How to Play Ambessa: Abilities, Builds, Combos and Tips

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 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 will find matchup tips and more there.

As we all know, Ambessa first appeared in 2021 in the final episodes of the Arcane series. Her full name is Ambessa Medarda – one of the powerful lords of Noxus with a muscular, athletic build. She is a woman full of scheming and sharp wit, a keen diplomat in the ongoing war between Noxus and other territories on the Runeterra continent.

Ambessa Medarda is the head of the powerful Medarda family. She is also the mother of Mel Medarda. In Arcane, Ambessa is portrayed as a highly influential figure, deeply involved in the political and economic schemes of the city of Piltover.

As the leader of one of the most influential families, Ambessa Medarda has a significant impact on the politics and the city's relationships with other factions. She embodies strength, ambition, and ruthless determination. Ambessa's interactions with her daughter Mel highlight a complex mother-daughter relationship, which may be explored further in Arcane Season 2 in the near future.

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.

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 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 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.

She slashes dealing damage and slowing enemies. She will be unable to attack after casting this ability, but she may dash with her Passive.

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.

An overview of Ambessa’s abilities: Her passive effect is a combination of Kalista’s Martial Poise and Sylas’s Magical Resistance, allowing her to dash and increase her attack damage after using abilities. Her Q is the primary damage-dealing ability, with Q1 hitting a target activating Q2. W involves charging up, creating a shield, and slamming the ground, which is somewhat similar to K’Sante, but serves as a good tool for engagement.

E is quite similar to Renekton's Q, but it can be activated twice and allows for faster dashes. The ultimate is a targeted ability that provides excellent gap-closing and target-pressuring potential, similar to several champions in League of Legends.

• You can refer to this for more information:
• Ambessa Top Lane Build Guides
• Ambessa Jungle Build Guides

Before diving into Ambessa’s combos, the first thing you need to know is to always combine her abilities, the Drakehound’s Step passive, and basic attacks. This will help Ambessa maximize her damage, close in on targets, and activate Conqueror quickly. As for skill leveling order, prioritize maxing Q, then E, followed by W, and level up R at the appropriate levels.

Regarding combos, accurately describing Ambessa’s combos is quite challenging, as her abilities are effective on their own, can be combined with her dash passive, and allow for reactivating Q upon hitting a target. You may find it easier to understand and remember the combos through hands-on experience, but I’ll describe some notable combos as follows. Q, W, E, and R are her abilities, P is her passive, and A represents basic attacks.

Basic Combo: Q/W/E/R + P + A. This combo allows Ambessa to use her abilities, deal damage, and dash to continue into the next combo sequence.

Trade Combo: Q + P + A + W + P + A + E + P + A + Q + P + A

Solo/Dive on Priority Target: R + P + A + W + P + A + Q + P + A + E + P + A + Q + P + A

Long-Range Engage: E + P + Q + P + R + P + A + W + P + A + Q + A + E + A…

With a champion like Ambessa, who has flashy combos, continuous dashes, tons of damage, and great gap-closing abilities, there’s no need to worry too much about perfecting every single move. I think after just a few games, you'll be able to get familiar with her and perform solidly.

Ambessa's power might be hard to balance, just like when K’Sante was first introduced, so make sure to take advantage and experience her right when she’s released. Good luck and have fun!

1. 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.

2. 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!

3. 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.

Ambessa is shaping up to be a powerful and versatile fighter with a unique blend of mobility, crowd control, and damage. Drawing inspiration from other champions like K’Sante, Renekton, and Kalista, she combines both offensive and defensive traits in her kit. Her passive allows for increased damage output after using abilities, while her Q and E provide solid damage and mobility, enabling her to both engage and escape effectively.

Her W gives her tankiness and makes her a strong initiator, while her ultimate offers great gap-closing potential and target control, making her a formidable force in team fights. With the ability to both deal significant damage and tank hits, Ambessa is likely to be a top-tier choice for players who enjoy strategic, high-impact champions.

Her lore, rooted in the influential Medarda family from Noxus, enhances her character, giving her depth and a reason for her power in the ongoing political struggles of Runeterra. Ambessa is a champion to watch, as her presence on the battlefield could significantly shift the dynamics of the game.

Wish you all success! - Cheng