Ashe is a ranged AD Carry. Her arsenal includes both a single target and AoE slow and one of the best initiates in the game (and hardest to hit).

Required Reading:
AD Carry · Duo Lane · Last Hitting · Pushing · Zoning

Description and Role

Ashe is a ranged AD carry with strong utility. She gets out-damaged by every other AD carry which is why she has been losing popularity in competitive play. Ashe provides an AoE slow, a single target slow, and a global stun, which makes her excel with any team - especially a kite team.

Ashe performs much better in competitive team play compared to solo queue games because in competitive play you have more time to farm, while solo queue is mostly about winning early game. Ashe struggles to freefarm bottom lane due to the push meta that many AD carries have. She cannot control pushes easily and her trade damage is incredibly low.

However, Ashe is one of the few champions with a ‘Hard Initiate’. I define this as the type of initiation that when used in a 5v5 coordinated fight, will be an effective way to start the battle. Furthermore, her Enchanted Crystal Arrow (R) is one of the most ‘surprising’ stuns available in the game. If used at the right time, it can turn the tides of team fights and provide a quick 4v5 advantage to your team. Her arrow is commonly used in a chain-stun fashion, which immobilizes one enemy champion long enough to take them out of the game before your team takes any significant damage.

Lore

One of the perennial favorites of summoners in the League of Legends is the Freljordian beauty known as Ashe. She is a direct descendant of Avarosa - one of three legendary sisters who each claimed dominion over the scattered tribes dwelling in the icy tundra of northern Valoran. Ashe mirrors her ancestor's unparalleled mastery of the bow, earning her the title of ''The Frost Archer'' the way Avarosa did during her era. Ashe is a literal Princess amongst her people, though she prefers to be addressed by outsiders as her tribal title rather than any form of royal moniker. There are those in Freljord, however, that would prefer to address Ashe as the ''late'' Frost Archer; the other two tribes that are descendants from the Three Sisters are historically sworn enemies of Ashe and her people. Having survived more than one assassination attempt in her life, Ashe is always aware of her surroundings regardless of where she is.

Ashe originally came to the Institute of War in service of the League summoners, seeking enough influence and favor to finally bring peace to her realm - one that has endured civil strife since Avarosa and the Time of the Three Sisters. With countless victories under her belt, she has started to put the influence she has earned in the League to use. Rumors abound that Ashe has begun to associate herself with fellow champion Tryndamere outside of the Fields of Justice. While she denies such talk as frivolous, all eyes will remain on Ashe now that her success in the League may finally allow her to restore lasting peace to her people.

''It's a good idea to spread out. Ashe can hit five birds with one arrow.'' - Tryndamere

Pros

One of the strongest champions at level one with her built in auto crit and damage from her W spell.
Farms easily with W and her passive extra gold from her E.
Can scout the map with Hawkshot.
One of the best initiations in the game that can also be used to help out other lanes globally with her ultimate.
Great burst level 1 if you can get your volley + auto attack crit off
Cons

Low movement speed and mobility, no escapes.
Low base stats which makes her very squishy.
No built in "Steriod" ability to improve her auto attack DPS.

Starting Items


Doran's Blade
Or

Boots of Speed

Health Potion
x3
Start off with a Doran’s Blade or Boots and three potions. Boots and three potions is a more safe build for sustaining through random criticals or for playing more aggressively. They will provide you the necessary tool to sustain in lane so Doran’s item would be the better pick. Doran’s Blade also helps to last hit minions and farm better. The only time you choose to get boots and 3 health potions is if you are with some support that gives you no heal. This will provide you a bit more sustain and you can move in and out for last hits. Since you are laning bottom lane you should pick up 1 or 2 more Doran’s item before moving on to the core items as this will give you a much easier time surviving because Ashe starts off with very few base health. After this try to rush Infinity Edge as quickly as possible to maximize Ashe’s damage as you will always get your first shot in as a crit.Try and force something with your level 1 burst, either invade or camp a brush, or simply secure double golemn advantage. Play aggressively if you can during the early levels, but realize when Volley's damage falls off and go into farm mode.

Core Items


Berserker's Greaves

Doran's Blade

Doran's Blade

Vampiric Scepter

B. F. Sword
This build makes it so you can get the most damage out of your items, while giving you sustainability and survivability. The two Doran's Blades give you damage, sustain, and more HP, making you a harder target to kill. You follow it up with a Vampiric Scepter because you need life steal to survive in lane. Follow this with a B.F. Sword because it allows you to build into your core end game build later on.

Endgame Items


Berserker's Greaves

Doran's Blade

Doran's Blade

Vampiric Scepter

Infinity Edge

Phantom Dancer

Doran's Blade

Quicksilver Sash

Doran's Blade

Last Whisper

The Bloodthirster
This build, featuring an Infinity Edge, will give you the most damage at early levels. This build doesn't give you as much sustain as a Bloodthirster build, but you get way more damage output. The only thing is that you have to rely on getting those lucky critical hits. You then build into a Phantom Dancer because you have no attack speed steroid and it helps with your critical chances. Afterwards, get a QSS because you will be a main target for the enemy team, making it so you need some survivability from that CC and AP burst. Next, get a Last Whisper because by this time, many people will be tanky so you need something to get past the armor. Follow it up by turning your Vampiric Scepter into a Bloodthirster because you need more damage and survivability.


Berserker's Greaves

Doran's Blade

Doran's Blade

The Bloodthirster

Phantom Dancer

Quicksilver Sash

Doran's Blade

Last Whisper

Doran's Blade

Infinity Edge
This build featuring a Bloodthirster is for if you want more sustainabililty in lane. It allows you to build into Phantom Dancer and Last Whisper faster, which can help if you're against a strong tank line or tanky team. This build is good if you have no assassins on the other team because you need to build up stacks, which go away if you die.



You get a Last Whisper because tanks are too hard to kill without it. You need something to help kill them, since they will usually be a target you attack, so buy a Last Whisper for the extra damage and armor penetration. (They are a target you will attack because a good tanky champion will zone you from a teamfight

Focus

While out of combat, Ashe's Critical Strike chance increases every 3 seconds for her next attack.

Gives Ashe a boost in damage for team fights mid-late game as this will always be up for the first person Ashe attacks. In lane if you can land this critical hit on the opponent, you should do so, but smarter enemies will avoid it. If they avoid it, just try to get your creep score up instead. You want to use this passive well, I see poor or moderate Ashe players not taking advantage of this. You can tell in your window when the passive is active (after the three seconds). You want to use the next auto on a champion if possible. It is a good time to get off an auto attack, back heal and harass again.
Q:Frost Shot

Frost Shot

Toggle: Ashe's basic attacks slow her targets by 15/20/25/30/35% for 2 seconds.
Range
600
This ability makes Ashe extremely strong because she can maneuver around any melee champion without taking any damage due to the fact that this can keep slowing them. This ability should not be used in the laning phase as it just drains your mana. Only use this skill when you are chasing and/or kiting someone to get away. Turn this on immediately when you are in a team fight, the increase slow is very good.

W: Volley

Volley

Ashe fires 7 arrows in a cone, dealing 40/50/60/70/80 (+) physical damage. Volley also applies Frost Shot.
Cost
60 Mana
Range
600
This is your main nuke that also works as a slow. It gives Ashe the ability to kite and to do many other things.If you are being denied in lane, you could spam this ability to last hit minions while damaging the denying enemy because the range and AoE cone of Volley (W) is pretty large. Volley (W) works really well to push lanes as well when your opponent goes to gank another lane and you want to shove your lane so he misses his experience when the minions die to the tower.

Another situation would be to use this pre-team fight, as this will slowly devour your opponent’s health making it an easier time to grab turrets or even force a fight when your opponents are low. This also annoys your opponents, as it makes it harder to initiate on your team while being constantly slowed by the effects of Volley (W).

Volley also gives your team an excellent escape mechanic. You can continue shooting Vollies as your whole team moves back to help them escape while the enemy team is slowly trying to catch up to your team.

Volley and an auto attack is Ashe’s biggest nuke before she hits 6 so don’t be afraid to use this excellent skill.

E: Hawkshot

Hawkshot

Passive: Ashe gains 1/2/3/4/5 extra gold whenever she kills a unit.

Active: Ashe animates a hawk to scout for her, revealing terrain as it flies toward target location.
Range
6000
This ability gives Ashe a free clairvoyance. I take one skill point in this early because it provides some coverage if champions such as Taric or another stun champion that sit in the bush. You can shoot this hawk shot onto the bush and force them to get out therefore making it safer for Ashe to last hit. At higher level this spell is extremely useful because it gives you vision at a 60 second cooldown making it possible to scout for things like baron/dragon if your ward is destroyed by enemy oracles.

R: Enchanted Crystal Arrow

Enchanted Crystal Arrow

Fires a large arrow in a straight line. If it hits an enemy champion, it will deal 250/425/600 (+1) magic damage and stun that champion for up to 3.5 seconds, based on the distance the arrow traveled. Additionally, surrounding units take half the damage and are slowed by 50% for 3 seconds.
Cost
150 Mana
Range
25000
This is the skill that makes Ashe a competitive pick as you have a free initiation with a carry. This lets Ashe score a kill for any lane when she hit level 6. If you ever see the enemy team out of position or have 4 people versus your 5, you can land this skill and force a fight in your favor. This skill has a splash effect that could also be used to score kills, steal buffs, dragon and baron if you hit anyone close to the neutral camps. This skill requires some luck but also requires some skill in predicting that comes through with experience. This is one of the hardest skill to learn to use as if you’ve used it close to the enemy’s towers it could bait your team into tower diving them. At the same time, it can be used to catch people in the jungle or in a to score any kill.

Rune Summary


Greater Quintessence of Strength
x3

Greater Mark of Strength
x9

Greater Seal of Resilience
x9

Greater Glyph of Warding
x9
Marks – Attack Damage

You need attack damage in lane because it helps you to harrass and poke. Due to Ashe's okay range, you can poke effectively with Frost Arrows.

Seals – Armor

Always use the +13 armor runes (resilience) for bottom lane on your AD carry. Without them you are signicantly weaker such that your opponent will easily be able to control space just by right clicking on you and trying to zone you. Your trades will always be weaker without these runes.

Glyphs – Magic Resistance

Ashe is really squishy which makes Magic Resistance runes a requirement. You will be a target for those AP assassins and AP burst heroes, so you need something to help reduce that damage.

Quintessences – Flat Attack Damage

I use AD quintessences because most of the time, the enemy is going to be running a standard B.F. Sword build into I.E. or Bloodthirster. You only need Armor Penetration runes if the enemy is going Wriggles. The extra AD will help you poke harder and kill enemies more quickly.

The only time you're going to want Armor Penetration runes is if you prefer it or you're going against someone using a Wriggle's Lantern in the bottom lane. I prefer AD runes because Ashe has a weak attack and you're going to be farming on the tower if the enemy AD is playing correctly.

Summoner Spells



Cleanse

Flash

Heal

Flash


Flash

Flash allows any range carries to reposition themselves in any team fight. Flash also gives you a lot of utility, as it can be used offensively or defensively. When you position yourself in team fights, you want to keep yourself close to walls and areas where you can flash over, this will increase your mobility in team fights. If you can easily flash over a wall when an incoming attack is coming at you, you can force the enemy champions to refocus new targets. It can also be used to avoid bad positioning plays. This means that you have failed at being positioned properly and put yourself in a situation where you will now be chain stunned by the enemy team. You will want to Dlash out of danger to avoid this from happening. It’s like your get out of jail free card.

Heal

Summoner heal is an amazing addition to any AD carry for the reason that they simply have to stay alive longer as their damage potential is unlimited (not based on spell cooldowns or mana). If you survive the intial burst of crowd control or damage, often times you can sustain through damage with your lifesteal.

Cleanse

Cleanse is situational and depends on the enemy team combination. If they have champions like Maokai, Veigar, Sion; you should run Cleanse to avoid being bursted in team fights.

Strategy

The Laning Phase

Ashe best serves a team played with a support champion on bottom lane. While she can lane in middle fairly well against some champions, Ashe is very susceptible to ganks because she has no escapes, a low amount of starting health, and has very low base movement speed. These disadvantages make Ashe best played in bottom lane where she can more safely farm.
Ashe is more powerful in the middle to late game, so your focus early in the game should be to farm as much as possible. Early on, you can only swap hits with your auto attack and a quick Volley (W), but you won’t have any damage after that. Your primary role here is to farm and get your creep score up until you finish your Infinity Edge.
Once you hit level 6, your utility just greatly increased as you can now shoot your global stun. If nothing is happening bottom lane, you could send an arrow from bottom to top or bottom to mid and help your solo lanes out. Landing an arrow is vital with Ashe, as it can provide a solo lane with a kill when combined with a jungle gank. Generally, you should save your Enchanted Crystal Arrow (R), as it will greatly increase your survivability in lane and provide you an excellent gank when combined with a jungler.
In a duo lane, you want to focus on getting as many auto attacks on enemies that you can from a safe distance. Ashe is a champion that does very well at not only last hitting but countering enemy champions from last hitting (denying). It is important to watch the health of your allied minion creeps in lane as it is the enemy ones. When you notice one of your allied minion creeps is getting low on health and the enemy champion is moving in to get the last hit, you want to auto attack them at the same time they are hitting the creep. It takes some practice, but it is impossible for the enemy champion to hit both you and the creep with their auto attack. This split second provides you the ability to harass in lane safely without fear of retaliation (you can move back out of range before their next auto attack is ready. This strategy is used commonly in bottom lane to prevent the enemy team from feeling free to farm without consequence. Ashe has multiplicative effects with this because if that hit, when used to counter a last hit from an enemy champion, combined with the slow from Frost Arrow (Q), can often times panic the enemy champion into ‘flight’ mode – where they attempt to retreat to a safe distance before doing additional damage. When this happens and their back is turned, Ashe can do significant damage and then quickly evade before the opponent has time to retaliate.
Farming

Ashe can farm very easily. You could auto attack for last hits and Volley (W) as well if you are waiting for another auto attack. You want to be selective on the range and creeps hit by your Volley (W). More times than not, you will want to try and use your volley to:
• Hit the enemy champion and last hit a minion at the same time
• Avoid using the Volley (W) on the entire wave of creeps, this may inadvertently push the lane when you do not want to.
• Using your Volley (W) you could harass while farm at the same time so you won’t miss out on any gold. With a level in hawk shot you would actually make enough money to provide you with extra health potions if you are getting harassed too hard in bottom lane.
• Two volleys will clear an entire lane of creeps.
In most cases you will want to focus more on the caster minion’s health first before the melee minions. You want to plan on killing these first, even though they are in the back row and then focus on finishing off the melee minions next.

Strengths

• Hawk Shot
• Map Control – Having a hawk shot that is like a pseudo Clairvoyance gives you incredible map control.
• This could check for potential ganks and could be used at your enemy’s buff and dragon/baron control.
• Used to gank an enemy jungler or fear them into retreating.
• Hard Initiation – With a global stun, Ashe can initiate a team fight from anywhere on the map. If the enemy carry is ever caught out of position, you should shoot your arrow immediately and it will very often result in a win for your team. This is one of Ashe’s greatest strengths, and also why she is picked.
• Poking – Since your Volley (W) is at such a low cooldown, you can spam cast it at enemies before any team fights, as this will damage and slow them if they try to initiate..Having enemies at lower health starting a fight can make for a great arrow initiation.

Weaknesses

• Weak early game damage. You would be out classed by almost any other AD carry in bottom lane.
• Dependent on early game farm. If Ashe does not have the necessary farm, you will have no damage and feel weak the whole game.

Tactics

Early Game:

• Ashe’s early game is all concentrated into farming and getting minion kills. As stated earlier, Ashe has low early game damage and would not win a lane thus she should solely focus on getting last hit.
• Ashe’s passive at level one is great if you can get to your opponent but if you can’t, don’t bother.
• Frost Shot (Q) should never used in lane except for when a jungle gank happen in bottom lane. This will waste your mana if you use it without care.
• Volley (W) should only be used here if your opponent plays a bit too aggressive and you can punish them for it.
• Use Hawkshot (E) to avoid being ganked in bottom lane. It gives you a nice vision of the enemy jungle and can save you if needed.

Mid-End Game:

At this point when the laning phase ends it is your responsibility to initiate fight with arrow. Keep in mind the damage your team could do the stunned target in that amount of time. If you initiate on a tank and can’t even get him pass 40% hp, then you’ve made a mistake as you’ve just lost a bunch of skills and the enemy will counter initiate. Duringthis time you will have to roam with your team. Your job will be to stay in the back and initiate fights at this point.

Team Fights:

Positioning is the key factor to all AD carry players. You have to always have to keep in mind what can damage and potential kills you as you watch the cooldowns on bruisers and the enemy caster. The key point in positioning is never put yourself in danger.

Tips and Tricks

Play defensively early. Ashe isn't a strong early game champion because her damage is weak and she has no burst, making it critical that you just sit back and farm early on. You need to get to level 6, so don't do anything stupid.
It's okay to farm with your Volley and harrass with your Frost Shots, just don't over-do it. Ashe doesn't have a huge mana pool and her spells cost a lot of mana, so it's important that you use them sparingly. If you don't, you'll be wanting to blue pill and miss lots of CS.
Don't be aggressive unless you have your Enchanted Crystal Arrow up. You don't have a lot of burst and you don't have a strong auto-attack, making it important that you wait for your ultimate to be up. This is what Ashe is picked for, so play defensively unless the enemy does something stupid.
Go out of vision before firing your ultimate, it makes it harder for the enemy to notice. If you're in range of them or a ward, they can see you and your animation, making it easier to dodge. If they can't see you, they see a huge arrow come out of the darkness and hit them in the face.
It's okay to fire a long range arrow, but don't do it too much. It's got a huge cooldown, so use it sparingly and only when you need to. If you see a 4v5 going on and you're not there, use that damn arrow. The arrow can be what your team needs to win a game.
Attack at your max range. Ashe has one of the longest attack ranges, and to add to that, it has a built in slow if you want it to. You should attack at max range because most champions will be able to trade with Ashe, due to her weak auto attacks. Just poke and kite until you see that they're low enough, and go in when you know you can take them.
Synergies

SONA
SORAKA
TARIC
JANNA
Sona is probably the best choice of support for every AD carry because she has everything. Her sustain is amazing, her poke is amazing, she can slow you, she can speed her team up, and she has an AoE CC. Sona is a hard counter to like.. every AD carry, making her really effective.

Soraka is a defensive type of support which is great for Ashe as all she needs to do early game is farm. She gives you excellent sustainability for lane so you can just stay in lane and farm forever. She is also a top pick as her global ultimate provides your team an escape from some deaths.

Taric is an offensive type of support, which is not ideal for Ashe. After the stun, Ashe cannot follow up with damage from auto attack to make him worthwhile. This pick is still ok bottom lane but not ideal.

Janna is also great with Ashe but it does not give her sustain she needs. With a Janna, Ashe would have to buy health pots to stay in lane more. The good thing is that Janna and Ashe can double slow, making it really hard for an enemy to escape or harrass.

Counters to Ashe - Bot Lane

CAITLYN
GRAVES
SIVIR
CORKI
Caitlyn has longer range than Ashe and can harrass\poke harder in the lane phase.

Graves can do more burst damage than Ashe and keep Ashe at tower, making the laning phase hard for Ashe.

Sivir can out-damage Ashe, use her spell block to block Ashe's arrow, and do more burst damage than Ashe.

Corki has an attack range that can work fine against an Ashe, has more DPS, and has more burst damage than Ashe.

Champions Ashe "Does Well Against" - General

Once again, I put "does well against" because Ashe doesn't really counter anyone. She has a weak early game, she has no huge burst damage, and can't trade effectively.

TARIC
FIDDLESTICKS
MISS FORTUNE
KENNEN
Taric is a good example of a champion that Ashe does well against because she can kite the hell out of him. Taric has to get within range to use his stuns, so just poke at max range and kite him with your Frost Shots.

Fiddlesticks is a champion that has to channel his ultimate to use it, so just stay warded up and use your Hawkshots when you feel he's coming in. When you see him starting up his ultimate, you can hit him with your Enchanted Crystal Arrow and your team can go in.

Ashe is good against Miss Fortune because she doesn't have a very long auto attack range. You can kite Miss Fortune because the only way she has her passive is if she isn't being hit. Your slow can realy hurt a Miss Fortune, making this an OKAY match-up.

Like Fiddlesticks, Kennen has to be in the middle of your team to effectively use his ultimate. When you see a Kennen charging into your team, use your Enchanted Crystal Arrow to stun him before he gets near. This will stun him for the full duration of his ultimate and give your team an advantage that they need.