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Ambessa has been making waves as a Riot's new flexible bruiser champion with strong abilities that give her a great deal of potential to be both a lane bully and a durable team fighter.
Since the champion's release, much experimentation has been done in finding the optimal sets of items on Ambessa to flex her muscles, and League of Legends Patch 14.22 brings to light a few of those optimal builds.
Top lane Ambessa will play by her own rules. Here's a breakdown of the best builds and runes, along with strategies, to get the most out of this beast in the top lane.
Most Popular Build: Eclipse and Black Cleaver
- Win Rate: 54.7%
- Play Rate: High
- Core Items: Eclipse, Plated Steelcaps, Black Cleaver, Death's Dance, Sterak's Gage, Ravenous Hydra
Core Build Breakdown
- Eclipse - As Ambessa’s first item, Eclipse offers armor penetration and a burst shield effect, which is especially helpful in the early skirmishes. Eclipse’s lethality boosts her damage output, while its shield effect allows her to absorb some punishment.
- Plated Steelcaps - These boots are generally preferred for reducing incoming auto-attack damage, but swap for Mercury’s Treads if facing heavy crowd control or AP champions.
- Black Cleaver - Essential for shredding tanks and boosting her survivability, Black Cleaver’s passive helps weaken enemy armor while giving Ambessa additional health and ability haste.
Secondary Items
- Death’s Dance - Ideal for a bruiser like Ambessa, this item gives lifesteal and bleed effect mitigation, allowing her to survive in prolonged fights.
- Sterak’s Gage - Adds durability and a shield that activates when Ambessa’s health dips low, granting her extra protection during team fights.
- Ravenous Hydra - Great for late-game sustain and AoE damage, helping Ambessa to clear waves quickly and heal based on her damage output.
Rune Choices
Primary: Precision Tree – Conqueror, Triumph, Legend: Haste, Last Stand
- Conqueror: A must for bruisers, providing stacking AD and healing, allowing Ambessa to maintain high damage and sustain during prolonged fights.
- Triumph: Grants healing on takedowns, helping her stay healthy during extended trades.
- Legend: Haste: Reduces ability cooldowns, perfect for keeping her kit available during fights.
- Last Stand: Increases damage when low on health, which synergizes with her ultimate’s execute.
Secondary: Resolve Tree – Second Wind, Overgrowth
- Second Wind: Helps mitigate early poke, allowing Ambessa to stay in lane longer.
- Overgrowth: Provides health scaling for late-game durability.
Alternative Build: Grasp of the Undying and Defensive Items
Win Rate: 60.0%
Core Items: Eclipse, Plated Steelcaps, Black Cleaver, Death's Dance, Sterak’s Gage, Sundered Sky
Build Breakdown
This build is for players who want to focus on survivability while still dealing damage. Grasp of the Undying offers a more defensive playstyle, especially in matchups where Ambessa might be harassed or needs extra sustain in lane.
- Eclipse – Maintains her damage and provides the shield effect, essential for bruiser durability.
- Plated Steelcaps – Still the best boot option for mitigating physical damage; Mercury’s Treads are viable if facing AP-heavy opponents.
- Black Cleaver – Works well with her bruiser playstyle, breaking down enemy armor while adding health and ability haste.
- Death’s Dance – Essential for sustained fights, mitigating burst damage and offering a healing component.
- Sterak’s Gage – Adds a large shield for when her health is low, making her harder to burst down.
- Sundered Sky – Offers more defensive power, helping her withstand and extend trades in team fights.
Rune Choices
Primary: Resolve Tree – Grasp of the Undying, Shield Bash, Second Wind, Overgrowth
- Grasp of the Undying: Adds sustain in lane and extra max health scaling.
- Shield Bash: Amplifies her shields, especially effective with Eclipse.
- Second Wind: Keeps her healthy by regenerating health after taking damage.Overgrowth: Increases health pool, making Ambessa more durable for late-game.
Secondary: Precision Tree – Legend: Haste, Last Stand
- Legend: Haste and Last Stand amplify her damage and ability spam in fights, giving her an edge in skirmishes.
Final Thoughts
But what really makes Ambessa exciting as a champion is the versatility in her builds-tailoring to how a person wants to play and who's on the other side of the match-up.
Whether you prefer playing that bruiser with hard damage, or more of a tankier frontliner, Ambessa's flexible build paths mean there's always a way to fit her to the needs of every game.
Feel free to experiment with many different builds to find the one that best fits your style of play-mastery will prove to be the key to top lane domination.
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