League of Legends patch 13.5 set to nerf support Ashe, base stats changes, W cooldown increased, and more

League of Legends patch 13.5 will be a significant patch from the developers, with several champions slated to be adjusted. Ashe is one of the champions that will see modifications in the forthcoming patch. Riot Phreak provided in-depth details regarding the adjustments on Reddit.

Initially, Riot Phreak, a League of Legends game designer and former shoutcaster, mentioned Ashe revealed information of nerfs in the upcoming patch 13.5 in his patch 13.4 analysis video. In a League of Legends Reddit post, he detailed the adjustments.

Given support Ashe's dominance in professional League of Legends play, these changes were inevitable since her pick rate has been relatively high, and she has occasionally been a little influential in her secondary position.

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Unpacking Ashe changes in the upcoming League of Legends patch 13.5

Base Stats

• Base Health decreased: 640 >>> 600
• Health Growth increased: 101 >>> 105
• At level 12, it reaches a break-even point.
• Attack Damage Growth increased: 2.95 >>> 3.25

Q (Ranger's Focus)

• Removed: No longer requires Focus to cast
• New: Cooldown: 10 seconds
• Attack Speed decreased: 25-55% >>> 25-45%
• Total Damage increased: 105-125% total AD >>> 105-145% total AD
• This delivers 3-11% greater overall damage, which improves with AS purchases.

W (Volley)

• Cooldown increased: 18-4 >>> 18-6

R (Enchanted Crystal Arrow)

• Cooldown increased: 80/70/60 >>> 100/80/60

Riot Phreak went on to elaborate on the logic for these changes. He clarified that these changes do not result from Ashe's performance in the ranked Solo/Duo queue. He realizes that the player base, like Ashe, is a support pick, which the game developers are perfectly fine with.

The primary reason for support Ashe's nerf is her overwhelming domination in the League of Legends professional competition. The developers would probably have taken a different path if she had maintained a 70% play rate with an average pick and ban rate.

Nevertheless, given that she isn't even seen very frequently owing to her ban rate being nearly 100%, her nerfs were just a matter of time before bringing changes to her professional play behavior.

He said that to shift her stance in professional play properly, she needs to be nerfed so drastically that professional players now think that support Ashe is counterable.

She is believed to be inherently weak compared to champions like Leona, Nautilus, or Pyke since she cannot prevent herself or an ally from getting chain CC (Crowd Control) and killed. She does, however, have some of the game's best base health, matching Varus in terms of highest base health.

He believes that the W (Volley) rank five cooldown and R (Enchanter Crystal Arrow) cooldown are too short for support Ashe, making her difficult to lane against. He agrees that the aforementioned changes are a significant nerf overall to support Ashe, but they are essential due to League of Legends' professional play.

He elaborated on his explanation by conceding that compensating ADC Ashe was required in light of the nerfs aimed towards her support iteration. Her Q (Ranger's Focus) and basic AD scaling are intended to be stringent buffs.

According to Riot Phreak, her Q's mechanical adjustment is favorable for Ashe. He feels that Navori Quickblades is now a potential item purchase option for her. These adjustments also make purchasing Attack Speed items feel a lot better. He concluded his remark by saying that he could be convinced that altering the new cast paradigm is wrong for her, but she is influential in this new form.

Overall, these changes are very intriguing. Only time will tell whether these adjustments will improve ADC Ashe's experience while reducing her dominance in the support role. Nonetheless, players who prefer Attack Speed and ADC builds may expect League of Legends patch 13.5 to be entertaining.