At level 1, you skill E with Gwen because you can use the dash to dodge abilities as well as reduce or increase the distance to your opponent depending on the situation. In addition, Gwen has a very potent level 1 trade in many matchups thanks to the additional attack speed, the additional autoattack range and the magical bonus damage with the E. Especially against melee fighters, you can often use an extra autoattack at the end of a trade thanks to the extra range.

You skill your Q for the first time at level 2. It is your most important ability, as it is your second important source of damage alongside your autoattacks and also your waveclear. Once you’ve stacked your Q, you’ll want to look for opportunities where you can andash enemies with the E and land a fully charged Q (preferably with an autoattack first). If you know you can win an allin and your opponents are fighting back, you can also drag out the trade with autoattacks until you have a second Q and/or E available.

You should have W as a defensive ability from level 3. You can also use it to trade effectively against ranged fighters if you’re clever about it. They cannot damage you from outside the W zone, so you can use the ability both to farm safely under the tower and to prevent damage while retreating from a trade

Your skill order when maxing the abilities is R>Q>E>W. The cooldowns of all abilities decrease with additional levels, the most important thing for you is the increase in your damage with Q, followed by the extra mobility of your E. You can safely level up W last, as you usually only get to use it twice in a fight in lategame teamfights.

A standard combo usually looks like this: you have already fully stacked a Q, then dash at your opponent with the E and use the Q. You can then use the W to either continue trading autoattacks with the increased resistances until you have another Q available or to run out unmolested. If you make a longer trade, you will also have another E available after your second Q, which you can use to retreat or chase after the opponent for the final blow.

From level 6, your combo is supplemented by your ult, which deals damage to your opponents and heals you thanks to the synergy with your passive. Both damage and healing increase with each of the three instances of the ability. So you don’t want to use it right at the start of a fight when you still have full health points, but as soon as you have received the first damage. With the second and third ult instances, you can also bait enemies very hard by making them think that they can finish you off before you then counter-heal yourself strongly with the ult and deal massive damage to them at the same time. Especially if you hit several enemies with your last ult in a team fight, this increases Gwen’s survival potential enormously.