Primary Power: Calamity
This build relies on using [Coach Gun] and unscoped shots to trigger {Calamity} burn damage, and then using <Infrared Lenses> and scoped shots to deal high amounts of damage against those burning targets.
This build has strong scaling in round 2 and 3 and is my personal favorite versus teams that have 3 or more enemies without cleanses.
It’s also pretty great versus flying heroes like Freja , Juno or Mercy because they can only be cleansed in mid-air if a zarya bubbles them.
Round 1
Just some honest Ashe gameplay.
You pick the two ability damage items because they let you do a lot of damage early on, as well as slightly strengthen bob, dynamite and the burn damage you do with {Calamity} .
<Charged Plating> is quite strong as you’ll have bob halfway through the round or sometimes even earlier. Giving you 10% more ability damage as well as 25 armor for the rest of the round. This is quite strong this early on.
For your third item just pick whatever feels right for you. There isn’t a right answer here. I tend to pick the ability lifesteal if I’m up versus few cleanses, otherwise I pick the 5% weapon damage item or maybe a survival item.
You’re just playing an honest game of Ashe in this round. The value from {Calamity} will not show itself until round 2, so you’re just going to be trying to hit dynamites and shots. You shouldn’t be too greedy to trigger {Calamity} yet because with just 1 [Coach Gun] you’re still very vulnerable to being approached by close-quarters heroes like Genji, Reaper or any of the tanks. [Coach Gun] is still an escape tool here. But if you’re relatively safe it’s not bad to apply some burn pressure with {Calamity} .
Round 2
Feel the Burn.
The bread and butter of this build is the <Infrared Lenses> item. It’s a required purchase here. You should still be somewhat wary of using your [Coach Gun] too much, but you can be a little bit more greedy for damage now. 20% is a hell of a lot of extra damage.
If you can afford it <Greased Loader> is another good item to get. Since you’re using more ammo alternating unscoped and scoped shots you end up reloading more frequently. <Greased Loader> helps greatly with your damage uptime.
If you can’t afford <Greased Loader> sticking with the ability greens or even no items besides <Infrared Lenses> will do.
Round 3
Burn your enemies to a crisp.
You’ll want to select the {Double Barreled} power because it greatly increases the uptime of {Calamity}
For items <Hardlight Accelerator> and <Ironsights> are quite good choices here. <Ironsights> is my go-to on maps with longer sight lines like Colosseo, Ilios Ruins, Place Lacroix, and <Hardlight Accelerator> is pretty great everywhere else.
It also depends a little on who I’m up against. If I’m playing against heroes that can poke me out at range (like ana with crits, double missile s76, or freja) I’m more inclined to pick <Ironsights> as it lets me even the playing field on longer sightlines.
If you’re playing a map with good high grounds like Redwood Dam or Ilios ruins and have another 5k to spend you could consider getting <Tripod> as it offers high value on those maps specifically. The item isn’t that good on other maps though, so be sure to rotate it in and out depending on its value.
It isn’t that uncommon for me that I run only 3 good items on round 3. <Infrared Lenses> , <Ironsights> and <Tripod> / <Greased Loader>
Any leftover money can be spent on greens. I usually spend it on ability damage greens.
Round 4
The Best Offense is a Good Defense.
This is where things start to get a lot more nuanced. At this point you should have enough money for 3-4 epics and 1-2 rares. And this is alwhere it starts becoming clear what the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy builds are.
This is where you start building to deal with the enemy team. You can spend money on a single survival item.
Some standout Epic items that are core to your build at this point are <Hardlight Accelerator> , <Infrared Lenses> and <Ironsights> . If you can afford having those 3 and a good survival item for the situation you’re golden. Just fill the remaining slots with whatever you can afford.
Round 5
Playing to win.
You’re really playing the adaptation game now. Everyone has the cores of their builds worked out and they’re scaling. Your goal now is to adapt to both the builds of your teammates and your enemies and counter any strengths of the enemy and cover any weaknesses of your team.
You have a variety of options now. Here you can choose from a lot of different powers such as {Incendiary Rounds} , {Incendiary Blast} , {My Business, My Rules} , or {B.O.B. Jr.} .
Each power has its own advantages and disadvantages.
- {Incendiary Rounds} lets you focus much harder on making your primary fire as powerful as possible.
- My personal preference the majority of the time. Unless I feel that another power would give me more value in the given situation I pick this power. In most scenarios just doing more damage versus squishies is just really good value.
- {My Business, My Rules} lets you use your abilities more often.
- If you’re versus a team without cleanses (or only a few self-cleanses) this lets you crank up your ability uptime to crazy levels.
- {Incendiary Blast} can be very strong versus heroes that really get in your face.
- This is especially strong versusso a junkerqueen in particular. But a Reinhardt swinging his hammer is not going to be prepared for half his HP to vanish to a coach gun and ashe combo. (Be sure to set him on fire before coaching him for the burst damage)
- {B.O.B. Jr.} lets you interrupt tanks who run at you and forces them to turn around. This is especially useful against a D.va diving you or anyone else on your team.
- The reason why this is strong versus D.va is because it forces her to turn around to deal with the bob. Bob shoots at whoever you shot last, so if you hit a single shot on that d.va she’s now getting shot at from both sides. And she can’t matrix in multiple directions at once.
In terms of items you’ll still be using your standout epic items of <Infrared Lenses> , <Hardlight Accelerator> and <Ironsights> , and you should be able to consistently afford a 4th epic here.
The other 2 items are most likely going to be rares instead.
But I’ve had situations in which I’ve had the ability to purchase a 5th epic here. A common offensive epic I choose is <Volskaya Ordnance> . It seems somewhat underwhelming at first glance, but it greatly improves your ability to threaten the tanks that by now most likely have a lot of health and aren’t as threatened by you any more.
Round 6
Scaled and ready to rumble.
This part of the game you’re well and truly scaled and and you’re looking to maximize the strongest part of your build. You should consistently be having enough cash for 5 epics here. Look at what the enemy team is running and remember how the enemy team is playing. Your goal here is to maximize the damage you do while minimizing the damage you take.
If you have to take off a survival item just to get better damage value, do it. But make sure it’s what you need first.
If you’re quite good on cash a very strong offensive epic item to get here will be <Eye of the Spider> , the 10% damage boost on targets below 30% health applies to all damage sources and not just your weapon. This means [Coach Gun], [B.O.B], [Dynamite], and {Calamity} all receive this damage bonus as well. And the 25% weapon damage boost is honestly massive on its own as well.
Round 7
Tell the devil I said howdy.
You’re in a 3-3 situation. Everyone’s scaled as fuck. The only way you can win now is by just fucking shit up. You have to do damage. Lots of it. You have to kill people before they can kill you and you have to do it consistently.
If you haven’t picked {Incendiary Rounds} in round 5 now is the time to pick it. If you picked {Incendiary Rounds} in round 5 you can use the same criteria to pick your 4th power as in round 5.
At this point everyone’s just so beefy that it’s very unlikely that survival items will provide you as much value as before. If you haven’t already, replace your survival epic with an epic that lets you maximize your damage.
You should be able to afford 6 epics now. Your required epics are <Infrared Lenses> and <Hardlight Accelerator> .
Items such as <The Closer> and <Eye of the Spider> are really strong and you should be able to easily afford them now.
You have to hit your shots and you have to hit them fast. There’s no nuanced build strategy here. It’s just building damage and hitting shots.
Get kills, win the game.