Introducing: S5: Smite Support

You are really underestimating the disadvantages of that strategy.

1. Upgrading the Smite to be even able to use it on champions requires 750 gold. Gold that gives you absolutely NO benefit in lane aside from that Smite.

2. There's a reason a support starts with a gold item. That role is gold starved as it is, and voluntarily taking another disadvantage is not really cutting it.

3. Sightstone is a higher priority than Machete. Meaning, you either delay vision (and lose lane due to the enemy jungler ganking you) or you get Sightstone and lose lane due to being down one combative summnoner.

The big problem is that the golems/toad REALLY help out your jungler doing their first run. The new jungle is REALLY hard, and you kind of need to be starting opposite your starting primary buff (blue or red) so that the smite has a chance to come off CD. Golems/Toad really help out with getting your first run through the jungle, so I would suggest not taking it from your jungler.

Too little synergy. Their are other ways to get a slow/gold advantage.

Even in s3/s4 I had a duo who we would smite support/jungle with and the invade power and map control + early bot lane focus meant you could snowball really easy. THis died out when they changed the timer for golems, but for some reason they have return it and let me bet you the team that DOESN'T bring smite gets a huge disadvantage.

You have exh buut exh isn't gonna save you from ever increasing gold on support, HUGE level advantage over time and superior crab/dragon/enemy buff control.

Also the devourer upgrade means your support if he gets it early can easily be doing a free 80-100 damage within 20-30 minutes per auto, OR become a tanky god with both tenacity AND tabis while also affording the best gold income item (spell thief).

Before you get ready to bash, take a second and read this through:

After a good deal of thought and a bit of support from the new jungle, Smite support is now a viable option and here's why:

1. Smite can be upgraded to Slow champions by 50% and deal damage:

• Slakers Blade: "PASSIVE - CHILLING SMITE: Smite can be cast on enemy champions, dealing 28-164 true damage and reducing their movement speed by 50% for 2 seconds ... on a 1 min CD.

2. Smite can be used at 1:55 on Krugs (Double Golems) or Gromp (Wight), giving bot lane an effective boost in exp before getting to lane.
3. Easy defensive and farming options between pushed waves: AKA Scuttle Crab Clear (for coverage because of lack of early Sightstone)
4. Synergizes well with Relic Shield/Targon's Brace for taking down Siege Creep before Upgrading Smite.
5. Jungle Item's late game upgrades are solid choices Magus for AP (80AP, 20% CDR) Juggernaut for Tanks (500 Health, 10% CDR, 35% Tenacity)
6. Killing Jungle monster camps give's Smiter buffs: * KRUGS: Smiting the Krug grants Gift of Heavy Hands - stuns minions and monsters every 1st and 5th hit. Your first attack against a turret deals 50 (+15 per level) true damage but consumes this buff. Lasts 90 seconds. (Solid for lane control and early towers) * GROMP: Smiting the Gromp grants Gift of the Toadstool - attackers are poisoned for 6 (+ 6 per level) magic damage over 3 seconds. Lasts 90 seconds. (Perfect for ADC during trades)
7. Dragon/Baron Control: With Dragons new update, having control over this objective is vital specially as stacks progress, and with the new baron buff... all it takes now is one baron to really push in and win the game. Consider this smite the security smite.
8. Provides pressure toward enemy junglers, specially against unknown warded buffs (Smite Battles) (Eg: Blitz can unexpectedly grab enemy blue/red and smite it (prep it) so that your adc can last hit the buff.)

All in all, I have a feeling smite might just become viable in the ranked scene, as I been having relative success in my games.

This "Meta" works well with defensive support laners: Morgana, Braum, Janna, Lulu.

I remember when I was talking about this with some friends a few weeks back, when I saw the initial jungle changes. They said it would be stupid, which I didn't have any solid points back then to back up my argument so I just conceded. The points you make are strong, though, and I agree 100%. I would try this myself if I was not a terrible support. lol

I tried to run a top lane iriela with smite and get the true damage on hit and the reduction. If I was any good at iriela, it probably would have worked. :P

But point being, Smite is definitely going to be taken on laners. Anyone who says that its not worth the investment is not factoring in that it is basically 750G for a smite/exhaust combo (you either get damage and a slow or damage and damage reduction). Plus it upgrades into useable stuff. And you can help your team take objectives. I don't think machete should be your first buy, but maybe on first back or second back. in the meantime, smite minions. If i had taken ignite instead, I probably wouldn't have used it before my first back anyways, so nothing is lost. Once I have the jungle item, I basically have an ignite AND an exhaust.

Intriguing idea! It gives your jungler a instant head start if you smite the blue/red when it spawn at 1:55 (or better yet invade!!!) so you may not even need to leash. Combo-ing with the relic shield would be nice. As mentioned somewhere down below, you do lose out on combat effectiveness early laning (either sightstone or machete upgrade).

On the other hand, as far as I know, you get instant smite bonus whether you kill the jg monster or not (I could be wrong) so you can take a detour to your jg and smite the Murkwolf to protect your jungle or Gromp for all in or harass when you walk back to lane. (Oh and the crab of course)

In any case, it can't hurt to try. So sad they took away that mastery that grant you gold when you smite though......

So are you giving up your gold income item to rush a jungle item instead to get the upgraded smite?

I feel like unless you make some big counter jungle plays with your smite this isn't worth the income loss you will take.

Taking the jungle camps early on from your jungler is only going to put him behind with the 100 second respawn rate now.

Hmm im still on the fence. Maybe if the adc takes exhaust instead of heal it could work out better?

I was debating doing this because of the smite buffs, but couldn't viably figure it out just yet. This is perfect and I will definitely be trying this out.

Also interested to try top too. Gift of the Toadstool sounds OP early-game.

Don't you have to kill a number of jungle minions before you can smite an enemy?

Optimal jungling path is to start opposite of main buff. So if I'm blue side, and I need blue first, I need to start Krugs. Otherwise I have a lot of wasted time in the jungle not gaining exp or doing anything else really, while I wait for my smite to come off cooldown.

I'm absolutely running smargons thresh in team builder tonight.

:D Smite support sounds awesome!

Been there done that it's amazing.

This is worthwhile on nunu support and pretty much no one else.

I find this super effective. Traditional supports can ofc start like this without smite, but with smite the early clear is faster and less hp drop. Also, if u completly feed xp to adc, you win lane w/o summoners. No lvl 1 + lvl 1 is going to win vs a lvl 2 adc, simply with a summoner. not even taking into account the minion dmg they would have to soak even if they went all in.

I've experimented with alot of different supports to add to this setup. You could also in theory use Lee Sin support if you want to avoid someone you know is insane on him in the jungle against you, or Gnar with building standard support items and a jungle dmg item. It provides all that you want in adc protection late, and in lane.

Only problem I have faced with this is if the ADC is not up to the playstyle that comes with this. You need an aggressive adc. Any passive sit-back-and-farm adc will lose the momentum you give from early on and make their double summoners more effective. And that is not taking the late game champs that naturally scale late. You need to continuesly push lane and pref force their jungler to come bot.

If you feel you are low on cash, delay the jungler item and focus hard on lane staying in your favour. If you are ahead you can drop sightstone first buy, and go full dmg jungle item, then rely on killing crab for dragon and river controle. Normally you can cycle trinket ward with adc and secure river even without the crab, but that requires a jungle and Mid do the same on bot side of mid river. This also prevents a bot jungle invade from going unoticed.

I'm not going to play w/o smite any more as a support. It's boost of power is too great. Most likely we'll see double support smite to get crab controle. I see no other way of stoping the vision controle and early adc advantage.

On a side note, if you want to try something completly different as a support, try Cassio. Her long range and low mana cost on Q W is sickly good and low mana cost. At lvl 2 her E will more likely then not get you FB or double kill. If you go scaling AP runes with her passive and feel the terror ensue on the enemy bot lane. Her ult is never to be used other then to def your adc from dives =)

//Cuddly

It coud be good u coud get red smite on adc instead of ignite and u get 20% reduced dmg and you deal more or stun smite instead heal u can clear minion waves and u can go jungle quick smite fo hp and mana then back in lane a support coud get the slow smite it would be realy great with these buffs to the new hp upgrade gives you 25% more max hp it coud be great as a tank

Jungle specific champs?

http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/vsAAt7fE-riot-why-not-make-a-jungle-class-stop-balancing-items

feels awesome on naut at least that i've tried. synergizes perfevtly with naut's kit for early game with the xp and gold advantage from golems amd the scutle crub control. as far as the lack of exhaust's or ignite's precence is concerned, there was no problem as the level advantage led to easier kills and control over the lane

You could also

1. Smite the "crimson raptors" to be able to clear wards. I believe you get the buff just by smiting the camp, you dont even need to kill it. Therefore not intruding on the jungler's farm. This grants more vision control around places you know are probably warded.