Champion Guide

Ambessa Guide

By LoLSuggest

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Ambessa is a mobile, manaless top-lane fighter: every basic ability dashes, Drakehound's Step empowers her next attack with extra range and attack speed while refunding energy, and Public Execution lets her pick off a target from a distance. She is not dominant early, but she spikes hard with Eclipse and five points in Cunning Sweep at level 9. From then on short trades chunk enemies, and she scales into a fighter who stays relevant late.

Recommended Setup

Our recommended Ambessa build

Our recommended runes, summoner spells and items. Compare build win rates on the stats page.

Items

Starting Items

Core Items

Situational Items

Start Doran's Blade and a Health Potion. Eclipse is the standard first item, then Mercury's Treads or Plated Steelcaps, Black Cleaver and Death's Dance; finish with Maw of Malmortius against magic damage, Endless Hunger, or Sterak's Gage and Guardian Angel for late fights. A lethality line of Voltaic Cyclosword, Edge of Night and Serylda's Grudge works when you can burst squishy targets. Conqueror with Triumph, Legend: Haste and Last Stand, plus Biscuit Delivery and Jack of All Trades, suits lanes you cannot kill in one rotation; take Electrocute against squishies you can burst, and Grasp of the Undying only in hard melee lanes such as Renekton. Flash with Teleport is standard, Ignite when you need healing reduction to win all-ins. Max Q, then E, then W.

Runes

Primary Tree

Secondary Tree

Summoner Spells

Skill Max Order

Strengths

Many dashes and an unstoppable ultimate give her excellent chase and escape, even without Flash.
No mana: weaving empowered attacks between abilities keeps her energy up, so she can trade all lane while mana users run dry.
A big power spike at Eclipse and level 9, plus strong area damage and wave clear from Lacerate.

Weaknesses

Not strong early; with little sustain, a few bad trades can ruin her lane.
Her damage depends on hitting the outer edge of her Q and landing Public Execution.
Champions who stop or punish dashes, such as Poppy, can shut her down.

Laning Phase

Weave an empowered attack between every ability: the extra range and speed make it hard to trade back, and it refills your energy. Repudiation wins most early trades by shielding you and blocking key abilities, but it has an 18 second cooldown at rank 1, so do not waste it. Trade short with Cunning Sweep, an attack, then Sundering Slam, aiming for the outer edge where Q deals more damage, and walk out. If you press an ability without a movement input Ambessa casts it in place, which lets you bait enemy spells before you dash.

Mid & Late Game

After your first item take the side lane, where Lacerate clears waves quickly and short trades keep the enemy under pressure. Public Execution hits the last enemy in a line, so in teamfights you can reach backliners behind the frontline; you are unstoppable while casting it, which dodges key crowd control such as Mordekaiser's or Ornn's ultimate. You can also use it defensively, because the stun and extra dash often save your life.

Key Tips

Cast Public Execution and then Q without a movement input to guarantee Q's sweet spot.
Ambessa is unstoppable while casting R, so time it to dodge a key stun or pull.
Against Renekton, wait for his empowered W before using your W, because it removes your shield.
At level 9 with Eclipse, Q1, attack, Q2 can take half of an even opponent's health.

Matchups

Matchups and synergies

Our picks for difficult opponents, favorable lanes and strong allies. Compare matchup win rates on the stats page.