler like Fiddlesticks, you may want to hold it and find out where they will finish their fullclear.

Usually this spell is best used at level 2 and early game around objectives like Rift Herald . Your ultimate is good to save for early Dragon fights and the first Rift Herald. You can also go Ranger's Focus level 2 if you are playing with a melee support and they manage to find a good engage. If you are being pushed in and cannot find a good Hawkshot angle, skilling Q can often be better. In general, Ashe can take a lot of fights level 1-3 and extend trades with Lethal Tempo.

The main item spikes you are looking to reach are Berserker's Greaves and Noonquiver. The easiest way to win games on Ashe is to manipulate your first recall so that you can base at 1100 gold. Once you have hit this spike, try hold a freeze near your tower but make sure the wave is not too big. Use the attack speed from your boots to thin the wave as necessary. If you are in a purely 2v2 situation, you will win most fights running forward at your opponent, using your movement speed to dodge and space the enemies spells. Quite often, the enemy bot lane will need to call their jungler to help break a freeze near your tower or they will have to die or lose CS.

If you choose to go the Noonquiver route, make sure to use the on-hit passive to thin waves. Be aware you have less movement speed so you need to be more careful with your positioning.

Ashe has a range of 600 and outranges most ADC champions at early levels. It is very important to use your range to space to dodge enemy abilities and avoid creep aggro. Here are two examples of the kiting fantasy in a 2v3 situation. The first clip is without the Tier 2 boots powerspike. The 2nd is using Berserker's Greaves, Ghost, Approach Velocity to dodge Nidalee spear and Jhin W to buy space to find a 2v3 outplay. I play on 60ping, and my kiting and clicking is no way near perfect, but these clips show how you can easily outplay with Ghost. Play Video

Ashe is a very strong mid-game champion because she spikes hard at 2 items with the Immortal Shieldbow build. The Kraken Slayer build is a little weaker at 2 items but has better scaling at 3 items with Infinity Edge. Your main goal in the midgame is to try and fight whenever your arrow is off cooldown and reset according to your arrow cooldown. In SoloQ there are so many neutrals to fight over, including Dragon, Rift Herald and Turrets. If you're behind, the midgame is a good time to farm up and scale for your 2 or 3 item power spike (depending on the build).

It is important to understand that modern league is a game centred around teamwork. Although not flashy, Champions like Seraphine with simplistic kits tend to do well at all levels of play. Apart from satisfying kiting, it may seem that Ashe is a very simplistic champion without flashy mechanics. While this is true to some extent, this champion tests your knowledge of the game holistically because she provides an insane amount of utility. Saving your Hawkshot for pivotal fights and choosing the right target to use your ultimate on are both important skills to master in the mid game. For example, you would not want to ult a target with Cleanse or Quicksilver Sash or a champion that can easily avoid it with a dash. It is good to focus immobile champions and champions that have their dash spells on cooldown.

Ashe is very versatile and can itemise to deal with most of the champions she encounters in SoloQ. Both build paths are very fast at doing Baron, with the Kraken Slayer path providing you with amazing scaling and dps for late game. The main thing you want to focus on is your positioning in fights. It is very important to not open yourself up to flanks and to use Hawkshot to scout areas where your team lacks vision. With the Immortal Shieldbow build, you can play a bit more loose and invite enemies to dive you while you show of your kiting skills. Remember to use your Q Ranger's Focus to reset your auto attacks for higher dps.

Your ultimate Enchanted Crystal Arrow has a 60 second cooldown at max rank, so I recommend looking for picks often. Remember that you miss every shot you don't take! That being said, try not to use your arrow in the 60second window before a neutral objective like Baron Nashor and Dragon spawns. It is important to have a general idea of where the enemy has vision. If they see your arrow coming, it is likely they will be able to dodge it. It is usually helpful to make a mental note of targets that are high priority or easier to arrow and focus on hitting them. For example, control mages like Viktor and Orianna are great targets if they don't have cleanse or Banshee's Veil because you will either blow their Flash or kill them.

Ashe is a backline champion and you want to avoid dying first in fights. It is usually best to hit the closest target and kite with your team. The most important thing is to identify your threats and be prepared to avoid them. You have a lot of self-peel with your passive and ultimate so mostly you need to avoid the initial engage. Ashe is simplistic and great for beginners because if you focus on your position at the start of the fight, you will usually find success. For more seasoned players, focus on improving target selection, hitting your arrow and spacing threats with perfection.

Last but not least, a Skins Tier List. Project is my indisputable favourite with High Noon and Ocean Song coming in at close second. What's your favourite Ashe skin?

Thanks for reading my Challenger Ashe guide. Best of luck in finding Your Kiting Fantasy with this Tradional Marksman build. I hope you learnt something!

I've started making videos on Youtube will be uploading similar content in the future.

If you're interesting in coaching, message Lionel#3328 and feel free to join my Discord.