Ashe
Infographic (February 2023)
Character Notes & Recommendations
Have updates or suggestions? Contact us via Reddit or Discord, find our info Behind the Scenes!Summon Board Passive selections:
Numbers listed below refer to the 7 passives to select for each Ultimate Summon Board for the character. Top is 1, bottom is 7.Ramuh choose 3 / 4 / 5
Alexander choose 3 / 5 / 6
Odin choose 4 / 6 / 7
Bahamut choose 3 / 4 / 6
Usuals:
Ifrit, Shiva, Brothers 4 / 5 / 7
Leviathan, Pandemonium, Diabolos 4 / 5 / 6
For more details and help with summons, check Summon Hub!
How-To-Play Notes
Since Ashe starts with LD buff already active, you can open with AA and HP Attack (Queen's Order) since it's up at QS now. Important! All buffs that she grants are 3T longer thanks to her EX buff extending all buffs she grants by 3 turns (so Queen's Order is applied with 4T)!
Nordswain’s Glow (S1) debuffs enemy mBRV and buffs your party’s Magic ATK, but the buff is so long (9T) that you’ll want to debuff again well before you’ll want to rebuff.
Heaven’s Wrath (S2)will debuff enemy SPDand buffs your party's Physical ATK (this buff helps both melee and ranged attacks, and it stacks with normal ATK boosts).
Maelstrom's Bolt (EX) recharges in 2 skill uses. It only attacks a single enemy, but will splash and paralyze all enemies. Her EX buff True Enchants herself with Thunder and Holy meaning all her skills will hit both elements no matter what while it's active.
Nescience's Verdict is her LD and is used to upkeep her Noble Vow buff. It is also strategically used if planning a huge damage window, because her LD enables a single use HP+:
HP Attack (Queen’s Order) is a 1 time use attack, which lets you pick an ally to go next, and grabs your other ally after them. She full charges everyone’s EX gauge on the team, and she gives her allies a 4T monster buff, boosting BRV DMG, HP DMG, and stolen Overflow while allowing them to deal True HP DMG on every attack (think Leo LD effect or Luna Heavy Prayer)
This buff will tick down and can’t be extended (including in Burst). It’s precious so make sure your AA’s and all your other buffs are set!
Her instant charge of EX gauges is great, if you've used Divine Bahamut summon, you know how C90 units can pump out damage with a full EX! She can even refill her EX in her own BT phase!
Her LD buff Noble Vow Enchants the party with Thunder and Holy. How do elements and stacking work with 2 elements?
If the skill is base Thunder, it can’t be enchanted by another element. Thunder enchanting will stack, generally adding 20% BRV DMG per same enchant effect and stacking with the typical weakness damage boost of 50% BRV DMG.
If the skill is non-elemental, it can be enchanted with multiple elements, but the BRV DMG up won’t stack. You’ll get 50% BRV DMG up for hitting weakness. You also can bypass element absorbs, as long as the enemy is weak to one of your element enchants, that’s all that matters!
As seen in past events, sometimes having an incorrect element in Shinryu fights is a liability as it can hamper BRV DMG which can make it harder to deal HP damage and risk enemies having high BRV.
For a more in-depth breakdown, see our Enchant/Imperil section in our Glossary!
Empyrean Edict (BT) provides her some generic BRV DMG & Limit and HP DMG Limit boosts but also unlocks a unique selfish follow-up with good damage and heavy healing based on the HP DMG it dealt. However it only lasts 6T so setting it up with her own FR may be tricky for now.
BT Rotation: EX -> HP (Queen's Order) -> S1 or S2 -> LD -> EX -> FR -> Finisher
If no FR, the middle becomes S1 AND S2 ending on EX.
This works for both Single Target or 2 enemies.
Needs HP (Queen's Order) before BT phase for the EX refill.
On 3 Enemies, swap the final EX and LD.
The Mist Clears, Thunder Roars (FR) applies her unique Queen's Order buff to allies and asks for:
Thunder ability on turn: +20%
Holy ability on turn: +20%
Acting with 4+ buffs on turn: +20%
While Ashe does enchant Thunder and Holy, this really only help units with no elements in their attacks already. Her FR conditions feel a bit lacking especially considering she lacks a HP DMG & Limit aura as many other units have just recently got (Machina, Sice, Rydia, Beatrix, etc).
Tl;dr you probably aren't using her FR for Force Time unless it's the last hope in a very dangerous fight.
Team Synergy Notes
Her LD call is great, being a pocket Enchant/Imperil alongside added damage up and HP regen. Just note she enchants both Holy and Thunder which may cause conflict in element lockout fights.
Most characters won’t actually mind her party buffs. Her party buffs aren’t a waste, just note that they may downgrade certain stats. Consider Tifa, Vivi, & Yang, who have massive mBRV +100% buffs that may get pushed off.
If you do have to use her FR, she can make for a great support but the main attacking unit should have non-elemental damage to get the full FR bonuses each turn.
Sphere Recommendations
NOTE: The sphere letters below are hyperlinked to our Sphere Hub which lists all available spheres sorted by effect!A Sphere: BRV DMG is best, ATK is also great. There are numerous options to choose from, use our Sphere Hub to find one that you may have.
D Spheres: Give her 2 of any of the ATK spheres listed in our Sphere Hub! Her own is great, and you also can opt to give her RF spheres like Hope and Sazh, but note that some of these don’t stack with duplicates. Normal Hope and Hope RF would be fine though!
Removable Passives
NOTE: Passives should generally only be removed if you lack CP space. There are very rare occasions where a character has a bad passive that disrupts their optimal gameplay.BRV Initiative (this is garbage and should be removed whether you need room or not. The reason is that if a party member batteries Ashe up, her speed will increase, and when Ashe takes her turn, her speed will return to normal and is likely to mess up the turn order frequently)
BRV Attack+ Up (useless)
Princess’s Authority (small effect for a lot of CP)
Low HP Attack Up (one of the worst passives we’ve ever seen!)
BRV Attack++ HP Attack++ Up (won’t be used ever)
Enhanced Break (BREAK Bonus +10% is marginal)