Apex Legends is one of the most beloved battle royal-hero shooter games on the market today. Gamers love the fast-paced style of the game, the strategic gameplay, and the variety of legends they can play with. It also has a deep backstory, making it all the more likable for players. But while this backstory is highly immersive, some players choose to just play the game, and that's just as enjoyable.
In the current world of Apex Legends, Ash is considered the most sought-after character. Her aggressive playstyle, mobility, list of weapons, and overall wow-factor have made her a fan-favorite in no time. She can easily take over the role of Wraith as the dominant aggressive legend in the game. But just like with every character, there's a learning curve that goes into mastering the skills of Ash, bringing out her full potential.
7 Ash's Tactical Ability: Arc Snare
Ash's tactical ability, called Arc Snare mildly injures and traps enemy players, tethering them to a single location. This limits their movements, making them easy to target. It can also be used as a defensive weapon for Ash to escape a risky situation.
It's important to note, that this trap is not limited vertically, which means legends who can fly can use their vertical mobility without restraints, while still being trapped in a certain radius. Some legends can fight against this weapon (like Pathfinder's ultimate ability for example), while others can only wait it out.
6 Ash's Passive Ability: Marked For Death
Ash's passive ability, when mastered can make or break a game. It consists of two elements. When an enemy dies, it's marked with a death box location on Ash's map. Interacting with an enemy death box with Ash's data knife can then tell Ash where the enemy team is located.
This can not only help her make the next decisions, or mark potential targets, but can be used to deduct the strategies of the enemy team, and ultimately lead the team to a successful team fight. Additionally, this passive ability can also be used as a defensive strategy to flee certain areas. But again, Ash is an incredibly aggressive character who has no issue taking the lead in riskier team fights.
5 Ash's Ultimate Ability: Phase Breach
Ash's ultimate ability is a tough one to master. It's easy enough to use, but a lot of planning goes into using it correctly. Her ultimate allows her to activate a one-way portal that she then immediately takes. This is why players should be careful when to use it. This portal can be used by several team members for a short amount of time. Ash's ultimate can be used in three different ways:
It can be used as a single tactical move, where ash herself gets closer to an enemy, or the entire enemy team, for a bigger play or a simple poke. Secondly, it can be used as a team play, where the player lets the teammates know when and where to plan the attack and the team bursts in together. Lastly, as a last resort and no other options, Ash can use her ultimate to flee certain areas. As a new player, there's no shame in using an ultimate for the advantage of the sole character, as it's an effective play in the long run.
4 Tips & Tricks
After players get to know these abilities and are feeling comfortable with their use, they can start playing around with certain combinations or unexpected movements.
- Observe which character can escape Ash's Arc Snare, and try to keep it on hold for those who can't counter it.
- Arc Snare can be used as a powerful team play, where players combine the trapping of enemy players with a stronger legend's weapons or even ultimate ability.
- Ash's ultimate ability isn't a sneaky feature, as it has massive visual and audio effects. This is important to note when discussing strategies and possible power plays.
- The teleport ability is very versatile and can be used creatively. For example, Ash can activate it mid-jump, and on high ground, resulting in massive length, and a more surprising play for the enemy team to counter.
- Some legends regain their tactical abilities after going through the portal. For example, if Wraith uses her tactical ability, and then steps into the portal, she'll regain it once again. Players aren't sure if this is a bug to be fixed, but for now, it's an important detail.
3 Legends Ash Works Well With
Above all, Apex Legends is a team-oriented team, which relies on communication, and collaboration. Furthermore, when learning to play a new character, it's extremely important to find the best combo, especially until a player is confident enough to take on risky fights alone.
Valkyrie is one of the best pairings for Ash. The basic strategy is to win the first team fight, use Ash's passive ability to mark the enemy's new location, and then using Valk's ultimate ability, strike in the perfect place. This pairing can work well with any third party. Revenant's ultimate ability is also great when paired with Ash's passive, granting a free push for the team. Lastly, Gibraltar, who already can be paired with basically anyone, but works amazingly with Ash when she needs protection.
2 Legends Ash Works Well Against
Ash's main strength is intelligence. If she's against players who don't have as much insight as her, she can win any team fight easily, because of her added aggressive playstyle. To be more specific, Ash works even better against earth-bound players who can't use vertical mobility to get out of traps.
Overall, when used well, Ash can overpower basically anyone with the information she can utilize. Combine that with a beneficial pairing, and she's practically unstoppable. This takes massive amounts of practice and skill, but ultimately she's a 1000 IQ player who can get out of any sticky situation.
1 Ash Counters
When learning to play a new character, it's also important what to look out for in regards to counters. Ash has quite a few counters, but only one makes a huge difference, which is intelligence. If the enemy team has the same amount of, or even more information as Ash, her chances of winning start going down. Her abilities can also be countered by a few players, but in the big picture, those counters don't mean as much.
For example, some legends can take advantage of the fact that Ash's tactical ability is not limited vertically. Pathfinder's zipline can also counter the trap. Her ultimate should be used carefully as well because it makes a loud noise, and chances are, the enemy team will be waiting for the arrival of Ash somewhere. This can be balanced by getting ready for heavy battle, or taking along a second aggressive character when phasing. Lastly, any long-range character can be an issue for Ash, as she's a close-range fighter, and becomes practically useless when she's far away from her enemies.
Apex Legends is now available for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch.