Ashe Overwatch Guide

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John-Carlo Vijuan

Having cut his teeth in the writing game at WhatifGaming, Jae has turned his attention to writing about his most beloved genre, MOBA's and has a particular passion for the breakout FPS MOBA titles, Valorant and Overwatch, and can't wait to see what Overwatch 2 has to offer!

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Ashe is a powerful medium to long-ranged D.P.S. hero in Overwatch. She excels in keeping her distance away from her enemies and dealing a tremendous amount of damage, especially with her skill called Dynamite which applies D.O.T. (damage over time).

Currently, Ashe is still somewhat usable in the meta, and some Overwatch teams in O.W.L. (Overwatch League) use her in specific maps. Let’s dive deeper into her lore and how we can utilize her to the fullest during a match.

Lore

Childhood

Elizabeth Caledonia “Calamity” Ashe is the leader of the Deadlock Gang and a respected boss within the world of criminals. Ashe grew up in Texas and is a privileged child. Her parents were famous business consultants in which powerful C.E.O.s around the globe demanded their services.

She grew up under the care of B.O.B (Big Omnic Butler), an omnic butler. Ashe’s parents would leave her at the manor most of the time due to business trips; hence, Ashe grew up as a troubled individual, especially in school.

She always spends her time shooting bottles around the manor with her slingshot; that’s why she became a prominent marksman. As an heiress to the Arbalest Arms, a weapon production company, most children kept their distance from her.

Omnic Crisis

Ashe and her family did not feel much threat from the Omnic Crisis; however, her B.O.B. disappeared, and Ashe thought she would never see him again. Years after the war, much to Ashe’s surprise, B.O.B. came back and is now a sentient being. Despite having a different personality, B.O.B. still remembered Ashe and his duty to serve as her companion.

The Incident On Her Graduation Day

On her 17th birthday, Ashe’s mother gave her a golden bracelet, which her mom took back a couple of months later and never returned it. An instance of an Arbalest factory shutting down affected some of her classmates’ parents. Many of her classmates disliked the incident and hated Ashe even more even though she had nothing to do with the business.

Three months prior to her 18th birthday, Ashe was supposedly a graduating student. However, to her dismay, her parents did not even show up at her graduation as promised and instead left an unsigned note saying they had to deal with a business merger. Her parents’ absence left an emotional scar in Ashe’s heart.

As she was walking on the road, her classmates Jodie and Jimmy Bonney, whose parents lost their jobs with the shutting down of the Arbalest Factory, confronted her, and a fight broke out between the three of them. Jodie drew a knife during the fight; however, Ashe managed to disarm him, and that’s when the police arrived, finding the knife in her hands with two injured men lying on the ground.

Carson brought Ashe in for questioning, doubting that Ashe acted in self-defense due to the “victims” testifying that Ashe attacked them first. Carson decided to put Ashe in a cell even though she was underage. Since her parents were away, they couldn’t bail her out.

An Interesting Meeting

Ashe found a companion during her time at the prison block. She met Cole Cassidy (formerly known as Jesse Mcree), and they hit right off the bat once they started to discuss firearms. Ashe prefers using rifles, while Cassidy likes using revolvers instead.

Ashe also envied Cassidy for being a lone drifter because of his freedom which she didn’t have. Carson decided to cut their discussion short when the police released Ashe from the cell because her parents bailed her out again.

Her parents did not even give Ashe a break as once she got into the car, the holoscreen activated, displaying her angry and dismayed parents. Ashe’s parents weren’t even interested in her side of the story and showed Ashe an article where she was arrested for armed assault, which made her look like the criminal in the whole fiasco.

To make the situation even worse, Ashe’s parents punished her by cutting off her ties with the family and their finances. She would be able to still live in the manor, and her parents would only provide a small amount of money.

The Deadlock Gang

Ashe initially instigated a revenge plot against her parents by destroying antiques inside the manor; however, this did not make her feel better. She did have an idea of selling Arbalest goods on the black market; however, she needed a partner to help her with the task.

Ashe then met Cassidy at the Ace Valentine Mega farm, wherein they joined forces to take on a heist against the Arbalest company. Their first target was the Arbalest Fulfilment Center Beta-3, which was successful as Cassidy drove the truck away while many drones were pursuing them.

Years later, we see Cassidy split off from The Deadlock Gang. Ashe and the gang planned a heist crossing above Route 66 wherein Cassidy revealed that he was the anonymous messenger knowing that Ashe and the gang could not resist.

Cassidy wanted a specific crate in return while Ashe could have everything else; however, Ashe became interested in that crate and began to drive off Cassidy after opening it. Cassidy was able to outwit them, though, and he was able to restrain Ashe and her gang from moving. Cassidy proceeded to drive off into the sunset, never to be seen by Ashe again.

Ashe’s Skills

The Viper (Unscoped)

• Damage: 12 – 40 HP
• Falloff Range: 20 to 40 meters
• Spread Angle: Max: 1.85 Degrees
• Rate of Fire: 0.25 per second recovery (4 rounds per second)
• Ammo: 12
• Reload time: 0.5 seconds (initial animation); +0.25 seconds per bullet; 3.5 seconds (Full Reload Animation)
• Headshot: Capable

The Viper is a semi-automatic rifle where Ashe can fire one bullet in rapid succession. The spread or recoil resets after 1.5 seconds since the last unscoped shot, and the spread starts on the third shot, and the maximum spread is on the 6th shot. Instead of reloading the entire magazine altogether, you instead reload the bullets one by one, and the more bullets used, the longer the reload time to load the gun entirely.

The Viper (Scoped)

• Damage: 22.5 – 75 HP
• Falloff Range: 30 to 50 meters
• Spread Angle: Max: Pinpoint
• Rate of Fire: 0.65 per second recovery (1.54 rounds per second)
• Ammo: 12
• Reload time: 0.5 seconds (initial animation); +0.25 seconds per bullet; 3.5 seconds (Full Reload Animation)
• Headshot: Capable

This ability is Ashe’s right-click, wherein she would use the scope of the Viper to make her shots more pinpoint and deal more damage. She can aim down sights while jumping, unlike Widowmaker. The scoped mode can deal devastating damage if buffed with Mercy’s staff or even Ana’s Nano.

Dynamite

• Damage: Explosion 20 – 50 H.P. (Depends on the distance from where the dynamite exploded); Burn 100 HP per second; Self: 50%
• Projectile Speed: 25 meters per second
• Area of Effect: 25 meters per second
• Casting Time: 2 seconds
• Duration: 5 seconds (Burn)
• Cooldown: 12 seconds

Ashe throws a stick of dynamite in which she can shoot to make it explode prematurely. She can either use her rifle or her coach gun to detonate it immediately. This ability is the most essential in her kit as this can deal devastating damage to D.P.S. and even Supports.

It can burn down shields; however, enemies can cleanse this ability off by taking a health pack. One tip in using this ability is you can throw this over shields and detonate it from there so that it goes through the enemy’s backline.

Coach Gun

• Damage: 6 H.P. per pellet; 90 H.P. total per shot
• Max Range: 9.4 meters (self-knock back)
• Number of Pellets: 15
• Cooldown: 10 seconds
• Headshot: Incapable

The coach gun is primarily used to reposition yourself once an enemy like Winston, Genji, or Wrecking Ball decides to dive you. It would be best to use this mainly to gain the high ground advantage early in the fight.

Lastly, I don’t recommend detonating your dynamite using this method because, from experience, it’s unreliable unless you know where to aim correctly, and you’d most likely be dead (assuming an enemy diver is on you) before you can pop the dynamite at close range.

B.O.B.

• Health: 1200
• Damage: Charge 120 HP; Arm Cannon 112 per second; 14 bullets; 1092 HP damage overall
• Move Speed: 15 meters per second
• Max Range: 70 meters (Charge); 40 meter radius (arm cannons)
• Rate of Fire: 8 bullets per second
• Duration: 10 seconds (after the charge)
• Ultimate Cost: 2240 points

Ashe’s ultimate involves her summoning her butler to aid her in battle. Using B.O.B. in the heat of battle will turn the tides as enemies will cower in fear upon seeing the omnic robot. One thing to note is that supports can heal and buff B.O.B. like Nano Boost, Sound Barrier, Mercy’s Attack Buff, etc.

At lower ranks, you might think it’s a good idea to ask your support Ana to buff B.O.B. with her Nano Boost; however, this is highly situational and is usually not worth it as enemies can easily hide out of B.O.B.’s line of sight. Sombra can also shut down B.O.B. for five seconds which is half of his total duration. As Ashe, you should also note that you can gain ultimate charge again while B.O.B. is active through your own damage, not through the butler’s damage.

Beginner Tips That You Should Know If You Want To Main Ashe

Now, Ashe is a strong hero, especially on specific maps, but if you want to be a one-hero-carry, you should always note these tips and strategies that I will provide. Once I utilized some of these tips, I quickly got to platinum on my D.P.S. These tips would include 1v1 duels or how to deal with certain heroes in Overwatch.

Always get the high ground

I can’t stress this more than enough; as a D.P.S. and a semi-sniper type of hero, this is the most crucial aspect that you would need to know and utilize. Getting to the high ground is the best way to have an accessible natural cover (natural cover means anything that you can use as a cover to avoid being in the line of sight of the enemy team).

You can quickly peak in and out of combat after firing a few shots. You need to understand two things when it comes to the high ground. First, it makes it harder for enemies to contest you and deal damage to you, and second, it’s easier to damage enemies, peak through shields, and even line up your dynamites once you have the high ground.

Even if it means asking your tanks to help you take the high ground, it’s very important to at least contest enemies.

Practice detonating your dynamite on different ranges

While watching them play as Ashe, some professional players that I’ve seen can easily detonate their dynamite at will. Professional players usually like to detonate their dynamites while unscoped, and this is something that you should continually practice.

However, if you are more comfortable at detonating using your scoped shot, that is also viable, especially on longer dynamite throws. Remember that you should utilize this as much as possible to build up your ultimate charge more quickly, and having a stick of dynamite explode on the supports will cause them to panic and forget to heal their allies.

Utilize Corner Discipline

Corner discipline is when you use your corners as natural cover for your advantage. There are two reasons why you would rather peak in a corner rather than be out in the open. If you face a smurf in your ranked games, they could easily pick you off since their aim is superior to yours.

Most of the time in Overwatch, being smart is better than having a better aim, and that’s what makes the game fascinating. Using Ashe in an open field wherein you rely on shields to keep you alive is not a good practice, especially when you’re in a solo queue.

There’s a good kind of aggression, and there’s a bad kind of aggression, and being out in the open with no natural cover is the bad one. You can’t tell your Reinhardt or your Sigma to keep their shields up for you, so it is very important that you know how to take cover.

Know your matchups

As Ashe, you have to know your strengths and weaknesses in combat. Your weaknesses are CQC (Close Quarter Combat) and long sight range (Widowmaker’s L.O.S.). Your strengths are medium to decent long-range combat. As an example, if a Genji, Tracer, or Winston dives you, you should opt to spam your unscoped shots until your Coach Gun comes off of cooldown, or better yet, if you have your Coach Gun available, use it immediately.

For a Widowmaker matchup, it’s dangerous to play into her very long sight range as she can kill you in one shot, and you can not; unless Mercy decides to damage boost you throughout the duel. It’s better to have a medium sight range against a Widowmaker to have an even matchup. Remember, playing smartly than having better aim wins you duels.

Know where to place B.O.B

You should always prioritize to place B.O.B. at the enemy’s backline or have him placed in a crossfire position (Different angles of fire to overwhelm the enemies). B.O.B.’s placement is one of the most vital to make your ultimate usage efficient.

By placing B.O.B. at the backline, you’re disabling almost every support from healing their tanks as you will be forcing them to take cover and hide out from B.O.B.’s L.O.S. (line of sight). Not only that but placing B.O.B. in an off-angle will easily overwhelm enemy tanks as they can’t protect everyone due to the different angles which they take damage from.

Know when to use Ashe

There are maps where Ashe is potent such as Eichenwalde (lots of high grounds to take advantage of), Hanamura (lots of corners, and the second point in defense is one of the best for Ashe mains), Hollywood (similar to Eichenwalde, this map has a lot of high grounds for Ashe to snipe squishies and to set up her dynamite throws).

Generally, as long as Ashe can maintain a high ground and a good sightline, Ashe is viable for that map. If you notice that dive heroes are killing you here and there, try switching to another hero instead.

Heroes That Synergize and Counter Ashe

Let’s get more into the team compositions side when using Ashe if you’re playing in a stack. The great thing about Ashe is she fits in any team, and you don’t need to ask for a specific hero to enable her in the fight. Nonetheless, here are some of the heroes that I think can synergize and counter Ashe.

Heroes That Synergizes With Ashe

• Zenyatta- Zenyatta’s discord orb is one of the best debuffs that an Ashe main can ask for. You can easily dish out so much damage if you hit headshots or even when a stick of dynamite hits them.
• Mercy- Mercy’s damage boost will help you one-hit squishies with a headshot; hence a pocket Mercy is something that you’d really love for, especially on lower ranks.
• Wrecking Ball- Wrecking Ball’s Piledriver ability sends enemies into the air, allowing you to get some free shots on them. Then Wrecking Ball can easily follow up with a few shots to finish off the enemy.
• Orisa- Orisa’s Halt ability pulls enemies towards the projectile that Orisa fires, which synergizes well with Ashe’s dynamite explosion. Also, Orisa’s ultimate ability gives you more damage which is helpful for a powerful damage dealer like Ashe.
• Genji/Tracer/Reaper– These heroes can kill off wounded targets for Ashe, which is optimal as they excel in CQC, while as Ashe, you’re in the medium to long-range.

Heroes That Counter Ashe

• Ana- Ana can counter Ashe’s ultimate ability with a single Sleep Dart which disables B.O.B. for five seconds.
• Lucio- A good Lucio will easily be able to counter Ashe as he can peel Ashe if Coach Gun is on cooldown. It’s hard to aim at a Lucio with great movement, especially up close.
• Winston- Winston can quickly jump towards Ashe’s position and kill her if you are not careful with your cooldowns. Consider yourself dead if a Winston comes at you in a 1v1 duel and you have no Coach Gun.
• Zarya– Zarya can quickly cleanse herself and her teammates with her bubbles, rendering your dynamite’s D.O.T. ineffective.
• D.Va- Like Winston, D.Va can dive you on the high ground. Although she doesn’t have as much damage as Winston, she can protect herself from your dynamite with her Matrix.
• Sombra- Like Ana, she can shut down B.O.B. for five seconds, and having both Sombra and Ana on the enemy team renders B.O.B. useless.
• Genji/Tracer/Reaper- As we have discussed earlier, Ashe is weak when it comes to CQC, and these heroes can quickly get up close and kill you in a blink of an eye.

Skins

• Common (Default)
• Paintbrush (Rare)
• Sunflower (Rare)
• Tansy (Rare)
• Yucca (Rare)
• Posh (Epic)
• Thorn (Epic)
• Winter (Winter Wonderland)
• Gangster (Legendary)
• Mobster (Legendary)
• Jungle (Legendary)
• Safari (Legendary)
• Warlock (Legendary: Halloween Terror)
• Tiger Huntress (Legendary: Lunar New Year)
• Socialite (Legendary: Anniversary)
• Little Red (Legendary: Anniversary)
• Overwatch League Skins

FAQs

Conclusion

Ashe is a difficult hero to master but very rewarding and powerful once you increase your game knowledge and train your aim. Make sure to leverage the high ground, corner discipline, and practice your dynamite throws and detonation, and you’ll be a good Ashe player in no time.

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