How To Play Ash?

[Rabcor]

 

^ Dat Ash! (actually looks way cooler than the in-game one)

 

Well, i got Ash recently and i'm kindof lost at how best to use him. What's your favorite playstyle with him? got any tricks you'd care to share with me?

Edited May 22, 2013 by rabcor

[Xoxile]

Smoke screen is your friend. I like to just stay invisable as long as possible and spam light melee (I use fang). The occasional blade storm when there's more than ten enemies.

[deathscion]

Play it like a Loki. Use stealth and its melee bonus to your advantage. Shade sentinel works with Ash's smoke screen and will stealth you if smoke screen wears off. If you get over ran wait till your shields are nearly gone and pop bladestorm. By the time its done your shields will be recharged and most of the enemies dead. Speed, stealth, and melee are most valuable with dat Ash. Melee is whatever you want to use that will put out the most dps in the fastest time frame. For me I went with DHS because of the charge damage and maxed charge damage and speed. While in stealth you have the ability to spam charge attacks without getting knocked around. Its more beneficial in solo play because you will have issues with bladestorm in groups. I.E. attacking thin air because the enemy is already dead. Still one of my favorite overall frames in game despite certain flaws such as shurikens weakness and bladestorms inconcistance. Although it is "silent" I do NOT recommend glaive with Ash. You will get more benefit from more power or speed in your melee.

 

Edit- If you like charge attacks go for damage and not armor ignore weapons, since charge attacks ignore armor anyway. If not weapons such as fang and dual ether are great because of the armor ignore and fast over all attack speed.

Edited May 22, 2013 by deathscion

[Rabcor]

Thanks, i didn't know smoke screen gave a melee bonus. 

Edited May 22, 2013 by rabcor

[deathscion]

Thanks, i didn't know smoke screen gave a melee bonus. 

50% bonus to regular attacks 100% bonus to charged attacks. That's pretty easy one shots with DHS, and pretty fast carnage with weapons like fang.

[Calimaestro]

Dem heats.

[Rabcor]

It's really weak compared to Loki's invis, that gives the same bonuses but 150% and 200% rather than 50% and 100%. (Damn loki is OP)

 

Then again loki has only got 2 useful abilities(Decoy, Invis) but ash has 3(Shuriken, Smoke Screen, Blade Storm) and Ash is tanky as hell.

Edited May 22, 2013 by rabcor

[CubedOobleck]

I play Ash very 'vanilla' as in 'I don't use skills much', because most of his skills are quirky, but not bad.

Shuriken is not the best skill, but I recently found out that if you use it while you are aiming it is way more precise.

Teleport can be useful for stealth if you have a shade because it will usually cloak you as soon as you are next to the enemy and he won't notice... usually. In an actual fight it is not great because you are stuck for a second or so right after you teleport next to enemy.

Smokescreen is good, doesn't cost much and stuns enemies so they don't shoot in your general direction while you are invisible, it's good for attack and retreat tactics.

Bladestorm doesn't always work, but you don't need to equip focus because that 1000 AP damage is enough for regular enemies even on pluto alerts and the fact you can use it at a distance is also a nice way to thin out a herd of foes before they come near you.

DE is working Ash, at least shuriken is going to be radically changed in update 8 and in general DE is trying to implement stealth in the game and that is supposedly Ash's domain (though right now he ain't great for stealth) so I expect Ash gameplay will improve over time.

[Senser]

It's really weak compared to Loki's invis, that gives the same bonuses but 150% and 200% rather than 50% and 100%. (Damn loki is OP)

 

Then again loki has only got 2 useful abilities(Decoy, Invis) but ash has 3(Shuriken, Smoke Screen, Blade Storm) and Ash is tanky as hell.

 

Na, Loki invisibility and Ash invisibility both have the same bonus damage to melee, it's just different wording:

- "While invisible your melee attacks deal 150% damage with normal attacks ..."

- "Melee attacks hit for 50% extra damage while invisible"

[Caliocerion]

Get a heavy weapon like Gram, put max killing blow, reflex coil, and fury on it. Go invisible and 1 shot everything.

[CrugerSoulek]

    I tend to go with a more "Unnecessarily stylish" approach. Using combos with both melee and ranged weapons. My main weapons are Paris, Twin Vipers (staple guns), and Gram (Wind Blade +elemental attributes). A combo I like to use when there's a big group of Grineer: Charge bow> Target enemy> As you release the arrow, teleport to that same enemy (basically you become the arrow!)> Smoke Screen + Spam melee (either charged or normal attacks).  Another combo--being your own personal blade storm (might need flow with this, but it isn't needed): Teleport> Smoke Screen> Melee enemies in the area> Shoot at another target far away in a cluster of enemies with side arms> Teleport> repeat.
    Once you use him more and more, you'll begin to develop your own style. Whatever you start to see is more fun. Probably not as effecient, but more fun. Congrats on getting Ash and I hope you enjoy him! :)

-CrugerSoulek

[Xoxile]

A combo I like to use when there's a big group of Grineer: Charge bow> Target enemy> As you release the arrow, teleport to that same enemy (basically you become the arrow!)> Smoke Screen + Spam melee (either charged or normal attacks).

I gotta try this. Thanks for the idea.

[Hezekiah]

Shuriken is not the strongest power in the world, but you can drop an ancient infested up through mid levels with a well aimed shot, at higher levels it takes a serious toll on their HP.

 

Smoke screen is great, it combines radial blind with invisibility, I use dual ether blades and spam regular melee attacks with mods to increase swing speed and crit chance/damage.

 

teleport is useless; at least I have not figured out how to effectively employ it

 

Bladestorm is my favorite power in the game, clears a room in no time.  Great if going on a boss run (especially grineer) and find the area with the boss flooded with regular enemies, pop bladestorm and you greatly diminish the underlings leaving the boss wide open.

[Tulzscha]

Use Shuriken to soften up/finish off heavy units like Infested Ancients. You can do almost 1000 damage if not more (depends on the level of your Focus mod) when throwing them at Ancients' heads.

 

Smoke Screen can be spammable if you have sufficiently ranked up Flow and Streamline mods. Slice and dice 'em up.

 

Keep in mind the radius of Blade Storm is dependent on your first target, Ash will then proceed to kill as many as he can (I think I can get 12 kills max out of it, fully ranked up) in an area around your first target.

[Zimmies]

I play Ash very 'vanilla' as in 'I don't use skills much', because most of his skills are quirky, but not bad.

Shuriken is not the best skill, but I recently found out that if you use it while you are aiming it is way more precise.

Teleport can be useful for stealth if you have a shade because it will usually cloak you as soon as you are next to the enemy and he won't notice... usually. In an actual fight it is not great because you are stuck for a second or so right after you teleport next to enemy.

Smokescreen is good, doesn't cost much and stuns enemies so they don't shoot in your general direction while you are invisible, it's good for attack and retreat tactics.

Bladestorm doesn't always work, but you don't need to equip focus because that 1000 AP damage is enough for regular enemies even on pluto alerts and the fact you can use it at a distance is also a nice way to thin out a herd of foes before they come near you.

DE is working Ash, at least shuriken is going to be radically changed in update 8 and in general DE is trying to implement stealth in the game and that is supposedly Ash's domain (though right now he ain't great for stealth) so I expect Ash gameplay will improve over time.

really hope they work on ash's stealth gameplay.. still loving it though :P

[neKroMancer]

Right now, I think giving advise about Ash is basically not useful. Shuriken will be changed since U8 features a throwing secondary and DE intend to change his shuriken. Teleport will get you behind your target if I'm not mistaken from previous livestream.

Let's wait a few more days before giving advise.

[BlerkLerps]

ASH Warframe Loadout (Everything on this list requires a Potato)

Hek: Maxed Hells Chamber, Max Flechette, Max Point Blank, Rank 3 Tactical Pump, (whatever is left is for elementals)

Twin Vipers:Maxed Barrel Diffusion, Rank 5 Hornet Strike, Maxed Crit Rate, Maxed Crit Damage, Rank 4 No Return, (maxed out elemental out of choice)

Lex (for defense missions): Maxed Barrel Diffusion, Highest Hornet Strike within your budget, Reload Speed, Fire Rate, Rank 4 No Return, (any elemental of your choice)

Gram/Scindo:Maxed Charge Speed, Maxed Charge Damage, Maxed Armor Pierce, Maxed Meele Attack, Rank 3 Fire, Rank 2 Ice

 

ASH MODS

580 Shields 690 Health

250 Energy

 

Maxed Smoke Screen

Maxed Blade Storm

Rank 4-5 Continuity or Focus (both are interchangeable)

25% Running Speed

100-125% Stamina (depending if you want to max out Continuity or Focus)

Rank 6 Redirection

Rank 3 Vitality

60% Shield Regeneration

100% Energy Increase

 

This build can manage 200-300 Kills on Kiste with a competent party and player.

This build can last till 30-35 waves on Outer Terminus without the Corpus breaking through your shield.

This build can solo any boss in the game without the boss breaking through the shield.

Shuriken is useless (at the moment and honestly takes up space) and Teleport is just for gigs...

The Hek build will 1 shot Corpus up to lv 50-60 2 shot Shockwave Moas 40-50 1 shot Grineers 35-50 2 shot Heavy Grineers 35-50

It will also 2-3 Shot Ancients (This varies on their level)

The Lex is basically a mini snipetron or a long ranged Hek if modded accordingly.

The Dual Viper Crit build is just incredible for run and gun and in situations where you have to carry a Data Mass

Gram/Scino because the range is superior to the DHS and has a high chance of not being interrupted when attacking or charging (the AOE on them is also much better and knocks down enemies which happens to be essential for defense missions)

 

Boltor and Gorgon Builds would work as well, but would require Maxed Serration and Split Chamber. (Maxed Serration will cost you in the hundreds of thousands and Split Chamber in my experience seems to be harder to come by than Hells Chamber)

 

To the guy that brought up using Shuriken to soften up Ancients... That's a waste of 25 energy you're better off using Smoke Screen due to the stun and using a charged melee which hits up to 1k initially plus whatever elementals including pierce along with it.

Edited May 23, 2013 by BlerkLerps

[Klazik]

It's really weak compared to Loki's invis, that gives the same bonuses but 150% and 200% rather than 50% and 100%. (Damn loki is OP)

 

Then again loki has only got 2 useful abilities(Decoy, Invis) but ash has 3(Shuriken, Smoke Screen, Blade Storm) and Ash is tanky as hell.

If you got this information from the wiki I quote for you

Loki: While invisible your melee attacks deal 200% damage with charged attacks and 150% damage with normal attacks

Ash: Melee attacks hit for 50% extra damage while invisible (yellow numbers) and charge attacks for 100% extra damage

 

Without invisibility normal attacks are 100% and charged are 150%. Ash's info states, that he does 50% and 100% extra. Add that to the original dmg numbers, and you got the same numbers, that Loki's info states (Loki's info doesn't say "extra dmg").

Edit: I just realized, that somebody already said this. Sorry, my bad.. But I'll leave this here since it's a little more detailed that the post by Senser

Edited May 23, 2013 by Klazik

[BlerkLerps]

If you got this information from the wiki I quote for you

Loki: While invisible your melee attacks deal 200% damage with charged attacks and 150% damage with normal attacks

Ash: Melee attacks hit for 50% extra damage while invisible (yellow numbers) and charge attacks for 100% extra damage

 

Without invisibility normal attacks are 100% and charged are 150%. Ash's info states, that he does 50% and 100% extra. Add that to the original dmg numbers, and you got the same numbers, that Loki's info states (Loki's info doesn't say "extra dmg".

Both Invisibility and Smokescreen give the same amount of extra damage.

Either way Smokescreen is still much more offensive due to the stun, which gives way for a jump attack AOE knockdown and a Charge Attack soon after.

Edited May 23, 2013 by BlerkLerps

[Klazik]

Both Invisibility and Smokescreen give the same amount of extra damage.

Either way Smokescreen is still much more offensive due to the stun, which gives way for a jump attack AOE knockdown and a Charge Attack soon after.

Exactly what I said.

But regarding the offensiveness; Loki got more invis time, so he can run around and kill stuff for even longer.

[BlerkLerps]

Exactly what I said.

But regarding the offensiveness; Loki got more invis time, so he can run around and kill stuff for even longer.

Well the stun can save you, if you if you ever decide to Rambo it up into a swarm of Infested or a room full of Grineer. But overall LOKI is the superior stealth frame for melee attack. So I guess ASH rewards heavy risk while LOKI requires a much more calculated touch.

 

Yeah, the wiki is pretty innacurate sometimes. Someone needs to fix that up.

[Xoxile]

Another difference between Loki, and Ash invisibility is with Loki your senses get dulled. This might be a hardware dependent feature, but to me when I stealth with Loki my screen turns fuzzy and yellow and all the sound gets muffled. It's not really a huge handicap, but I see what they were trying to do there.

[Rabcor]

Another difference between Loki, and Ash invisibility is with Loki your senses get dulled. This might be a hardware dependent feature, but to me when I stealth with Loki my screen turns fuzzy and yellow and all the sound gets muffled. It's not really a huge handicap, but I see what they were trying to do there.

that must be your hardware.

 

The flaw with ash's invis is that ash just completely disappears off your screen! and his sentinel with him!