@Riot Can we talk about support itemization?

So I'm a hardcore support main, have been since s2 when supports had to spend all of their money warding, and I still loved it even then. At the moment, however, it's starting to feel a bit bland, not because the role is worse (still <3 the role) but because the itemization is pretty problematic.

Here are what I would say the core issues are:

1) Low diversity. In order to really be effective, I feel the need to buy redemption. Every game. Doesn't matter which support I'm on (even the non-shield/healers), I still have to buy it because the active is just so amazing. The heal is huge, and can shift the teamfight more powerfully than most things supports can do otherwise.

After Redemption, I almost always end up buying locket. Again, the active is just so powerful. And then I buy another item with a powerful active, and another, and another, because it seems like all of the support itemization is built around powerful actives (unless you've got a meaningful heal/shield, in which case you can get away with Ardent Censure, or in some cases, Athenes.) Most of my games end up looking like exactly the same items, not because I don't branch out, but because it's so sadly skewed towards a few choices that I always have to build them.

2) Only support 1 playstyle. It's kind of sad, but the support items are heavily skewed towards anyone with a heal or a shield. The defensive options don't add enough defenses to make you anything close to a tank, and they'll all centered around powerful actives. The offensive options are non-existent (not asking for a support item that transforms you into an awesome damage dealer, but items that have effects which incentivise dealing damage as a support). All that's left is enchanter options, that every support is indiscriminantly required to use. This stifles supports by making enchanters far more powerful than the other classes because they are the only ones who can make good use of the support items.

3) Focuses on new effects rather than augmenting existing ones Excluding Enchanters (who the items can augment because they're not able to be abused by other classes), support classes aren't really augmented in their kits by their itemization. Instead, it seems to just create new effects that exist entirely outside of the support's main kit. Enchanters, for instance, have items such as Censure (which gives heals/shields power and new effects). But what if you pick a poke support? You generally won't have enough money to spec into raw AP. So you buy items such as redemption, or locket, etc, and you can do new things with the active that have nothing to do with your kit. There's no synnergy, there's just "this item can give the the ability to do something cool so you buy it."

Some possible solutions:

**1) Design items which play to more offensive (and defensive to some degree) support choices. ** This requires care, because it can easily be abused by other champions if you're not careful. But here are some ideas of items that might help increase diversity (numbers are just thrown out, focus on concepts rather than my poor skill at numerics):

Arcane Blade (Sheen + amp tome + 800 gold) 50 AP 300 mana 10% CDR Unique Active: Select a nearby champion to be your rune master (60s cooldown) Passive: Runeblade Casting a spell causes your next basic attack to deal 30 magic damage per 10% of CDR, and causes your rune master's next ability or attack to deal 15% more damage to the target for the next 2 seconds (20% for melee).

Chaos orb (Fiendish Codex + ruby crystal + 800 gold) 40 AP 300 HP 10% CDR Unique passive: Store 10% of the damage done by allies to enemy champions who are under the effects of your CC (5% for soft cc). Can store up to (100-400) damage. Unique active: Gifts all the damage stored to a nearby ally, causing their next attack/spell to an enemy under your CC to deal it as adaptive damage.

Just ideas, trying to illustrate there is room for more items which heavily emphasize ally involvement, are low-cost and low stat, but have meaningful effects targetted towards supports. At the end of the day, if diversity is low it means there aren't enough meaningful options. The fact of the matter remains that dedicated support items are far less numerous than the dedicated items for other roles.

2) Siphon power into other options, or siphon power from the dominant options At the moment, because the itemization is so heavily tilted towards a few choices, you're required to buy them. You're silly if you don't rush redemption every game, and in many cases, Locket as well, not to mention your gp5 item which you buy every single game, and those boots (which are probably mobis). There's not a meaingful decision making process because every game is probably going to end long before you have a chance to branch out from the "stock" items that you need to buy every game.

TL:DR Support itemization seems pretty poor at the moment. In a role which is already unpopular, further stagnation is not a good thing. If we increase support item diversity, it will greatly benefit the health of the game.