Why is there only 1 AD Support Champion?

Woodakoodashooda·Jun 4, 2019·11 votes·9,597 views

I'm glad we've Yuumi, love the new champion, honest.

But, I find that every role has many options for AD champions except for support. Support only has Pyke. Why is that?

61 Comments

Arcade LuluJun 4, 201921 votes

Because supports aren't supposed to build AD Supports are supposed to mostly build support items etc

Arcade LuluJun 4, 20194 votes

[{quoted}](name=Arcade Lulu,realm=EUNE,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=PKvpl4Le,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2019-06-04T20:48:33.229+0000)

Because supports aren't supposed to build AD Supports are supposed to mostly build support items etc

AP items may give some good stats for some supports But AD items just don't really have that

SanKakUJun 5, 20191 votes

I disagree. item 3071 20 percent more spell casting, and the armor reduction benefits everyone on your team, even your AP champs that right click the enemies affected. item 3161 20 percent more spell casting. item 3078 20 percent more spell casting. item 3153 slowing for 3 seconds on a 60 second cooldown. item 3508 20 percent more spell casting, plus mana restoration. item 3095 slowing for 1.5 seconds, cooldown scaling with attacking and moving. item 3004 more mana allowing for longer times away from base for grueling engagements/journeys.

None of these items give AD/AP: item 3190 shields for potentially the entire allied team scaling with user's maximum HP. item 3109 10 percent more spell casting, user-damage-agnostic lifestealing effect as well as damage mitigation for the designated parnter(partner switch is on 90 second cooldown). item 3025 20 percent more spell casting, more mana allowing for longer times away from base for grueling engagements/journeys, and a slowing zone with 0.5 second longer duration than cooldown. item 3110 20 percent more spell casting, more mana allowing for longer times away from base for grueling engagements/journeys, and also the aura which should be buffed. item 3001 10 percent more spell casting, more mana allowing for longer times away from base for grueling engagements/journeys, and also more magic damage for entire team against enemy champions near the user. item 3222 10 percent more spell casting, more mana allowing for longer times away from base for grueling engagements/journeys, and also more shielding power and a way to purge disables on one allied champion and granting movement speed bonus for 2 seconds on a 120 second cooldown. item 3305 10 percent more spell casting, more mana allowing for longer times away from base for grueling engagements/journeys, and more vision for the team. item 3050 10 percent more spell casting, more mana allowing for longer times away from base for grueling engagements/journeys, and an effect with adjustable cooldown granting increased power to your designated partner's basic attacks both slowing for 2/3 seconds and adding on 30 percent extra damage(although magic instead of physical) for but a moment. item 3107 10 percent more spell casting, more mana allowing for longer times away from base for grueling engagements/journeys, and also more shielding power and a 2.5 second delayed-area-denial effect on a 120 second cooldown.

However, I will comment that many of these items are granting more mana which is irrelevant to many champions LeeSin Riven Renekton Zed which discourages players from picking some otherwise viable champions for supporting their team since so many of the support items they could buy aren't a great investment for them. I think we should get new versions of a lot of those mana-granting support items that give attack speed instead.

All four of those manaless champions would make fantastic supports if only such a great number of support items gave attack speed or AD or even armor/MR/HP instead of more mana which is not good for them. If these are the kind of champions you mean, then I totally agree actually. Mikael's in particular I wish were more useful for Lee Sin, and it would be solid on Riven and Renekton because it would increase their own shielding/healing power if it just gave some other useful stuff. I sometimes see supports buying cost-inefficient items and Zed buying a version of Mikael's like I'm describing would be passable on him, although not recommended, because other manaless champs would be buying it, and he could take the Ravenous Hunter rune, maybe even also Fleet Footwork and Overheal and that kind of thing to justify it.

ButterwoodJun 5, 20191 votes

I've always been tempted to build BORK on Lulu mid-game. Anyone tried it? Seems like it would be fun.

SanKakUJun 5, 20191 votes

It's decent and I used to buy it on Rakan, but after its latest nerf and the changes to Wit's End, I would buy that instead and then the champion is probably running out of inventory slots. However, the current Wit's End doesn't really support the team at all unlike the old one. But that doesn't mean that it isn't a good item for a support champion to buy!

ROYALR3IGNJun 5, 20191 votes

Those AD items are really expensive and don't have as much utility compared to the traditional support items. One of the few reasons Pyke can get away with going AD is because he's encouraged to take kills which helps him make up the difference in gold gen with his Gold sharing mechanic. He's probably the best support champion to hands down carry the game if you're even 1 kill behind early. I really think he's one of those champions that rely on himself to make a mistake to be beaten instead of being outplayed. (Morg being the only exception but she counters basically anyone skill for skill)

Sure you might be able to cap out on CDR easy enough but good luck finishing your Triforce / Spear at any point of the game to be relevant with your support gold gen item. Also you can't start making those items cheaper either as you'll break the game for the other champions that are supposed to use those items normally.

ŚhunpoJun 5, 20191 votes

Then why are mage supports allowed?

SociopathFriendJun 5, 20196 votes

You say "allowed" like Riot has some magic method to keep mages out of support.

ŚhunpoJun 5, 20192 votes

They do, remove the G/10 items. There, done. We never had this issue before Spellthief/Frostfang :)

Anu3isIIJun 5, 20194 votes

You know Zyra has been picked bot even before Spellthief/Frostfang, right?

Besides, you would also nerf most Enchanters that choose Spellthief for poke and automatically lead to a Tank meta in bot lane. Not really the best idea.

ŚhunpoJun 5, 20191 votes

Coin still exists?

Anu3isIIJun 5, 20192 votes

Coin isn't comparable to Spellthief, it is 4 times less picked than Spellthief and it barely affects the laning phase, while Spellthief helps you pressure the opponents.

If you remove Spellthief, you effectively nerf Bard Janna Karma Lulu Lux Morgana Nami Sona Soraka , just because you want to target 2-3 mages that consistently go bot. It would be much easier to simply change how those mages work than removing an item that could turn balance upside-down.

ŚhunpoJun 5, 20191 votes

Lux isn't a support, she's a mage. Additionally, the enchanters you've listed can and do run coin on a lot of occasions.

As for your Zyra point, Zyra was the only support to go bot lane outside of Annie, at least before GP/10 items got updated. Nowadays any and all mages can be sent bot lane and are often better than traditional supports thanks to burst damage being more valuable than general utility, at least in subpar MMRs.

It's not just 2-3 mages, there's Annie Velkoz Lux Zyra Zilean Xerath Malzahar Kennen who all usually go bot lane. That's more than 2-3 mages. Yes, it would be easier to change the mages, but do you honestly think mage players will comply; for one, and do you also think that Riot will competently change them to force them out of bot lane without creating another Ardent meta?

Anu3isIIJun 5, 20192 votes

{quoted}

isn't a support, she's a mage. Additionally, the enchanters you've listed can and do run coin on a lot of occasions.

Lux is played mainly for her Shield, which is maxed first and she even runs Aftershock for more freedom in engaging her opponents with her Snare. She effectively deals less damage than a Poke Support, yet you consider her a Mage...

And no, checking the Pick Rate of that item on the supports I listed shows that Ancient Coin has at most 12% Pick Rate on Soraka. That means 1/8 of her games, which means that it is picked situationally, most probably in very bad match-ups. You can't tell me it compares to Spellthief, which is the main item of all these champions, ranging from 84% to 95% Pick Rate.

As for your Zyra point, Zyra was the only support to go bot lane outside of Annie, at least before GP/10 items got updated. Nowadays any and all mages can be sent bot lane and are often better than traditional supports thanks to burst damage being more valuable than general utility, at least in subpar MMRs.

What do you consider a subpar MMR? And no, generally speaking Utility counters burst. Otherwise, we would see Assassins bursting ADCs left and right, when we know that isn't true.

It's not just 2-3 mages, there's who all usually go bot lane.

Out of those, only Annie Zyra Zilean Lux see consistent play in the bot lane, two of them seeing play from the very beginning of the game ( Zilean Zyra ). And do you really consider Zilean a Mage? I mean, he is picked for his Ultimate and overall Utility, there are better Poke Mages than him...

Lux : Recent support pick, Maxes her Defensive Shield first, has various CCs in her kit, generally focuses on Utility over Damage (builds item 3504 item 3174 item 3107 when Support). I would argue she is an Enchanter.

Velkoz Xerath : Poke Mages focused purely on bullying their opponents. Rarely picked because of their lack of defensive tools, making them easy targets to engages. Generally resurface when Poke ADCs are meta.

Malzahar : Was a trend until Riot put him down. He lacks both Utility and Damage now and is mostly picked Mid right now for his Safe laning phase. The reason he went Support was his unbalanced rework in the first place.

Kennen : What is Pikachu doing here? He saw some pro play (which may have led to some surge in play rate), but he is barely picked at all, especially as a Support. He builds Spellthief's in at most 2% of his Games...

That's more than 2-3 mages. Yes, it would be easier to change the mages, but do you honestly think mage players will comply; for one, and do you also think that Riot will competently change them to force them out of bot lane without creating another Ardent meta?

Mages will move from bot lane if they are made weak enough in that lane. Annie has seen a significant drop in performance when they nerfed her Base Damage and increased her AP Ratios (essentially targeting her Support role while keeping Mid mostly the same).

One of the reasons these two Zyra see consistent play in bot lane is their huge Base Damage coupled with low AP Ratios, making AP less important to itemize on them than the usual mages. If they do the same change they did for Annie to them, they would definitely be weaker on Bot while probably having succes Mid (depends how extreme the change is).

And I don't know what you mean about Ardent Meta, that was a thing only because the item was busted, not the champions. If Mages were removed from Bot, it would only lead to a increase in Pick Rate for all Utility-based classes (Enchanters, Catchers and Vanguards).

And really, only Zyra seem major problems, followed by Annie and sometimes this duo Xerath Velkoz (which is considered troll by many people, but that is a subjective matter).

Rıots Bad ClientJun 5, 20191 votes

[{quoted}](name=Arcade Lulu,realm=EUNE,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=PKvpl4Le,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2019-06-04T20:48:33.229+0000)

Because supports aren't supposed to build AD Supports are supposed to mostly build support items etc

Its not really "Supp Aren't supposed to build AD", its that They cannot. (Because you can flip that, "Because supports aren't supposed to build AP" Zyra, Brand, velKoz, and Lux all do build AP Support, because there is items help support that.

SO, Why isnt there AD Support items?

===Some random AD Support items quick suggestions===

===ITEM ONE=== Like an Item that gives 20AD and 380HP. And the passive: you Gain Bonus AD to enemy champions Only, if the champion your connected to deals damage to enemy champions. And the more damage they deal, the more damage You'll Gain from the passive. So if they're taken out, you wont be dealing anything. (IF the Connected champion Dies, You lose ALL damage you get from the item Including the base damage)

(So if they deal 50 Damage, You'll gain 1-4 BonusAD Based on HP) Poor Numbers but idea is there.

So this way you can have a double ADC Lane, as long as the big adcs is dealing the deeps You can Deal actual damage while Building Support. And it isnt just Double adc, things like Darius can build this item as a support. (And you

(how I tried to make it NOT appealing to Main Adc.

You cannot get this scaled enough if you connect it to your support.
Scales off HP, so common support items like
If your partner dies, You lose Any damage it does give. So a dead adc item.

===ITEM TWO=== 25AD and 150Hp. And the person you are connected to, deals damages You may dash to the location(like Ivern) Melee range) and get bonus damage If you dash to that target and have more Max Hp then that target.

How I tired to make it NOT Appealing to adc

You dash Melee Range if you try to right click target your target is hitting)
You only gain Bonus damage IF you beat the max hp of the target, so You wont be dealing much damage to tanks.

Its rather difficult to come up with AD Support items without making them appealing to the Main Adc.)

IceKingChernobogJun 4, 201914 votes

Pyke isn’t a support he’s just an assassin with a hook and a stun.

KrofinnJun 4, 20199 votes

Why IS there 1 AD support? That should not be a thing at all.

AckelopeJun 5, 20194 votes

why not?

ModKnightsKemplarJun 4, 20197 votes

Basically because the AD support fantasy doesn't make a whole lot of sense. What utility spells could possibly scale with AD?

Meanwhile, it makes sense for Lulu or Janna's abilities to scale with Ability Power, which is shorthand for magical power in Riot's game, essentially. Side effect: many support items give AP and that means mages have made their way down there, but that wasn't exactly intended originally. It's not supposed to be a damage role, which is why AD doesn't fit there very well.

D357R0Y3RJun 4, 20194 votes

we have in league shields who scale with ad

nothing prevents riot from making a support that can shield allies while having ad ratios

but... ardent!!"

taric has a shield, and almost never buys ardent.

Anu3isIIJun 5, 20191 votes

{quoted}

?

we have in league shields who scale with ad

nothing prevents riot from making a support that can shield allies while having ad ratios

taric has a shield, and almost never buys ardent.

The only Shields that scale with AD are Riven's E (self-cast) and Aery (which is most of the times randomly applied by things like Jayce E).

Taric is a also a Tank, whose Healing and Shielding capabilities scale with HP. Most of his items are classical Utility items, which generally have some HP item 3401 item 3118 item 3107 , scale with HP item 3190 and the only major exception being item 3050 which is built for its power-enabling and other stats.

Tanks at least have multiple items to support this play style, while AD champions don't really have (you could argue that item 3147 item 3022 item 3071 item 3123 are decent, but they cost a lot and pale in terms of utility compared to any other support item).

In short, I can't really see how they can add AD supports without making some supportive AD items (or simply make the champion ignore its scalings). Pyke gets away with it because he goes full assassin, providing only kill potential while CC-ing opponents.

D357R0Y3RJun 5, 20191 votes

kai'sa's shield scales with AD as well

Anu3isIIJun 5, 20191 votes

Which is a self-cast in a not so spammable Ultimate. So Aery is the only thing that could Shield Allies with an AD ratio and its AD users don't run it for the Shield.

D357R0Y3RJun 5, 20191 votes

I did not say that kai'sa could shield allies

I said, in league we have shields with ad scaling nothing prevents riot from making a support that has a shield on ally with an ad scaling on it

Anu3isIIJun 5, 20191 votes

I agree with you that they could theoretically introduce supports with AD scalings, but the game lacks the tools to support this play style. If they introduce other support items for ADs (like old Zeke's), I could see new AD supports.

Otherwise, they would most probably be designed to abuse current AD items or function without any AD, defeating the purpose of having an AD scaling.

SanKakUJun 5, 20192 votes

Yeah, Taric could have his AP scaling changed to AD and he's still go on buying armor. And then Sterak's and Frozen Mallet would be too strong on him, but at least those AD + HP items could be an excuse for them to lower his base values a bit. The main reason they are as high as they are is they make his itemization really bad, even armor items for scaling are terrible items in themselves that are only bought normally on other champs as a desperation tactic to keep from feeding so much. I get item 3157 item 3512 item 3047 item 3190 item 3026 item 3025 item 3143 and usually that's it. Maybe get a item 3742 item 3800 item 3050 sometimes on the rare champion that it has great synergy for, but mostly the armor items are bought to counter the enemy champions.

Pika FoxJun 5, 20192 votes

{quoted}

Basically because the AD support fantasy doesn't make a whole lot of sense. What utility spells could possibly scale with AD?

Meanwhile, it makes sense for Lulu or Janna's abilities to scale with Ability Power, which is shorthand for magical power in Riot's game, essentially. Side effect: many support items give AP and that means mages have made their way down there, but that wasn't exactly intended originally. It's not supposed to be a damage role, which is why AD doesn't fit there very well.

AD support fantasies make sense. Just gotta design for it. Pyke scaling off AD makes perfect sense, even if janna does not.

Thresh could be swapped from AP to AD and still make sense as well. As could taric.

ModKnightsKemplarJun 5, 20191 votes

I'm not sold.

Could it be done? Sure. But Pyke works because of a unique kill-sharing mechanic. If they start giving that to everyone, that's going to feel very dull. And if they have too many different mechanics to mitigate kill-stealing, that's also going to feel dull.

I also totally disagree that AD fits Taric's fantasy at all. If he built squishy, nothing about his champion would function well. His entire fantasy, even going back to pre-rework, is that paladin-esque tanky boi. It just doesn't fit with AD. There is a champ that is quasi-paladin that does the offense fantasy – Garen. So again, I see no obvious way to insert a champion here without diluting other characters present.

Pika FoxJun 5, 20191 votes

{quoted}

I'm not sold.

Could it be done? Sure. But Pyke works because of a unique kill-sharing mechanic. If they start giving that to everyone, that's going to feel very dull. And if they have too many different mechanics to mitigate kill-stealing, that's also going to feel dull.

I also totally disagree that AD fits Taric's fantasy at all. If he built squishy, nothing about his champion would function well. His entire fantasy, even going back to pre-rework, is that paladin-esque tanky boi. It just doesn't fit with AD. There is a champ that is quasi-paladin that does the offense fantasy – Garen. So again, I see no obvious way to insert a champion here without diluting other characters present.

Not all AD based champions are squishy. Juggs are mostly AD, and they build tanky. Taric would still build tanky, but his entire playstyle is beat them over the head with a mallet. His melee DPS is extremely high.

Best Ekko NAJun 5, 20197 votes

The real answer to your question lies in the fact that almost nearly every AD champion that could support is melee and they do not have the required base damages or stats in order to be useful with a low income.

There are a lot of champions who theoretically could be AD supports, but they are not viable due to the meta of the game itself. The most commonly played champions bottom are squishy ranged AD scaling carries who generally turn into dangerous threats when fed. Knowing this, there are two different styles used to go with them:

Champions who can 'protect' the carry and
Aggressive champions who can help snowball the carry

Most real supports are given high base damages and numbers on their abilities to compensate for the lack of gold income which they will have. This is paired usually with low scalings to prevent them from being abused in other lanes. In the case of most AD champions, they're designed the complete opposite with low base damages but moderate to very high scalings.

As for why Riot doesn't make AD scaling supports, AD is cheaper and more effective than both Tank items and Ability Power items currently. This is also not to mention that all auto attacks use Attack Damage. Even if Riot makes a "balanced" AD support champion that champion will always be better in a solo lane.

When you think about what I said above, basically the champion would need really high base damages (think about Pyke's ultimate) in order to be successful as a Support. Players are always going to take advantage of this in a solo lane since other champions are not designed with the same high base damages. If Riot makes the champion have both low scaling and low base damages, they will be useless and never picked, so there wouldn't be any point in making the champion in the first place.

ChaddyFantomeJun 5, 20191 votes

Very articulate post. 10/10 well said. Personally, i like to Run J4 Support. He can run Redemption and everything lol.

xDogMeatxJun 4, 20196 votes

imagining new items adcs can abuse ensue

Sir SaltarinJun 5, 20191 votes

Ohhh I want that

Around999PeopleJun 4, 20194 votes

I have often wondered this myself. I hope the success of Pyke helps them imagine more ad orientated supports.

SukishooJun 4, 20194 votes

Supports provide utility so having them scale in AD means they'd have damage items more so than the support or tank items that exist.

Sure, there are mages that also fill the role though they aren't really "supporting" a lot of the time. So when major supports scale in AP it's also to somewhat reduce the damage output they have as when they build traditional items they only get a limited amount of AP from them.

Plus a lot of the time people try to find other places to play some of these champs when Riot likes to try and hold them in a specific role. Since Pyke is an assassin he can sometimes be found in other lanes when it wasn't his intended purpose.

Moonfall SaberJun 5, 20193 votes

I had a paladin concept a while ago that heals like a lesser version of sions old ult passively.

4th3t0sJun 5, 20192 votes

this is ideally what I would have wanted with Taric ; but the main problem is outside special cases like Pyke 's passive, there's no AD itemization that can be applied defensively. Were it not for the fact that Pyke shares gold on kills, he wouldn't even be called a "support" any more than Blitzcrank (who was initially a solo laner).

RevaliJun 5, 20192 votes

The problem with AD supports as others have said is mostly the lack of itemization, if you're looking for more AD oriented supports, try some tanks out, Sion Trundle Poppy all come to mind.

If you want to meme as an ad support well you could always play Illaoi

edit: lol "ad assassins" I meant ad supports.

HahahahyenaJun 6, 20191 votes

i completely forgot about support Trundle even though that was my favorite thing to run when it was viable... seems like a fever dream now

Zed geniusJun 5, 20192 votes

You forgot about Yasuo support

PopcornBunniJun 5, 20192 votes

It's mostly because the damage in a duo lane would be redundant. Early game resistances are more impactful than later, so making the enemy lane unable to itemize with resistances is a powerful reason for AP supports.

That said, there are plenty of viable physical support options

Poppy Ornn Sion Volibear Trundle have al been strong support picks in the past, and others can be played with AD to a degree of success as well -- Taric Thresh

Sea Slug MenaceJun 5, 20191 votes

does it really matter?

not like TahmKench kench built ANY AP

what do you mean by AD support?

Tahm kench basic attacks quite a bit i'd consider him AD

SanKakUJun 5, 20191 votes

Kench barely has any AP scaling, so buying AP/AD doesn't really matter for him. Buy it or don't buy it, that kind of stat should be an afterthought to the player if playing as him. It really triggers me when someone tells me I shouldn't be buying stuff like item 3156 item 3026 on a champion that doesn't scale with AD for their abilities. Like oh really? You would rather your ally die, giving up gold and potentially objectives instead of buy an item that can win you the game? You(the player that flames such a purchase) just want their burst damage to be more predictable so it's easier for you to KS them without making it look like you're AFK or letting the enemies get away sometimes, admit it.

Now I'm not saying Kench or any other champion that doesn't scale with AD on their abilities should be buying an entire inventory dedicated to AD, but AD in particular is not bad for any champion in the game so 1 or 2 AD items on such champions is not harmful and sometimes it's definitely gold efficient and the best choice possible.

GinoSoldierJun 5, 20191 votes

Until there are viable and common AP picks for all roles, Support can skip on having AD.

Pika FoxJun 5, 20191 votes

@OP; mostly because most adcs are AD (ziggs and heimer being the two main common apcs, with some vlad and karth thrown in) and utility skills generally having been AP based since league's creation, so items have been built around that. It would be fairly difficult to get an AD support to work without redesigning items entirely. Pyke had to kinda cheat with his passive.

BeatzBoyFTWJun 5, 20191 votes

Look at Pyke in proplay & tell me where he's getting played now....

BremerdanGorstJun 5, 20191 votes

My best guess is they're worried about making them too feast or famine. If you have good numbers on abilities and base stats (particularly auto damage) and can consistently make use of them, they'll be overbearing from ahead. So you have to hit something. If you hit numbers, they can feel unsatisfying to play. So that leaves reliability. Skillshots work well for CC, but that's just Nautilus or Leona then. Who are probably magic damage so that they can't build things like Black Cleaver. As for autos, reliability pretty much depends on range, gapclosing, and tank stats. Putting aside range for the moment, the ability to close is pretty standard at this point. That leaves tank stats. Which brings us back to hitting numbers, which will probably get balanced around a tradeoff between damage scaling and tankiness. Which... sounds a lot like Pyke, in retrospect.

Metal JannaJun 5, 20191 votes

I hear Irelia support used to be a thing. Kinda feels like she would match well with Jinx/Cait and their ability to extend momentary stuns by dropping a trap directly onto the enemy.

GreenetteJun 5, 20191 votes

{quoted} How I tired to make it NOT Appealing to adc

You dash Melee Range if you try to right click target your target is hitting)

nightmares of melee form Tristana

Anyway, I think it could work thematically but it would fall apart in game. There's plenty of inspiration for abilities:

P: Allies in a cone behind you take (think MF Q) x% less damage, scaling with ranks in R up to x%

Q: Low CD Shield Bash, auto attack reset, each time it's used it applies stacking armour shred up to 15%

W: Rally or war cry skill, give your allies move speed/shield/whatever

E: Long range dash with a mini-stun at the end (range like Thresh Q lol), if it connects with an enemy grants a shield/damage reduction/move speed/whatever

R: Redirect x% damage to allies unto yourself, up to x% additionally gain a shield for each ally nearby, 100 per ally increased by hp/armour/whatever. At the end of the effect, gain move speed based on how much damage you've mitigated 10% per 300 damage mitigated or something.

There, we have a crusader or champion or whatever you'd prefer to call it. A kit made in 10 seconds that could, with lots of tweaks, be that of a support champs. Scale all of his damage off AD and scale his utility off a combination of AD and HP or armour. Cool. He would still build full tank, regardless of having AD scalings, maybe a Steraks or Cleaver for the HP shield and additional armour shred.

The problem with AD supports is that they can go 2 ways only - the Pyke route of being an assassin, in which case they needed to be heavily gated by CD's or mana costs etc etc or else they become too unbalanced against traditional bot lanes. The other route is Leona/Braum/Taric types who have a great kit of engaging and staying in the fight but don't care about damage, they just want to survive. They all have kits that synergize with their autos and spells that empower said autos but none of them build AD items, except trashcans building IBG and Titanic.

Any AD supp would be an assassin or a champ who, while they might scale off AD, don't care because their kit is designed to support others and a Duskblade just doesn't fit that bill.