How to Play Ashe Effectively in Competitive Games

Ashe is a long range (with scope) hitscan DPS hero in Overwatch. She is also one of the highest damage dealers in the entire game due to her powerful dynamite that deals AOE explosive and burning damage to surrounding enemies. She may not be the perfect choice in current meta, but still very much viable in maps with payloads; Playing Ashe in control maps are not as effective as other DPS heroes. Below are several tips and strategies on how you can play her effectively in competitive plays.

Positioning: Stay behind your tanks

Most of the time, you should stay behind your tanks and shields. Being a DPS player, your primary job is not to die. Trading 1 to 1, in most cases, doesn’t worth it. So, stay behind your tanks and keeps dealing damage and finding kills. When you see an opportunity where you can advance and pick an enemy without exposing yourself too much, you can quickly do so and then get back to your teammates.

In some rare situations and maps, however, you can position yourself up onto any high ground such as those in Temple of Anubis and Havana, only when you sure there isn’t any Widowmaker or Hanzo that can pick you from far away as you don’t have the protection from shield and they can one-shot you while you can’t. If you are flanked by flankers such as Genji when you are on the high ground, quickly get back to your teammate as you will most likely die in close range combat. Ashe isn’t heroes like Widowmaker or Hanzo who can pick enemy with a single headshot. It’s still recommended that you stick with your team instead of trying to solo pick yourself.

How to use Dynamite effectively

Dynamite is probably the most important ability for Ashe. It deals 30-75 (depends on the range to the center of explosion) damage upon explodes, and 100 burning damage, summing up to 175 total damage to any target in the area of explosion.

If you can make sure it hits at least 1 enemy whenever it’s off cooldown, you should see your ult charges up very quickly. Dynamite is very useful to keep enemy team’s supports busy healing their teammates or themselves, and could possibly pick 1-2 kills.

I always miss my shot on the dynamite…

If you have difficulty hitting your dynamite after throwing it, the easier way to hit your dynamite is to throw directly in front of you without moving and shoot when the dynamite reaches your cursor or reaches where you want it to explode. If you move when the dynamite is still on the air, it will be difficult to aim and hit it. Of course if you are good at tracking and aiming, you can do however you want. Just make sure you can hit the dynamite with your left-click as an unexploded dynamite can be easily dodged most of the time.

Enemy team has a shield…

If the enemy team doesn’t have any shield, you will have great advantages at launching your dynamite. Just launch it to the area with the most enemy players and trigger it. The key is to hit as many enemy as you can.

If the enemy team has a shield, throw your dynamite above the shield and trigger it when it reaches right above their heads. It works most of the time for Orisa’s and Reinhardt’s shields. Sigma’s shield will usually be too high for dynamite to cross over, but you can always try it.

Another method is to throw your dynamite beside the shield, and trigger it when it reaches to the side of your enemies.

If you enemy team has double shields, you should probably switch to another DPS hero.

I got flanked by a Genji…

Well, the best way is still to escape to your team. If you can’t or if you know you would be dead before reaching to your enemy, your best chance is to execute the below combo:

1. Throw your dynamite to the flanker.
2. Explode it by using Coach Gun (Shift) as it’s much easier to hit your dynamite this way and keep the flanker away.
3. Try to land a shot to the flanker.
4. He/she should most likely be dead with that combo.

When should I use my Bob?

Your ult is pretty much just like most other offensive ults in Overwatch. Use it whenever your team want a full engage or retake. The key is to communicate with your teammates on the voice and time the ult effectively. Bob, unlike other AOE direct damage ult, it’s like a turret with auto aim and 1000 health. It doesn’t combo too well with other ults such as graviton surge. Your enemy can just shield your Bob, ice wall it or tank it off with other defensive ults. So, my advise would be to use it whenever you can and try to place it behind your enemy supports to keep their attention away from the front line.

How about Coach Gun?

Well, the Coach Gun ability doesn’t need too much explanation. Use it when you are flanked by a flanker, engaged by a tank, or whenever you feel you are in danger. Another way to utilize it is to use it to get to some hard to reach high grounds. You can also use it to push away offensive ults such as Reaper’s Death Blossom.

Summary

Ashe is considered an intermediate difficulty hero to use. She is all about triggering dynamite effectively, shooting enemies (tracking and aiming skills matter), and launching your Bob. Once you’ve mastered her dynamite triggering, you will climb the rank. Good luck!