Thoughts on Support Item Changes
The quest and new passive are interesting but weird. The changes to the passive does not sound very good for the champions that currently use this item line. Soraka is by far hit the hardest as it no longer grants health when minions die. In addition she will have the hardest time collecting coins due to her inherent squishiness and lack of mobility. The extra mana regen may be useful and encourage some supports to want this item that previously did not. The quest reward is...weak but I can see some level dependent supports liking the reward. The biggest change come from the Talisman of Ascenion in that the movement speed boost has been risen from 20% to 200%. This is huge for supports that want to roam and like a bit of tanky stats. It is almost as if Riot is trying to custom fit this item to Rakan. I believe that this item will see even less play once changes come but some corner cases will still pick it up.
The new quest reward is huge. I haven't seen the numbers on the movement speed boost but even if it is 10% that is a great reward. Many supports have a means of poking and some can abuse this MS boost to great affect. Sona in particular will love this benefit and will likely see a lot more play once it hits as it gives her an easy means to gain movement speed to escape. Again, I don't know the numbers on the movement speed boost but even a small amount can help a lot. They are also increasing the AP but lowering the mana regen. I worry that this will push Frost Queens Claim back into the mid lane but I am glad to see more AP for supports. The lowering of mana regen will be felt a lot by some supports that like to poke frequently. Overall, this item will improve the ability of supports that purchased this even more and some other supports may be likely to pick it up.
The only thing added to the Relic shield line is the quest. Of all the quests this one sounds the strongest but again I haven't heard anything about numbers. If it is really weak and only grants a super small shield of like 50 or 100 it'll be nice but not amazing. On the other hand if it is around 400 it'll be insanely strong. This quest will probably be the hardest to balance for Riot as it would be too easy to make weak or strong. This could be a huge boon for tank supports or just a consolation prize. If it is strong enough I bet we can see a lot of changes in the meta for bot lane. Leona, Mordikiser, and Alistar could become great picks if the quest is strong enough. This item line will be good or bad depending on the shield strength but overall will improve the lives of supports that already purchased this which is a good thing.
When it comes down to it, I think only Relic Shield and Spellthief Edge hit the mark on improving the play of the supports that like them. Ancient Coin is in a weird spot because the stats and benefits don't really help the supports that like the item and the new way to gain gold has become dangerous for those supports making the item more dangerous for less benefit (Rakan will love the item though). I suspect that Ancient coin will get some quick changes after it is shown people just don't like the item and nerfs to Spellthief edge if the item line starts to go into mid lane again. Relic Shield will either be too strong making nerfs required or its quest will just be an afterthought that doesn't add much to tank supports.
This item line is so bland I just feel it has no identity. The stats it gives are...weird and don't really support passive style supports to begin with. I think this item line is in some serious need of a major rework to fit its intended support champions. Soraka, Janna, always seemed to me the ones that wanted the item line but now...I think I would just go spellthief. I never felt like they gained anything from the Ancient coin line and I think I will avoid the item line altogether now when compared to the power of the other gp10 items. The 200% movement speed bonus is cool but this feel like Talisman would benefit tanky/engage supports more then a passive support like Janna or Soraka and tank supports already have Relic Shield line which is a better tank support item.
