Advanced Tips and Tricks for using Alysia the Ice Weaver

some tips and tricks for using the new champion, Alysia, also with visual guide
(this guide assumes you have played the tutorial etc and knows the basic gameplay)

about Alysia

Alysia is the lastest character in this game, added December 2017.
her class is ranged, and she is quite an interesting character, she has decent crowd control (chill and freeze) comparable but still fall short of Iva, and she has good m1 attacks and burst like ashka, but stil lacking if compared to ashka's burst damage.

She is definitely harder to play than the average beginner friendly ranged character, mostly because she has a very limited sustain and escape (other ranged character usually has 2-3 skill to heal -- including using battlerites, Alysia only has 1) and her escape is limited to space (unless you use battlerites for her shield)
So it is quite hard to use her to kite around melees, and most newer player will get punished hard when a melee is going full throttle against you (i know i did, and it takes quite some trial and error to get the know how to kite around using her)

disclaimer

this guide assumes you know the basics of the game, and the general knowledge of the character (class and base skills)
here's a link to the description of her basic skills if you need help with the basic attack and stats
https://battlerite.gamepedia.com/Alysia

the way i play her is as ranged dps (keeping distance and keep putting pressure)
i do not claim as a pro, but i have around 180 matches so far with her with around 60% wr.
if you think play her better than me, and want to give some pointers, feel free to drop some pointers in the comments, and i will give you credits, or even make you co creator for this guide!

recommended battlerites

since battlerite for any character is quite personal, i would recommend you to test out others too, that suits your playstyle best

Piercing Cold

for me, this rite is a mainstay, the versatility to have her m2 pass through center orbs, trees (blossom), queen (pestilus) and even other champions is just too good to pass

Ice Breaker

it adds m2 base damage, and also breaks frozen enemy (i recommend waiting till the timer is almost off, or position yourself to get 2 enemy at once/ enemy + orb before using m2)

Frigid Lance

recommended when you are facing melee composition, since that extra chill time is crucial for melees (they will have a harder time getting closer to you)
TIPS: this works in conjunction with piercing cold, ie. it will explode twice if you hit 2 enemy with one ice lance

Figure Skating

This is a highly recommended rite if you are facing melee opponent, it basically gives you another bail out method (besides using space)

Snowstorm

This is a keeper rite for me, It makes area cc for 2.5 second, also damage frozen enemy! < this rite will block some path for enemy to move (they will be forced to stop or move around the snowstorm, or use their space to pass this)
TIPS: when you see center orb having half or less hp, drop flash freeze with this rite and m1, and it's as good as yours

Blizzard

a very good rite, since it adds 20% aoe for the flash freeze. combine it with snowstorm and you can easily zone out your opponents

Inspiration

I like this rite, especially when you are facing ranged composition, since you don't really need another bail out rite, i usually use this to add energy bar tad faster

Permafrost

granted, this rite will rarely be used, but when you are facing melee comp, you may consider this rite, since it basically gives instant chill to your opponents, yes, they can jump out from the ulti, but the chill stays, and you can just whack them with ice lance, boom! insta half damage of ulti!
else if you saw they used their space, this rite will basically seal their fate to receive your ulti


other rites:
> Frozen Muse -- i don't really see its worth, this rite basically adds 4 bonus damage to your m1 for 3 seconds if you manage to freeze and opponent. your method to freeze your opponent is limited to E, shift E, and ultimate (F) which all has big cooldowns. i think the 3 second timer and since it's not renewable (like chill) makes it kind of useless
> [Space] rites -- if you have an agressive playstyle, this might be useful for you! i usually keep my space till i need it. making it rarely used. having a rite for a skill i rarely use is kind of a waste for me...
> vandalism -- you break your own ice crown using m1. on paper this is good! but realistically, you're wasting one bar or energy just to do this, and you have a high chance to miss too. might be good if you're frugal, but a skip for me.
> agility -- 10% movement increase is good, but the other rites i mention above are just better. and you can't really kite with just 10% movement increase (moving and shooting will slow you down tremendously)



i usually go with this loadout
https://battlerite.build/alysia/346-347-350-353-354/489/
pull and pick a different rite based on situation (team comp and opponent)

how to play her

first of all, let me show you her basic ability (just watch the earlier couple seconds where i punish raigon)
https://youtu.be/WAw2_V25b1w?t=2
see how punishing she can be? and that doesnt need any particular battlerite, chill the opponent (who just used all his bail out skill) then keep the chill and burst damage using m1, final touch using m2 after the cooldown is over


and that's basically the way i play her: as a pure ranged dps (keeping distance and bombard using m2, then m1), zone out using e. if someone pushes me, i bail out and keep distance using space and/ or q (hasted glacial prism)
here's some preview of my playstyle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10ac-54D3xU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Eyf8qMsx5I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqD_b7NN0Ys

i may add some more videos later on, here's a playlist to make it easier for you to check later on
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiCtyhtVyK59P55xmr2dCQ36_54LFhpiH

to be honest, for me, she is just too easy to get wrecked when someone gets close to you, she feels like a glass cannon. a pretty one at that! lol

TIPS, TRICKS, COMBOS

• ever having a hard time facing a melee that pushes hard to you?
  well i had nightmares in my early plays, since some melee just tunnels me, this usually consists of raigon, shifu, freya, croak, etc
  when a melee pushed hard on you, it's really hard to bail out (glacial prism [e] only last 1.4s, and unless you're using the haste rite, he/she's still on your tail) how about using [spacebar]? well the melee just need to use his/her space to get to your location to continue the punish...
  ex e is unreliable since you need 1bar of energy. which you won't have at the start of the round.
  here's a good combo that i found for this situation:
  using shield (q) then blizzard (e) will freeze him/ her. then you bail out (lol)
  Q E combo preview vs raigon
  
  
• Did i tell you that ice breaker rite is freaking good? here's some preview of its usage
  2 opponents at once
  bypassing orb to hit opponent > this tend to caught opponent off guard
  
  
• Her ex e is very good for instant freezing opponents ulti. try to use it more often!
  Tips: if you are using default keybinding, press 2 instead of shift e. or if you have gaming mouse with some extra button, you may consider binding 1 and 2 to those extra buttons. basically 1 and 2 are ex1 and ex2 abilities shortcuts
  alysia ex2 ability freezing shifu's ulti
  
  
• when you're breaking frozen enemy, combo it with m1. basically press m2 and then press and hold m1. unless your opponent is holding his space, this usually nets you extra damage
  m2 m1 combo preview
  
  
• Do you know that fronzen enemies slides further? well now you know
  slippery frozen statue
  
  
• Do you know that ice crown is AoE (Area of Effect) type? well i didn't at first, but now we know
  AoE Ice Crown

[Hanzo Factory]

how to play allysia - right click, e, repeat

[aarmosher]

that's how it is from several updates ago
(when you pick your battlerite beforehand, not one per round)
i only list the pros and cos of the battlerites and the one i recommend to use. you can watch the youtube videos to check the battlerites i use. but in general i would recommend:
piercing cold, ice breaker/frigid, snowstorm, blizzard, figure skating/permafrost

the latest patch buffed her, and she is a very good cc dps now. unfortunately i don't play as much anymore because of time constraints
heres my latest video of using her
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GVKV_3tWTg

[[CMEN][Bad]Nights]

Can you update the guide please? Cause of the new update, you can't have more than 2 battlerites for the same ability in your loadout.

[WizardToby]

can u dont

[aarmosher]

@MrRiddlez i was using crystalline lattice at first, but really that 12 extra damage mitigation is rarely used up in that 1.4 second timeframe, and when youre being pushed hard by melee, that wouldn't help much unfortunately

[MrRiddlez]

What about Crystalline Lattice Battlerite?

[aarmosher]

@squackyy thanks!

[squackyy]

Good guide. Keep going :)