A Beginner’s Guide to Playing Ambessa
Ambessa is the 169th champion to be released in League of Legends, and she is the final champion to be released in 2024. She will be playable from patch 14.22 onwards and is one of the most mobile champions in the game. She is predominantly a Top Laner but may see some action in the Mid Lane.
Her play style is quite like many other bruisers. Her kit reminds me a lot of K’Sante, and I feel like she is a mix of him and Kayn. Unlike some of the other champions in the game, Ambessa relies on energy as her resource bar instead of mana, which is common among bruisers in the Top Lane.
This Mobalytics guide will outline some basic beginner tips and tricks on how to play Ambessa in League of Legends. This is a beginner’s guide, and will not be in-depth. You can find more in-depth information on playing Ambessa by heading over to Ambessa’s Champion Page. You will find matchup tips and more there.
1. Ambessa Ability Breakdown
When learning how to play any new champion in League of Legends, the first thing to do is to understand their abilities and what each of them does. In this section, we will briefly break down her abilities. You can find a complete breakdown of her abilities on the LoLWiki. The pictures are also from the LoLWiki.
Ambessa’s Passive is Drakehound’s Step
After she uses an ability or attacks, she dashes a small distance. However, she cannot dash through or over terrain. Whenever she casts an ability, she generates a stack that can be up to 4. Ambessa’s next attack gains bonus range, attack speed and consumes the stacks. It also restores energy.
Ambessa’s Q is Cunning Sweep / Sundering Slam
Ambessa slashes in a cone dealing damage. If she hits an enemy, she can recast this ability. When she recasts it, she slams down in a line instead. During the laning phase, this will be the main poke and trading tool. You’ll also be looking to use it to clear minion waves.
Ambessa’s W is Repudiation
Ambessa smashes the ground deealing damage to enemies. If this ability is uses to perform Drakehound’s Step (her Passive), then there will be a small delay and she smashes the ground at the end of the dash. She can also trigger this dash instantly.
After a small delay, she gains a shield.
Ambessa’s E is Lacerate
She slashes dealing damage and slowing enemies. She will be unable to attack after casting this ability, but she may dash with her Passive.
Ambessa’s Ultimate is Public Execution
This ability has a Passive, which allows her to gain armor pen and heals herself against damage. She blinks behind the farthest enemy champion in the target direction when she uses this ability. If she lands it, she attaches herself to the enemy and suppresses and stuns them.
That’s a basic breakdown of her kit. Make sure you play her in a custom game, bots or in the practice mode first so you understand how each of her abilities act with one another. Try different combos out and see what works for you.
2. Pick the Right Runes and Buy the Right Items
It is extremely important that whenever you’re playing LoL, you pick the proper runes and buy the correct items. Before the game loads, you need to take the right runes for Ambessa to give you the best chances of winning the game.
Similarly, when you’re in game, you need to make sure that you buy items that empower her, and avoid wasting money on items that are not good for her. You should stay updated on the best items and runes for Ambessa by downloading the Mobalytics App and getting her up-to-date builds directly imported into your client, so you don’t need to worry about picking incorrect runes or buying wrong items.
3. Keep the Wave Close Early
The first thing you need to know about playing Ambessa is that she can’t do too much without room. You need to have as much space as possible to ensure you can dish out a lot of damage with your basic attacks and abilities. This is why having the minion wave closer to your side of the map is so important early on.
Having the wave closer to you in the early game allows you to chase your lane opponent down the lane and go for an extended trade. If you’re pushing or the enemy is freezing, you can’t exactly go for a hard all-in or chase them down the lane as they have their tower nearby.
Keeping the wave closer can be achieved by ensuring that you’re only last hitting minions when they’re about to die, limiting using your abilities on the minion wave, and also holding the wave outside of your tower. Honestly, explaining how to manage waves correctly is difficult, but we have created a wave management guide that will help you understand everything you need to know.
Pushing not only limits your all-in potential but also prevents your lane opponent from freezing the wave and denying you gold and XP. All in all, freezing is a great technique to help you on many champions in LoL.
4. Play Around Your Energy
Each of Ambessa’s core abilities cost energy. Just like any champion with a mana bar, it is crucial that you keep an eye on your resource bar and only go for all-ins when you have a lot of energy.
If you decide to go in without having a lot of energy, you will be unable to deal a lot of damage as the enemy and they may be able to capitalize on it and kill you instead. It is far better to wait for another opportunity to play aggressively than force something and run out of energy mid-fight.
On the plus side, Ambessa does have good energy restoration thanks to her Passive, which can restore energy if you auto-attack enemies. But still, have as much energy as possible before committing for an all-in!
5. Avoid Going in Alone
In the mid and late game, you will be looking to press R on the enemy as they group together. You can travel great distances with your Ultimate quickly. Because you’ll be engaging so fast, you need to make sure that you’re never going in without your team nearby and in a position to follow up.
Avoid using your Ultimate until your team can close the gap and join you. If you go in first and far too early, then you’ll be the main focus of the enemy team’s damage and be basically 1v5. Ensure your team can sweep in quickly and follow you up so it’s not 1v5.
To make your engages less obvious, you could look to flank the enemy and press R from the side. For instance, if you’re fighting near a T1 or T2 tower, you could hide in the jungle or fog of war and press your R from the side.
In Conclusion
Ambessa can be a really strong champion, and if you want to master her, don’t be afraid to make plays and play aggressively. Limit test on her in normal games before heading into ranked so you don’t lose a ton of LP! We hope you have enjoyed this article and it has given you the basics of understanding her kit/ gameplay. Good luck on Summoners Rift summoner!
Head to the Mobalytics Blog for more articles and guides to help you carry in LoL!
