How To Play Ambessa In League Of Legends

Ambessa is the latest addition to the League of Legends roster, and fans of Arcane will instantly recognize the Noxian warlord who also happens to be Mel Medarda’s mother. In terms of her role in Summoner’s Rift, Ambessa is primarily designed for the Top Lane, but in certain matchups, she can likely be picked Mid.

It’s even possible to play Ambessa Jungle, but this guide will primarily focus on how to play Ambessa as a laner. Nevertheless, many of the tips and tricks for Ambessa will carry over to any role. Ambessa is a fighter, similar in ways to Riven and Renekton, but unlike these champions, she doesn’t have any hard CC (Crowd Control) before hitting level 6. She is perhaps best known for incredible mobility, as she can dash after every ability. She also has durability and sustain thanks to a shield and

Ambessa’s Abilities

Passive – Drakehound’s Step

When Ambessa is casting an Ability, Issuing a Move or Attack order will cause her to dash in that direction after the Ability Finishes.

Each cast initiation grants her a charge for 4 seconds (max: 3). While Ambessa has a charge, she gains 75 Attack Range and 50% Attack Speed. Attacks consume a charge to deal physical damage and restore Energy.

• Importantly, Ambessa CANNOT dash over walls with her passive. The only way to go over walls is by hitting her ult.
• Attacking after abilities is crucial for Energy restoration. Without attacking, players will run out of Energy.

Q – Cunning Sweep/ Sundering Slam

Cunning Sweep: Ambessa sweeps her blades forward, dealing max Health physical damage to enemies at the edge of the strike. All other enemies take 50% damage. Striking an enemy readies a Sundering Slam.

Sundering Slam: Ambessa slams her blades down, dealing max Health physical damage against the first enemy hit. All other enemies take 50% damage.

• Consistently hitting the edge of Cunning Sweep will significantly increase damage output.

W – Repudiation

Ambessa gains a Shield for 2 seconds and braces herself for 0.5 seconds. She then slams the ground, dealing physical damage to nearby enemies, which increases if she braced herself from damage from an enemy champion, large monster, or structure.

E – Lacerate

Ambessa whips her chains around, dealing physical damage and Slowing enemies by 99%, which decays over 1 second. Initiating her passive, Drakehound’s Step from this Ability will trigger an additional strike.

• Outside of her ult, the slow on her E is Ambessa’s only form of CC.
• It’s important to use the passive dash, to get more damage off and reapply the slow.

R (Ultimate) – Public Execution

Passive: Ambessa gains % Armor Penetration and her Abilities heal her for a percentage of the damage she dealt.

Active: Ambessa becomes Unstoppable and blinks to the farthest enemy champion in a line, Suppressing the target for 0.75 seconds and then slamming them into the ground, dealing physical damage and Stunning them for 0.4 seconds.

• Her ult going to the farthest enemy is similar to Leona’s E and offers great backline access.
• If the ult doesn’t hit, Ambessa won’t move.
• Her ult is the ONLY way to get over walls, but only if there is an enemy champion on the other side.
• You can’t R – Flash, as Ambessa’s movement is locked during her ult.
• You can use the passive dash after landing her ultimate.

Ambessa Combos

A fighter like Ambessa is naturally going to rely on well-executed combos, and with a dash and stronger auto attacks on her passive, she has plenty of ways to outplay her enemies.

Flash Combos

Ambessa can use Flash directly after all of her basic abilities to get in range or reposition. She cannot do this with her ultimate though.

Short Trade

• Q1 – Dash In – AA – Q2 – Dash Out

This short trade combo allows Ambessa to go in and get decent damage down before dashing back out.

Safe Trade With W Engage

• W – Dash In – AA – Q1 – Dash Out – Q2 from safety

By engaging with her W, which has a shield, players will be safe at first and can dish out some damage. The advantage of her Q2 being long-range is that Ambessa can dash out when her shield goes down, and then strike from a distance.

Cancel Animations

Ambessa has a few ways to cancel animations. For example, while dashing with her passive, players can click back on Ambessa to cancel the dash. This makes everything faster and allows her to attack or use other abilities sooner.

Ambessa can also cancel her dash by using other abilities such as her. One such combo is:

• Q1 – Cancel Dash with E – Cancel Dash – Q2

Safe Combo With All Abilities

• W – Dash In – Q1 – E – Cancel Dash – AA – Q2 – Dash Out if needed

This combo allows Ambessa to go in and use everything while having a dash at the end to get out. The AA is important as it gives enough energy back to use Q again.

All In Ult Combo

• R – Q1 – E – Cancel Dash – Q2

If players are looking to burst a target after ulting them, this is one of the best combos. It still leaves her W for chasing with the dash or getting out if needed.

Ambessa’s Build

Ambessa Ability Max Order

When thinking about which abilities to max first on Ambessa, there isn’t much debate over the first ability as Ambessa’s Q is her primary form of damage, especially with it having two parts. Additionally, like most champions, she will want to put points into her ult whenever possible.

Thus, the choice only comes down to W or E, but in most cases, players will want more damage, so E is preferable.

Ambessa Runes

As she uses lots of abilities and uses autos, Ambessa like many fighters, is great with Conqueror, and it synergizes well with the sustain from her ultimate.

Other options would be Electrocute, for more damage, but Hail of Blades, Grasp of the Undying, and Phase Rush could all work on her.

Boots For Ambessa

In most cases, Ambessa will want to get either Plated Steelcaps or Mercury’s Treads, depending on her opponents.

• If the enemy has lots of Auto Attackers and more AD damage, then get Plated Steelcaps.
• Alternatively, if the enemy has lots of Crowd Control or magic damage, get Mercury’s Treads.

If the enemy team is split between the two, players could choose to focus on what would be better in their individual Top Lane matchup. Other options include Ionian Boots of Lucidity for lower cooldowns or Boots of Swiftness for those looking to roam or reduce slows.

Core Items For Ambessa

While it’s hard to predict what Ambessa’s exact build will be on any patch, especially with how the power of items is constantly shifting, it’s still possible to point players toward the type of stats Ambessa needs and wants.

Fighter items consisting of AD, Health, and Ability Haste are typically the way to go:

• Black Cleaver
• Ravenous Hydra
• Eclipse

Some players looking to do the most damage may prefer Lethality Ambessa, but this also depends on the meta and any tuning she receives after launch.

Other Items For Ambessa

After her core items, Ambessa and many other Top Lane champions will often want to look toward defensive items that counter the enemy team.

Against heavy AP Maw of Malmortius can be good while still providing damage, but for more sustain to synergize with her ultimate’s passive healing, look toward Spirit Visage. Other tanky items with MR can also be good.

Against lots of AD, Death’s Dance is good for those looking to fight their way out of trouble. Against lots of healing and without her team getting an anti-heal, she could go for Thornmail.

Non-resistance items for Ambessa outside of her core build include:

• Spear of Shojin
• Sundered Sky
• Sterak’s Gage