If you are ahead you can afford to upgrade your trinket; if you are behind you can't afford not to.

Holgranth·Jun 25, 2015·74 votes·4,430 views

Upgraded trinkets are hilariously powerful but completely ignored in Bronze and heavily underrated in Silver. I cannot fathom the logic of people who ignore their trinket to get a TINY stat upgrade. A good player MIGHT delay their trinket for one minuet to finish a big item like or but will still usually prioritize getting back to base to upgrade vision ASAP.

If you are struggling to get out of bronze, mid game vision can turn a losing game around or secure victory. C.S. a little bit better, die 5 times or less every game, upgrade your trinket at level 9 every time and you will watch the victories roll in.

There is nothing sadder than watching someone who is 23/13/12 with a basic trinket bitching about a loss when they could have avoided half of those deaths with a bit of vision control.

63 Comments

FirstSergeantBimJun 25, 20157 votes

Yup, that's the truth. I couldn't imagine playing this game without that 250g trinket upgrade. I feel naked without it. I'll usually do my first two backs, look at my level see a level 5 or a level 6 or 7 and think, "Oh man, this is just taking forever to get to level 9". I don't know how anybody can accomplish anything intentional without being able to throw down a couple wards before they help push an area of the map. It just doesn't make sense. Like, how can you expect to out-maneuver the enemy team if you don't know where they all are at any given time? How can you expect to safely take dragon if you don't throw down at least 3-4 wards in the general vicinity?

canpan14Jun 25, 20154 votes

In bronze most don't use vision correctly anyways. I would say in silver/gold is where it makes the biggest difference.

HolgranthJun 25, 20156 votes

If you have vision in Bronze even if you are the only one watching the map you can hard carry, especially in Bronze 2 and below, so many people do idiotic things in random places that you can capitalize on even if the rest of your team are oblivious to the map.

canpan14Jun 25, 20154 votes

I agree but when I watch my friends in bronze even if they pick up the trinket upgrade they forget to use it or just all run around fighting anyways. There aren't many games where it comes it to play heavily at low rankings.

chipndip1Jun 26, 20151 votes

It saved me, at least. It'll work for those that aren't completely terrible at basic concept comprehension in video games. >_>

The TrentJun 25, 20151 votes

{quoted}

If you have vision in Bronze even if you are the only one watching the map you can hard carry, especially in Bronze 2 and below, so many people do idiotic things in random places that you can capitalize on even if the rest of your team are oblivious to the map.

when I play in bronze I get too big of a headache to even play that's Y i don't smurf

ArkenStormJun 25, 20154 votes

Seriously though, I get it ASAP after I hit level 9, the only delay is finishing a big item.

KarcistJun 26, 20154 votes

They're heavily underused in gold and platinum as well.

pepper buddyJun 26, 20152 votes

Indeed, I recently got promoted to gold 5. Expecting people to actually upgrade their trinkets. Usually in silver I was the only one in the whole game to do so. My prayers where answered and now there are usually 2 people per game who do, me included. A whooping increase of 100%.

TwëekJun 26, 20151 votes

It is absolutely astounding how infrequently people upgrade them in Platinum. "Top 10%" - lol.

TotalJerkJun 25, 20153 votes

You'll sooner see your teammates buy item 3135 or item 3035 early vs tank comps than see proper warding in Bronze. I flat out tell my teammates to buy that shit in normals and they don't listen.

Need Gold 4 TentJun 26, 20153 votes

Then again, you also get people who tunnel vision to the point that they don't watch warded points anyway. I saw a Udyr top lane fall for a bait by the enemy Cho after the enemy Lee was seen walking top through a ward that he himself put down. Having vision is useless if you don't watch minimap anyway.

PartholonianJun 26, 20152 votes

No, it isn't. You can still see enemies that are on your screen "hiding" in/behind a warded bush, even with 0 minimap awareness.

How many chases are foiled by someone getting into a bush and the chaser not willing to facecheck? Or turned around when the chaser is willing to facecheck and shouldn't have been? A ward in the bush would have changed the outcome of both plays, even if players could only see what was on their own screens.

Only Play DariusJun 26, 20153 votes

Amen brother. I cannot tell you how much better I do now that I have been enlightened in the way of warding. The trinket upgrade gives you all the advantages of normal wards with absolutely none of the drawbacks. Too bad I can never convince my team.

MacDthreeJun 25, 20152 votes

I can't stress this enough to make people understand. I almost cry when I see people refuse to upgrade it.

Kariu RenaJun 25, 20152 votes

lol no mechanics wins you games there

BetaDude40Jun 25, 201530 votes

If all you need are mechanics, why does every respectable LCS/LCK/LCWhatever team ward the entire map like a fucking christmas tree? Because awareness and knowing where the enemy team is and where they intend on going is incredibly powerful.

The real life equivalent would be like trying to defend London during WWII, except without radar. How are you going to defend against something you have no idea is coming?

ChaoticPineconeJun 26, 20156 votes

Not saying wards arent necessary, but we are talking about bronze here.

in the professional scene, most players are pretty similar mechanically - thats why you dont see too many solo kills, and when they happen its a huge deal. Winning your lane in the pros is being up 15 cs. These players are the best of the best when it comes to mechanics, and there is very little room for improvement. When you find that everybody you play against is the same as you mechanically, then things like team comp, vision, rotations, and shotcalling become the deciding factors for the game.

warding might help you see a gank coming, but whats the point if youre geting 1v1ed every time you enter lane? if you cant defend yourself from the threat in front of you, theres no real benefit in worrying about the aerial strike coming later.

McRuthlessJun 26, 20154 votes

Warding isnt just to avoid getting ganked. Seeing an enemy walking somewhere, especially if they are low hp, can give you/your team time to intercept them (in the river, at a jungle camp etc.) and score easy kills. Having good vision is one of the easiest ways of snowballing nothing into a huge lead, especially in lower tiers where people are usually walking places they shouldn't and are easy to catch out.

BetaDude40Jun 26, 201511 votes

There's more to warding than just protecting from ganks. If you are really losing that bad in solo lane, then warding section of the map may actually help your team a lot more than you just trying to fend them off and dying. A good ward in the enemy jungler's red can allow you and your jungler to catch him out, steal his red, and put him farther behind. Or you can ward a specific objective, that way you can try to steal it from them, or at the very least you will see the timer on it and know when to try and contest it again. Or, hell, keep a few of the enemy bushes warded, and get your Ezreal to snipe that low health guy for you.

The only negative things about warding is that if you go in too far, you can really put yourself out of position, and that you're temporarily away from your lane, which cuts down on experience and gold. Really, though, compared the the sheer multitude of ways one can use wards to their advantage, they are useful at every possible elo, even Bronze. The problem in Bronze isn't necessarily a lack of game knowledge or teamwork (both of which are huge problems on their own anyway), but simply a lack of anyone wanting to ward in the first place (which may be one of the related issues I just mentioned).

Going back to the Battle of Britain scenario, you could try to defend London without radar. You could have the best British RAF pilot in the world, who can shoot down German planes with practically no effort. However, if he doesn't have radar towers telling him when and where the enemies will strike, he won't know where to go or what to do. He could just be relaxing in a pub, eating a sandwich while Focker-Wolfes and Dorniers fly overhead. Even if he just encounters them on patrol, who's to say more won't just go around him? He can shoot down lots of planes, but if he's not prepared, bombs will be dropped, and people will die.

Having an awareness to dark sections of the map when you need it can be way more powerful than most people give credit for. Every time I play ranked in Bronze, there's always that ADC that farms bot lane all the way to the enemy's inner turret and then gets 4-man ganked and dies. If wards had been positioned in that jungle, he/she could have reacted so much quicker, and could have gotten out of there, without a death and lots of CS and maybe even a turret.

For anyone who says "Carry harder" (which I still think is way easier said than done), then you can just prove them right by warding the fuck out of the map. If your three ward limit stops you, get others in on the fun. Get practically permanent vision over the map and make the enemy completely scared to leave their own base, and you will win, guaranteed.

BlastiresJun 26, 20155 votes

{quoted}

Not saying wards arent necessary, but we are talking about bronze here.

in the professional scene, most players are pretty similar mechanically - thats why you dont see too many solo kills, and when they happen its a huge deal. Winning your lane in the pros is being up 15 cs. These players are the best of the best when it comes to mechanics, and there is very little room for improvement. When you find that everybody you play against is the same as you mechanically, then things like team comp, vision, rotations, and shotcalling become the deciding factors for the game.

warding might help you see a gank coming, but whats the point if youre geting 1v1ed every time you enter lane? if you cant defend yourself from the threat in front of you, theres no real benefit in worrying about the aerial strike coming later.

I understand your point of view.

But, like you said, the reason warding makes the difference is because they are around the same strength mechanically. Just like 2 guy in bronze/silver/gold should be. Vision DO make the difference even in lower elo.

Let's say you are Jax top ~~feeding~~ I mean losing against a Fiora. She is now 4/0 and she can even kill you under turret the moment you finish your tp. This 250G won't do any difference. you just can't 1 vs 1 anymore. 250G for a new item won't help you. Like it or not, your laning phase is dead. Just like you, again.

Then, you suddenly missclick on the shop and see the -so rare to see- greater stealth totem. Your hand make you do some #lcs big plays and you buy it. You ward the surronding area trying to not be caught by fiora who isn't pushing because she want you to come back. But then I already hear you say: "This vision won't help ME. To kill Fiora"

No. Let it be clear. Vision is not FOR YOU. Vision is FOR THE TEAM. Your mid laner/jungler/Both of them come and they know for a fact the enemy jungler won't come because of those 3 ward you have put. The enemy Fiora only have 1 ward and she- most likely- warded the river bush. She engage you and you die pretty fast. But she now has her spell on cooldown (even ult if she likes to overkill like me) she notice, too late, she is getting ganked. Your mid laner/jungler/both of them is already on her ass and, since he was doing good mid, kill her.

SHUT DOWN!!!

Your vision just allowed your teammate to do a safe gank knowing no one would interfere and where Fiora would flee if she had been able. But she wasn't because she was lacking vision and understood, too late, what was happening. You get a sweet assist (which give you enough gold to pay back the -oh so cheap- stealth ward) and your enemy got shut down.

YOU ARE BACK IN THE GAME BABY.

TL:DR People, stop being so selfish. This is a team game. There is no shame if you got fucked in lane. Ask one of your ally to help. But make sure he can do it safely. Vision isn't meant for you. Vision is meant for the team and guess what? You are a part of it. Your ward might not help you. But it will help your allies. Which indirectly help you.

#Make The difference Adopt a stealth/vision ward and shut down Fiora.

HolgranthJun 26, 20157 votes

When you don't upgrade your trinket you lose out on vision, when you lose out on vision the enemy team takes baron, when the enemy team takes baron they come back hard, when the enemy team come back hard you lose an easy game, when you lose an easy game you get grumpy, when you get grumpy you never get laid, when you never get laid you become a wizard, when you become a wizard you try to take over the world, when you try to take over the world the nukes fly and when the nukes fly you end up eating radioactive Twinkies.

Don't eat radioactive Twinkies; upgrade to item 3361 !

BetaDude40Jun 26, 20153 votes

Oh god, I remember those commercials! Who made them? Because they are truly brilliant.

HolgranthJun 26, 20155 votes

Direct TV.

When you take objectives your whole team benefits, When your whole team benefits they have hope, When your team has hope they play better, When your team plays better you win games, When you win games you feel confident, When you feel confident you are confident, When you are confident you attract beautiful people, When you attract beautiful people, you sleep with beautiful people. Sleep with beautiful people; take objectives with your teammates!

When you fish for kills in the enemy jungle you get shut down, When you get shut down the enemy team dog piles your team, When your team gets dog piled, your team rages, When your team rages you lose the game, When you lose the game the terrorists win, When the terrorists win you have to greet everyone with "Salaam," When you have to say Salaam all the time you think of Salami, When you think of Salami you go to the Kosher butcher, When you go to the Kosher butcher your neighbor reports you to the regime, When you get reported to the regime you get jailed for going to a Kosher butcher. Don't get jailed for buying from the Kosher butcher, stop fishing for kills in the enemy jungle!

i like pie mmmJun 26, 20151 votes

on that note is there is any reason to buy a sightstone anymore if you can just upgrade your trinket for 550 less gold?

cuddlykitten4Jun 26, 20151 votes

That's a big ole negative. The support is so much better served at this point if they add another real item. Your team has to understand that you are not their ward machine for that to work, but let's get real, support can only put out 6 wards total if you count greens, pink, and upgrading trinket to green. That is simply not enough. Not to mention that in early game support warding has almost no benefit to top lane so he should be warding himself already anyways. It's simply better for the whole team to just upgrade instead. Every 60 seconds your team can drop another five wards? That is pretty op.

PartholonianJun 27, 20151 votes

Yes; you can combine vision and vision denial on the same character with item 2049 item 3341 .

It's not as fun as spending your gold on real items, but it is effective.

Personally I think that having to have less fun in order to win is a sign of bad game design, so I'd like them to put vision items on a completely separate system than gold, but until then, item 2049 item 3341 is the best choice for any support that wants to win the game.

LeeDarkJun 27, 20151 votes

"But, like you said, the reason warding makes the difference is because they are around the same strength mechanically. Just like 2 guy in bronze/silver/gold should be. Vision DO make the difference even in lower elo."

Gonna take issue with that part. It is true of the higher level players, because they have to put everything together to climb that high, but down in the lower MMR brackets, there are vast differences between individuals. Some people are that low because they lack the mechanics. You'll see them get like 50 CS in ten minutes as an "ADC main." They're perfectly nice people, and they aren't stupid, even. They just lack the mechanics. Then you have complete assholes who are mechanically fine, know the game well, but they go nuts within five minutes because the jungler didn't gank when their lane pushed up. They start flaming and never climb because, as good as they are, they demoralize most of their teams.

A lot of different factors make up how good you are at the game. Being REALLY good at some and bad at other can get you pretty high MMR, even. Being good at all of it will give you a chance to go pro. But being bad at a lot of it means you can still be really good at one thing and end up low in MMR.

FastAsHeckJun 26, 20152 votes

trust me it really helps

LeeDarkJun 27, 20151 votes

Because if everyone has the mechanics down like pros, you have to find advantages elsewhere. What works in pro games isn't what works in Bronze through Plat.

And no, the real life equivalent is not the Luftwaffe.

Vision only works if your team actually makes use of it. If you can see the gank coming, but your team just ignores it and lets it happen anyway, that ward was wasted money. And in Bronze and Silver, that is very often going to be true. If you are split pushing and know that YOU are going to pay attention, you can use wards. But teams don't flank, and those players who do aren't seen by their own team. They dive in, their team doesn't follow, and you didn't even need a ward to win that.

AnidanJun 26, 20151 votes

Mechanics are one thing, but unless you're effectively gold+ then your mechanics won't get you as far as you'd like. Unless you have very, very good mechanics that far surpass your current rank (which is probably unlikely, all things said) then you NEED vision, even in Bronze. All the mechanics in the world won't save you from a 3v1 you didn't see coming.

Needless to say, one of the chief problems I run into in my friend's Bronze games is lack of vision. Whichever side has less vision tends to lose, whether it's less vision because the enemy team is actually clearing wards (yes, you sometimes see that in Bronze - it's as beautiful to me as it is to you), or because the losing team just plain isn't putting down vision. The only time I've noted that it isn't true is when more than person (note, not even just one) displays mechanics that are above average for the match in question, whether they deserve better or they just had a great game.

Sergeant StephenJun 26, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Mechanics are one thing, but unless you're effectively gold+ then your mechanics won't get you as far as you'd like. Unless you have very, very good mechanics that far surpass your current rank (which is probably unlikely, all things said) then you NEED vision, even in Bronze. All the mechanics in the world won't save you from a 3v1 you didn't see coming.

Needless to say, one of the chief problems I run into in my friend's Bronze games is lack of vision. Whichever side has less vision tends to lose, whether it's less vision because the enemy team is actually clearing wards (yes, you sometimes see that in Bronze - it's as beautiful to me as it is to you), or because the losing team just plain isn't putting down vision. The only time I've noted that it isn't true is when more than person (note, not even just one) displays mechanics that are above average for the match in question, whether they deserve better or they just had a great game.

Whenever I play support in bronze-level normals, I rarely find any wards to clear unless I see them place it - it's hard to clear wards when no one on the other team places them xD

ModAttysu The PoroJun 26, 20152 votes

I ALWAYS ward. I watch warding guides for the best timing and for the best places to ward, as well as lighting up areas right before a teamfight to not lose focus. I am Bronze 5.

I find myself SCREAMING at my teammates to get upgraded trinket, which is so infuriating because then they yell at me saying "ITS YOUR JOB AS A SUPPORT TO WARD NOT ME."

I get extremely frustrated because no one takes vision seriously, gets caught out, then feeds unintentionally, blaming me for something you could have fixed. I can't be everywhere at once with 50 wards.

Also, as a bonus lesson, I see this SO MUCH in my games.

If someone is caught out 3v1 or 4v1 in jungle, WHAT IN YOUR RIGHT MIND TOLD YOU TO GO THERE WHERE THE 4 ENEMIES STILL ARE AND GET KILLED TOO. Literally, I was Janna, and my whole team one by one went to blue and died by a 4 man gank. Then yelled at me for not coming.

Why would you go there when there is no vision, and without your team, or pinging?

Ariel the CruelJun 26, 20152 votes

Hacking is against Riot's ToS. Wards are map hacks. Therefore, wards (and trinkets) are against Riot's ToS.

Mystery solved. Blame Rito.

gubigubiJun 26, 20152 votes

Someone needs to make like, a league of legends quote book and that title needs to be chapter one.

If you are ahead you can afford to upgrade your trinket; if you are behind you can't afford not to.

Icestar1186Jun 26, 20152 votes

Seriously. All you have to do is upgrade your trinket and buy a pink ward or two and your winrate will spike.

Anecdote: One time when I was playing jungle a ward from botlane caught the enemy jungler trying a level 2 gank. They hit him with some poke and he backed off. I guessed (correctly) that since he hadn't gotten red yet he was headed there next, and my mid and I stole red and killed him. If our support hadn't thought to ward that brush, the enemy bot would have gotten at least one kill, and I wouldn't have gotten any.

cuddlykitten4Jun 26, 20152 votes

I fully agree with you OP. There is no excuse to not put some vision down (reason to slightly delay it perhaps) but by level 12 everyone on the team should have an upgraded trinket. Whether I am top, jungle, mid, adc, or support I always max out my wards on every back. I drop pinks in bushes and throw down greens all over the place like a madman. I'm also notorious for shutting down an enemy gank before it starts because i can see him coming from a ways away and I walk to my tower and dance at him until he goes away. A few times of that and he rarely comes back again. I've also noticed that (in my ELO is all I can actually speak for) people don't know when to use pinks properly. Yes, you use them to watch drag or baron more permanently (til they get destroyed), but you can also use them to grab up shaco when he dissapears. Laning with a twitch? Let him go invisible, drop a pink, and eat him. He'll quickly decide that tricky plays are a bad idea and will try to just outfight you. We all know how that is for an early game twitch. Wukong jumping at you? Drop a pink and hit him while he runs. He'll get one hit off to your two or three. Master Yi coming at you with an alpha strike? Try throwing a pink ward exactly where you are registered as standing, then as he lands step back very, very slightly so you can watch him waste his bonus hit on a pink ward. I'm also a fan of throwing out pinks in fights or under turrets. You sometimes force misclicks, and you can use it to bait the enemy. One of them will be tempted to walk up to it and hit it, even though it's not really hurting anything at that moment and you can smack him when he does.

Diananmen SquareJun 26, 20152 votes

I'm silver myself and it makes me cringe so much when someone goes base at level 9/10 and buy a item 1036 instead of a item 3361 . It's ridiculous how many games I am the only one who upgrades the trinket on my team.

That and the supports that have both item 2049 and item 3340 . Just no..

LICENSED HOOKERJun 27, 20152 votes

that and MAP AWARENESS, PEOPLE LOOK AT THE MINIMAP IF ANNIE ISNT MID AND SHES NOT CONTESTING DRAGON WITH US SHE'S CLEARLY GANKING YOU DONT RAGE US FOR NOT PINGING MIA WHEN WE ARENT LANING ANYMORE

LICENSED HOOKERJun 27, 20152 votes

im sorry, just some rage.

Confron7a7ion7Jun 27, 20152 votes

Trinkets may be the most OP item in the game. 2 free wards that recharge without needing to go back? For 250? if you place 4 wards you have already gotten gold back on it (or 3 Pinks for the pink upgrade). Or Blue trinket being able to ward almost a full Panth ult away. Or Red trinket scanning an entire half of river. If your enemy has stealth every squishy should have a pink trinket upgrade.

Vision doesn't only tell you where your enemy is, it also tells you where they aren't and that information can be just as valuable. Lets say your team goes with a spread of different trinkets. 2 Yellow, a pink, a blue, a red, and a sight stone. That's 9 normal wards, A pink, and the ward from blue on the map at any given moment. I PROMISE you with that much vision you'd also have control over over both scuttles in the lower ranks. That's 13 spots warded. So much vision that if you cant see the enemy you can make an educated guess on where they are.

BUY.YO.TRINKETS!

TotalJerkJun 25, 20151 votes

Vision control is a team effort, one guy can NOT cover everything. If your teammates aren't warding, whether a ward will pay off is basically a 50/50 depending on whether you enemy paths through it or a route you couldn't cover because you hit your max.

The LexerJun 26, 20152 votes

But if your support has SS and you have an upgraded trinket, you can get 5-7 wards on a map at once, which is enough to cover an entire corner of the map

TotalJerkJun 26, 20151 votes

I know. I'm just saying that it's a vicious cycle where you have less incentive to spend gold on wards when no one else on your team is doing it. Vision control itself is a feedback loop where the more you have on the field, the more reliable each individual ward will be.

slôwJun 26, 20151 votes

Honestly you can get out of bronze just by not trying to help your team not defeat themselves...

rank rage is highest cause of death.

EvilRabbittJun 26, 20151 votes

You can get out bronze by just grabbing a super split pusher. =/ Nobody in bronze understands that when you lose a teamfight, you don't try it again.

WolfBVJun 26, 20151 votes

In games the only trinkets I usually see upgraded are my yellow trinket and the supports red trinket.

COWmanLordJun 26, 20151 votes

I always upgrade ASAP as soon as I hit level 9. Now I outward the support in 50% of my games without buying anything, but pinks.

SociopathFriendJun 27, 20151 votes

I'm just pushing for everyone to use their goddamn wards instead of just ignoring the 4 key the entire game. And yes, that free ward lasts the entire game kids- it doesn't stop being useful after the 10 minute mark!

I just get annoyed when I support and if anyone gets caught out, it's my fault for not warding the entire map. Check end-game stats and, "OH, look at that! He dropped 5 wards in the entire 30+ minute game!"

You have a free ward- use it!

(Support rant over)

ƒoesJun 27, 20151 votes

I'm not even ranked yet (but if I finished my promos I'd probably get at least into Bronze IV :l) and I still upgrade my trinkets. What idiot even thinks that they're full build and don't even have an Elixir + Trinket upgrade?