WHEN PLAYING NAMI, JANNA, SONA, LULU, AND SORAKA SUPPORT DO YOU BUILD AP ?

Lwnt·Dec 7, 2014·5 votes·3,418 views

Hi guys I just want to know some things about your play style of supports just answer these question:

Which of these supports do you play? (You can say all)
Do you play these support in solo lane or duo lane?
Do you actually build Ability power in your Item build and utilize the utility scaling? If so what is your build? If not why?
Lastly do you like the utility scaling on these 5 supports? Do you feel it should be a different stat to scale the utility? Or just remove it and bring back the original base value?

Thanks

18 Comments

AetherKingdomDec 7, 20147 votes

WHEN MAKING THREAD TITLES DO YOU ALWAYS ALL CAPS?

LwntDec 7, 20144 votes

YUP!!!!!!!

Pika310Dec 7, 20144 votes

I play Lulu in mid or top, not much as support. I play Nami and Janna, Soraka only infrequently. Previously a Sona main, I have played several hundred games on her, exponentially more than I've played any other champion, but I've abandoned her entirely since the nerfs destroyed her this summer. She's obsolete.

I don't stick to any one build, I try to remain fluid to whatever will be most efficient to the situation. AP is a must if the team lacks magic damage. Usually utility/aura items like Aegis/Frozen Heart for defense.

Utility scaling was an interesting concept, but I do have to question if it didn't do more harm than good. Ever since the changes, we've seen mid-lane mages played as support ten times as often as before. We do still see traditional supports often enough, so for now it's probably fine, but it's worth watching how this delicate situation changes in the future.

Origami KaijuDec 7, 20144 votes

Sona

Ap is very good on Sona. But I usually don't prioritize it over utility/support items like sightstone, Crucible, or locket of the iron solari. After I've got those items though, I will usually build an ap item (depending on the circumstance) Athenes, Morellonomicon, Deathcap, Voidstaff, zhonyas depending on the enemy team comp.

My standard build for Sona is

item 3092 item 2049 item 3117 item 3222 item 3190 item 3089

If the enemy team has an AD comp, don't buy Locket. Instead buy frozen heart.
if ahead and getting frequent barons/dragons occasionally I get Banner of Command instead of Locket for super sieging.
If the enemy team doesn't have a lot of cc, I might buy athenes instead of crucible.
if you have a team with lots of on hit damage or who love attack speed (teemo, udyr, master yi, azir) you might want an Ardent Censor
only upgrade to ruby sightstone if you have a complete build with excess gold.
If it's one of those 50+ minute matches, I sometimes sell Frostqueen's claim and get a better ap or defensive item. (banshees, GA, zhonyas ect)

If we're talking aram, don't build Sona like a support at all. Build her like a glass cannon mid, I'm talking -

item 3174 item 3089 item 3100 item 3020 item 3135 item 3157

You will one-shot squishy adc's :D

Soraka

There is only one way to deal with a Soraka, and that is to focus her in the beginning of teamfights. Most higher elo will know this, therefor I prioritize defensive items over Ap on her.

My standard Soraka build is

item 3069 item 2049 item 3117 item 3222 item 3190 item 3083

Warmogs is key here. I know, stacking health on Soraka is usually counter productive, and exactly what they tell you *not *to do. The thing is, since warmogs has been changed, it's passive is too good to pass up on Soraka.

item 3083 when out of combat (not giving or recieving damage) warmogs will give you 3% of your max health as health regen every 5 seconds. This means, with proper masteries and hp regen runes you can easily have ~~100 health~~ (just tested, at level 18 out of combat I had 180 health regen per 5) regen per 5 seconds when out of combat. This means that you can sit in the backline, healing your team and still receive the passive (healing isn't considered in combat).

The purpose of this is so you can spam heal your teammates without having to rely Solely on Starcall for self sustain. This also means that if an assassin tries to get to you, they can't just one-shot you.

It's actually pretty broken on Soraka, and I won't be surprised if she or it get's nerfed.

Don't build item 3092 on Soraka. item 3069 is way better, it's active provides some nice disengage or chasing potential for your team, while also providing you with much needed health regen. Soraka is pretty much the only support that talisman is really good on.

Ap is *okay *on Soraka, but in general her Ap ratios are around 40% - 60% which isn't very good. The exception is Wish, her ultimate. If an ally is below 40% health, wish deals double the heal, with an 80% ap ratio which is very good, but I just don't think it's enough to justify an ap build.

Kowe The EwokDec 7, 20143 votes

Soraka item 3089

Fashion MageDec 7, 20142 votes

^This.

AP on Soraka is like AD for marksmen. If you're not buying AP on her then her healing isn't going to save much, and if you're not playing Soraka (a healer) to heal, then why are you playing her? Her CC? Use Leona instead. Her poke? Use Karma. Peeling? Janna. It's not like Soraka can deal any real damage, or tank even the slightest. She does only one thing exceedingly well, and that's healing.

DirewolfiezDec 7, 20142 votes

Actually, building Spirit Visage on her is great. It gives her extra health, hp regen, MR, and it increases how much she heals herself with her Q.

Fashion MageDec 7, 20141 votes

For a defensive item, it's pretty decent on her. It's not something I would rush though, personally. In fact I think it's quite situational.

DirewolfiezDec 7, 20141 votes

Well, yeah, but it has a pretty good synergy with her abilities. I don't play Soraka that often, but when I do I almost always get it.

WTBeGirl100EUhrDec 7, 20142 votes

I don't play Lulu, but I play the rest in duo lane. Soraka, Nami, Janna and Sona I all start Spellthiefs and get the 50 AP from Frost Queen's. On Sona, if we're winning lane early, I will grab a Sheen and later Lichbane because one of Sona's main utilities is to poke and increasing her damage that much (and also her heals) allows her to be much more effective at that. Additionally, Mikael's Crucible is just such a good support item that I buy it as core on most supports except tanks like Leona.

No, not really. I'll pick up a Lich Bane if we're dominating lane as Sona, but otherwise I don't find room in the build. I'll get some AP from Censer, Frost Queens, but otherwise no.

For the most part the build on all 4 is the same.

(Spellthief's Start) Sighstone/Mobility Boots/Frost Queen's Claim/Mikael's Crucible/Ardent Censer/Locket of the Iron Solari (Messing around with Banner here atm. Not sure how viable.) I won't bother with Ardent on Nami and will generally pick up Twin Shadows there.

Leaf of the lakeDec 7, 20142 votes

I take spellthief's on all of these, because I like being a pokey bitch. Generally rush chalice or tear followed by sightstone (imo it's better to buy a few extra wards and not worry about running out of mana than to get the SS and have to back anyway because you ran OOM). Once that core is completed, it's generally just a rush to buy AP and CDR for me. NLR (later finishing as a deathcap), ardent (if the team benefits greatly from AS buffs), mejais (only if you feel safe against their team, but the s5 changes made it much more worthwhile imo), archangel's (if you went tear), and lich bane (if your name is sona) are some of my top rush items, all situational based on the game. I sell the un-upgraded spellthief lategame because I usually forget its active, but there are some supports that swear by it. Mikael's and sightstone are pretty much the only non-AP items I get.

I've played solo-lane nami, sona, and janna before, and they all work, but no where near as well as lulu imo (and solo-lane raka is probably completely nonviable since the rework). AP lulu is one of my staple tops, generally with a core of athene's+lich bane+cdr boots (and 5% cdr in masteries), followed by deathcap and zhonyas in whatever order I feel is necessary, and some defensive item (or void staff) if the game somehow lasts that long. Sometimes I go sorc shoes instead and pick up a morello to keep my CDR at max.

I think the utility scaling is fine on everyone but nami. Hers feels lackluster imo, but her base kit design is so strong that it doesn't matter.

Hullabaloo907Dec 7, 20141 votes

With soraka, i go item 3092 item 3504 first, then i either go for heavy ap or some defense. really makes up for the low mana regen in and makes your bottom lane much better at hard engages.

Leti the YetiDec 7, 20141 votes

i play sona and soraka ;o

ap sona is a beast, ur probably gonna ks your adc soo probably not gonna do that in bot lane but I go mid sona and out trade Zed lol I take lich bane, athenes, rabadons, void staff, some other stuff if I get around to affording it

I thought about ap soraka for stronger heals or more active items and auras for soraka... i concluded that I prefer to be able to buff my allies over ap build Built abuncha ap items once, and maybe my W healed like 60 more hp? its not easy building needlessly large rods as a support So It wasnt bad but prefer to build my coin into the talisman for that chasing/fleeing speed buff righteous glory for hp regen, soraka really needs that, and another chasing buff mikaels.. redundant heal and cleanse cuz why not? clutch moments happen ur probaly gonna be too poor to build 5 items

EthriDec 7, 20141 votes

Honestly, you build what you need. I play all of the champions except Soraka, but main Lulu support.

item 3069 : Amazing item for catching/ grouping team/ getting places faster. Probably the best gold item for late game. It is also a good early game item if you don't expect to be landing easy/ useful harass on the enemy (ex. facing Janna+ Caitlyn/ knowing your ADC can't trade evenly early on).

item 3092 : Very good for poking down enemies/ controlling lane. It can be useful in deciding all in match-ups. Try to use the procs when you can, but don't force them or you might be caught out of position. Late game it is a decent disengage/ engage tool, but is better.

item 3222 : If the enemy has any (cleansable) CC that is good for catching people, build this item. Very good for enemies such as Morgana, Syndra, Twisted Fate, Pantheon, etc. Can surprise burst assassins/ use for baits occasionally.

item 3165 : Great for CDR and utility AP. Great if the enemy team has life steal (since most ADs build it) or any regen (passive is really underestimated). Works well with long range/ aoe skills. When you do build it, it works best on Lulu/ Janna due to long range AoE skills on short cooldown.

item 3105 : They have a lot of AP damage? Rush this if your teammates aren't. Active is great for dealing with AoE as well.

item 3102 : Great against Blitzcrank as a mid/ late game item. Also good against burst assassins such as Leblanc.

item 3100 : Snowballing as Sona? This is the only AP item you will need.

item 3025 : Enemy has lots of melee that doesn't stick to their targets as well as they would want. Great on Lulu/ Sona for damage+ tankiness and peeling that pesky Udyr away (if the adc knows how to kite). Fairly good for catching on Lulu if you want the endless slows.

item 3110 : Do enemies scale off attack speed? Are you within auto attack range of the team fight? Do you find yourself taking occasional AD burst? This item is great for that. However, it is typically better on more "in the fight" champions such as Blitz/ Thresh.

item 3089 : Good as a last item to compliment your AP scaling, or if you are insanely ahead and already have sightstone. item 3165 Would usually be the better choice early on for the extra cdr.

Linna ExcelDec 7, 20141 votes

Supports are meant by riot to get about 200 AP by the end of the match. So yes.

Fashion MageDec 7, 20141 votes

I play Soraka, Janna, Nami, and Sona from those champs (In order from most played to least played). They're kind of my mains, although since the Soraka rework I rarely play anything but her.
I used to play Janna (and occasionally Nami) in solo lanes for funsies. Worked fairly well. I've tried Soraka in solo lanes. Not sure what to think of it since I haven't experimented enough with it yet. Her Q is a very effective early poking ability if maxed first, but she kind of needs it to farm as well since getting into auto-attack range frequently with her usually doesn't end well unless she has Equinox up.
I build all of them with very high amounts of AP. I prioritize utility and movement speed after that. I try to build as selflessly as possible while using positioning (or abiliites if it comes to that) to keep myself alive. So the items I typically get are things like:

Rabadon's (Provides pure AP so it's very nice for utility ratios. MPen isn't very effective on caster supports for this reason)
Twin Shadows (Utility/AP/MS. It really has everything caster supports need. AP for supportive ability scaling, MS for positioning, and the active for utility (scouting and slowing at long-ranges in this case)
Sightstone: Must have.
Boots of Lucidity/Boots of Swiftness
Zhonya's
Archangel's (provides a large amount of AP once built up, for a very cheap price compared to stuff like Zhonya's and Rabadon's)
Chalice
Mikael's (somewhat situational sometimes)

Typically I'll get Chalice on Sona/Nami/Janna, and Archangel's on Soraka (it synergizes with the Strength of Spirit mastery too, which is nice for Soraka). Then get CDR from other sources.

I very much enjoy utility ratios. I think they add a unique flavour to these supports and it makes AP directly supportive on them rather than offensive. In my opinion, this game should have more supports that utilize utility ratios in the future.

FantasySniperDec 7, 20141 votes

Everyone except for Lulu (am still gathering IP). I'm not exceedingly good at Janna, though.

Duo only.

Yes and no. It's a priority to build utility, but a lot of the utility items happen to have AP anyways.

Soraka tends to have AP priority because of her kit, and Nami has quadratic scaling on her [W]. Sona makes great use of it, too, but that's about it.

Making utility scale off of AP restricts the build options, keeping them dependant on it so they don't stray into hard to manage build paths. It's an important design choice that makes sure they don't build full AD or tank just because they can.