A Lack of Support Items for Ability Power Champions Who do Damage More Than Healing

ZaionX·6/15/2017, 11:36:26 PM·22 votes·1,561 views

I main Zilean and those who have played him enough can support me when I say that zil does more damage to champs than healing to teammates. My concern is that with how Riot is approaching support items I feel like they are focusing too much on tank support items and instead of creating new items they are changing up other items and how they work to benefit tanks more than ability power users, which can cripple a few champs builds.

You see if you ever played zil you would know he doesn't heal frequently or shield as much like lets say, Soraka , Sona , or Lulu so getting an item that optimizes damage while also supporting your adc is a great find. But now I feel like there is barely any support items that can really help him with that anymore because of the changes Riot made. For example Banner of Command item 3060 this item was once a ap item it gave ap so you could do damage and I believe some armor as a bonus, but than a patch came and it became a tank item. Of course I decided that this item would not work well on zil anymore so I decided to look for something else and found the item that won me close games, Zeke's Harbringer item 3050. This item was perfect it gave me ap and crit to my adc and some armor as a bonus, but in this recent patch Riot has changed it so it is more of a tank item and the new passive has made it so. Instead of giving crit now if I were to have it zil would have a frost storm like shield that slowed enemies, this of course makes it a horrible idea to put on a mage because most mages shouldn't be so close to their target and without the ap the item has lost the main component I was looking for, to deal more damage while also helping my adc.

Now I try again and look and the only thing I really found that can help my adc in a fight was item 3116 and almost every supp has a stun, snare, knock up, etc so I'm not sure about how useful this item would be especially compared to Zeke's Harbringer. My point is I feel that support items for champs that (can) play support that focus on dealing damage rather than heal seems to be lacking now without Zeke's Harbringer champs like, Malzahar, Lux, and Zyra.

There are of course support items for ap such as item 3504 and item 3174, but those are more for healers and the such and on a malzahar or zyra its effects would have no effect.

46 Comments

Tobias Brackner6/16/2017, 12:41:33 AM17 votes

item 3089 item 3003 item 3157

Shablagoo6/16/2017, 3:12:52 AM8 votes

Their is a reason for that it doesnt make for a healthy bot lane man, if they gave more ap they would indirectly buff shield power. It would also make a which mage bot lane does more dmg to make the lane for the enemy adc hell. Just playing against brand which doesnt even need to build ap items is hard enough to deal with along with Zyra. I usually hate adc mains but it is no fun being poked down by a mage along with a cait it is pure cancer.

Jbels6/16/2017, 12:57:03 AM4 votes

Brand and Vel'koz don't need more reasons/ways to ruin bot lane

Elikain6/16/2017, 11:15:03 AM3 votes

I don't think it's possible to make an AP item that's support oriented without threading into mage territory. We've already seen what happened when FQC was good, that good that mid laners simply opted into first purchasing it and using it's already strong gold gen and utility meant for supports for their own benefit, to set up super easy ganks or create impossible situations for the enemy to dodge their skillshots (guaranteeing a used up Flash).

Also, what's wrong with Mejai's? It's a really decent (and cheap) item that relies on stacking it through kills or assists. As this is a risky buy for mid laners (they'd rather have guaranteed damage from raw AP), mage supports opting for this is a really good idea. And seeing if you can stack it is simply done through a purchase of an early game item (Dark Seal).

I buy Dark Seal regularly when i play Zilean or Morgana. Also, certain supports do scale their utility through AP so simply giving them the raw power to boost it (as opposed to passive increases in raw healing + shielding power), would probably upset a delicate balance between damage and utility that exists. Mages aren't exactly a staple bot laners but they do end up in the support position as they might share some traits as supports (CC that doesn't scale with AP).

Somnitsu6/16/2017, 1:20:25 AM3 votes

That's not an accident. Damage supports have high base damages so they don't have to rely to much on items.

k wìx6/16/2017, 10:05:12 PM2 votes

As a Zilean support main playing @ platinum levels, here is what you should be building, and I think there are TONS of options for AP Support right now.

item 2301 Required for any AP support. This is core. item 3003 Zilean is a late-game support, this is a fantastic late-game damage boost with a huge early-game advantage. Being able to never go OOM as Zilean is a very practical skill. item 3165 Required for ANY AP mage or support, period. CDR is especially important to max on Zilean item 3135 Good late-game cheap damage spike. Not as good as item 3089. And you are almost always gunning for late game as a Zilean support. item 3102 Arguably the best item for any AP mage in the game currently. Must-buy. item 3285 Great item for Zilean - get as many movement-speed boosting items as possible - He has one of the most powerful hastes in the game, remember that he pairs best with champions that need to stick on their targets. item 3151 Your best option for dealing with bulky tanky initiate-style teams. Mind the no CDR - you ALWAYS want Max CDR as Zilean.

item 3742 Still probably the best defensive item against attack damage. The movespeed boost is just too good. This allows you to reliably keep up with your hasted targets. It also give you time to react to being exploded by AD assassins. item 3157 Super fantastic in almost every situation. It lets you keep two targets alive at the same time. You will always be a target - if your not, then your not at the skill level you should be. item 3065 Still arguably the best MR item in the game. item 3800 Way better than anyone gives it credit for, it's especially amazing on Zilean because he is one of the KINGS of counter-engage. item 3107 Solid choice, but I personally think its overrated. item 3190 Again, really solid choice. Most Zileans will favor damage over this, because they use their ultimate to turn the tables. item 3193 Underrated - Absolutely Killer if you start becoming the target.

AdeBug6/16/2017, 10:16:27 PM2 votes

So sad not everyone replying here understood you're looking for SUPP items on ap mages with lil to no heal. Even tho it's clear in the title.

chipndip16/16/2017, 12:05:53 AM2 votes

Yeah, too bad no one cares! :D

Fawksea6/16/2017, 5:35:26 PM1 votes

i guess i cant have an opinion on this cus i play zillean by his utility and not his damage, i hate being reliant on damage and as a support you dont get that much, guess i just have too much fun using talisman+99% speedups on my yi or making their fed hecarim go to 100 movespeed :')

SzGamer2276/16/2017, 5:51:18 PM1 votes

Was really hoping they'd shape Zeke's up to be a more solid Mage Support item. Disappointed that it turned out to be a tank item instead.

BigBellBrute6/16/2017, 9:19:50 PM1 votes

Oh so you want to turn the bot lane into a support carry and an ADC support. Check.

No. Sincerely, RITO.

DoktorKaiser6/18/2017, 3:46:01 AM1 votes

No offence, but Zilean already gives me tumor with his instant ulti on a dying person to turn them to full hp for no reason at all, so I would much prefer if he had to actually go full AP and not get both AP and support items. Same for champions I play such as Brand or Morg, if you want AP go and build mage items, if you want to be full support then buy support items. You shouldnt have both.

Thistlemin6/16/2017, 12:08:08 AM1 votes

Feel the same way ehen playing Fiddlesticks Support.

Xion The XIV6/16/2017, 3:32:51 AM1 votes

Have you played against a AP Support Zyra Brand Maokai Those are fun lanes to be against.

BremerdanGorst6/16/2017, 3:32:54 AM1 votes

I used to build rush Iceborne Gauntlet on Sona, but they removed the AP. Much sadness.

10Tickler6/16/2017, 4:36:58 AM1 votes

My current Zil build is something like: item 3070 > item 3003, item 2301, item 3009, item 3157, item 3135 item 3116

Cosnirak6/16/2017, 9:08:30 AM1 votes

Morgana is really feeling this right now. She has a shield and it matters, but the cd is so long that buying shielding/healing items isn't really worth while. She just wants cdr, mana, and ap and truckloads of it all.

But even the typical mage items don't really fit her well except for Zhonya's and it's hard to get enough cdr on her with support levels of gold without buying something that feels really awkward on her.

DeathBurst6/16/2017, 1:15:43 PM1 votes

All the typical Mid Mage items are fine, what do you want more for your Zilean?

Rainfall6/16/2017, 3:09:45 PM1 votes

item 3174 is just inferior to item 3107 and item 3190 . if supports relied on stats more the role would be more fun late game for the support player.