Ashe
As the leader of the most populous tribe in the north, the Avarosans, Ashe is looked to by countless members of the horde as the hero that will unite the Freljord.
That is no easy task, but luckily she has something on her side: a magical ability to wield a bow of pure ice. That's a pretty good start, as far as unifications go. In fact, her people believe she is the reincarnation of the hero Avarosa herself.
Guided by their belief, and her hawk spirit, Ashe trudges across the frozen north, toward the ancient tribal lands of the Avarosans, and a greater Freljord.
I'm always fascinated by the characters used as the "beginner" choices in MOBAs. By virtue of being a competitive game, they should still be comparable to harder to play choices. But at the same time, they need to have kits so easy to understand and use that new players don't go running for the hills after trying them for the first time.
Ashe is one of the beginner champs for League of Legends, alongside others like Garen and Master Yi. It makes sense: people understand what archers do, and her frost shots mean that Ashe automatically slows anything she hits, making targets even easier to hit repeatedly for new players.
Is she boring? Maybe she would be, if not for one of the biggest show-stoppers in the game for years: Enchanted Crystal Arrow.
Keys to the Character
Stay Frosty
Everything Ashe does has some level of icy addition to it, especially many different ways of shooting arrows. This magic slows enemies down, making them easier targets for the next shot.
An Arrow to the Everything
Sometimes Ashe puts away the normal arrows in favor of a giant, icy, crystal one that travels across the entire battlefield and is incredibly satisfying to watch.
Hawkeyes? Hawk Ice!
Far from a beastmaster, Ashe has a spirit hawk that helps her scout. It's hard to sneak up on Ashe's team when you can be spotted by a bird.
We the North
Ashe is the leader of the Avarosan tribe, and wants to unite the Freljord. What's that mean? She's not worried about a little ice and snow.
Shoot arrows. Freeze foes. Repeat.
As Pathfinder 2e has matured along its lifecycle, more and more ways to accomplish certain fantasies have emerged. This build – the frost archer – is a great example: do we go Starlit Span Magus? Eldritch Trickster Rogue? Ranger with an Eldritch Archer archetype?
That last one is interesting from an Ashe perspective. The ranger class offers some excellent archery tools baked in, as well as some very in-theme survival flavor. Ashe is, after all, the warmother of the northern Avarosan tribe – a cold-weather people who find traveling in snow to be second nature.
Adding the Eldritch Archer archetype gives Ashe a quasi Magus shell, without requiring multiple feats to get to (a more limited) Spellstrike. There is, however, one very important caveat: Eldritch Shot, which allows Ashe to combine an arrow strike and a spell attack roll spell into one attack, is a 3 action ability.
It would be crazy to suddenly start going into the math of builds, but let's entertain the idea briefly. If Ashe spent all three of her actions on bow strikes at level 6 (the level she gets access to Eldritch Archer), the average damage against an average enemy would be 21. Meanwhile, if all three actions were spent on a Ray of Frost Eldritch Shot, at the same level, the average damage would be 20, with the chance of slowing them. Six levels later, at level 12, the same three strikes has an average of 29 damage, while the Ray of Frost shot reaches 33 plus the slow.
What is this really saying? I'm not sure, other than Ashe can choose her moments to Eldritch Shot rather than attack in a frenzy, gaining some damage and utility for doing so.
On the tabletop, Ashe wants to find the right spot in the encounter to post up and start shooting. She absolutely needs to be set up in the right spot to rain frost arrows at foes – there is no option for her to step away from a nearby foe and then blast them with a magic arrow. Therefore, she relies on some Athletic feats for climbing, jumping and otherwise getting to the best vantage point to strike. Luckily her hawk companion can scout out those strategic places for her, guiding her with vision she wouldn't otherwise have.
Build OVERVIEW
- All-around stats
- Powerful long range attacks
- Elsa with a bow
- Eldritch Shot requires setup at three actions
- Eldritch Archers are limited to spell attack spells
- Cold personality
Ancestry
Wintertouched Human
Honestly, Wintertouched human offers less functionality that what we can get from a Versatile human, but how can we pass up the flavor?
As a member of the Avarosan tribe, Ashe is absolutely Wintertouched. As such, she treats cold as if it's just not quite as bad.
Despite not being "versatile", being a human still offers some classic benefits that Ashe takes advantage of. Natural Ambition, for one, gets the build started off with both Hawkshot and a Volley bringing us pretty close to the goal of the build from the get-go.
Later on Ashe also picks up the Elf Adopted Ancestry, for nifty feats like Elf Step.
Background
Wildborne
Is it offensive to call the tribes of the north "Wildborne"? We hope not.
This background gets Ashe started with some of the survivability she needs to take back her ancestral lands, in the great white north of Runeterra. Plus, it gives a dexterity boost, which is up an archer's alley.
Class
Ranger - Precision Edge
Ranger offers the most Ashe things right out of the box – in fact, with a frost rune on the bow, we barely need to go into any archetypes. We will though, to make that icy magic extra icy.
From the start, the Ranger class gives Ashe a "Volley" attack with Hunted Shot and a "Hawkshot" helper with a young bird companion. Plus, the Precision Hunter's Edge adds a big damage boost on her first bow attack, which will often be the only one she makes when using Eldritch Shot.
Speaking of which, the Eldritch Archer archetypes is grabbed at level 6, and it comprises most of the rest of her class feats. Those combine to allow for a decent range of ice magic, plus some truly devestating Enchanted Crystal Arrows – like Arrow of Death, Phase Arrow, or an Eldritch Shot with a Polar Ray attached.
What this combination of class and archetype gives us is a build that wants to use a lot of actions every turn. It's up to Ashe to figure out the best course of action each round – Eldritch Shot? Specialty arrow? Command an Animal for some Hawk support and an arrow shot? Things will change, like the political map of the war-torn north!
Skills & General Feats
As someone who lives in the frozen north, it is most important for Ashe to have some legendary survival skills. Otherwise, uniting the Freljord will stop before it gets started, as she gets snowblind and doesn't even make it across the tundra.
Other than that, a mastery of Athletics and Nature is important, for largely the same reasons. As well, as leader of a tribe, Ashe needs some focus on Society. Though not too much, as she is kind of a reluctant leader.
Legendary: Survival
Master: Athletics, Nature
Expert: Society
Attribute Increases
Equipment
Suggested Starting Equipment
Key Spells
Changelog
