Visual Upgrade - Ashe, the Frost Archer
By NeeksNaman [1]
Summoners!
We've just rolled out a Visual Upgrade to one of your favorite champions:
, the Frost Archer! This upgrade includes a full overhaul of Ashe's model, as well as a full complement of new emotes and animations. Additionally, you'll see some improved spell effects, particularly on her ultimate ability . We've even updated the splash art!Here's a full list of new features coming in this Visual Upgrade for Ashe, the Frost Archer, and her existing skins:
- An upgraded model.
- New animations for Ashe's attacks, spells and emotes.
- Improved spell effects, including an overhaul of her signature ability .
- Updated splash art to reflect the new changes.
We've rolled out these updates to Ashe's classic look as well as all her skins, so be sure to check out the stylish new digs in her wardrobe before you head out onto the battlefield.
Champion Update: Ashe takes aim at PBE
By Conor 'fizzNchips' Sheehy [2]
Another old timer within League’s ever-deepening champion pool,
has seen almost six years shoot by with her launch kit largely intact. Until now! We’re not rebuilding her from the ground up, but we have made some pretty meaningful changes to her abilities all intended to solidify Ashe as League’s premier utility carry. Finally, we’re also sliding in a couple of small tweaks to give her opponents more ways to play against her. Here’s a rundown of her new moves!
- [New] Frost Shot
Ashe slows whoever she damages with her basic attacks and abilities.
Ashe's basic attacks always deal bonus damage to slowed targets, replacing her ability to critically strike. Bonus damage increases with her critical strike chance.
- [New] Ranger's Focus
- Passive: Ashe gains a stack of whenever she slows an enemy, up to a cap of five stacks.
- Ashe gains a small amount of :attack speed and applies a heavier slow for a few seconds. If Ashe has fully stacked her , she also fires out a fast salvo of arrows with every basic attack for the ability's duration.
- Volley
Ashe nocks several arrows on her bow before firing them simultaneously in a large cone before her. Each arrow deals damage and slows its victim.
[New] Ashe fires more arrows than before. Targets are more likely to be hit by multiple arrows, but they'll only take damage from one.
- Hawkshot
Ashe commands her hawk to scout out an area. The hawk travels slowly, revealing areas it passes as it heads towards the target direction. Once the hawk reaches its destination, it hovers for a few seconds, revealing all non-stealthed units, even in brush.
[New] Hawkshot now has a global range. Ashe can store up to 2 Hawkshots for quick use, too.
- Enchanted Crystal Arrow
Ashe fires a huge ice missile in a target direction, damaging and stunning the first enemy champion it hits, with the stun duration dependant on the distance the missile travels. Enchanted Crystal Arrow also damages and slows all neutral and enemy targets surrounding its victim.
Check out the abilities above and you’ll see that most of our changes focus on taking out the less exciting aspects of her kit.
, for instance, was a pretty dull ability: you either had the ability on and slowed your targets while slowly losing mana, or you didn’t. At the same time, we really liked the idea of Ashe as a kind of utility marksman, someone who brings unrivaled crowd control and vision to games compared to other champs in her class. So we moved to her , simultaneously kicking her old to the side while opening up her for something new. fills the gap, providing Ashe with incentives for staying in combat (versus her old , which literally rewarded you for not attacking) and giving her a decent spike in damage when she handles her stacks effectively.As for the other part of her
, removing crit strikes from a marksman might feel unintuitive - they’re pretty central to a bunch of basic attack damage dealers - but still rewards Ashe for building crit. Thing is, instead of hoping to get the occasional nuke, Ashe players will consistently deal extra damage as they build crit, and even more damage when they build that old staple of hers: .The changes to Ashe's
and enhances her basic attack-focused gameplay during all stages of a game. She shoots things, builds up , then uses to deal extra damage alongside her basic attacks. That left too strong, so we tweaked it. We gave Ashe more rounds in her , so if she's able to cast it from distance, she can theoretically hit more targets and instantly fully stack her . However, to compensate, we retooled the ability so that enemies and neutral targets are now much more likely to absorb multiple arrows. Old Ashe could fairly reliably hit enemy targets through their minion wave, something that'll be much harder to pull off with the updated ability. This means enemy frontliners can get up in Ashe's face now and reliably tank every round for their backline squishies. These changes should emphasize as a tool for development and crowd control rather than raw power and poke, and although it'll be less of a threat during laning, the ability will have a bigger presence in teamfights, particularly when Ashe positions herself correctly.Finally, we took out the old Template:Moi and the surrounding brush for signs of impending Fnatic-style brush baits. You now have no excuse for facechecking!
passive because it basically gave Ashe a bunch of invisible power. Instead, we gave her tangible power by significantly improving her active! Turning into a global ability - and allowing her to store multiple charges - gives Ashe and her team an immediate and immense vision bump, particularly when the enemy team's effectively killing your network of wards. By firing out multiple , Ashe can use their vision to scout out