This article is part of a directory: Overwatch 2: Complete Guide to Heroes (And Other Tips and Tricks)
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Overwatch 2 has arrived, reworking and rebalancing the classic gameplay from Blizzard Entertainment's popular hero shooter. The biggest changes in Overwatch 2 are structural, with new maps, game modes, and five instead of six players to a team.

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Despite these changes, players will still start every match by choosing to play a Tank, Support, or DPS Hero. DPS Heroes are the most numerous in Overwatch 2, and each features a unique playstyle. One of the best DPS Heroes for high-skill, mid-range combat is Ashe, a gunslinger and gang leader with a western theme and a powerful lever-action rifle.

Updated on October 11, 2022: As Game Rant has had more time with Overwatch 2, our Hero guides have been updated with additional information. This how-to-play Ashe guide now includes a section on the best combos and another on Ashe's advantages and counters. Of course, there's also info on her playstyle, abilities, tips, and more.

Ashe's Playstyle In Overwatch 2

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While Heroes like Overwatch's Widowmaker dominate the long-range DPS field, and others like Genji are most often found in close-combat, Ashe operates in the mid-range. Her semi-automatic rifle can either be fired rapidly from the hip, or fired slowly from the sights for increased damage. Without the ability to spray and pray at point-blank range, Ashe is most vulnerable to enemies that get too close.

Fortunately, Ashe's other Abilities can be very useful in mitigating this vulnerability. The Coach Gun can be used to knock enemies away or to propel Ashe to high ground, allowing her to escape or aiding her in her role as a pseudo-sniper. Meanwhile, Ashe's Dynamite ability is great for area denial and warding off aggressive groups. Finally, Ashe's Ultimate B.O.B. is a fantastic area denial tool, both pushing enemies away and dealing solid damage as a turret.

Ashe's Abilities In Overwatch 2

Overwatch 2 Ashe and B.O.B. in combat

The Viper

Ashe's Viper rifle can deal significant damage in the right situation, but its damage output relies more heavily on aim and timing than some other weapons in Overwatch 2. When fired from the hip, the Viper deals moderate damage at a rate of 4 shots per second. However, the damage falloff is high, and each shot past the third has an increased spread chance.

When aiming down the sights, the Viper only fires 1.5 shots per second but deals twice as much damage with no spread and a longer falloff range. It's this ADS mode that players should generally try to use at Ashe's ideal medium-range, saving the hip-fire mode for defense or finishing off a fast low-health Hero like Tracer.

The primary weakness of the Viper is that its 12 rounds are reloaded individually, a process that takes several seconds to completely refill a magazine. This contributes to Ashe's weakness in close combat, as she can't quickly rearm after running dry.

Dynamite

The Dynamite ability throws a bundle of dynamite that will detonate 2 seconds after landing or immediately when shot. The explosion will deal a moderate amount of instant damage to everything within 5 meters, as well as inflicting higher burn damage for the next 5 seconds. Ashe only takes half the damage if she is caught in her own Dynamite explosion.

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The arc of the Dynamite throw is such that it will always end up directly in the player's crosshair if they try to shoot immediately after throwing it. This means Ashe players can guarantee a swift detonation, provided that the target they're aiming for is within close range.

Coach Gun

The Coach Gun fires a powerful knockback effect that also deals some light damage, but has a 10-second cooldown. As well as pushing enemies away or finishing off targets in close range, the Coach Gun can also be used to propel Ashe into the air when fired downwards, or across gaps when jumping. This is Ashe's only real mobility tool, and will allow her to both escape and take up a good position for sniping.

B.O.B. (Ultimate)

Ashe's Ultimate Ability in Overwatch 2 summons her omnic butler B.O.B. onto the battlefield in the direction she's facing. B.O.B. has three stages: First he charges forward until he hits either a wall, an enemy Hero, or travels 65 meters. If he hit a Hero or Heroes, he will deal significant damage to them and throw them up into the air, making it easy for Ashe to finish them off with a well-timed shot. Finally, B.O.B. will open up with his machine guns at the closest enemy Heroes, functioning a little like Torbjörn's Turret.

B.O.B. will remain in turret mode for 10 seconds, during which time he counts as a player Hero for the purposes of buffs, healing, and objectives. On the flip side, he can also be killed by concentrated fire, or debuffed by enemy Heroes like Sombra. B.O.B. can be very effective in helping his team take objectives quickly, functioning as both a deadly turret and an additional Hero in the capture zone.

Tips And Tricks For Ashe In Overwatch 2

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Of all the DPS Heroes in Overwatch 2, Ashe is one of the best for finding synergies with the rest of her team. The Dynamite Ability may not have a huge area-of-effect, but its low cooldown means that Ashe should often be ready to throw it into a group that has been forced together by Zarya's Graviton Surge or Reinhardt's Charge. Similarly, B.O.B. can turn truly deadly when combined with certain Support Hero buffs, with Ana's Nano Boost being particularly effective at turning Ashe's omnic butler from a nuisance into a killing-machine.

One of the most important things to learn as a new Ashe player is how they manage the Viper's reloading, a unique system in Overwatch 2. Running out of ammo in the middle of a fight can be deadly, and players should make sure to top up the magazine whenever they get a free moment. Two or three more bullets in the chamber can make the difference between life and death when being harassed by a flanking DPS Hero or charged by a wounded Tank.

Ashe Combos in Overwatch 2

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Ashe + Genji

Ashe can work well in unison with any mobile, flanking DPS like Tracer or Sombra, but Genji is a particularly good choice for DPS partner. Genji's climbing skill and agility allow him to threaten the Heroes that are most deadly to Ashe, namely Widowmaker and Hanzo. Additionally, the chaos he causes with his melee focus and flanking can cause enemy Heroes to leave cover or Tanks to turn their backs, granting Ashe easier shots.

Ashe + Junker Queen

Junker Queen is Ashe's preferred Tank partner, due to the synergy between their Abilities and playstyles. Junker Queen is an aggressive Tank, moving forward into close range to make the best use of her Carnage, Scattergun, and Rampage Abilities. This can cause the same kind of chaos as a Genji in the back-lines, opening the space for Ashe to deal damage.

Ashe + Ana

Ana is a great Support partner to Ashe, mostly due to her Nano Boost Ultimate. As an accurate, hitscan DPS Hero, Ashe can deal massive amounts of damage at any range when buffed by Ana's Nano Boost. Additionally, Ana's unique role as the sniper-Support allows her to heal Ashe even when the DPS has taken a high position or is staying at long range.

Ashe + Mercy

Another Ashe + Support combo that takes advantage of her precision and ranged damage, Mercy's Caduceus Staff will amplify the damage dealt by Ashe's Viper by 30%. This boost gives Ashe the ability to kill 200 HP Heroes in a single headshot, allowing her to one-shot the vast majority of the Heroes in the game just as well as a fully-charged Widowmaker.

Ashe + Brigitte

Ashe and Brigitte may not be the most obvious Support combo, but the two work together surprisingly well. Firstly, Brigitte's melee focus and off-Tank nature helps to distract the enemy team and let Ashe shoot freely. Secondly, her Rally and Inspire Abilities can be used on B.O.B., allowing Ashe's Ultimate to remain in the fight for his full duration even if the enemy team tries to burst him down.

Ashe's Advantages and Counters in Overwatch 2

Ashe Overwatch 2 Counters and Advantages

As a precise, long-range DPS Hero with a hitscan weapon, Ashe is best against Heroes that rely on getting close or taking to the air. She's a great counter for Pharah, being able to snipe the flying Hero out of the air with relative ease. When it comes to brawling Heroes, Ashe can take on Junkrat and Torbjorn from beyond their effective ranges and easily take out Torbjorn's turret with peeking ADS shots.

Ashe isn't only good for sniping DPS Heroes, however, as she can also take down Supports that lack mobility like Zenyatta and even prove a problem for Tanks like Reinhardt. Reinhardt's formidable Barrier Field can be countered by throwing dynamite over or under it and detonating it with a shot. This will hurt not only Reinhardt but also any of his allies who are using the Barrier as shelter.

When it comes to counters, Ashe suffers most against Overwatch 2 Heroes who can outflank or out-snipe her. Widowmaker and Hanzo are in the latter category, with Widowmaker particularly being one of the hardest counters to Ashe. On the other side, Tracer and Sombra can be incredibly difficult to deal with as they'll often flank the rest of Ashe's team to harass her directly, particularly if she is hanging back in a sniping position. Finally, extremely mobile Tanks like D.va can prove deadly to Ashe, as they can charge her even on high ground and are resistant to the knockback of her Coach Gun.

Overwatch 2 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.