Does anyone take Bond of Stone anymore?

Forhonor321·Jan 10, 2017·52 votes·2,709 views

Honest question: when was the last time you saw anybody take this mastery? Seriously when was the last time? I swear out of the three major keystones in resolve, Bond is probably the worst. I mean we all know CotC is probably the best option in the whole tree for literally anyone who just has one hard CC, and Grasp is probably the second best/average to any juggernaut/fighter who doesn't have hard CC, but Bond of Stone just seems worthless. It's basically a hidden passive that you just gain but pretty much completely forget about since it has very little impact on the game that you can notice, other than "oh my teammates die less quickly since I'm standing near them." Hell, is basically this mastery but somehow feeling better.

48 Comments

RalanrJan 10, 201712 votes

I take it on Tahm support because Courage is not worth it on him with how his hard CC works.

BhagswagJan 10, 20176 votes

Grasp tho

SpecterVonBarenJan 10, 20174 votes

You don't always want to play agro in lane and some match ups won't allow you to get near the enemy without being chunked. BoS gives consistent power.

5000000000000000Jan 10, 20172 votes

~~Why not Thunderlord's?~~

SpecterVonBarenJan 10, 20171 votes

Was just about to post the same thing.

RamboDash15Jan 10, 20175 votes

I take it on ARAM if I don't have CC to use CotC Garen , but that is the only time

Logan2605Jan 11, 20173 votes

I do, it's more reliable then CoC, as it has no cooldown. CoC also makes you tankier, but not your adc. Between bond of stone and item 3109 , you're absorbing what, 16% damage that your adc would normally be taking? Especially if the enemy has backline divers, this can work wonders for keeping the adc alive, although i usually go item 3107 on my tanky supports because it grants 400 bloody health and is really viable on literally any support in the game. Bond of Stone, , item 3401 , item 3190 , and item 3109 = No, my carry didn't build full tank, why do you ask?

NkeyoJan 10, 20172 votes

I take it and combine it with Knight's Vow on Braum and Tahm Kench to tank 18% of my AD carry's damage because in their cases as defensive tanks it's their job to keep their AD carry alive, and that mastery helps them push hard towards that purpose. CoC is MUCH better for making yourself tankier, and BoS is for making your AD carry/chosen ally tankier. That 18% damage reduct combined with Braum's ability to give tons of Armor and MR to his chosen ally(and automatically position himself close to his chosen ally) helps him keep them alive even when there aren't any blockable projectiles.

BoS isn't good alone, but it's one of those things that you can stack small advantages with to create a bigger advantage. Another good example of stacking small advantages is taking the Assassin, Executioner, and Bounty Hunter masteries to get up to +15% damage in certain situations; none of the masteries alone are significant, 2% here, 5% there, but all together they can make a pretty significant difference.

SolitairJan 10, 20171 votes

I would, but it already feels so bad being a tank support underleveled and barely "tanky".

General TherittJan 11, 20171 votes

Play Sion support and last hit those Cannon minions with your Relic shield. Suddenly, a tank support turns into "Dear god(s) that health bar..." pretty quickly.

Forhonor321Jan 10, 20172 votes

I can understand the Vow/Mastery combo, hell you do have a good point about having be more like making your carries tankier. But the thing is without that item, alone it's just feels unnoticed or doesn't make a impact on the game or situation. Every keystone that I look at has some sort or bigger impact on the game.

Fervor: more damage. Warlords: lifesteal. Deathfire: mini red buff burn. Thunderlords: three proc burst. Raiders: more MS after large burst. Windspeakers: bigger shields and heals. Grasp: damage and heal. Cotc: Giant shield after hard CC. Bond? just small damage reduction that you kinda forget about.

It just doesn't feel like it impacts that game enough to remember it's there, at least to me since I barely see anyone take it anymore.

NkeyoJan 11, 20171 votes

I think you're casting it in an unfair light.

Fervor: Little more damage early and mid game, not noticeable until late Warlord's: Can't fight you here, free sustain on minions is really strong. Deathfire: Small DoT that gives small advantages if it can be applied a lot (Transparent) Thunderlord's: Early game mastery that helps burst(And therefore gives low elo people a hardon) Raider's: Amazing mastery, almost never used though. Windspeaker's: Small increase in shielding and invisible extra tank stats (Transparent) Grasp: Pitiful damage and heal that I forget every game (It's my bond of stone, so to speak) CoC: Great mastery through the entire game Bond: Small advantage that adds up over time (Transparent)

It has impact, it's just a smaller one that contributes to the greater whole like most of the keystones. The exceptions being CoC, Thunderlord's, and Warlord's, and that's why you see them everywhere, because their differences are bigger in most cases for what they do. BoS is kinda underwhelming if you don't have Knight's Vow, and that's why I usually just grab it on melee defensive tanks, because they can make use of the advantages both offer to great results.

TyrekGoldenspearJan 10, 20172 votes

Honestly Bond could have been taken off and Strength of the Ages could have stayed, but i dunno.

Troll for TrumpJan 11, 20172 votes

It's over there in the corner with item 3056 item 3091 Galio Karthus Urgot

ThalassaJan 11, 20171 votes

Kayle item 3091

Hunted9000Jan 11, 20171 votes

I do kayle with wits end all the time because nashors is such a garbage item now, by late game with rage blade you can still do 200+ magic damage per auto.

JackMcSnipeyzJan 11, 20172 votes

Champs without hard CC that are more for peel.. So supports like braum, tahm kench etc etc.

Sun Wu RyuumokuJan 11, 20173 votes

Braum, kench without hard CC ? I see...

LichKing234Jan 11, 20171 votes

i didnt know a knock up or a devour and stuns where not hard cc this is new to me*[slayer-jinx-unamused]*

AlistarMilkingJan 11, 20171 votes

Tahm takes Bond because his hard CC is very unreliable. In order to stun someone, you need to AA them 3 times and then hit them with Q, that takes a lot of time! And if you use your W on an enemy, you won't be able to save an ally with it, so it's not a move you can use at will.

6SfoolJan 11, 20172 votes

I see people saying take it on braum, but he's my main and there was no point where I ever took that mastery on him. I take cotc because the shield always shows up when I need it, and before that I took Grasp. If both of them were nerfed into the ground I'd take fervor.

Jeanne fan clubJan 11, 20172 votes

its good on Braum. tahm, and other champs who cannot use direct cc until later in the game

Maximum MordeJan 10, 20171 votes

Not if they can take CoC they dont.

Colgate GatorJan 10, 20171 votes

Has been a while, probably stopped it using on every tank I have ever since it got hard nerfed.

It doesn't help that among all the existing masteries it's the most....invisible one, nobody even realizes it's working.

I Sushi IJan 10, 20171 votes

I used Bond of Stone before CotC came out because it was the key Warden pick and I would often play Ali or Braum supp. Riot kind of tackled this idea in an AMA i think. It's similar to base stats-when base stats are nerfed or buff people don't really feel the difference, but it definitely makes an impact. I think the numbers are too small now, but that's definitely how Bond of Stone should be and I feel like if they just buff it or rework it into something more team-oriented then it can be an important keystone for Wardens in the future.

Who is TaliyahJan 10, 20171 votes

I have never seen that item 3109 item in my game and nobody ever picks that mastery. Hell, I even had to google the mastery first to know which one you're talking about.

DragonSheaJan 10, 20171 votes

{quoted}

Honest question: when was the last time you saw anybody take this mastery? Seriously when was the last time? I swear out of the three major keystones in resolve, Bond is probably the worst. I mean we all know CotC is probably the best option in the whole tree for literally anyone who just has one hard CC, and Grasp is probably the second best/average to any juggernaut/fighter who doesn't have hard CC, but Bond of Stone just seems worthless. It's basically a hidden passive that you just gain but pretty much completely forget about since it has very little impact on the game that you can notice, other than "oh my teammates die less quickly since I'm standing near them." Hell, is basically this mastery but somehow feeling better.

That is what the fuck i've been saying as well. just give us a new talent instead of Bound of Stone and let it's legacy live on as item 3109

SpoofghoulJan 10, 20171 votes

warlords is better then grasp even on champions who dont buy any extra ad for sustain, cotc is also better for sustain, and if you can frequently shield and heal and have decent hp regen then windpseakers is better for sustain too

but if you really want to pile on the damage then every other damage keystone works better too

only thing worse then grasp is bond of trash

SanKakUJan 10, 20171 votes

I take it on Rammus/Leona jungle, and on Wukong support substitute, and anyone else that can get away with those 2 mastery pages. Knight's Vow is massively underrated at the moment. I mean it works all of the time, even when your teammates aren't around...so it's pretty nice and even though the value is small, it adds up a lot when you are playing a champion with a way to already reduce damage. Over time, it makes a big difference.

Forhonor321Jan 10, 20171 votes

not going to question why u go Leo jg or Wukong support but I will say you're right on Knight's Vow being underrated. It is a good support item but what I'm trying to say is that the item is more noticable than the actual mastery itself. Yes you can stack them together for pretty big damage reduction and redirect damage to you but that's about it. On an item it feels like it has a big impact but when on this mastery and comparing it to the other two it just feels like it falls flat. Courage: land hard CC, get massive shield. Grasp: deal damage based on your health and heal for a good chunk. Bond: just....gain a hidden passive that you kinda forget you have while you play.

SanKakUJan 11, 20171 votes

Wukong support is surprisingly good in the current meta. I can find success with him as jungle but nowhere near as easy are the wins or performance as when supporting. I think the main reason he does so well is that he punishes squishies for grouping up together to just throw damage at people.

Yeah, forgetting you have something is kind of an issue. It's also why many players have not liked Stormraider's Surge.

Leona jungle isn't any better than Wukong jungle...which is to say it's viable but not really recommended, at least not in normal draft games. Still, it actually performs much better than Leona support when you get the teamwork rolling. Which I've found to be the opposite for Wukong. Ever since the nerf to Leona's W and the changes to her R, she hasn't been the same as a support. Not a brilliant pick.

Forhonor321Jan 11, 20171 votes

Well to be honest, Leona support isn't completely terrible, I mean I've found success with her. I wouldn't say she's not a brilliant pick, but I will say that she may struggle in some match ups or team comps but she's still pretty strong just given by the amount of CC she can do. Jungle wise I can kinda see it, hell I actually think I saw a video about it one time, but with how the current jungle is and how she may struggle with clears I just don't see a whole lot of reason for picking her.

Though now you've completely got my attention on Wukong support. How does it exactly work and what do u build on it? I'm full on interested in hearing about this now.

SanKakUJan 11, 20171 votes

In hindsight, Randuin's Omen might be the best item to rush on Wukong Tank(even though you're in the support slot, you are a substitute for a real support so it's more correct to call yourself a tank...on my mastery page I call it SS short for substitute support and apply that also to mages or assassins or whatever). You take Relic Shield for healing your ally as well as for extra health to protect against bursting. I didn't buy Randuin's Omen and instead I've been rushing Thornmail. At any rate, you need to get tanky, so your mastery page needs to give you bonus armor and MR based on your bonus armor and MR. Picking up Black Cleaver is still what you do, which helps out your ADC and really your whole team(you can trigger it on the entire enemy team potentially with your ultimate, although probably not the full value on all of them, it's still nice). Don't really need flash as you have your own jump and invisibility, prefer to take barrier to combo with all the tankiness. As for tier 2 boots, as with any other tank, you either get Ninja Tabi or Swiftness Boots, depending on whatever.

A big mistake I've made from time to time with Wukong is forgetting that I'm not as tanky if fewer enemies are around. And of course there's always the threat of your allies not following up on your initiation. I guess if you're super worried about that then you can take flash and let them think they're initiating, then flash in to do the job yourself.

As for Leona Jungle, her clears are fine in mid/late game if you take Bloodrazor which is valuable due to the changes to her ultimate. She can use any Spellblade item effectively due to being a melee user that can scale with AP. Probably if you're taking the keystone I suggested you'd go for IBG, but not sure. I'd suggest building an amor item before IBG if you need the armor since IBG gives a burst buy armor value of 40 which is silly because you'll have 0/15/25 until you complete it so you'll be in trouble in duels and skirmishes if you have lots of mana you're not using and not enough armor. And of course you always have to buy MR. The new Abyssal Scepter is great for her(actually I might start rushing it on her from now on due to the CDR and raw damage it provides) and Wit's End is pretty solid as well. I find it amazing how unfavored Wit's End is as an item at the moment personally.

Half my problem is I keep changing champion selections so quickly because once I get S grade a time or two or so then I move onto the next one for my chests. I'm sure I'd have a firm grasp on how to play them in those positions even better if I just practiced them more. Of course, if my success rate is extremely high, like success rate 100 percent or close to it, even with as low as two games, I'm way more confident with recommending it to others than I would be a champion(like Jhin support) I lost a lot with before I started winning.

captainkaigerJan 11, 20171 votes

Bond of Stone is very underwhelming. Before when CoTC didn't exist, I'd take it over stranth of the ages if only because it SOMETIMES helped since I like playing tank supports like leona or braum. But it could absolutely use a buff or at least have the option to pick a target for a stronger bond, but you can only create one or two bonds

FCJAAAAGOOOOJan 11, 20171 votes

Before CotC I took Bond of Stone on Renekton. It was alright; I could be tanky lategame without having to invest in too much tankiness in my build.

Also my more assertive adc teammates probably loved it. If there's a hard-carry adc on your team and the player is good then it can definitely be worth it.