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Primary Power: Calamity (Season 17 revised)

I believe this to be the strongest all-round build for Ashe.

This build relies on using [Coach Gun] and unscoped shots to trigger burn damage, and then using and scoped shots to deal high amounts of damage against those burning targets.

The core Powers of this build are and , and the core items are and .

This build has strong scaling in round 3 and is my personal favorite versus almost every team comp.

This build is my personal favourite. It works in nearly every situation and lets me do crazy amounts of damage.

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 .

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 you pick whatever feels right for you. There isn’t a right answer here. I personally quite enjoy picking because that little bit of extra information is pretty nice.

You’re just playing an honest game of Ashe in this round. The value from 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 yet because with just 1 charge of [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 .

If you're up against a d.va, Reaper or Genji you might consider getting in round 1, and only picking round 3.

Round 2

Still just some honest Ashe gameplay.

If you chose round 1, you should pick here. With that combination, every use of [Coach Gun] reloads 5 bullets.

The other items you want to pick (in this order) are and and whatever greens you prefer.

Round 3

Burn your enemies to a crisp.

You’ll want to select the power because it greatly increases the uptime of . Vice versa if you picked round 1.

Your core items here are and .

For your remaining items you'll probably want and, if you can afford it, .

Any leftover money can be spent on greens.

This is the round where your build starts to come online. The combination of , , , and give you incredibly high weapon uptime.
Don't be afraid to spend your bullets. You reload 5 upon every use of [Coach Gun], so you can afford to be a bit wasteful with your bullets.

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 at least 30k cash, and you can afford another epic.

This is where you start building to deal with the enemy team. You can spend money on a single survival item if you deem it necessary to do so.
Usually is enough to let me survive most dives or engages. Just be sure to keep a [Coach Gun] charge in your pocket for situations that demand it. Only buy a survival item (other than ) if 2 charges of [Coach Gun] aren't cutting it.

Your core items here are still and .

For the remaining items you can choose to go for honestly just about anything you feel like.

My personal loadout tends to include some Attack Speed item, usually for the extra 10% reload. The combination of powers and items lets you reload 8 bullets with every use of [Coach Gun]

I'll usually run something like this:

If I can afford it I also include , and if I can't, I just pick whatever green I feel like using. or are my go-tos here.

You have a lot of options, and it's really up to you to pick the options you like. As long as you stick to the core items you can build for whatever play style you prefer.

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 , , , or .

  • : lets you use your abilities more often.
    • If you're versus a team that doesn't contain a zarya or otherwise has enemies you can easily farm cooldown reduction from I would pick this every time.
    • Combined with and some attack speed items your weapon uptime gets fully maximized.
  • : can be very strong versus heroes that really get in your face.
    • This is especially strong versus Orisa and 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)
  • : 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.
  • :
    • With now reloading 25% of your ammo the value of this power is only in the cooldown reduction for dynamite. So I don't pick this power very often any more.
  • : lets you focus much harder on making your primary fire as powerful as possible.
    • I pick this power when I'm in a situation where I just frequently hit scoped shots. The little bit of extra damage can be quite strong. But usually other powers are just more valuable so I rarely choose this power.

In terms of items you'll likely be using the same ones as before. Basically only upgrading your existing blues to purples, or your last green to a blue.

You also have a pretty simple item upgrade path here:

You can also opt to ditch your cooldown reduction item entirely in favor of an Ability Power debuff item.
synergizes well with . The healing reduction means they're more likely to drop below 30% health, which in turn triggers .
is really strong versus heroes that need to get close to you to get the kill, and also makes it easier for you to hit follow up shots.

Round 6

Scaled and ready to rumble.

This part of the game you’re well and truly scaled, 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 increase your damage output, do it. But make sure it’s what you need first.

Round 7

Tell the devil I said howdy.

You’re in a 3-3 situation. Everyone’s scaled. The only way you can win now is by just killing everyone in the lobby. 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.

Go back to the round 5 portion of the guide to choose another power.

At this point everyone’s just so beefy that it’s very unlikely that survival items will provide you as much value as before. So consider replacing it with an item that gives you damage.

You should be able to afford 5+ epics now. Your required items are and .

Items such as and are really strong, and you should be able to easily afford them now.

I will not tell you what to do with your remaining 2 item slots. You should know best what makes your build work by now.

Hit your shots. Get kills. Win the game.