Aisling - Support, Tank, Summoner

Aisling is a support-tank with many options. She can be played melee or ranged, as a duelist or a full support, from the backline or the very front. She's very, very, very versatile.

Aisling's main mechanic is being able to control her father's ghost, Sir Cador. With Cador on your side you can turn the game into a 5v6, he's a very valuable ally. Almost every single one of your abilities as Aisling involves Sir Cador in some way. He is very valuable to your kit, and you are very much useless without him. Keep. Cador. Alive. Most of your Cooldowns are much, much longer when he's gone.

Aisling is not at all a DPS hero. She has very potent 1v1 dueling potential, and can usually win most 1v1's even at 75% hp, but cannot output the DPS needed for carrying a teamfight or assassinating squishies no matter how your skill build goes.

Aisling only has one lockdown ability in her kit, so making picks on mobile heroes isn't very easy without relying on teammates to help with CC. If the enemy blows their movement early or you interrupt well, she can win most 1v1 fights by turning it into a 1v2 with Cador.

In this guide I'll be showcasing a Melee Duelist Aisling and a Ranged Support Aisling. These are my two favorite playstyles for her, the two builds that I've had the most success with.

Although she can be extremely useful in the right hands, Aisling is hard to learn and play well.

Aisling's skills are:

• (LMB)-Slash; Slash is Aisling's primary attack. Her first two skill point options are 'Father's Lessons' and 'Spectral Blade
  
  1. Father's Lessons; Father's lessons gives an extra 15% damage to Slash when Sir Cador has recently damaged them. This is a pretty noticable buff to your damage and dueling potential. After Father's Lessons, you have the options of Father's Flame and Father's Reproof.
     
     • Father's Flame; Father's Flame gives Aisling a bonus to DPS against burning enemies. This ability has been made a viable choice after the corruption update since an allied Oru can permanently keep ignite up on a target.
       
     • Father's Reproof; Father's Reproof is more often going to be your skill of choice in a melee build. This skill inflicts weakness upon enemies that you hit with Slash. Weakness lowers the enemy's damage output and can be stacked up to 5 times for a total of 25% damage reduction from that target.
       
  2. Spectral Blade; Spectral Blade will be used in all range Aisling builds, this skill changes Aisling's Slash into a ranged attack that deals 60 damage on hit. The range is about mid range and is very useful in keeping safe from the backline, while keeping in range to get Sir Cador close enough to whale on the enemy. The next two skills are Spectral Might and Spectral Defense.
     
     • Spectral Might; Spectral Might grants a 15% damage boost to your allies for 5 seconds when you hit them with your ranged autos. This is good on your allied DPS heroes. Just sit back and let them do their job.
       
     • Spectral Defense; If instead of extra damage you feel your tanks need some more survivability or just want to keep your DPS alive longer, Spectral Defense is your go-to guy. This skill gives 20 armor to any allies hit by your ranged autos.
       
• (RMB)-Cador's Command; Summon the big man, 'Sir Cador', or move him around if he's already out. It's got a pretty short cooldown as long as he hasn't died so dont be afraid to use this ability pretty often and keep Cador positioned well. Cador is your entire kit, so keep him alive. You're pretty useless without him.
  
  1. Cador's Charge; This skill says it will give an additional 50% DPS increase for Sir Cador over a long period of time. While this may sound really good, its really just an extra 45 damage to every other one of his auto rotations that already does 180 damage (45 damage every 7 seconds). I find that taking this skill is almost always worse than Cador's Defenses because you won't survive long enough to benefit from the DPS increase.
     
     • Fast Recharge; This skill makes the 45 extra damage every 7 seconds down to 45 damage every 3 seconds. It's a pretty decent increase in Cador's DPS
       
     • Burning Blade; Burning Blade is the only skill that has synergy with Father's Flame. With this skill, Sir Cador's attacks apply burning.
       
  2. Cador's Defenses; This skill tree is one of the best in her arsenal in my opinion. Cador's Defenses gives all allies a bonus 20 armor when he's nearby. This is pretty huge damage resist in teamfights. Even better than that 20 bonus armor, the next two skills are 'Cador's Might' and 'Cador's Restoration'
     
     • Cador's Might; Cador's Might adds 15% damage to all nearby allied basic attacks, including those from Aisling and Cador. That damage is pretty nice, very good for bursting objectives.
       
     • Cador's Restoration; Aura healing. It's really good. 30hp/s to all allied heroes, creatures, Cador, and Aisling herself. This never stops as long as Cador is out and nearby and will bring your dueling potential to the next level. I almost always take this skill as soon as I can.
       
• (Q)-Cador's War Cry; Cador interrupts enemies in an area around him. This is a decent lockdown and defensive skill. It can be used to stop enemy movement abilities so they dont get away, or so they can't chase. Interrupts can also be used to stop creatures from collecting power, winning tie in power to a rampage. This ability summons Cador if he isn't already out.
  
  1. Chastise; If any ability is successfully interrupted with Cador's War Cry, all enemies in the area are crippled for 3 seconds. This skill is SUPER GOOD on a melee build. Pretty much mandatory for one of the next two options: Intimidation, or Cry More.
     
     • Intimidation; Intimidation helps your dueling potential very much, allows you to duel most characters in the game with relative ease. Successful interruption applies a 50% damage reduction to all enemies in the area of effect. This skill stacks additively with Father's Reproof for up to a 75% damage reduction on a target.
       
     • Cry More; Cry more reduces the cooldown of Cador's War Cry by 4 seconds on successful interrupt. With this skill you can pretty much keep enemies crippled if you're good at timing the interrupt. Probably not worth taking over Intimidation.
       
  2. Spectral Barrier; This skill is a super useful ability for defensive support type build, especially when putting a skill point into spectral blade for the ranged basic attacks. The interrupt is taken away from Cador's War Cry and instead the area is turned into a shield that deflects all projectiles. Very useful in teamfights and in defending from Rampages. Pop the shield down infront of your guardian's power gem and its invulnerable to all projectile ranged attacks for 3 seconds.
     
     • Spectral Armor; Extra 20 armor to all allies in the deflection field, stacking with Cador's Defense for a total of 40 bonus armor.
       
     • Spectral Lens; If your team has a ton of ranged heroes, this skill is amazing. It gives 100% crit chance to all allies in the deflection field for the 3 seconds its up. Gigantic Damage.
       
• (E)-Into the Blade; Recall Cador into your sword, increasing your attack speed slightly, removing the delay from the third hit, and healing Aisling. Careful using this ability, because it has a huge cooldown on it and puts all other skills on cooldown as well. The lower Cador's health, the longer the cooldown on your other skills. Gain 10 armor and 100 hp when cador returns to your blade.
  
  1. Swift Return; Gain 20 stamina on use and 'Into the Blade' can be cast while sprinting. Good for escapes when you need that extra bit of stamina and hp to get away to safety
     
     • Spirited Return; Gain 25% movement speed for 4 seconds, great for catching up or disengaging.
       
     • Ardent Blade; Gain 25% basic attack damage for 4 seconds. Kinda good for when you gotta pull Cador back and you lose all the damage from having him around. Way better to just keep Cador out though. I don't think I'd ever take this skill.
       
  2. Shielding Presence; I much prefer this skill tree, shielding presence can turn fights around and make you just tanky enough to survive clutch fights. Upon recalling Sir Cador, gain a 300hp shield for 4 seconds. Super good when you need to survive burst from assassins or high DPS heroes.
     
     • Aura of Healing; All nearby allies are healed for 200 hp, stacking with the 100 hp base heal from 'Into the Blade' for a total of 300 hp healed as well as the 300 hp shield from 'Shielding Presence'. Great ability, can save the entire team in a fight.
       
     • Pure of Spirit; Cleanse all debuffs and grant allies debuff immunity for 4 seconds. Higher skillcap, in the right situation it's WAY better than Aura of Healing
       

Your Focus ability as Aisling is Terrify. Terrify launches, slows and weakens all enemies in a 10m diameter for 4-8 seconds, depending on Focus level. The launch does not knock enemies straight up, it instead disperses them out from the middle of the impact, so its less of an engage and more of an objective denial. This ability deals 300 base damage and can be used to summon Sir Cador if he died or was recalled into the blade for a heal. All skills will still remain on cooldown afterwards. Your upgrade skills are

• Ghostly Might; Ghostly might is great for dueling/aggressive play. Gain 10% bonus damage to all attacks while Sir Cador is in the blade. When Sir Cador is on the battlefield instead, he gains 10% damage.
  
  1. En Garde; Gain 20% front damage mitigation while attacking. Amazing dueling potential, great damage mitigation to make you more of a tank. With all the damage mitigation and heals that Sir Cador brings, you won't be taking any damage at all and can possibly take on up to three targets by yourself if you're careful to keep them from getting behind you.
     
  2. Will to Power; 10% damage mitigation and 10% increased damage from all sources after using focus ability. Less mitigation, more damage, but mitigation is all around, not just the front. ability lasts until you die.
     
• Skirmishing; Faster stamina regen in combat and health regens 2 seconds earlier after combat. Good defensive option, makes it easier to retreat from a losing battle.
  
  1. Pure Escapism; Cleanse debuffs on dodge, requires a good reaction time and game knowledge. I don't really take this one because I'm bad at it.
     
  2. Hit and Run; Bonus 10% Speed and 10% armor after using your focus ability, great for running away combined with terrify. Should make for some easy escapes.
     

Talents are the passive abilities that you can gain at level 5 to increase the potency of your character. Aisling's Talents are;

• Command Performance; Sir Cador gets a 20% damage boost when attacking the same target as you, good damage bonus. Increases the amount of Focus gained from these attacks during a clash. Very simple DPS increase while Cador is on the field, great if you need extra damage since it feels like he prioritizes enemies that you attack.
  
• Echoes From Beyond; Increases the radius on (Q) Cador's War Cry. Better chasing potential, more debuffs on enemies. On clash, Sir Cador gains 750 hp on use. Great way to refresh his HP without recalling him into your blade. Very good passive if you're looking for kills on a melee build.
  
• Total Recall; Increase heals by 25% on 'Into the Blade' and 'Aura of Healing'. Thats 375 hp from 'Into the Blade' for Aisling and 250 hp for her allies. Great for if you want to be more of a support or want more sustain in duels. During Clash the cooldown on 'Into the Blade' is reduced by 50%. That's a huge heal every 8 seconds.

For Melee Duelist Aisling;

• Level 1; I almost always start with 'Cador's Defenses'. The armor is a huge help to early skirmishes and as long as you stick with a group of 2-3 other teammates, you'll win most early fights. Just stay back and let Cador fight if its unsafe for Aisling to go in. Keep him positioned to give your allies the armor buff while still keeping him alive so your abilities aren't useless.
  
• Level 2; The choice is up to you. The best options are 'Cador's Restoration' or 'Chastise'. If you feel like you or your team needs a bit of extra hp, go with 'Cador's Restoration'. This skill will help you with 1v1 duels, teamfights, creatures, etc. It's a good skill to have. If your team is already winning fights or you're already winning duels, take 'Chastise'. 'Chastise' will help you stop your enemies from escaping and provide the team with easier kills. It also helps to use it on creature objectives early on when you don't have enough damage to solo kill them as easily. Take the other of the two skills at level 3 ('Chastise' if you took 'Cador's Restoration', 'Cador's Restoration' if you took 'Chastise'.)
  
• Levels 4-8; Go for your '(E) Into the Blade' skill trees if you need more survivability or feel like playing more of a support. I like 'Shielding Presence' and 'Aura of Healing' here. Go into your '(LMB) Slash' skill trees if you find the enemy team splitting up and giving you oppurtunities to duel them, or if you just want to play more aggressive. Here I'll mostly go into 'Father's Lessons' then 'Father's Reproof'. 'Father's Flame' is a viable option if an ally is continually applying burning to enemies, but be sure to focus them. I still find that the weakness from 'Father's Reproof' is more valuable if you're trying to duel enemies 1v1. If you're unsure which tree to spec into, or feeling like you're on the fence about it, take 'Intimidation' at level 4.
  
• REMEMBER TO CHOOSE A PASSIVE SKILL AT LEVEL 5 I like taking 'Echoes from the Beyond' or 'Total Recall' for the dueling potential with this build.
  
• Levels 9-10; Now you just have your Focus Skill trees. I always save these for last because they're very conditional with how the game is going and aren't as useful in my opinion. I usually go 'Ghostly Might' into 'En Garde' so I can play more aggressive and get away with it. If you can't ever get a duel with only 1-2 people, go the other route and play a bit safer. I'd go 'Skirmishing' into 'Hit and Run'

For Ranged Support Aisling;

• Level 1; You can choose to take 'Spectral Wave' or 'Cador's Defenses' The ranged basic attack is very good at keeping yourself alive, but won't do much for your allies at this point in the match. 'Cador's Defenses' is always a good option to keep everyone alive early, and it builds into 'Cador's Restoration' which is a super strong ability for Aisling.
  
• Levels 2-3; By level 3 you should have 'Spectral Wave', 'Cador's Defenses', and 'Cador's Restoration' Stick behind a damage dealer and keep them alive, dealing a bit of extra damage with your ranged basic attacks.
  
• Level 4; Choose between 'Spectral Might' and 'Spectral Defense'. These are the skills that give bonuses to your allies when you hit them with your basic attacks.
  
• REMEMBER TO CHOOSE A PASSIVE SKILL AT LEVEL 5 I like taking 'Total Recall' here for the heals. Remember that you're playing support.
  
• Levels 5-8; 'Spectral Barrier' is my go to skill at level 5 unless the enemy team has very few projectiles. Deflecting all projectiles provides a GIGANTIC defensive boost to your team. After that, you can spec into 'Spectral Lens' for the 100% crit chance when in your bubble or 'Spectral Armor' if you don't have many ranged teammates that would benefit from the crit chance as much. If the enemy team wont be shooting at you with projectiles, Grab your '(E) Into the Blade' skills first. 'Shielding Presence' isn't as useful as ranged Aisling, but still take it so you can get 'Aura of Healing'.
  
• Levels 9-10; Focus Skill trees, you'll mostly want to take 'Skirmishing' for the escapes if anyone gets on you since you're way squishier than melee Aisling. Both of the options from there are good.

• You can duel pretty much anybody with melee Aisling if you're at or above 75% hp. The only hero that I would be careful around is The Margrave. I have trouble dueling him a lot of the time.
  
• If Sir Cador dies or you use '(E) Into the Blade', you can use your Focus Skill 'Terrify' to resummon him. All of your abilities will still be on cooldown, but you'll be bringing another ally into the fight.
  
• If you spec into 'Spectral Barrier', you can block most of the damage from ranged enemies during a rampage. Just time it with their skills and place Sir Cador infront of your Guardian's power gem.
  
• Remember to use your jump attacks! A well placed jump attack on an enemy's back can cripple them and stop them from getting away. You lack crowd control abilities as Aisling so this is always a good option as long as you have the stamina.
  
• If there's an immobile ranged enemy that you're having trouble hitting, you can use Sir Cador to bodyblock the damage while you get away. Just set him in front of you and his big hitbox will cover your tiny one.
  
• Aisling works in most team comps if you know how to play her, she's very adaptable and can be played in many different ways. Build for the game you're in.
  
• You can interrupt any ability that can be channeled, including some focus attacks. Use your '(Q) Cador's War Cry' when you see a big channeling ability being used.
  
• Aisling's Focus Skill 'Terrify' can sometimes be used when near a ledge to knock enemies off the stage. Alternatively, this skill can be used near a wall to pin an enemy against the wall for a short amount of time.

If you think of any other tips/tricks for Aisling, let me know in the comments. I'll gladly add them to the guide and attribute them to you!

Thank you all for taking the time to read this and I hope you all have good luck in your games.

Have fun and be sure to tell your friends about this game! We need the new players!