Who Is Ashe?
Ashe is a popular hitscan hero in Overwatch 2. She is a fun hero who has a simple kit. However, mastering her kit is what makes her difficult. To master Ashe, you need to use her entire kit instead of sticking to one or two things. Along with that, you need to experiment with her play style if you want to grow.
Ashe Intro
Ashe is a hitscan hero that has grown in popularity after Widow’s nerf. She has more use now that Widow has gone down. Although the pick rates are not as drastic as one might think, it’s enough to show how useful Ashe can be.
Ashe is a simple hero consisting of her rifle, dynamite, coach gun, and B.O.B. ultimate. She’s a hitscan hero who specializes in long-range kills and staying on high ground. Make sure that when you’re playing her, you play to her strengths.
She can combo with most support heroes due to her kit being focused on damage. She pairs particularly well with Mercy since the damage boost makes it so she can one shot squishes with a headshot.
However, unless you know how to play Ashe, you’re not going to get much use out of her. Here are fifteen tips to help you play Ashe effectively.
15. Dynamite Basics
Dynamite is one of Ashe’s abilities, and it’s one of the most useful abilities in the game due to how often she gets it and how much damage it does. Although the cooldown isn’t the shortest in the world, for such a strong ability, you get it often enough to annoy the enemies.
Dynamite does explosive damage and burn damage, which hurts the target over time. It has an area of effect, so only targets near the explosion will get hit with the burn. The burn can be cleansed by health packs and abilities like Kiriko’s Suzu. However, it’s extremely effective at crowd control.
You should throw dynamite at a group of enemies. If you shoot the dynamite, it will automatically explode. If you don’t, it will blow up on its own after a few seconds. A well-timed dynamite can cause the entire enemy team to burn or finish off weak enemies trying to flee.
14. Coach Gun Basics
The coach gun is another one of Ashe’s abilities, and it’s a core part of her kit. Most notably, Ashe players use it to knock enemies back since it has a strong knockback. You can use it to knock enemies off cliffs and knock them back when they’re jumping on you.
As Ashe, you’re going to be on high ground. I will talk more about the high ground in the next tip, but for now, just know that you’re going to be playing up high for most of the game. Your coach gun is the perfect tool when someone jumps on you.
I will also discuss self-defense later, but the basic rundown is that if an enemy jumps on you while you’re on the high ground, use your coach gun to knock them off. Unless they’re Genji, Hanzo, or Kiriko, where they can climb back up, the odds are they’re going to have to wait for their abilities to get off cooldown before they can jump on you again.
13. Positioning
Good positioning is vital to being a good Overwatch 2 player. In Ashe’s case, it’s crucial to how you play. If you’re playing in the back, you’re probably not going to have a good view of the map. Along with that, your range isn’t that far. You need to be relatively close to the fight if you want to do damage.
With that being said, you need to have distance so you can best use your rifle. If you’re in the enemy’s faces, you’re going to be useless, as you won’t have enough time to land a scoped shot. Instead, you should be playing on the high ground or off to the side.
High ground is the best spot for Ashe since it gives her the best view of the map. However, playing off to the side is also a good spot since she has more range but is still in sight of her teammates and enemies.
12. Primary Fire
Ashe’s primary fire is, well, the primary part of her kit. It sounds silly to mention the primary fire, but it is an aim-based weapon. Although it isn’t hard to aim with Ashe, you should still practice her primary fire if you want to get better. The best way to do this is by using the practice range or using aim-training custom games.
You can also watch incredible Ashe players, like Warn. Warn is a streamer and an incredible Ashe player, not to mention he’s entertaining and funny. If you’re looking for more advice, Warn is a good outlet. You can start small by watching clips of him on TikTok.
The aim-training game modes in the custom games are perfect for practicing on moving targets. While the practice range gives you a general feel for the weapon, the training bots have much larger hitboxes than most heroes in the game. When you practice, make sure to turn up the difficulty by doing aim-training custom games every once in a while.
11. Dynamite Advanced
Dynamite has more layers to it than you might think. It’s a big bomb used to burn enemies and weaken them. However, you can also use it to block off certain areas or force enemies to reposition. You don’t have to shoot the dynamite. Since it stays active for a few seconds if you don’t shoot it, the enemies will be forced to flee the vicinity unless they want to get burned.
Take advantage of that by throwing dynamite in areas where you don’t want enemies to go. If the enemies don’t stay away from where you want them to, that just means they’re going to get burned. By extension, that means you have a higher chance of killing them.
Use your dynamite to block off areas as often as you see fit. Also, don’t be scared to force enemies to reposition. Instead of shooting the dynamite, feel free to launch it near the enemies to force them to move. Although it’s normally better to just shoot the dynamite, sometimes situations arise where you need to force the enemies to move. You can also throw it behind objects that enemies are hiding behind to force them out.
10. Coach Gun Advanced
The coach gun goes beyond just knocking enemies back. Using it to position yourself is another benefit of the gun. Most Ashe players I see use it to give them a boost to high-ground positions. Whenever I play Ashe, I use it to drastically change my position in a moment to throw off the enemy.
You can use the coach gun to throw off the enemy by knocking yourself into a new spot when they jump on you. That’s what I do whenever a Genji is giving me a hard time. Don’t be scared to experiment with how you use your coach gun. Don’t use it strictly for knocking back enemies; instead, use it to reposition yourself, give you a little boost when you’re walking from spawn back to the fight, and get to high ground.
9. Combos
Combining your abilities with your others is a fantastic idea. Not only are you going to do more damage, but you’re going to create synergy within your team. You can also use combos with your kit. For example, throw dynamite, then use coach gun to launch an enemy at the dynamite. If it doesn’t explode by then, then shoot it to cause them to burn.
You can combine your dynamite with Mei. Mei is, in general, a good combo for Ashe since Mei slows enemies. Mei is a good combo with many DPS heroes, as much as that pains me to admit. I think the entire Overwatch world, even Mei players, hates Mei.
The point is, Ashe’s dynamite takes time to explode unless she shoots it, and let’s be honest, no one is going to hit that shot on the first try every single time. That’s where Mei comes in. Mei can use her primary fire to slow the enemy, giving Ashe time to land the shot required to hit the dynamite. That’s one example of a good combo, but there are others as well, like Zenyatta’s discord orb and Echo’s focusing beam with Ashe’s dynamite.
8. Supports And Ashe
As mentioned before, Ashe combos well with most support heroes. Her best combo is with Mercy due to the damage boost, while her weaker combo would be with Lucio. Lucio’s speed boost is great for the tank, but not so much for Ashe on the high ground, which is out of his AoE range.
Mercy is the perfect support for Ashe, but another choice is Brig. Brig is an underrated pairing for Ashe. Brig’s shield can block Ashe while she fires, which is a fantastic pairing against Widowmaker. Now you don’t have to worry about the one-shot since Brig is blocking damage for you. It’s unrealistic to think Brig will block for you the whole game, but it’s a powerful combo when used effectively.
Lastly, Baptiste is another good choice since he has a powerful ultimate she can shoot through. His amplification matrix is a solid ultimate that Ashe can capitalize on. A well-placed Bob can capitalize on it too.
7. Battling Widow
Widow is a common pick in modern Overwatch. As Ashe, you’re going to have to fight the enemy Widow multiple times. It’s possible you’ll have a Widow or Hanzo on your team willing to do the job, but as a hitscan, you’re going to have to do most of the heavy lifting when it comes to targets that sit in the backline.
Unfortunately, Widow has the advantage. One shot kills you, whereas, at best, two shots from you kill her. Unless you have a Mercy damage boost, you’re not going to kill her in one go. That means you need to play smart. Remember, Widow only needs one shot while you need two; don’t play in a position where they get the first shot.
You need to get the first shot; otherwise, you’re most likely going to lose. Flank the Widow, or shoot them while they’re distracted by another target. Don’t become her target until you get at least one shot off. No matter what, do your best to hit the first shot.
6. Contesting Point
As Ashe, you have an incredible tool to contest the point: Bob. Bob is Ashe’s ultimate, and you can use him to contest the point during intense encounters. He has high enough health to contest the point while you stay back, keep your health high, and kill enemies.
Overtime is the best time to use Bob, especially if you’re on the offensive. Taking the point is the difference between winning or losing, so there’s no reason to save him. You can get more ultimates, but you might not get another chance at winning the game.
When Bob dies or leaves, you need to get on the point and contest. If your team is back, then you have more time to sit further back and do damage, but if they’re all dead and counting on you to stall a bit longer, use your coach gun to close the distance and contest the point for as long as you can.
5. B.O.B.
Bob, as mentioned before, is Ashe’s ultimate. He does high damage and has high health. Bob is hard to kill unless he’s placed in a bad position. He has such high health that he becomes a threat to anyone in the area. At the very least, he makes enemy supports panic as they attempt to get away.
If you want to use Bob effectively, use him in the heat of a team fight. Since your team is already doing high damage, you can increase the damage and the pressure on the enemy team. By increasing the pressure, you’re giving them less time to react to situations, and even when they do, you increase the odds of them acting rashly and making mistakes. Capitalize on those mistakes; you’re Ashe; make them regret being alive.
4. Ultimate Combos
Bob is a situational ultimate, so you’re going to need to combo him with other abilities and ultimates if you want to maximize his effectiveness. For example, Bob combos well with Zarya and Mei’s ults. The reason why is because both ults force enemies in the vicinity to stop, giving Bob time to kill them.
Any abilities that slow an enemy work well with Bob. Mei’s primary fire is an example, as is Cassidy’s grenade. Lucio’s boop is a good ability as well, since he can knock enemies into Bob’s line of sight. You can do the same with your coach gun.
If you want to become a better Ashe player, focus on combining your abilities and ultimate with others so you can secure more kills. Communicate with heroes like Lucio, Zarya, Reinhardt, Mei, and Cassidy to increase your odds of winning.
3. Protecting Yourself
Although you are a DPS, you’re on your own while playing Ashe. She often plays on high ground, far away from the eyes of your supports. That means you need to know how to overpower enemies who jump on you before they can get your health bar low. Once your health goes down, prepare for chaos since your supports are going to have a hard time getting to you.
You have a kit meant for self-defense. Her coach gun is a primary example of how to defend yourself if someone comes too close. Make sure to use it to knock enemies back or knock yourself to high ground.
Although Ashe is mostly known for her scoped fire, you can fire her rifle out of the scope as well. It fires faster, but it does less damage. Don’t be stuck in the scope if someone jumps on you; use your secondary fire so you can get faster shots off and protect yourself.
2. Friends And Foes
As Ashe, you need to know who your friends and foes are. That sounds vague, but the real meaning is that you need to know which teammates you pair best with and what enemies counter you. For example, Widowmaker is a counter since she can one-shot you. Although that doesn’t mean you have to swap off Ashe, you at least need to adapt so you can play better.
As for your friends, you need to work with your fellow DPS. If you have a Genji on your team, you should tell them what you see. Genji will be in the enemy’s backline, while you’ll be on the high ground overseeing it all. Tell them what’s going on so they can better attack the enemy.
You should also protect your supports. It is a myth that tanks should be peeling for their supports; while this was true in Overwatch 1, with the removal of one tank, the tank’s main job is to hold the frontline and create space. There are two DPS and one tank; therefore, it makes more sense for the DPS to peel instead.
1. Follow Up
This tip is self-explanatory, but it’s one of the most important parts of playing Ashe. As Ashe, you have a massive view. You can see most of the enemies around the map as well as your teammates. You need to take advantage of that by doing follow-up damage. Not only will you secure more kills, but your tank and fellow DPS will thank you.
Following up on damage creates team synergy. If your tank and fellow DPS are doing loads of damage but can’t quite get the kill, that’s where you come in. You have the eye and the range to take out any weak targets. Use your rifle to its full extent by taking out enemies your teammates have targeted.
Sometimes one shot can make the difference. It isn’t too hard to aim using Ashe, and she has a great scope that helps you. Use your scope and your range to capitalize on the damage your teammates are doing. Even if your supports are the ones doing the damage, you should synergize with them by taking out the enemy they’re damaging.
