The Queen of the Freljord has been around since the very beginning of League of Legends, as well as for all players. She is the champion you play in the introductory tutorial, teaching you the ways of the Rift. Alongside Corki, Sivir, Tristana and Twitch, she plays the role of the attack damage carry, or ADC in League lingo. However, this champion is known to be the only utility ADC in the entire game, given her set of abilities. As such, with the introduction of new ADCs into the game over time, her use and viability in the ever-shifting “meta” has dissipated into obscurity. Our dear friends at Riot Games couldn’t forget about the ice archer of old, so they restrung her bow, fletched some new ice arrows, and gave her some royal pampering to get her back into the limelight. Let’s take a look at what has changed, what hasn’t, and what I think will happen with these changes to Ashe, as well as the meta overall.

Passive – (NEW) Frost Shot vs (OLD) Focus

New versus old - Ashe’s new passive is Frost Shot, which previously was her Q ability. The real kicker here is in the subtle differences. While the previous Q ability’s effect is still here, slowing enemies with each basic attack and ability use, the cost is now gone, so you can slow down your enemies to get a good look of your Ashe skin that you paid for, right? As an added bonus for removing the critical strike that would occur after not attacking for 3 seconds (on top of having to gain Focus stacks up to 100), you deal bonus damage to slowed targets, which increases with your critical strike chance.

Like a whole new Ashe – With the loss of the waiting game passive, the move of the Q ability to the passive makes Ashe more well-rounded and appealing to the ADC main. As such, if you move in onto Ashe, her autos will make you rethink your choice of other ADCs. Plus, with the addition of bonus damage from increased critical strike chance, I think that her build path will take a definite detour from the typical Infinity Edge/Bloodthirster combo to possibly a Statikk Shiv/Last Whisper combo, playing on her ability to keep people around and shred them down. Overall, I think this is a great change. Her old passive relied on your support being extremely aggressive, and you playing the waiting game on your passive early game, and then watching it become worthless late game. But this isn’t the only thing that got a great buff.

Q ability – (NEW) Ranger’s Focus vs (OLD) Frost Shot

360 No scoperino – The new Ranger’s Focus gives a huge boost for Ashe’s mid and late game, giving a passive stacking ability that stacks Focus up to five times. If Ashe activates this skill, she gains a small amount of attack speed and adds a stronger Frost Shot slow for a few seconds. If her Focus is fully stacked, she fires out a sheath’s worth of arrows with every auto attack for the duration of the ability. In contrast to the previous Q, this will not sap away most of your mana in 8-10 auto attacks, and allows the possibility of a burst potential or great poke early game if you have fully stacked Focus.

Get over here! – I foresee this new ability to be the real Ashe saver. Given you have your Focus stacks fully maxed (which you can do easily with a bit of attack speed built), the ability to just turn on your Q and prevent your opponents from chasing you by poking them down or to keep them from running away will be fantastic. Yes, this could be easily stopped if you just stun her, but stunning any ADC stops them dead in their tracks regardless, so you should not have to worry a bit. Just don’t auto attack the minions instead of the ADC this time, eh?

W ability – Volley

More arrows for the arrow god – This ability really did not get much of a change honestly. The cone angle (57.5⁰, for your information) has not changed at all, and you can only take damage from one of the arrows, but the number of arrows that Ashe fires has, from 7 to 9. As such, your enemies are more likely to be hit by one of these arrows, but remember that minions are crafty beings in lane.

E ability – Hawkshot

That ain’t Valor! – Ashe’s Hawkshot did not entirely get a massive update, but one that firms up the ability and grabs a chance at changing the tides of battle. The update to Hawkshot is that it has a global range, and on top of that can hold up to 2 charges for use in a pinch. The “hawks” fly the same way, slowly but steadily, revealing vision as they move across the field until they hit their destination, where they explode into hundreds of feathers, revealing everything in and out of brushes. What is sacrificed here is the passive gold gain she would have if she put in a point into this early game. Now it was only when she got a kill on a unit or destroys a structure, but it was a great farming addition to the lack luster laning phase Ashe had.

You can’t blame the support anymore – With the update, I foresee this change in ability to be a huge meta changer. With the fact that it is now a global vision granter, as well as it has charges, granting vision (temporarily) will save so many support lives who have to go off and check Dragon or go check Baron to just then die for their efforts. Of course, this also puts a bit of pressure on you to know when to call in the eagles like Gandalf and seek out those enemies far away. Just remember to use the charges instead of sitting on them and blaming the support/jungler…please?

R ability - Enchanted Crystal Arrow

Nothing changed – Seriously, nothing changed. Why would you want to change a global stunning ultimate ability that you can whiff and get yelled at for? Come on.

Overall, the soft and sweet Freljord queen that we used to love when we first started playing the game has finally gotten her big girl shoes on and the crown isn’t made of plastic anymore. These changes, while somewhat small in nature, could mean a big change in styles for lanes. What if Ashe becomes a new mid lane pick, using her utility to compete with the likes of Orianna? Perhaps she could be treated as a brand new support, relying heavily on her Q and E to keep enemies away (or close to her, who knows)? Or quite possibly, she could remain in her marksman position freezing lanes literally and figuratively while frustrating the enemies. We can only wait and see what the community has in store for her.

Best of luck on the Rift, friends!