need advice on support ashe, and discussion on support itemization's current flaws

Hey guys, I just came back from a game of norms having fun with some ashe support thinking

"Wow the idea of having to actively apply the debuffs from cleaver and executioner's on my adc's target in order to proc my ardent off of font of life is really engaging and fun, but im losing because enchanters are a real class and a true battlebuffer/debuffer is impossible to play in any serious way"

seriously, I was actually trying ashe support, because it's bad, but it's really really fun. Let me explain.

The way I approach Ashe as a support is to go for Black cleaver, executioner's and ardent censor which would proc off of the font of life mastery in the resolve tree. In the case of hybrid adcs I also find room for a wit's end in my build to help shred the MR of my opponents. These debuffs, along with the not-really-heals proc'd by ashe's passive which buffs my adcs provide engaging gameplay partially because my build leaves me with some good tankiness at the expense of damage, and partially because I feel like the tide turning should be more valuable and pronounced then it ultimately is (Maybe I'm just bad)

These effects are applied when I auto for a slow for the heal reduction for armor shred for a bit of M.R. shred which helps with for a battle boost to whoever is targetting people I slow

the amount of effort to win with this, considering its cost and the positioning, feels rewarding, in addition I'm also afforded my E for additional vision and my Q for instant stacking of cleaver and wits end if i build up charges in combat. I think ashe has all of the tools to honestly be a good support as far as her kit, but lacks proper itemization due to gold restrictions of the items which carry these effects.

So On this part i'd love to get some feedback on making this work, maybe some tips and tricks, i'm sure i'm not the only one who does this, maybe one of a dozen sure.

but on to the other topic at hand

Dn contrast, when i play soraka or janna I feel like all i have to do is hit the heal button. It feels (to me) to be extremely underwhelming from a gamplay perspective, I don't feel like there is much strategy in just spammin silences, shields, and heals.

I don't think it's particularly the kit of these champions that takes from them either, I think it has to do with the item interactions. With Ashe 'Support' (It's bad I know) you have to proc them through fighting, you have an extra step, and that step involves putting yourself in harm's way. with Janna, you press W, possibly from behind.

Janna and Sora don't feel like leaders, they don't have abilities that require enough. I think the healthiest concepts of a support support champions in the game are those which are more engaging. is a somewhat squishy frontline support, the closest thing to a support fighter/assassin we really have. is a fronline support who needs to actively manage his cooldowns, while being on the enemy target, while shielding others, weaving autos, deciding what goes on the GCD and what doesn't He feels more like a leader than a follower. , while she has been problematic in the top lane, makes for a great battlemage who is actually a support. She offers a simple mid strength shield, a stun, and a slow with poke. her damage is gated by her cooldowns but she actively offers engaging gameplay to those who want a bit of sustained damage and a support champion who has many options available to her.

I think the primary issue with supports however isn't that exist, but rather that their effects are passive and overwhelming, If they required some windup time, such as per second increase of value, or some other circumstance needing to be met to having them really scale to where they are now. then I think they would be more engaging. I'm of the camp that says maybe supports should get some cheaper 'discount' versions of normal items, which would require team mate interaction to function properly but would cater to more engaging supports.

has a unique shred passive, which could simply be named, that same named passive could be used on a support item which only effects targets shared with the adc, it would have something similar as well to the wits end passive, this would be an auto attack support encourager.

We could have support items that function similarly to skarner's passive, but have smaller ranges and offer larger buffs. these would essentially be placed like wards and would grant various buffs to allies within them or even debuffs to enemies within them. Maybe these could actively be ward upgrades placed on your gold income item, similar to the old boot enchants. these wards would be visible to enemies when they would apply buffs

how about an item that functions like lich bane but it would be proc'd on ally spellcasts, as opposed to your own?

The support class having such lackluster itemization is a negative impact on various classes in the game, either by tank supports needing normal tank items which brings about gold cost lowering and stat lowering on these tank items, or through mage supports negatively impacting mid lane mages.

I think AOE active buffs are great, if they give visuals at least, they make you feel good to put your team into overdrive. I think it's a real shame to see many of them gutted while the overbearing passives go into effect.

Again this is a direct response to the current state of support items taking gameplay from not only supports, but also from adcs, tanks, and mages. which enforces the deathball meta. Further taking from other classes such as duelists and split pushers.

I do think that certain champs should be able to 1v2, even 1v3, in the right circumstance with proper skill. but they should never overshadow the adc+support 1v2, because of synergy.

That's why I'm saying, add more support items that function as mimics of commonly shared items between supports and their equivalent laner/jungler classes, with proper restrictions, then buff the laner's itemization and add proper gold cost increase. then work on the outliers until they're doing well too.