Ashe the Frost Archer Ability Power Buff

Sasha Star··1 votes·1,690 views

Ashe the Frost Archer

Ashe

Ashe should have some magic damage and Ability Power buffs. I came up with this idea because of her mystical prowess that grants her icy and chilling powers, as such is the way of the Freljord. This proves true in her Passive Ability, Frost Shot which causes slows, and her Ultimate Ability, Enchanted Crystal Arrow, which deals a large amount of magic damage to its primary target and half as much to secondary targets.

I propose several concepts - which may be used in combination with each other - that could allow Ashe to be a reasonable Ability Power Carry just as much as Attack Damage Carry. Here are some of those concepts, without some already controlled outputs:

1.) Frost Shot: Ashe's basic attacks and abilities apply Frost and Slow to their targets, her basic attacks deal bonus Physical Damage to targets with Frost, her basic attacks' Critical Strikes cause Critical Slows, and her basic attacks and Volley deal magic damage to her target that is increased when she lands basic attacks and Volley against targets with Frost. An example of the damage formula for the bonus magic damage could be (0.5 - 9 (+ 0.5% - 9% AP) (based on level)) (* 2 against targets with Frost).

2.) Ranger's Focus: Ashe's basic attacks generate stacks of Focus. At four stacks, Ranger's Focus can be activated to increase Ashe's Attack Speed and cause her basic attacks to fire a flurry of 5 arrows that deal physical damage per arrow and magic damage per arrow. An example of the damage formula for the magic damage could be 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 (+ 1% / 2% / 3% / 4% / 5% AP) (based on level) per arrow for a total of 25 / 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 (+ 5% / 10% / 15% / 20% / 25% AP) (based on level). Another idea is that Ranger's Focus causes Ashe to fire one magical arrow in addition to the 5 physical arrows, which deals 25 / 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 (+ 5% / 10% / 15% / 20% / 25% AP) (based on level) magic damage. A third idea is that Volley deals bonus magic damage (possibly in addition to Frost Shot's bonus to Volley) while Ranger's Focus is active. A possible damage formula for this is 20 / 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 (+ 4% / 8% / 12% / 16% / 20% AP) (based on level).

3.) Volley: Ashe fires missiles in an angle that can be intercepted by enemies, but an enemy can only be damaged once. The arrows apply Frost Shot's Frost, Critical Slow, and magic damage.

4.) Hawkshot: Ashe sends a hawk spirit toward the target location, exposing the area along its path and in a large area around its destination. While Ashe is within the exposed area, her basic attacks and _Volley_deal bonus Magic Damage equal to a percent of the target's maximum health. An example of the damage formula for the bonus magic damage is 1% / 2% / 3% / 4% / 5% (based on level) (+ 2% per 100 AP) of target's maximum health.

5.) Enchanted Crystal Arrow: Ashe fires a missile that deals magic damage equal to 200 / 400 / 600 (based on level) (+ 100% AP) and stuns the target, dealing half damage to enemies around the primary target.

The synopsis is that Frost Shot allows Ashe's basic attacks and Volley to deal bonus magic damage, Ranger's Focus gives Ashe a magic damage boost to her basic attacks and Volley, Hawkshot allows Ashe to deal bonus magic damage based on the target's maximum health with her basic attacks and Volley, and Enchanted Crystal Arrow is a powerful magical ultimate that is classic to the game that gives way to a potential AP Ashe Carry.

Please feel free to leave your comments about what you think about AP Ashe Carry, and lemme know if you think Riot should consider it!

Ashe

3 Comments

ModThe Djinn2 votes

So -- and this may sound blunt -- why?

With the exception of the percentile health on the E, all this does is give her two builds that both use the same spells in the same way to deal damage. One or the other will be dominant and thus become the version of Ashe that gets played -- it's not like Kai'Sa, who is specifically designed to have this sort of flexibility -- and Kai'Sa still suffers from having one style that's almost exclusively played unless you're feeling a bit gimmicky.

Given that you miss out on movement speed, life steal, and -- yes -- consistency of damage output (due to relying more on spells that can miss and a slower attack rate), I can't see this doing anything but putting in a gimmicky off-build that plays in virtually the same way just with worse damage. There are advantages to focused build paths, and in this case I don't think Ashe's kit has the diversity of gameplay needed to make an alternative magic-damage-centric playstyle interesting enough to merit supporting in this fashion.

Sasha Star1 votes

[{quoted}](name=The Djinn,realm=NA,application-id=A8FQeEA8,discussion-id=RoPnEjEq,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2018-11-17T19:28:58.174+0000)

So -- and this may sound blunt -- why?

With the exception of the percentile health on the E, all this does is give her two builds that both use the same spells in the same way to deal damage. One or the other will be dominant and thus become the version of Ashe that gets played -- it's not like Kai'Sa, who is specifically designed to have this sort of flexibility -- and Kai'Sa still suffers from having one style that's almost exclusively played unless you're feeling a bit gimmicky.

Given that you miss out on movement speed, life steal, and -- yes -- consistency of damage output (due to relying more on spells that can miss and a slower attack rate), I can't see this doing anything but putting in a gimmicky off-build that plays in virtually the same way just with worse damage. There are advantages to focused build paths, and in this case I don't think Ashe's kit has the diversity of gameplay needed to make an alternative magic-damage-centric playstyle interesting enough to merit supporting in this fashion.

You make some good points and ask some good questions.

It's true that it's near impossible to have a Champion deal equal amounts of DPS based on how they build, such as Attack Damage vs Ability Power vs Hybrid, but it could be possible to get them very close. When taking into consideration the items that an AD or AP champion would purchase, it changes the type of damage between magic, physical and hybrid, but also changes the style of damage output between burst and sustained. For instance, Sustained critical strikes vs sustained Nashor's Tooth, burst Lich Bane vs semi-burst/sustained Trinity Force, burst/sustain Statikk Shiv vs burst Luden's Echo, and Blade of the Ruined King vs Hextech Gunblade. Because a lot of attack speed items benefit from movement speed bonuses, it's possible that Ashe would lose some movement speed, but this could be offset with Ability Power items that also have movement speed bonuses. Using a different damage output/style would be good for counterpicking enemy teams or picking based on the friendly team. Life steal could be substituted for the heal from Hextech Gunblade's. I'll admit that this AP build would be more gimmicky, but it has potential. Like Kai'Sa, when a more gimmicky build is played properly, it can be devastating to the enemy team. What would really do AP Ashe a solid with these possible buffs would be her ultimate, which shouldn't be buffed ever (I think).

Ashe AP playstyle would be interesting if the new magic damage were to have spell effect graphics, like Shyvana's percent max HP damage on hit.

Sasha Star1 votes

I'm looking back at this post and I put in some little-too-high Ability Power ratios for the idea! XP

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