So...what if we gave supports a special summoner, and powerfull items attached (like junglers)

Escheton·Mar 6, 2017·2 votes·1,215 views

The problem with giving supports nice things is always that other lanes can take it also. But while there were times where people took smite and the items that come with it. Balancing around it has gone well enough. And smite has great strategic value so giving up your summoner was worth it. Especially for dualers and red smite. A support Oriented Summoner spell (low cooldown clairvoyance maybe?) attached to items that don't add offensive power would work I think.

Perhaps add a method of trading roles in the lobby for autofill, and actually lock smite and this summoner to where you are locked in on.

Thoughts?

12 Comments

HethaleanMar 6, 20173 votes

It has a difficult Summoner competitor in Exhaust.

It's such a powerful dueling tool to help save your ADC that anything that would make it more enticing will likely have other lanes guarantee to use it, or it'll be too niche and no one will actually want it.

Love the idea, and I wish they could have something. However, I think that the reason they have not came out with anything before now is because of how difficult of a design space it is.

coeurloyalMar 6, 20171 votes

Well put; my thoughts exactly (though likely better phrased).

NalisaiMar 6, 20172 votes

Itemization isn't really a problem as a support. The problem is more that you're expected to build certain items, and if you don't you're either trolling or don't know how to build.

A support specific item like the jungle knives might make the role more appealing to some, but there are easier fixes.

First off, dis-assign lane roles. The idea that you need a ranged champ and support bot Lane is not nearly as important as team comp. If the last several weeks haven't pointed that out hard to everyone with AP carries and support mages, I don't know what will. A marksman mid has worked just fine in the past, and if you were to put Zed or Kat or Talon bot with a support (especially an aggressive one like Syndra or Annie), how fast would a team win? It just requires your team being on the same page.

Secondly, it takes a certain mentality to really play support. An attitude of 'the team comes first' versus 'i suck I haven't gotten any kills and I've died 5 times'. Supports job is not to get kills, it's to set up your partner/team for kills.

Thirdly, get everyone else educated about the support role. The entire last paragraph applies in reverse to teammates of supports. Know that their role is to set you up or save your backside, not to nuke the other team. Yes, there are some champs who can occasionally scale that way, but they're few and far between, and largely depend on the skill levels of everyone in the game.

Fourth, grading system needs an overhaul. It's next to impossible for a support to get an S these days, mostly because when you play the role properly, it's not worth an S unless you never die. I've had games in support go 3/6/36 and gotten an A, when I'd call that a damned good support score. This is the major reason why supports won't die for their team and it needs to be fixed.

There's more but I'm out of time to type.

cuddlykitten4Mar 7, 20171 votes

Incorrect. I am a support main and can get S's for days. I'm currently leveling up Malphite as my little mastery project. I believe 4/5 of my last games were S's. I got Morgana to lvl 7 about 7 games after she hit lvl 5. She's also someone I recently decided to level up. I tend to get an S approximately 10% of the games I lose as support or ADC. The trick is that you have to understand what actually applies to the rating. It's not all just about KDA. Also, if you get 6 deaths the odds are that you probably aren't getting an S. You'll have spent too much time off the field during death timers to have accomplished all you'll need to do. Only die when there's no way to not die, be all up in your enemies busines, ward the hell out of everything, be at every tower kill you can realistically get to, and learn how to last hit with supports so you can farm when you're alone. That's pretty much all there is to it as far as I can tell. All the rest falls into place naturally.

NalisaiMar 7, 20171 votes

{quoted}

Incorrect. I am a support main and can get S's for days. I'm currently leveling up Malphite as my little mastery project. I believe 4/5 of my last games were S's. I got Morgana to lvl 7 about 7 games after she hit lvl 5. She's also someone I recently decided to level up. I tend to get an S approximately 10% of the games I lose as support or ADC. The trick is that you have to understand what actually applies to the rating. It's not all just about KDA. Also, if you get 6 deaths the odds are that you probably aren't getting an S. You'll have spent too much time off the field during death timers to have accomplished all you'll need to do. Only die when there's no way to not die, be all up in your enemies busines, ward the hell out of everything, be at every tower kill you can realistically get to, and learn how to last hit with supports so you can farm when you're alone. That's pretty much all there is to it as far as I can tell. All the rest falls into place naturally.

Like I said - "This is the reason supports won't die for their teams.' If I die for my team, I sacrifice my S, but my job, specifically, is to do everything I can so that my TEAM gets fed and doesn't feed. If that means dying to save my ADC/APC, then I should, but because of the grading system that's in place, it also means I have to sacrifice my 'score' to help my team.

cuddlykitten4Mar 7, 20171 votes

That's not necessarily true. I still make sacrificial plays when I deem them necessary. Sometimes you can get the whole team out without dying though if you get creative. Also, if you make sure to not die for no reason early then you can afford to sac yourself out a few times later without losing your S in the deal. I've learned to abuse those plants that send you flying. They make a huge difference in how many people on your team can survive if you can get your enemies to step on the right spots. There are other tricks you can use too. That's just the one I'm currently working on myself.

CancerBasedGodMar 6, 20171 votes

The problem is smite is only useful in the jungle, while a support spell could be used in any lane. Maybe if it were a spell you could only cast on allies... (Ivern would still build it in jungle with smite though, lol)

GeauxxMar 6, 20171 votes

This.

Unless they made smite broken af in some way again... anyone remember shyv top with smite/tp? or the godly ap jungle item on ez that was a garunteed win in the mid lane?

ElindiirMar 6, 20171 votes

Ahhh those days when devourer was so good that the top was farming their jg too?

venomous frostMar 6, 20171 votes

sometimes I wish riot would just quit their delusional idea of "not enforcing meta" and make class specific items.

coeurloyalMar 6, 20171 votes

Honestly, as time goes on it feels more and more like this is the only solution. Cutting a clear division between bruiser/adc and mid/supp would clarify so many gameplay issues. It would add pretty heavily to the game's learning curve, but balance would be so much easier in the grand scheme of things.

Fuh QueueMar 6, 20171 votes

I wonder if a new summoner could be implemented that ONLY worked in a duo lane. I'm not sure exactly what it would be or how to balance it, but making a summoner that grants your ally something useful could work. That item would be support exclusive and could have new items coupled with it.