Warframe Ash Build Guide

Smoke shadow

Fatal Teleport/Covert Lethality

Ash was my first Warframe after Excalibur. He is very fast, and rather durable, especially when you consider he can turn invisible when he’s in trouble. He is a melee focused Warframe who is good at leveling up melee weapons very quickly. Unlike Loki, you don’t have to be constantly invisible for Ash to be viable, so he is good for players who have trouble with Loki’s frailty, but who still want a frame who is good at stealth.

Ash’s Passive is that Bleed procs do 25% more damage and last 50% longer, so he’s good for Hunter Adrenaline builds or slash focused weapons.

Aura
Steel Charge – both for the extra points, and to amplify his already massive melee damage (with smoke screen).

For very high level play, Corrosive Projection is the best option.

Powers
Smoke screen is the powerhouse power for Ash. Use it whenever you see a horde of enemies or are in trouble. Smoke Shadow lets you grant invisibility to your whole team, which can be quite useful for spy and rescue missions. Shuriken is spammable when you need a bit more offense. Bladestorm is nice when you are totally overwhelmed and need some time to regenerate. It also looks really cool. Teleport just isn’t that useful except with the augment Fatal Teleport, which allows you to set up Covert Lethality finishers which can kill any enemy in a single hit.

Polarities
V V: I recommend using Intensify and Continuity (Primed if you have it). Continuity is important to keep Smoke screen going for a long time since it does not last as long as Invisibility, and Intensify increases your damage on Blade Storm and Shuruken. The only other V that might be useful is Rage. Ash has a large health pool, and if you are taking health damage, you might need more energy to drop a Smoke Screen.

Corrupted/Nightmare Mods
The only corrupted mod which is useful is Narrow Minded. Smoke screen is the main power, and while Blind rage would be ok for Shuriken or Bladestorm, those powers just aren’t good enough to justify lowering the efficiency of Smoke screen.

I like to use Constitution for the knockdown recovery and power duration. Fortitude and Vigor aren’t bad either.

Syndicate mods: Smoke Shadow is great for team play. If you’re on voice chat, you can tell people to come close to you before you use it. If not, you’ll have to practice timing it to affect as many of your fellow Tenno as possible. It is especially good for Capture missions, since you can stealth the rest of your team. The range is not affected by range mods, so Narrow Minded does not hurt its utility.

Seeking Shuriken isn’t worth it, since reducing the armor on a couple enemies is not worth the time to cast. Rising Storm is likewise not particularly useful unless you are doing a pure melee build.

Exilus Mods
Either Rush or a Parkour mod like Lightning Dash are fine.

Other Mods
Ash is quite durable, and I like to get in close with him. Therefore, I like to use Rush and durability mods to survive in the melee. Streamline is always helpful.

Other Builds
With Ash’s speed and durability, he is a good choice for players who don’t like to focus on powers. Instead of putting a lot of effort into power mods (intensify, continuity, etc.), you can just augment him passively. Use: Redirection, Vitality, Constitution, Fortitude, Vigor, and Rush.

Unpotatoed Build
Steel Charge, Continuity, Redirection, Streamline, Intensify, remaining points in Vitality.

My Other Guides:
Beginner’s Guide
Warframe Comparison
Ash Build Guide
Banshee Build Guide
Chroma Build Guide
Ember Guide
Excalibur Guide
Frost Build Guide
Hydroid Guide
Limbo Build Guide
Loki Guide
Mag Guide
Mesa Build Guide
Mirage Guide
Nekros Guide
Nova Guide
Nyx Guide
Oberon Guide
Rhino Guide
Saryn Guide
Trinity Guide
Valkyr Guide
Vauban Guide
Volt Guide
Zephyr Guide