Welcome to my Ashe Build for Ranked Games.

This may not be the build for your playstyle but it certainly is for mine, i've come out with many games where i've dominated my Lane and assisted in others. I will also explain my playstyle later in this guide.

So lets get on with it.

Pro's

- Consistant DPS
- Consistant Slow without having to buy an item that does it
- Excellent Map Control with Hawkshot
- Excellent Initiator Skill in Enchanted Arrow for Ganks/Team Fights
- When Mastered the Enchanted Arrow can also kill those champions on low hp at towers
- Excellent Lane Control
- Insane First Hit DMG due to Passive, can easily force your laning enemy back
- Ability to Save Allies from Champions chasing them by using Enchanted Arrow to stun them

Con's

- Low HP
- Slow Early Game
- First Target
- Hard to escape Melee without Enchanted Arrow Available
- Without a good start early game can easily find yourself dealing no dmg

Ghost

- this spell is by far one of the best spells for Ashe, its basically due to her constant slowing shots from Frost Arrow and Volley that make this so useful. You then have this skill available for when your ganked or slowed, pop it and hit your enemy with your Arrow/Slow Arrow and then run to safety. Flash can also be used with Ghost just to make sure you escape.

Flash

- this spell is the bog's dollocks because when your enemy think they are safe at their tower with no HP you can flash in Volley them and hit them once with auto-attack then Ghost your way out of there without issue.

I use these 2 spells alot and havent yet found a better combo.

Therefore i dont really see any other spells as being an option for Ashe, sure there are other useful spells but i feel these are essential to any Ashe Build which requires you to be the Primary Ganker or the Primary Carry.

The Runes i've picked here for Ashe are to counteract her greatest weaknesses at least what i feel are her weaknesses in the early game stages. She's not a strong champion early game it takes time for her to build into a powerhouse, these Runes will help you do this faster.

- Marks = Mark of Desolation - Armor Penetration +15
- Seals = Seal of Fortitude - Health +48.15
- Glyphs = Glyph of Fortitude - Health +24.03
- Quitessences = Quintessence of Desolation - Armor Penetration +10

The first thing i'll talk about is Armor Penetration, as most of you know the default amount of Armor each champion has at the start of a game is 30, and you get 25 Armor Penetration from your Runes, that means your DMG is almost full to your enemy, they only have 5 Armor left to mitigate your DMG.

The second thing i'll talk about is Flat HP Seals/Glyphs, again no doubt you'll have noticed Ashe has little HP and is squishy at the start, but with this extra 48+24 HP it allows you to potentially survive an extra attack or two. This added with your Dorans Sword will give you plenty of starting HP and make you more Tanky.

IMO Thats the major issue with Ashe at the start, your very squishy and your lane presence isnt as good as others because you dont have high DMG early. Ashe is a Mid-Late Game developer so the early game is all about the farm and getting to mid/endgame asap.

- OFFENSE

Deadliness x3
Archmages Savvy x1
Sorcery x3
Alacrity x4
Sunder x3
Brute Force x3
Lethality x3
Havoc x1


- UTILITY

Haste x1
Good Hands x3
Expanded Mind x4
Greed x1

OPTION

Replace GOOD HANDS with PERSERVERANCE for increased Mana/HP regen.
Replace GREED with UTILITY MASTERY for extended buff duration.

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I personally prefer the 10% decrease on death timer over 4% Mana/HP regen, your HP and Mana isnt really high enough to make use of this regen and you'll find that during fights your MP/HP is decreased very quickly that quite frankly 4% regen isnt going to help.

Purchase the following, in the following order.



First Visit - Start - Cost: 475g
Doran's Blade

2nd Visit - Cost: 1525g - Total: 2000g
Boots
Zeal

3rd Visit - Cost: 2500g - Total: 4150g
Boots of Swiftness
B.F Sword

4th Vist - Cost: 2230g - Total: 6380g
Infinity Edge

5th Visit - Cost: 1700g - Total: 8080g
Phantom Dancer

6th Visit - Cost: 1220g - Total: 9300g
Emblem of Valor
Dagger

7th Visit - Cost 1750g - Total: 10350g
Starks Fervor

8th Visit - Cost 2645g - Total: 12995g
Black Clever

9th Visit - Cost 3250g - Total: 16245g
Frozen Mallet

The reason for this order is simple, first item should always be a Dorans XXX Item, especially on low HP Champions.

Boots, boots arent that important to Ashe when she's still in lane because you got your arrow and your slow arrow along with Volley.. your priority at this stage is to farm not go after kills. If you dont farm early when its easy you will regret it later in endgame.

Zeal, is the next item you wanna buy as Zeal will give Movement Speed, Atk.Spd and Crit, which for the price is awesome. This means you dont waste money purely on Boots of Swiftness which only gives speed, your getting essential increases in major area's for Ashe.

B.F Sword, should be the next purchase because as you start to enter mid game you will notice your DMG taking a drop compared to others. This puts you back on top and with your Passive coming from Spawn you'll hit for 200-300 when you crit.

Boots of Swiftness, should now be your next purchase because here is where you will need to gank/escape so you will need your speed. This item + Zeal will see your speed > 400.

Infinity Edge, this purchase will see your DMG being recongized by the enemy team when your hitting them for 400-500 per crit. Its also when you start getting kills and being the focus of all the Enemies skillshots etc.

Phantom Dancer, now alot of people dont consider this item a good purchase for Ashe, i however think its essential especially in Ranked Games. You need to chase and escape pretty damn fast from team fights because you are not a Tank and you will be getting focused hard because of your DMG. This item is an improvement on Zeal - 55% Atk.Spd, 30% Critical Rate, 15% Movement Speed. If you ask me all 3 of these stats are essential in any Ashe build, especially the Movement Speed. Did you know Veigars base movement speed is higher than Ashe's? Well it is, strange a Mage being faster than a Rogue but hey thats Riot for you. Ashe truely is a slow Champion and its something that needs addressing badly otherwise she's easy pickings.

Emblem of Valor + Dagger, your lifesteal which is so badly required for endgame farming/ganking/team fights. Due to the sheer DPS you put out you'll find your Lifesteal fills your HP insanely fast which is good for Team Fights or staying out farming that little bit longer.

The Dagger is to lead the way for your Black Clever which is the next purchase after Starks Fervor.

Starks Fervor, this item is often overlooked in many Ashe Builds but i feel its a superb item not only for you but also your Team.

+20% Attack Speed UNIQUE Aura: Gives nearby allied Champions 20% Lifesteal, 20% Attack Speed, and 30 Health per 5 seconds regenerated. Reduces the Armor of nearby enemy champions by 20.

The 20% lifesteal is also given to you as well, im not sure if this means the 20% Atk.Spd Aura also stacks with the gain from the actual item but i assume it doesnt. I'll let you know when i test it.

Black Clever, omfg i love this item now they've changed the stats on it.

+55 Atk DMG, +30% Atk.Spd, Passive: Lowers targets Armor by 15 per attack [3 stacks = 45]

+20 from your Starks Aura and +25 from your Runes, this pretty much decimates anyones Armor Resistance they might have unless they are a Tank.

OPTION

Frozen Mallet, this item isnt really essential for Ashe as she has Ice Arrow, but +700 Health +20 Attack Damage. What can you say?

Banshee's Vail, this item is a life saver on Ashe, however with the nerf they made to the items stats im not sure just how viable this would be now as a final item. The Shield to block 1 Skill is still epic and worth purchasing just for this reason, however imo Banshee's should only be purchased if your getting focused on a regular basis in a match, otherwise you should be maximizing your Crit/AD/AS.

To hell with those who say you need survivability, its ******** your job isnt to worry about surviving its to deal DMG the faster you kill their team's squishy members the less you need to worry about surviving.

This is how i look at items for Ashe, why build for survival when you survive by killing your opponents? You hit someone for 600-700 DMG per Crit, 300-400 Per Hit with a 1.5-1.8 Atk.Spd which also has a slow attached to it, you see how long they continue coming towards you. People always think 'arrrgh mega crit and slow, time to run' and they run away, or at least they try to. Frost Arrow stops that though :D

Your skill order is essential as Ashe however your skill order will totally depend on your situation.

Top/Bottom, When laning in Top and Bottom you want to max your Volley and Frost Arrow first as you wont really need to use Hawkshot much because you will have Wards up watching the Gank Spots. Not only that Volley and Frost Arrow also work well with Ghost and Flash, you can flash to an enemy hit em with Volley and then chase them down with Ghost + Frost Arrow for kills.

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/6558/skill2m.jpg

Mid, this is a different story because as your farming in mid for later game you want to be making as much money as possible in order to get Infinity. So leveling Hawkshot and Volley is essential in Mid Hawkshot not only gives you extra gold per kill it also gives you a free Ward you can use to check for Enemy Ganks. Your Frost Arrow isnt that important when you go mid because its alot easier to kill a solo player than it is to kill 2 champions. At least thats my opinion.

http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/7749/skill1j.jpg

Volley

You want to max your Volley by level 9 no matter which lane your in, this skill keeps those troublesome champions at bay, and the faster its leveled the more DMG it will deal and the quicker you can use it. Its also good for Farming as well but should primarly be used for
Champions, however you can time your attacks to hit both at the same time.

Frost Arrow + Hawkshot

You want to alternate between Frost Shot and Hawkshot whenever your Ultimate or Volley isnt available.


Enchanted Arrow

Obviously you want to be learning this as soon as its available or whenever its available from level up.

I dont consider Ashe a Jungler however if you've gained a few good kills in Top or Bottom Lane and you dont have a Jungler on your Team you can then take this oppertunity to go Jungle and let your Laning Partner powerlevel themselves in a Solo Lane. However you should always be ready to get back up there and help them defend the lane if needed, you can also use this time to organize Ganks on other Champions with your Team.

Be sure to get the Blue Buff if its available because its brilliant for Ashe when your Volley is Maxed because it will regen your MP so you can Spam it, and when its hitting for 200-300 DMG per Volley you can soon force an enemy out of their lane.

Also be sure to go get the Dragon whenever your Team has the chance.

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Red Buff on Ashe whilst it is good its not essential and should always be given to someone playing a melee fighter who can use it to slow their targets. Again if no one is going for it then feel free to take it, or you can go get the enemies Buffs which is actually better for your team.

Team Fights are where Ashe shines but people often mis-understand what Ashe's purpose is, so i'll explain her use as far as i see her.

SHE ISNT A DPS CHAMPION, what i mean by this is that if your team is expecting you to get all the kills and deal all the DMG then im afraid your Team will probably lose.

YES Ashe can deal insane dmg but if she is pushed too far into the front lines its very easy for her to be focused and destroyed in seconds. Dead DPS is no DPS always remember that.

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So for Team fights here is how i play it:

1. Start the fights with Enchanted Arrow on the nearest enemy target and then proceed to engage and kill them, they should die before the stun wears off.

2. After completing 1, you must retreat back behind your team because when you use your arrow and push for the kill your left exposed to the enemy team and you have no Stun to escape.

3. After you've retreated and your team is fighting, now is the time to target the enemy teams main DPS kill that enemy and you will win your team that fight.

4. However if the enemy team has champions such as Amumu or Malphite then you really need to kill those or at least weaken them and force them to pull back before you engage because otherwise all Amumu will do is run in and your team members will then run past him towards the enemy teams DPS whereby Amumu will use his Ulti and your the only one who isnt stunned and as such will usually get focused. As i said before a Dead DPS is no DPS.

5. Back up your Team with your Arrow, or your Volley use them to save your allies lives but dont go wasting your skills on obvious deaths. 3-4 vs 1 means your ally will die, so its kinda pointless trying to save them because chances are you will get killed in the process. You may get flamed for letting them die but in all honesty 1 person dying is better than 2 people dying.

6. Use your Hawkshot to scout out nearby Bushes where the Enemy Champions may be hiding trying to Ambush you. Veigar, Fiddlesticks and Karthus are prime examples, they will often hide in bushes and let their team engage and pull the fight into the bush, where those 3 will simply unleash their epic DPS onto your team and before you can react you've lost 1-3 members of your team.

Farming on Ashe is pretty straight forward, time your attacks to deal the last blow rather than constantly attacking the same minion till it dies hoping you get the killing blow.

Be sure to always kill the Cannon Minion as he gives much more Gold and Exp than the regular ones.

If there are alot of low hp minions around then dont be afraid to use your Volley to get 3-4 easy minion kills because thats 25g each +5g from Hawkshot.

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Be sure to enter the Jungle and kill a few camps as your moving around the Map, dont leave your lane unattended when the enemy is almost at the tower but if your minions are up at the enemies tower rather than pushing all the way to their tower and potentially giving them chance to gank you just enter the Jungle and kill a few camps till the lane is in your favor or in the middle.