[26.17] [CHALLENGER] Ambessa Top Complete Guide
About Me
Hello, I'm Voxtrik, a Challenger Ambessa one trick. I've been playing the game since season 3 and started taking the game seriously in season 13 when I hit Challenger for the first time. I've played a wide variety of champions, but I'm mostly known for Camille, Renekton, K'sante, and most recently, Ambessa. Ever since she came out, I've one-tricked her and consistently been her highest-ranked one-trick in the west.
Bruiser Builds
This is the standard default rune page that you can go into just about every champion that is melee and be happy with. If you're ever unsure what to go, this is a good default for stronge lane power. Generally defaulting to Second Wind is a good idea, but against Riven and sometimes Darius/Camille, I'll take Boneplating instead. In matchups where you want tier 2 boots early like against Tryndamere, you should take Cash Back instead and rush Steelcaps. If you want early game hp against volatile matchups like Camille, Pantheon, or Darius, you should take the flat HP shard, instead of the scaling one.
This rune setup is catered towards situations where you want to have extended fights, especially for mid-late game teamfighting. It's also valuable in matchups where you can't easily auto attack consistently like Urgot/Volibear.
This is a more aggressive option to the first rune page which can be a good option in matchups where you may enjoy both some survivability and more offense such as Riven.
This rune page is one that I like choosing when I am playing largely to scale and either it's a super free lane or minimizing interaction is an option that YOU have. Think something like a Camille. Urgot, Volibear, NOT a ranged matchup. Additionally, you can choose to be more aggressive or defensive by going D-Blade or D-Helm respectively; both of which will give you 3 joat stacks at level 1, which is extremely nice.
This is a rune page that I specifically like into some of the less durable champs that I want more burst into. It's a really viable setup into Riven/Yone/Yasuo/Gnar etc. Pretty much a lethality setup but you just go bruiser items anyways.
Choosing your starter item is very impactful on how you're planning to approach the lane. If you're going an ignite setup, then D-Blade will be better. Against Ranged champions, I recommend going D-Shield definitely if you have TP, unless you want to get risky with Electrocute, D-Blade, Ignite. For D-Helm, I recommend it mostly only against champions that have hybrid damage type (i.e. Warwick, Volibear, Jax).
If you need MR and Tenacity, then you should go Merc Treads. Otherwise, Tabi's will shine against AD sources and auto attackers. If neither are good, you can also opt for lucidity boots or omnivamp boots, especially if you're winning.
If you can get a pickaxe, it's great, but can be hard to get. Otherwise, long swords are great to get for your Caulfields, and refillable helps her survive early levels.
If you're going the bruiser setup, you should always go Eclipse first. Although there are other choices, the trade patterns you get are too strong. Second item, I would default to Death's Dance because the item is so strong for skirmishing and fulfills a very similar role to the HP items, unless you need armor pen, then you should go Cleaver. If you need to go Cleaver then you go DD third, otherwise, Endless Hunger is extremely strong on third. WARNING: DO NOT GO TWO HP ITEMS 2ND/3RD. You should NEVER have Cleaver -> Shojin or Sundered Sky -> Cleaver, or any combination like this. You should choose ONE for your second item.
If you don't need to live longer and you went Sundered Sky second, you can opt for Seryldas third for a higher damage option. Item's like Maw or GA are great ways to round yourself at the end of the game. Serpent's Fang is a great option against champs with lots of shields, or shield items like Shieldbow, Serpents Fang, or Locket. When it comes to Steraks, you should ONLY buy this LAST item if you need to be tankier. If you're not level 17 at least do not purchase this.
With Season 16, Ignite secondary vs most champs helps you threaten them in laning phase more easily, but against hard matchups, having Teleport to escape difficult situations, or to play the map later in the game, makes it a valid option as well. The higher rank you are the more valuable TP becomes as an option but there are some matchups that TP will always be better in like many of the ranged ones.
Lethality Build
I almost always go lethality with Electrocute, and to decide this, I'm looking for a lot of squishy/immobile champs on the enemy team and a lane matchup that I can survive with electrocute. Generally defaulting to Second Wind is a good idea, but against Riven and sometimes Darius/Camille, I'll take Boneplating instead.
This is a new rune setup that I've been running with lethality builds specifically against champions that you want to get away from. This is exceptional against some of the scary stat checkers like Darius or even lethal tempo users like Yone.
When I go lethality, I'm almost always going D-Blade, especially against things like Darius and Riven, but if you're against a ranged champ or hybrid damage champion where your focus isn't killing then D-Shield/D-Helm respectively will serve you well.
If you need MR and Tenacity, then you should go Merc Treads. Otherwise, Tabi's will shine against AD sources and auto attackers. If neither are good, you can also opt for lucidity boots, especially if you're winning.
When it come's to your first item as Lethality, you should always opt for Cyclosword or Profane Hydra first. I personally prefer Cyclosword, into Axiom Arc. Seryldas on third with two lethality items will make sure you do true damage to any champion that isn't a tank.
Lethality items for the most part are very similar stat-wise, so you should go items dependent on what unique passive you want. For example, if they have an Ivern, you should go a Serpents Fang second. If they have something like a nautilus, then maybe an Edge of Night would be very useful. In general stacking more Lethality and armor penetration is good; the only exception is Sundered Sky because the crit autos do so much damage to your target when combined with Cyclosword when building Lethality.
With Season 16, Ignite secondary vs most champs helps you threaten them in laning phase more easily, but you can also go things like Flash + Exhaust or even Exhaust + Ignite.
Early Game
Ambessa struggles in the first couple of levels because of her high cooldowns, but once you get a few points in your Q, she becomes one of the most oppressive laners in the game. Even though she has a weaker level 1, if you walk in with the wave, against many champions, you can get a good trade with your first Grasp/Electrocute proc combined with your Q, which will make it hard for them to crash the wave against you at level 2/3. Typically, you'll be able to get a pretty comfortable long sword + refillable base, but if you're able to get a pickaxe early, you'll be extremely happy. With her getting more power in her Q early levels, if you're able to get a good trade level 1, then you can play aggressively at levels 2/3 for solokills.
Ambessa has many different types of trade patterns depending on the situation, but the most important thing to understand is that your power lies in the range of your abilities. You should look to start combos by hitting the outer part of your Q. This can be accomplished by either having the enemy walk into your range or by using your E/W Lacerate Repudiation to get into range. Weave in your autos while doing these combos for extra damage, and dance around your opponent's abilities when necessary to avoid damage.
By the middle of the laning phase, you should have full control of what types of trades you take, which is what Ambessa excels at. Always look to minimize the damage you take when opting for trades. After a trade or two, you should be able to look for all-in angles with your ultimate, but make sure that you've already chipped their health by using your combos first. Eclipse is a major turning point for the champion as you're able to rotate using this shield with your W Repudiation and it takes your trades from good to insane. If you can buy Eclipse, you should immediately look for a base timing to get it.
Mid Game
Since Ambessa scales extremely well, as you transition into mid-game, you should progressively be getting more control of the lane state. Look to use your control to influence the game whenever it's ideal for you (i.e., you have ult, high enough hp, and your wave is pushed). Ambessa is not great at split pushing, so you should typically look to use your priority to group for plays and create 5v4s for your team.
When the ADCs have swapped to mid, you can push side-lane waves and then move to mid and look to catch out the enemy ADC or support using your ultimate from out of vision. This is a great way to start influencing the game, taking mid tower, or blowing summoner spells leading up to an objective. If an objective is spawning soon, DO NOT use your ultimate, as Ambessa is very reliant on her R Public Execution to give her more options. Most of the time in mid-game, you should be on the opposite side of where the objective is spawning if you have Teleport up so that you can create pressure on the other side of the map.
Combos
There's a lot of talk about Ambessa combos and how difficult she is, but this aspect of her is actually pretty simple! The most important thing to know is that you can use any two abilities at once, such as Cunning Sweep / Sundering Slam + Lacerate , Repudiation + Lacerate, or Cunning Sweep / Sundering Slam + Repudiation. Q + E will be the most common one you use, especially after your ult, which is a bread and butter combo you should be comfortable with doing consistently in your ranked games.
Teamfighting/Skirmishing
Ambessa has lots of skill expression and depth when it comes to her teamfighting, and your approach will vary based on if you're building bruiser or Lethality.
If you're itemizing like a bruiser, you'll typically have one of three jobs:
1) Buy space for your carries by using your abilities to pressure their front line and push them back.
2) Heavily chunk or assassinate the enemy backline carries using your ultimate Public Execution.
3) A combined approach doing both, where you create space in the front line and then ult to their backline with your next set of abilities.
If you're building like an assassin, you'll have one of two jobs:
1) Assassinate their carries using your ult, typically mid lane mage and ADC.
2) Do as much damage as possible to as many people using your AOEs
As you can see, having your ult completely unleashed Ambessa's potential in teamfights, so you always want to have it for objective fights. This is why I like Axiom Arc when I itemize Lethality because it lets you use your ultimate way more frequently.
Concluding Thoughts
Ambessa is a great option for anyone looking to pick up one of the best top lane champions in the game. She has extensive options in itemization and in gameplay choices with her nuanced approach to trading, combos, fighting, and itemization. She has a different playstyle for everyone, so even though I prioritize playing setups using Grasp and Electrocute, other players can and will find great success using Conqueror and various item combinations. Thank you so much for reading this far into the guide, please let me know your thoughts or if you'd like me to include anything else!
