Summer Ashe

Weapon: Divine Sea Spear

Assist: No Assist / Rally Assist 

Special: Ruptured Sky / Moonbow 

Passive A: Atk/Spd Boosting A Slot / AR-D Spd/Def

Passive B: S/D Near Trace / Lunge / Lull Atk/Spd

Passive C: Fatal Smoke / Panic Smoke 

Sacred Seal: Swift Sparrow / Atk/Spd Solo / Steady Blow / Spd/Def Solo

• 3 movement, 37 Attack, 41 Speed, and 32 Defense make Ashe an excellent Aether Raids Defense unit. In terms of frontliner vs. backliner, Ashe can actually choose between those roles!
  • If Ashe has no Assist, then he is best suited as a frontliner.
  • If Ashe has a Rally Assist, then he can be placed in the backline. The team should be structured in a way such that when an enemy ends their turn in the range of one of Ashe’s frontliner allies, Ashe rallies said ally, then receives a refresh, allowing both Ashe and his ally to attack the enemy left in what was originally only his ally’s range.
• Divine Sea Spear grants Ashe +3 Atk/Spd/Def, inflicts -3 Atk/Spd/Def on the enemy, neutralizes the enemy’s visible Atk/Spd/Def buffs, and gives those visible Atk/Spd/Def buffs to Ashe during combat if Ashe initiates combat or the enemy’s HP is ≥ 75% at the start of combat. This punishes Offense players that use visible buffs, which is potentially most of them since Peony and Plumeria are the Mythic refreshers of Light and Astra Season respectively and their personal Assists both grant visible buffs. Offense players that have superunits using Skills such as Chaos Ragnell and Atk/Res Unity also usually use visible buffs, as these Skills become even more powerful when their users’ visible buffs are reversed by the ubiquitous Panic effect. Even if the enemy has no visible Atk/Spd/Def buffs, Ashe still effectively gains +6 Atk/Spd/Def and +3 Resistance during combat, making him difficult to defeat in one combat.
• Since Divine Sea Spear lacks a Slaying effect (-1 Special cooldown), Ashe’s Special is not as valuable as other units’ Specials may be; as such, he can simply use a low-cooldown Special such as Ruptured Sky or Moonbow. Assuming no Guard effect is active, Ashe can activate these 2-cooldown Specials on his follow-up attack; if he fails to perform a follow-up attack but survives his first initiation, he can receive a refresh and immediately activate his Special on the next combat if the enemy he initially fought did not have a way to increase his Special cooldown after combat.
• Any A slot that increases Ashe’s offenses is much appreciated, as they maximize his damage output and follow-up performance/avoidance consistency. Atk/Spd Push 4 is particularly valuable because it grants Ashe +7 Atk/Spd if his HP is ≥ 25% at the start of combat regardless of phase, making him a difficult frontliner to take down. AR-D Spd/Def is a strong alternative, potentially granting Ashe +10 Spd/Def during combat on both phases to ensure he will not be defeated by physical units. This same logic applies to Ashe’s Sacred Seal, making Swift Sparrow and Atk/Spd Solo his strongest options and Steady Blow and Spd/Def Solo his best alternatives.
• Ashe’s native S/D Near Trace is excellent, as it inflicts -3 Spd/Def on the enemy during combat and allows Ashe to move a number of spaces after combat equal to any movement not already used that turn + 1. If Ashe survives an initiation, he can retreat to a preferable position to receive a refresh or allow allies to warp to the space he was previously on via Skills such as Wings of Mercy and Ground Orders. Since this Canto effect can sometimes backfire, however, Ashe can use Lunge to move enemies closer to his allies after combat by switching spaces with them or Lull Atk/Spd to ensure survival via inflicting -3 Atk/Spd on the enemy. Something to note is that the buff neutralization effect of Lull Skills is redundant because of Divine Sea Spear; however, -3 Atk/Spd is still nice.
• Fatal Smoke and Panic Smoke are great options for Ashe’s C slot, as they inflict crippling effects on the enemy and enemies within 2 spaces that are detrimental for their survivability if Ashe survives his initiation. The former inflicts 【Deep Wounds】, preventing them from healing and giving Ashe’s allies the opportunity to overwhelm the enemy. The latter inflicts 【Panic】, converting visible buffs to “negative buffs” (different from debuffs because “negative buffs” and debuffs can stack).

Weapon: Divine Sea Spear / Slaying Lance+ (+Spd) 

Assist: Positional Assist 

Special: Moonbow / Galeforce 

Passive A: Atk/Spd Boosting A Slot 

Passive B: S/D Near Trace / Desperation 

Passive C: Savage Blow / Atk Smoke / Flexible 

Sacred Seal: Atk/Spd Solo / Heavy Blade 

• Ashe’s high movement and strong offenses make him a great choice for Player Phase aggression. Divine Sea Spear amplifies Ashe’s presence as an offensive threat, as it grants him +3 Atk/Spd/Def, inflicts -3 Atk/Spd/Def on the enemy, neutralizes the enemy’s visible Atk/Spd/Def buffs, and gives those visible Atk/Spd/Def buffs to Ashe during combat if Ashe initiates combat or the enemy’s HP is ≥ 75% at the start of combat. Even if the enemy lacks visible buffs, Ashe still effectively gains +6 Atk/Spd/Def and +3 Resistance, making it a great choice for general offense sets anyways.
• The combination of a 2-cooldown Special such as Moonbow or Ruptured Sky, Desperation, and Heavy Blade allows Ashe to activate his Special before the enemy can counterattack assuming he can perform a follow-up attack, his HP is ≤ 75% (so he can perform his follow-up attack before the enemy can counterattack via Desperation), the Heavy Blade condition of having more Attack than the enemy is fulfilled (which is very easy to do), and no Guard effect is active. Ashe can also swap Desperation for his native S/D Near Trace for additional Spd/Def debuffs during combat and the ability to move after combat, in addition to swapping Heavy Blade for Atk/Spd Solo for increased offensive potency.
• As usual, Ashe greatly appreciates any A slot that increases his Atk/Spd to further his damage output and follow-up consistency. As for his C slot, Savage Blow deals 7 damage to enemies within 2 spaces of the target after combat, making it great for Player Phase sweeps possible via refreshes from allies. Atk Smoke can also be used to make Heavy Blade checks easier to fulfill. Ultimately, though, C slots tend to be flexible, and Ashe’s is no exception.
• If Ashe is using Galeforce as his Special, he needs Heavy Blade in order to potentially activate it after his first initiation; assuming he performs a follow-up attack, Heavy Blade is activated, no Guard effect is active, and he receives a counterattack, Ashe will activate Galeforce after combat. Since the reliance on all of these things can make this somewhat inconsistent, Ashe can swap Divine Sea Spear for Slaying Lance, removing the condition or receiving a counterattack and allowing him to activate Galeforce after 2 attacks even if he is in Desperation range (if players choose to use it over S/D Near Trace).