Hello, I'm V3go Killer and welcome to my first guide on MOBAFIRE. I will be talking about Ashe - The Frost Archer.

Sifting through the guides on the site, I found there were a lot of strong guides, however there were a few things I didn't like about each of them, so I decided to make my own.

Ashe is a ranged carry, which is a role capable of dishing out huge amounts of steady damage if properly played and protected. But the downside to these champions is that they are generally very slow and extremely fragile. This guide will try to diminish these weaknesses as well as provide you with:

• Strong damage output throughout the game.
• Survivability through movement speed, summoner spells, and cooldown reduction (allowing you to continually slow enemies).
• A knowledge of how to play Ashe and other ranged carries.
• Utility through Frost Shot, Volley, Hawkshot and Enchanted Crystal Arrow.

Ashe is a champ that, while easy to pick up, is very difficult to master, and proper positioning, farming, and skill usage will have your opponents reeling.

This guide does take time to pick up and will take some practice to utilize properly, but when you do, it is very rewarding. Ashe was my first champion played in LoL and I have had much success thousands of games later.

Please read and comment before voting. Please and thanks.

The one single thing that will improve your gameplay more than anything else is learning how to properly last hit. I cannot stress this enough, the number one reason people have problems with ranged carries is because of their inability to last hit. This should be your main focus early and mid game. In order to last hit well, you need practice. You must learn how to time your attacks with the rate the creep is dying, and become used to the damage your autoattack deals. Good farming means the difference between an 18 minute Infinity Edge and a 25 minute Infinity Edge, and that difference is unbelievable. When last hitting at your own tower, a rule of thumb to go by is this:

For melee minions: Usually each melee minion will take 2 tower hits and 1 autoattack to kill. So wait for 2 tower hits and then smack it with an autoattack afterwards. (After the tower has attacked the minions a few times, you may be able to treat them as caster minions).
For caster minions: Usually each caster minion will take 1 tower hit and 2 autoattacks to kill. So you want to make sure to autoattack each caster minion once before the tower targets it, and then after it takes a hit of tower, last hit it before the next tower strike.

Remember: Do not autoattack minions unless you are getting a last hit. Pushing the lane is the single easiest way to get ganked unless everybody is accounted for. Holding off on autoattacks will also help your passive Focus build up and make ensure easy last hitting or strong harass.



Another crucial part of playing a ranged carry is being able to be in the right place for teamfights. If you are in the wrong place, and get hit by a crowd control, or are charged by and anti-carry, 90% of the time you will die. You must be positioned properly to be an effective force in teamfights. Most of the time, you want to be near the back of the fight, continually firing off Volley until a solid engage has been made (which you may do with Enchanted Crystal Arrow at a good opportunity). In the teamfight, you want to attack the focus target, continually slowing with Frost Shot, with your support right behind you, ready to protect you if you get in trouble. If your focus target moves to a position that would put you in jeopardy if you pursue him, DO NOT FOLLOW HIM UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY! Being drawn into the middle of a teamfight is a death sentence.



Frost Shot - You must learn when to toggle this. It can mean the difference between an enemy getting away and the enemy surviving, but also the difference between having enough mana to finish off that enemy and not having enough to secure the kill. One neat trick is to toggle this for every other auto-attack, when you have enough attack speed, your can have 100% uptime on your slow, while using it on every other attack, saving mana. This skill is what makes you a favorite amongst ranged carries, chain slowing the enemy and kiting them all day long is your bread and butter.

Volley - Volley is a spam skill, use it often. It is very mana costly, but that should not deter you from harassing/farming with it. When laning, try to avoid hitting too many creep with this as it will push the lane. But it can be used to pick up creep that would be otherwise difficult to pick up. One important use for this skill is popping the shield on Banshee's Veil. Spamming Volley before teamfights can really help your tanks/magi out a bit. It can also be used in retreats, you can chain slow the enemy, allowing your teammates to escape the would-be assailants.

Hawkshot - Use this skill as often as possible. It can really help scout bushes, set up ganks, and watch important areas that are not warded. This skill has saved me from ganks many-a-time and should not go underused. I won't even mention the extra gold bonus (well, I guess I just did), but it just a fun, added benefit, but not substantial enough to level this skill before anything else.

Enchanted Crystal Arrow - This skill is a gamebreaker, use it often. Whether it is to secure a kill, set up ganks, help out other lanes, harass your own laning opponent, or save yourself from a gank, you must use this ability almost as often as possible. If you don't see any immediate uses for it elsewhere on the map, use it on your laning opponent and force them back, or force them to be defensive/get zoned. The cooldown is very low, so don't be afraid to fire this baby. Don't hesitate to use this to interrupt ultimates such as Death Lotus. Learning how to lead opponents with this and slamming them cross-map will have them crying "OP ASHE ARROW QQ!" and give you a nice gold bonus from assists to bolster your laning phase. This skill has the potential to change fights without you being anywhere near there, so learn how to harness this potential.



In the current metagame, Ashe is usually paired up in a sidelane with a strong support such as Janna, Sona, or Taric. This is because, as an AD carry, Ashe relies on farm more than she relies on levels. For this reason, the AP carry is usually the one that will take middle lane. However, in solo queue, where supports are so often not picked, you may choose to take middle just because you can do such a great job with it anyway, the levels can't hurt, and it is easy to farm there, as well as assist both lanes with arrows that are a bit easier to aim than if they were coming from bottom. When laning, you want to make sure to harass with your Focus crits as well as Volley. If you can get your opponent to low health, try to zone them out of exp and gold range, this is not only a huge disadvantage to your enemy, but is very demoralizing as well. Your main focus during laning phase should be to last hit. But don't be afraid to try to pick up kills/assists with Enchanted Crystal Arrow and don't forget to use Hawkshot! Also, try to learn the proper time to push, if your opponent leaves the lane, it is usually a good idea to push, to either have your creep die at the tower and deny them exp, or take down their tower.

This section will consist of frequently asked questions, as well as answers to them. If I see a question in the comments of the guide, I will do my best in order to answer them in this section.

Why Good Hands over Perseverence?
Perseverence provides next to nothing throughout the whole game for a costly 3 point investment. Just looking at a benefit comparison, we find that in the late game (where death timers can be ~70 seconds) we slash 7 seconds off of that, which can be game-breaking. Looking at perseverence, with our 44 hp5 and 24 mp5 at level 18, 3 points in this mastery would give us 1.76 hp5 and .96 mp5, which is almost nothing late game. Unless you think regenerating 25 health in the course of a teamfight will make or break the game, take Good Hands.


What is my job in teamfights?
Simple, kill important targets while chain slowing the enemy team. You should be providing the main source of damage on the focus targets, while using Volley on major clusters and Frost Shot on single targets. There may oftentimes be chances for you to engage a teamfight with Enchanted Crystal Arrow as well. So sit in the back with your support, and fire away. If you get into trouble, don't be afraid to pop Flash or Ghost if your tank or support cannot save you.

Regrowth Pendant - When we do from it Philosopher's Stone it will be useful during the game to end. This gives us the regeneration of Health (18 per 5 sec) and Mana (8 per 5 sec). The passive gives us 5 gold every 10 sec. So it is useful if you are standing on the side for a long time.

Berserker's Greaves - I wasn't sold on this choice of boots until I saw nearly every Ashe in the Dreamhack tournament use them (although they did make some questionable item decisions), once you get Zeal you should have more than enough movement speed that Boots of Swiftness are a bit unnecessary.

Bloodthirster - A solid item for large amounts of damage and lifesteal. It will provide a large damage boost to that first crit from your passive, as well as sustain you in teamfights as well as the lane. A powerful amount of damage that will compliment your Last Whisper + Infinity Edge combo.

Zeal - Provides a cheap source of everything you want on Ashe - Attack Speed, Critical Strike Chance, and Movement Speed. This will really help your kiting capabilities and damage output, as well as build towards that Phantom Dancer that is so core.



Phantom Dancer - Another core item. This crit works so well with the passive from Infinity Edge and can really help you kite with the bonus attack speed, movement speed, and Frost Shot. This will be another sharp dps increase as well as provide you will survivability in the form of movement speed, which is very nice. In the extreme late game, you may choose to sell your boots for a second one of these, which will provide about the same movement speed and a huge dps increase.

Frozen Mallet - With it we will not be so weak. It will give us an extra 30% slow for 2.5 seconds. It may be very useful if someone tries to escape. Combined with Frost Shot will give us a total of 65% slowdown for 2 seconds.



Infinity Edge - The most core item on Ashe, it couples oh so well with your passive, kiting ability, and Phantom Dancer. After obtaining this item, you will notice a very sharp increase in damage that will make you a force to be reckoned with.

Last Whisper - I have changed my mind about this item, the damage it provides from your first attack with stacked Focus and the extra damage it provides during your Volley spamming that Black Cleaver just cannot provide is extremely valuable. Not to mention it is cheaper. While Black Cleaver does provide a debuff your entire team can use, the current metagame doesn't really call for more than one AD carry, so nobody else will be getting much benefit from it.


Guardian Angel - A great option for the survivability portion of the build. When I do use this item, I am usually surprised at how it saves me, though I always thought the passive to be worthless. If you can properly position yourself when you die, this item can pay off in big ways for cleaning up in teamfights. Even without the passive though, the armor and magic resist can really help.

Quicksilver Sash - A cheap, effective form of magic resist. This item has been receiving consistent buffs that make it all the more tempting to take. If the opposing team is Ignite, CC, or magic heavy, this may be the way to go. Basically a cheaper form of survivability if you don't want Banshee's Veil that can be more effective if they have a ton of CC. If the enemy team has Warwick, Malzahar, or Urgot, this is a great option because it can get you out of that suppress.

Executioner's Calling - A very unnoticed and underused item. Not only does it have crit and lifesteal that supplement the build quite well, but it has a nice passive that deals damage and can shut down that pesky Swain, Warwick, Olaf, or healer on the opposing team. The price for this is very good and you may choose to get this even after Phantom Dancer for a mid game damage boost.

Cloak and Dagger - A cheap source of attack speed, crit, and tenacity. Great against those CC heavy teams that you know will focus you. It is sort of similar to Zeal in that it is very cost effective. Never really a bad choice to get this item.

Black Cleaver - A solid choice that can replace Last Whisper. However, the issue with this item is that it does not benefit your Volley (which you should be spamming) nor have the armor reduction for your first hit (which will most likely be a critical strike). Another decent choice if your team is pretty physical heavy, but not your best option.

Zeke's Harbinger - A good choice if your team is AD heavy and nobody else has one of these babies, the passive can really help out if you are physical heavy or they have some armor.

Banshee's Veil - This will give a much needed survivability boost. The health is needed to survive sudden bursts from enemies, while the magic resist will allow you to go toe-to-toe with casters (and increase that painfully low 30 magic resistance). The spell shield is invaluable for avoiding CC/nukes that may happen to come your way and has saved my life many a time. The mana should not go unnoticed as well, it will really help your ability to spam spells. You can never really go wrong with this item. This is almost a must have if the enemy team has an anti-carry or heavy nuker (e.g. Veigar, Kassadin, LeBlanc, maybe Annie).

As a sidenote: At the end of the game, you may want to sell your boots in order to buy a second Phantom Dancer, the movement speed will be about the same and you will have another large stat boost.

Another sidenote: After a completed build, always remember to pick up elixirs in the order of Elixir of Agility--> Elixir of Fortitude--> Elixir of Brilliance--> Oracle's Elixir.

Marks:

Greater Mark of Desolation - Pretty much standard on any ranged carry, makes your late game immensely better and synergizes well with Black Cleaver and Stark's Fervor. You may choose to use flat AD runes for early game last hitting, however they are quickly outclassed by ArP in mid/late game.


Seals:

Greater Seal of Cooldown Reduction / Greater Seal of Scaling Cooldown Reduction - These can provide a nice amount of cooldown reduction all throughout the game. It allows you to get that Volley and Enchanted Crystal Arrow off much more often. These or the CDR/lvl runes are also a good choice, because your arrow needs to be fire off as often as possible.

Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration - Provides a strong amount of mana regeneration in combination with utility masteries, it really allows you to spam Volley and Enchanted Crystal Arrow.

Glyphs:

Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction / Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction - These can provide a nice amount of cooldown reduction all throughout the game. It allows you to get that Volley and [/b] Enchanted Crystal Arrow[/b] off much more often. These or the CDR/lvl runes are also a good choice, because your arrow needs to be fire off as often as possible.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Mana Regeneration - These provide another boost to your mana regeneration pool, with utility masteries and MP5/lvl seals, you can spam abilities on cooldown. These are generally a better choice if you want to go 21/0/9 and need the mana regeneration.

Greater Glyph of Attack Speed - Increase the attack speed of the shot at the start, so we will killing more quickly.

Quintessences:

Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage - These are an extremely strong option in this slot, they will provide comparable damage to the ArP ones (because of Last Whisper and Focus) as well as give you an easier time last hitting. These are stronger than one might think.

Greater Quintessence of Desolation - These will provide a damage boost mid/late game. It will be a slight damage increase over the flat AD runes if you can get a long streak of autoattacks, however they are very close, and I like the extra last hitting from the flat AD.

Greater Quintessence of Health - These are another good option, but I choose not to use them, because although the early game health is nice, 1 or 2 Doran's Blades provides me with the early game health boost I need. If you want to go Boots instead.


Flash
A must have on Ashe. This spell can be used both offensively and defensively. Defensively, you can create distance between that jungler with lizard buff, get out of that Cataclysm, or get a well timed Flash after Irelia's Bladesurge but before she can get that Equilibrium Strike off. Offensively, you can get in range after an Enchanted Crystal Arrow.

Ghost
This is another great spell that can used both offensively and defensively. Can be used to escape that assailant, or continue kiting a fleeing opponent. This spell has a lot of utility and the speed boost should not be underestimated.

Other Options.

Cleanse
A good option against a very CC heavy team, or if for some reason you plan not to go Banshee's Veil. The CC escape and near-immunity it provides is very a very powerful tool to negate opponents. A very underestimated summoner spell.

Exhaust
This can be a choice if you need a way to shut down an enemy carry such as Tryndamere or Master Yi to protect you for a short period of time. It may also be used to help kite/chase an enemy. I generally prefer to leave this to the tanks, but your team should never be with one or two of these babies and I wouldn't hesitate to be the one with it.

Teleport
Good for getting back to the lane or setting up ganks with the max duration stun of Enchanted Crystal Arrow, Sight Ward or minions. Can also be useful if you are getting backdoored by that Twisted Fate or want to finish off a tower that has a large wave of minions at it. I don't really recommend this because you need the other escape mechanisms.