Support Itemization (particularly enchanter) feels rather lacking

Pie Cubed·10/1/2017, 3:55:41 PM·10 votes·613 views

They're all geared around increasing the potency of the ADC. Ardent, Zeke's, Knight's Vow, and Mikael's to some extent (so the ADC doesn't have to get QSS). Take a look at support champions' abilities.

Janna shield gives AD, Nami E works off autos, Braum passive works off autos, Lulu autos, so many all geared around the ADC. Most of the time I don't mind this, since it's best to help the ADC. But if a Mage or assassin happens to be the carry, can't we get some item that enhances their abilities?

I honestly feel one reason people don't like to support is because they're glued to the ADC most of the time.

16 Comments

BALDG1VEN BOOMER10/1/2017, 4:30:21 PM4 votes

Uh no, all of the items listed above except Ardent can be efficiently used to help other allies.

The only reason why supports are so linked to their ADCs is simply because they're the most consistent source of damage that doesn't play around cool downs, so at the end of the day why not help the person who will be doing the most damage.

Until Marksman lose their ability to keep their consistency in fights then there would be a switch in fights of who a support should prioritize to keep alive, but even so there have been games where someone else was carrying rather than my ADC and I have prioritized saving them over the ADC and turned out well.

While enchanter items benefit ADCs the most (Like being able to proc Knights Vow more often) it's also the ADCs who will be doing the most consistent source of damage which is why they're prioritized over other carries, and until they lose that consistency nothing will change.

The Yetii Rider10/1/2017, 8:07:02 PM3 votes

item 3069 , item 3190 , item 3107

There are several items that benefit not just a specific role, but the entire team.

Ariel the Cruel10/1/2017, 11:36:08 PM2 votes

I'll just re-post this as it appears relevant.

[{quoted}](name=Ariel the Cruel,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=VqQee7Nz,comment-id=000b00000000,timestamp=2017-09-14T07:07:11.313+0000)

Support (role) aids the team just as much as any individual. Their job is to not be awesome so everyone else can soak up as much glory as possible. It's a result of insufficient income streams. That's why they buy all the team utility items and get no CS. The only reason they go with ADC is for income optimization. ADC's are the least level dependent, so they get the support. ADC's are more than capable of surviving in a solo lane though.

Support itemization is the same way. Effect doesn't discriminate. Best on ADC's (as opposed to other squishies) because they have the game's highest damage out-put (more healing for the builder). Shields everyone equally based on the user's bonus health. The CC removal benefit everyone equally. Except maybe Olaf. Doesn't get built. Heals everyone equally. Doesn't interact with allies. "Allied basic attack burns" don't stack; the duration refreshes. So attacking more than once every 2 seconds accomplishes nothing. Meaning that Raw AD is the only important factor on that part; crit and AS don't help (if I interpret it correctly; Riot is a tad ambiguous on this one). Like Zeke's, the healing doesn't stack; so high AS doesn't matter. This is the only item that does disproportionately favor ADC though, because the bonus AS benefits their raw AD and Crit. Except for Yasuo and Trynd, no one else really builds crit. MS bonus doesn't discriminate. Shield active benefit everyone equally. Doesn't interact with allies. (I'm probably missing something.)

Support champions also have mostly agnostic kits. (Can even us abilities on the front and back line simultaneously!) (Q favors ranged champions for ease of application) (E favors ranged champions for ease of application) (Biased towards Xayah by design) Passive favors ranged champions for ease of stacking. But allies don't directly benefit from anything in his kit. Shield favors ADC's because it benefit their high AS and crit. W AS bonus favors ADC's because it benefits their AD and crit. Interestingly, release Lulu also gave out bonus AP. But the AS and AP buffs were lost in the war against top lane Lulu. The AS came back as an effort to incentivize her to go back there.

The only reason supports get lumped into the mix is because people fail to distinguish between "core" and "meta" problems. Meta dictates that supports build items to benefit allies. Meta dictates that supports lane with ADC. Meta dictates that ADC's build glass cannon. Meta dictates that supports use their items/abilities so their lane partner can go glass cannon.

When you look at things in a vacuum, there's very little supporting that disproportionately favors ADC's over anyone else.

Athenes Lulu10/2/2017, 12:54:21 AM1 votes

item 3174

GrievousFetus10/1/2017, 4:03:35 PM1 votes

Yeah, the entire enchanter role is in a horrible spot right now. Enchanters are barely even playing the game. Outside of Nami's bubble, and Soraka playing semi-aggressivrly in lane, most enchanters legitimately do not interact with either enemy or ally champions besides their own ADC for most of the game. Positioning wise they're typically behind their own backline, drastically out of sight range of the enemy team screens away. Gameplay wise the majority of their power budget is placed into point and click shields, heals and buffs. Like you said most of their items are about empowering the ADC.

Enchanters should play a highly proactively role supporting their TEAM. When I play support I want to support my team, I don't want to be the ADC's bitch. Currently the majority of enchanters are barely even real champions in their own right, they're a back up reservoir of stats and resources funneled into their ADC. A health battery.

MysteriousBootie10/2/2017, 12:54:52 AM1 votes

item 3174

Teridax6810/1/2017, 9:50:38 PM1 votes

I agree with this, supports should be able to support their team equally, but right now they're just pocket medics for the marksman, which isn't really fun for anyone involved (not even the marksman, who gets hard-focused by the enemy team even more as a result). The fact that support items themselves are so marksman-centric doesn't help, as mentioned in the OP, and I think one potential means of addressing this could be to generalize certain bonuses to apply on strikes, rather than just basic attacks, which could also include abilities. Some supports could definitely be more oriented towards supporting autoattackers than others, but the issue right now is that there are many supports who'd normally be better at supporting frontliners (Ivern or Taric, for example) or even mages (e.g. Karma or Zyra), yet who are still forced to aid marksmen because their itemization doesn't let them support non-marksmen efficiently. Part of this issue can likely only be solved by shifting VIP status partially away from marksmen and onto other teammates, so that everyone has good reason to be focused by the enemy team (and therefore also the allied support), but in the meantime there's a lot that can be done to allow supports to aid non-marksmen.

The Last Ballad10/1/2017, 11:58:19 PM1 votes

Lulu autos

I would like to point out that Lulu's passive is on-attack, so the likes of Azir Diana Kennen can use her e passive as autoing quickly is part of their kit(or at least suggested).