Ashe is one of League of Legends‘ easier AD Carry champions but mastering her is no walk in the park, so here’s a rundown of what runes and items you should be running on LoL’s Frost Archer.
In the ever-expanding world of League of Legends, classic AD Carry Ashe often gets left out in the cold. One of the game‘s first champions, the Frost Archer can be deadly in the right hands, shredding through enemy defenses using an onslaught of arrows.
As the classic character continues to adapt to LoL’s fluid meta, you may be wondering what runes and items are worth building in Season 12, so here’s our detailed Ashe guide to help you turn the tables in your favor the next time you dive into League of Legends.
Contents
Who is Ashe? Lore & story
Avarosan Warmother and tribal chieftain, Ashe hails from the icy world of the Freljord where war rages and peace seems nothing but a dream. Locked in battle against Sejuani’s Winter’s Claw whilst attempting to fend off Trundle’s trolls, the young iceborn dreams of a united Freljord and will give her life to protect her own.
Fiercely loyal with a keen hunter’s eye, she utilizes her True Ice bow to break enemy ranks and shatter their attempts at discourse, proving that Legends do, indeed, never die.
Ashe: Abilities & gameplay in LoL
Ashe’s kit is characterized by heavy crowd control, with her Frost Shot and Critical Slow reducing enemy movement speed to a crawl. This perfectly synergizes with her Ranger’s Focus (Q) and Volley (W), both of which activate her passives.
It goes without saying that you’ll be looking to max out her Volley given its wide range and on-hit slows, followed by her Ranger’s Passive. Her Hawkshot (E) is last on the list but is still by no means useless.
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Stacking up to two at a time, Ashe sends out a hawk spirit in a given direction, granting allies vision as it flies. This can be used to scope out the entire map, as it continues on its given path until it reaches its destination and cannot be destroyed. Granting 5 seconds of vision as it despawns, it’s worth sending into the Baron and Dragon pits if you’re not sure what your enemies are doing, or into areas like bot side and top side river in the early stages of the game to spot out any pesky junglers.
It also allows you to perfectly line up her Ultimate (R), Enchanted Crystal Arrow. A global ranged attack that relies on good sniping skills and map awareness, it stuns an enemy if it hits and applies 50% of the damage to those in the surrounding area, as well as Frost Shot. Keep your eyes on your fellow laners and try to predict enemy movements, as a well-timed ult can completely change a team fight.
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- Passive: Frost Shot
- FROST SHOT: Ashe’s Basic Attack.png basic attacks and abilities apply Frost to enemies, slowing them by 20% − 30% (based on level) for 2 seconds. Basic attacks against enemies with Frost deal 110% (+ (75% + 35% 35%) of critical strike chance) modified damage.
- CRITICAL SLOW: Ashe’s critical strikes deal no extra damage, instead they double Frost’s slow strength to 40% − 60% (based on level), decaying over 1 second to its normal strength.
- Q: Ranger’s Focus
- PASSIVE: While Ranger’s Focus is inactive, Ashe’s basic attacks on-attack generate a stack of Focus for 4 seconds, which refreshes on subsequent hits and stacks up to 4 times. Stacks expire by one every 1 second.
- ACTIVE: Ashe gains Attack speed icon.png bonus attack speed for 4 seconds and augments her basic attacks to fire a flurry of five arrows.
- Flurries trigger on-hit effects only once, and each arrow deals modified physical damage that benefits from Frost Shots Frost Shots and Life steal.
- W: Volley – Ashe shoots a volley of arrows in a cone in the target direction, each dealing physical damage to the first enemy hit, and applying Critical Slow Critical Slow to enemy champions hit.
- E: Hawkshot – Ashe sends a hawk spirit toward the target location, granting sight of the area along its path (repeatedly for 0.5 seconds after every 100 units traveled) and at its destination for 5 seconds.
- R: Enchanted Crystal Arrow
- Ashe fires a massive arrow of ice in the target direction, granting sight of the area it flies through each for 1 second. The arrow shatters upon hitting an enemy champion, dealing them magic damage, stunning them for 1 − 3.5 (based on distance traveled) seconds, and granting sight of the area around them for 1 second.
- Enemies surrounding the main target are dealt 50% damage and afflicted with Frost Shot Frost Shot.
Best Ashe build in League of Legends
Ashe is all about those critical hits and getting damage down fast, so you’ll want to pick up the Immortal Shieldbow as your Mythic Item as it increases your attack speed and damage. Additionally, it increases her critical strike chance to 20%, synergizing with her Critical Slow passive, and provides tons of lifesteal.
When Ashe’s health falls below 30 %, she’ll receive a shield to help her get out of the fray unscathed, and her attack damage will also increase if she has no chance but to go down swinging. This is perfect for helping kite your enemies.
Next, pick up Berserker’s Greaves because of the associated movement speed and attack damage increases, with Wit’s End next on the shopping list as, once again, it stacks attack speed. Pair your existing items with Guinsoo’s Rageblade or Infinity Edge for increased critical strike damage; we recommend the snatching former first as it works well with her Frost Shot and Critical slow on-hit effects.
Top meta Ashe build in Season 12
- Mythic: Immortal Shieldbow
- Boots: Berserker’s Greaves
- Wit’s End
- Guinsoo’s Rageblade
- Infinity Edge
- Bloodthirster (extra life steal and overheal)
Best Ashe runes in League of Legends
An arsenal of deadly weapons is nothing without runes to help out, and for Ashe, they play a pivotal part in helping the character scale. As expected you’ll be focusing on the Precision tree, taking Lethal Tempo as your main rune for the stackable attack speed buffs it grants.
Presence of Mind is next on the list to keep you topped up with mana, then Legend: Alacrity for yet more attack speed. Cut Down rounds out her Precision runes, helping her shred through tanks in the late game.
Inspiration is next, with Biscuit Delivery as your first pick to increase sustain in-lane and help you farm through the relatively rough early game, with Approach Velocity rounding out Inspiration with its increased movement speed towards champions that have been slowed. This synergizes perfectly with her Frost Shot passive, granting her the 15% move speed buff instead of 7.5%.
Top meta Ashe runes in Season 12
- Lethal Tempo
- Presence of Mind
- Legend: Alacrity
- Cut Down
- Biscuit Delivery
- Approach Velocity
Ashe skins in League of Legends
| Skin | Cost (RP) |
| Freljord Ashe | 520 |
| Sherwood Forest Ashe | 520 |
| Woad Ashe | 520 |
| Marauder Ashe | 750 |
| Amethyst Ashe | 975 |
| Heartseeker Ashe | 975 |
| Queen Ashe | 975 |
| Championship Ashe | 1350 |
| Cosmic Queen Ashe | 1350 |
| Coven Ashe | 1350 |
| Fae Dragon Ashe | 1350 |
| Ocean Song Ashe | 1350 |
| High Noon Ashe | 1820 |
| PROJECT Ashe | 1820 |
Ashe may be old school in League of Legends, but with the right build and runes she can tear through the competition in no time.
Looking to outwit your foes on Summoner’s Rift? Be sure to check out our other champion guides:
Ahri guide | Akali guide | Amumu guide | Blitzcrank guide | Caitlyn guide | Camile guide | Evelynn guide | Graves Guide | Hecarim guide | Irelia guide | Karma guide | Kayn guide | Kindred guide | Lulu guide | Nami guide | Malzahar guide | Sona guide | Swain guide | Tahm Kench guide | Taliyah guide | Thresh guide | Warwick guide | Varus guide | Vex guide | Yuumi guide