Riot is thinking about buffing the Ancient Coin line. What do you think needs to be done about it?

From Meddler's Quick Gameplay Thoughts:

We've been looking at the starting support items now that they've been out for a while. Conclusion is that the Coin line is underperforming, so we'll be doing some more work on it. That will likely involve improvements both to the tier1 and tier 2 versions as well as the tier 3 upgrades (probably both Talisman and Eye of the Oasis).

Possible the Frost Queen's is also too strong, what we'll likely do is buff coin first though then reassess whether that's actually the case or not.

Some questions I'd start with:

• What is Coin's purpose?
• Who is currently happy with Coin?
• Who could be using Coin, but doesn't, because it feels underwhelming?
• How can this be changed?

Fire away with your ideas. I'll add some extra context.

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To understand Coin's role in the ecosystem, we need to ask ourselves how did it come into existence.

#Story time.

http://i.imgur.com/yEvmFeR.png

Coin, or to be precise Nomad's Medallion, was introduced as a replacement to Philosopher's Stone. Philo Stone was a simple gold-generating regeneration item that built into Shurelya's Reverie (a Philo+Kindlegem item with the Talisman of Ascension active) or Eleisa's Miracle (an item more useless than Poacher's Dirk, which only granted regeneration and reduced cooldown of summoner spells like Clairvoyance and Clarity, but freed up its item slot after leveling up 3 times).

Philosopher's Stone was THE support item. At the time supports were ward bots who spent all of the money they had, and they had even less than now, on wards, which were not limited as they are now. So a support build in pro play would consist of a philo stone, boots, and a prayer to survive with the Oracle's Elixir intact, and then a slow and painful climb to assemble the most OP shit of all time that was Runic Bulwark. All topped with a shitload of wards to litter the map with. It was the time before trinkets.

The rich supports - like the healer slayer Leona - could even afford to buy Heart of Gold, a gold-generating item with Health on it. That one was once so strong all the toplaners and jungler built it, as first it was an armor+health item building into Randuin's Omen (fun fact: Shurelia and Randuin were Riot employees then, and IRL couple), and then later a component for Locket of the Iron Solari. To be fair, it also wasn't rare to see junglers and toplaners like Olaf and Skarner build Philosopher's Stone into Shurelya's.

And the mage supports had Kage's Lucky Pick, another GP10 item, but mage supports were usually toxic selfish Nidalee "supports" who refused to buy wards, so instead of getting any GP10 they rushed Deathcap. Kage's built only into the underwhelming Shard of True Ice or too-expensive-for-supports Twin Shadows and Morello's Evil Tome.

The situation changed a little for the better with the introduction of Sightstone, which relieved the supports from some of their gold burden.

#Then, the GP10 items got reworked.

All those old items granted only flat GP10. They had to be dull and unattractive or otherwise every laner would get them. That changed with the introduction of new gold-generating items that required a lane partner to work. After a brief incident with double-Relic Shield toplane, the support landscape changed forever. They could suddenly afford items, and all their kits got changed with that in mind - "healer" type supports got AP ratios on their abilities, including some attempts at having their utility scale with AP. Suddenly slows and speedups on Nami, Lulu and Janna gained strength or duration with Ability Power.

You may notice that Targon's Brace and Frostfang have inherited their color scheme from Heart of Gold and Kage's Lucky Pick, though technically Targon's Brace took place of Emblem of Valor, a health regen aura item withou the GP10. Anyway, the new items are pretty much direct descendants of the old items.

But despite the introduction of AP scalings to utility of Enchanter supports, they didn't really have any good Ability Power items. Not until Censer, which started at measly 30 AP anwyay.

#At one point, the Coin line was pretty strong.

Of course it was just as weak and boring upon launch. Even moreso without the Quests. But people were used to Shurelya's active, and seeing it on Talisman meant that this was the item to build, even if it had zero combat stats beyond the handy 20% CDR. It didn't help that the first version of Frost Queen's Claim was pretty bad, having the Shard of True Ice active (short-ranged mild AoE slow) instead of Twin Shadows (changed later). So the tank supports built Face of the Mountain and reigned supreme over the squishies.

But then the pro players have come up with a genius plan: how about you buy Spellthief's Edge, but never upgrade it. That suddenly changed everything, as you didn't have to invest into the underwhelming FQC and could jump straight ahead into Locket or Righteous Glory.

It was also apparent that enchanter supports are wasting CDR. 20% on Talisman meant that with Ionians they could afford one support item at most before going overboard with it. And with the introduction of Forbidden Idol and Ardent Censer, there were many CDR items to build, even before the addition of "healing and shielding power" stat.

That's when Talisman went down to 10% CDR, but gained 20 movement speed. Which was pretty much the peak of its glory. Nomad's Medallion gained 10 MS as well. Suddenly the item became a perfect fit for many supports, allowing to offset the in-combat loss of movement speed on Boots of Mobility.

That didn't last long, though. A year later, Talisman got nerfed under many metrics, including cost, active cooldown and the removal of movement speed. At the same time Frost Queen's Claim changed its active from Arctic Embrace (meh) to the spooky icy ghosts (yay). Suddenly mage supports became dominant, with Riot themselves promoting Brand in the support role, and even the enchanter players chose the Spellthief build.

That brings us to a few conclusions.

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#1. Ancient Coin is a relic of an old system that doesn't function anymore.

Supports need more than just regeneration (although it's great for long laning). Things changed, support kits changed, and even the "healers" utilize AP now. And Coin is left as the only lane item with zero influence on all-out combat.

#2. Spellthief is just more fun to use.

The coin-grabbing minigame is fun, but not as fun as poking your enemies to death. I admit it's a step in the right direction, though, and not much more can be done here, but the fact remains that Relic Shield and Spellthief Edge directly affect other champions in lane, and Ancient Coin doesn't.

#3. Coin should empower the Warden/Enchanter playstyle more.

Currently Spellthief line grants mana regen, which is a support stat amplified by the new Athene's passive. Coin line, while providing mana through its minigame, does not provide the regen stat. I believe this is an oversight. Especially in sieges, mana regen is necessary.

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Here's the list of buffs I'd consider:

• Bringing back the Movement Speed. 5 on Coin, 10 on Medallion, 20 on Talisman. Make it out-of-combat if flat MS would be too strong.
• If not MS, consider the Healing and Shielding Power stat.
• Something to reward you for shielding/healing. Remember Murksphere from Black Market Brawlers?
• The coin minigame does not affect any other champions. It could. Having it grant some mana and/or gold to your lane partner might be broken, but it would be something. Consider the mana part.
• Add a second final upgrade geared towards Enchanters. More choices to adapt is more power, more fun and more attractiveness overall. Components to consider:
• Forbidden Idol (supports "healer/shielder" style)
• Aether Wisp (because enchanters have AP scalings now)
• Chalice of Harmony (MR counterpart to the armor upgrade that is Talisman)

How would you guys want to buff the Coin?