Out of the many support games in my match history, the only time I ever reached level 18 was in a 51 min game. There are several 40+ min games where I don't even hit 18. I realize gold is better put on some one else, but can I at least not constantly be 2-3 levels behind everyone else?
Pledgie19 votesWE MISS YOU EXP MASTERY
Bladeglory6 votesI'm honestly surprised how many ideas are on this thread and this comment is the only one referencing Inspiration (I think you are)
Just toss a similar mechanic to all three support items.
Inspiration: While within 1100 units of a higher level allied champion, gain 5/10/20 experience per 10 seconds.
Or tie it in with their unique mechanics, like SWORDISHFORCE said.
UNIQUE – SPOILS OF WAR: Melee autoattacks execute minions below 200/240/400 health. Killing a minion by any means heals you and the nearest allied champion for 40/50/50 health, grants them kill gold and if the champion is a higher level, grants you 30/45/60 bonus experience. These effects require an allied champion within 1050 units of the user and consume a charge. Recharges every 60/30/30 seconds. Max 2/3/4 charges.
UNIQUE – TRIBUTE: Spells and basic attacks against champions or buildings deal 10/15/15 additional damage, grant 8/15/15 Gold and, if there is a nearby higher level ally, 5/10/20 experience. This can occur up to 3 times every 30 seconds. Killing a minion disables this passive for 12 seconds.
UNIQUE – FAVOR: Grants 4/6/6 Gold, 2/4/8 experience if there is a higher level ally nearby and restores 5/10/10 health each time a nearby enemy minion dies that you didn't kill (1400 range).
You could also apply it to the Eye items to keep them equal...
iSecret1 votesI'm honestly surprised how many ideas are on this thread and this comment is the only one referencing Inspiration (I think you are)
Just toss a similar mechanic to all three support items.
Or tie it in with their unique mechanics.
You could also apply it to the Eye items to keep them equal...
iSecret1 votesI'm honestly surprised how many ideas are on this thread and this comment is the only one referencing Inspiration (I think you are)
Just toss a similar mechanic to all three support items.
Or tie it in with their unique mechanics.
You could also apply it to the Eye items to keep them equal...
i like this idea!!! riot plz read this!
NiamhNyx9 votesMost im ever behind is 1 level. Maybe you are roaming a bit to much?
Zero Skill Tank46 votesMaybe you are not roaming enough?
HamerDrunk17 votesOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW SCHNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNAP
NiamhNyx11 votesOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW SCHNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNAP
;~: i wanted to ohh snap myself.
HamerDrunk4 votesnow i OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW scHHHHHHHHHHNAP you
Remlap122310 votesThere's a difference between me helping other lanes, and me following around my top laner for two minutes so I'm not two levels behind my jungler.
Best Valor NA5 votesHow do you plan on fixing this?
Put extra XP gain on support items? Other lanes might buy the items.
Extra XP on the support champions? lots of people play supports elsewhere.
You can't complain about something and not try to give a solution.
swordishforce9 votesFor relic shield and spellthief's i think it would be quite easy to just add a small amount of + xp on the passive portion. So everytime you execute a minion with relic passive you get some xp and everytime you auto a champ/building you get a small amount of xp. For coin it would be harder but i think a second passive that give xp if minions die while an ally is nearby would be the best bet (add in a disable for x seconds if you kill a minion).
So Tldr-
Relic shield - Add small amount of xp for every minion executed.
Spellthief's edge - Add a small amount of xp for every champ/building you auto.
Ancient coin - Add a second passive that gives xp if minions die while an ally is nearby would be the best bet (add in a disable for x seconds if you kill a minion).
This is just off the top of my head so ya there could be flaws.
Best Valor NA2 votesThe spellthief's edge one could probably be abused by midlaners still. And depending on the ratios of XP gain between the items it could heavily sway early game fights in botlane, thus making one item being just better then the others, which in turn may also lead to a decline in many support styles.
swordishforce1 votesspellthiefs disables the passive for 12 seconds if you kill a minion so maybe it would be abusable but itd be hard to say without testing.
1374342 votesSpellthief's passive actually doesn't get disabled when you kill a minion with 
. Only on 
and 
.
I can't decided whether I would want that to change though (later game with FQC supports I often kill minions with AOE abilities during fights and what not) but it does mean that mids with it can generate a lot of extra money.
Birefringence4 votesThey could add extra experience to the bandit mastery, that way you wouldn't exactly have to leech as hard.
KillerKell4 votesI use Bandit on a lot of Champions. So that wouldn't fix Support being behind if the other Champions are also using Bandit.
Birefringence1 votesMay I ask on which champions and why? Just curious I never heard of anyone else taking it. Also it should be fine if its conditional like when a lower level than a nearby champion etc.
Bladeglory2 votesI take Bandit for all champs on ARAMs. Dangerous Game is counter-productive there anyway. For SR, I'd say it'd be good on melee champions that frequently involve trading with AAs or On-hit abilities. Five trades and you get a free potion on your next back, not to mention all that loose change when you miss CS.
Honestly, I've just stopped paying attention to whether I have Dangerous Game or Bandit. It's a crap-shoot on which is gonna be more useful in the coming game. It's also led to me discovering that both hits of 
Double-Up proc Bandit if you hit two champions.
Birefringence1 votesI see very interesting, however your argument for why it wouldn't fix support level disadvantages is why I find Riot's class update priorities so frustrating. Support can't even have anything without the fear of other champions abusing it to death, yet dive fighters and assassins are next for the class update...
Bladeglory1 votesMy... what now? I butted in and am not the person you responded to. :P
Look upwards (or search for Inspiration) to see my idea for fixing support levels. EDIT: Oh, I see you suggested the Inspiration mechanic too, nevermind.
Birefringence1 votesOops, my mistake! Dx
KillerKell1 votesSure.
I have an ADC Mastery Page called Critical Carry. So, obviously, works for my ADC, but also for any AD really. Obviously Bandit is more profitable for Melee.
I got 18 in Ferocity (which Final depends on which Champion, if I'm Heavy Crit as in my Critical Carry I take Warlord's Bloodlust, if I'm more sustained Auto Damage without much Crit it's the Fervor of Battle, and if it's some other type then Deathfire Touch)... but then I go 12 Cunning.
Lots of options in Early Cunning. Move Speed vs. Extra Damage to Minions and Monsters. Then Longer Buffs, Bigger Biscuits or extra Damage when a Target is alone. More Damage to Low Targets (Or Mana Regen, but I don't often get that one). Which leads me to Bandit.
So I clear a Wave, pop a Champion for 3 (or 10 if Melee) free Gold. Farming Wave, get the Free Damage when he steps up to last hit, and get rewarded with 3 (or 10 if Melee) Gold.
Also, it's broken. "Ally" INCLUDES Minions. So if I miss a CS, I still get 1 Gold... and if a Relic Shield is used, I get Full Gold, Full XP and 1 Extra Gold.
Since Items Spikes and Level Spikes are the two major sources of Non-Out Play Power in League, I want all the XP and all the Gold I can get. So getting the little 1 Gold Bonus on any CS I may have missed and any CS my Support might Relic Shield for me adds up a tad, but the every 5 Seconds of getting 3 Gold (or 10 if Melee) for Harass adds up super quickly.
I'll give an example where this works really well. While I do this on ADC, it can also work with Any Mid that uses Frost Queen... as poke to Champions/Turrets will also grant Gold up to 3 Times in 30 Seconds, with a 12 Second CD after killing a Minion. So it's a bit harder to get the full deal off, but if you do AoE for Half Health of Minions, the Harass, then Finish Wave you'll be golden... like, tons of Gold. 24 for the 3 hits with Frost Queen up, and 3 every 5 Seconds (or 10 if Melee)... so between every Wave that's an extra 27 to 34 Gold for Harassing. That can seriously add up over the number of Waves you'll get in Laning Phase.
Birefringence1 votesResponded to the wrong post by accident! I see, it makes a lot of sense as both a safety net and if you are trading frequently. Since I main support, I would've lacked that insight as before people mainly went for combat only stats. However, I really like your approach to the lane phase and would like to try it for myself. :D
KillerKell1 votesNo worries.
I'm in Bronze, and generally tend to out-farm the Enemy ADC. The reason I STILL grab Bandit on most of my ADCs is that I can further that Farm Lead while facing a weaker ADC (I won't need as much Damage as them since I simply outplay them) OR I run into some one way better than me that forces me off farm and generally outplays me, in which I then need the Gold just to survive. :D
So I do enjoy the flexibility of the item. Again an 'Equal' ADC, I likely wouldn't use it... but you don't know that until you play and by-the-large I'm either way better or way worse than the ADC I face. Very little middle ground for some reason.
So if I did a Custom with a buddy I know is about equal to me, and we were both ADC, I wouldn't use it... I'd go down the Resolve Tree (much as he likely would) to match the Armor/HP/Regen he's going for.
Oksanaandjoy1 votesQuick fix. The passive gives extra xp when an allied champion kills a minion for each of these three items. They are support items so you rewarded for hanging out with your team.
Aeolian Melodies1 votesQuick fix. The passive gives extra xp when an allied champion kills a minion for each of these three items. They are support items so you rewarded for hanging out with your team.
This fixes nothing at all, the supports who stick to the team are on par with their ADC in terms of xp... it's the supports who roam heavily who need help.
Oksanaandjoy1 votesOn the one hand, I agree with you in that I don't find exp. a problem when sticking with the carry. I understand the issue regarding roaming, but perhaps this is the trade off. Roam well and you'll pick up the assist to keep up; roam poorly and you are punished for it. I don't see too much of a problem with this.
Regardless, my suggestion still stands. Extra xp in lane provided by the support items would buffer you for roaming.
Wimbledofy1 votesIf supports are already near cs then they will already be even in levels. The problem with supports being behind in levels is because they don't have as many opportunities to be around cs.
swordishforce1 votesThe point is that it gives you some buffer so that you can roam if you are getting extra xp for the minions that you are near.
crippler381 voteswasn't that exp gain the reason morde was an issue? that'd just throw him right back in bot. Or make double jug bot lanes a thing.
Mama Soraka3 votesAs it stands, splitting experience in a Duo lane is about a 65%/65% split for an increase in total experience gained over solo XP. What if there was a mastery that let supports up their portion to 75% while keeping the 65% for the other player, but only when the split is between exactly two champions. Right now the only duo lane in the game is bot and if we put the mastery on a slot where the marksman wouldn't want to sacrifice something way more important for them we effectively give the support more XP without allowing an abuse case the doesn't sacrifice something meaningful, severely gimping the abuse case.
10% more might not be the exact number we need, but I think this idea at least has merit.
WingsofGulgazor3 votesthey just need to set aside certain champions as support and super buff there early levels and make it where there later levels don't matter as much and make it where they don't scale to hard with any items forcing them to be support and to so support things. They could also make items that only these champions that are set aside can buy and no one else can. But on the other hand they wouldn't be able to buy most the traditional laning items.
Riot has a problem making champions that are devoted to a role it's like they believe that the champion design is bad if a champion can't play all 5 roles and hard carry and build any item they want. There's no reason they can't buff Frozen fist and make it where ezreal either can't use the item or doesn't get the full benefits of it and same with several other items. Like if caitlyn is weak and they can't just buff her base stats there's no reason not to make BT give her 100 ad like it used to just for her and other champions like her while the item remains the same for everyone else. I mean there's no reason it would make balancing much easier as well and can even allow for more and differnt champion designs and gameplay but riot refuses.
TeCoolMage2 votesAs I said, supports should be balanced around the same level (but not gold) scaling as mid laners!!
Aeolian Melodies1 votesAs I said, supports should be balanced around the same level (but not gold) scaling as mid laners!!
Why should the duo laner be on par with solo lane xp? Makes no sense.
swordishforce3 votesWhy does the adc in the duo lane usually end up with higher levels than the support?
Mysticman892 votesThe thing is supports by their nature are useful even when down a level or two, so it doesn't actually matter.
Besides that, it'd be quite tricky to change anything about xp mechanics that wouldn't benefit other roles and/or the meta entirely.
swordishforce2 votesAll in all it doesn't really matter you are right, but on the other hand doesn't it feel lackluster as support to always be behind in levels and unless the game goes on quite long, to not hit 18.
ADepressedLeona2 votesI understand that supports being behind all the time doesn't really matter. But it doesn't feel good, it doesn't feel good to constantly be starved in every aspect of the game. Like, I wanted to test out that new mastery for aggressive supports, and I instantly switched back after because without the bandit mastery it felt so bad that on my first back I couldn't afford a sight stone.
It just feels bad man.
metaworldpeace102 votesRiot for some reason wants to keep supports gimped for whatever reason.
Magnum Mack1 votesWhat could you implement that maintains a more robust flow of exp for supports that wouldn't be abused by everyone else? A Mastery would just mean supports get overshadowed again by mid laners using it to explode farther ahead to ultimate than laners who don't take it. There are runes for it, but how are they in relation to whatever other runes you would normally use? At the end of the day, most supports are great for utility alone despite level issues. a level 6 morg still has 2 stuns, a slow and with a 
you can increase you cc even more. My adc could be level 10 and my stun and cc are all still there.
Supports will always be behind as far as growth potential goes because Support Champs are the Force Multipliers of League. They take minor advantages and widen them. They take weaknesses and fill them. They are pure utility. With a decent smart support you can take an adc that is behind and turn around a fight to secure 2 kills and even up laning phase before team fights happen. I don't need the level advantage to use my utility as much as an adc or jungler need the level advantage to stay competitive.
LynXerf2 votes[{quoted}](name=Magnum Mack,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=Xnrw9kp4,comment-id=0007,timestamp=2016-02-28T17:58:43.382+0000)
What could you implement that maintains a more robust flow of exp for supports that wouldn't be abused by everyone else? A Mastery would just mean supports get overshadowed again by mid laners using it to explode farther ahead to ultimate than laners who don't take it. There are runes for it, but how are they in relation to whatever other runes you would normally use? At the end of the day, most supports are great for utility alone despite level issues. a level 6 morg still has 2 stuns, a slow and with a
Supports will always be behind as far as growth potential goes because Support Champs are the Force Multipliers of League. They take minor advantages and widen them. They take weaknesses and fill them. They are pure utility. With a decent smart support you can take an adc that is behind and turn around a fight to secure 2 kills and even up laning phase before team fights happen. I don't need the level advantage to use my utility as much as an adc or jungler need the level advantage to stay competitive.
What about a simple "when a nearby minion dies without dealing the killing blow, a small bonus xp is granted" as either a mastery or an addition to the support items. Riot could also boost the xp granted if 2 levels behind a nearby ally. There are tons of ways of introducing this without allowing solo laners to abuse it.
Gnart Even Close1 votes[{quoted}](name=Magnum Mack,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=Xnrw9kp4,comment-id=0007,timestamp=2016-02-28T17:58:43.382+0000)
What could you implement that maintains a more robust flow of exp for supports that wouldn't be abused by everyone else? A Mastery would just mean supports get overshadowed again by mid laners using it to explode farther ahead to ultimate than laners who don't take it. There are runes for it, but how are they in relation to whatever other runes you would normally use? At the end of the day, most supports are great for utility alone despite level issues. a level 6 morg still has 2 stuns, a slow and with a
Supports will always be behind as far as growth potential goes because Support Champs are the Force Multipliers of League. They take minor advantages and widen them. They take weaknesses and fill them. They are pure utility. With a decent smart support you can take an adc that is behind and turn around a fight to secure 2 kills and even up laning phase before team fights happen. I don't need the level advantage to use my utility as much as an adc or jungler need the level advantage to stay competitive.
the mastery was increased exp gains when near a higher level teammate. that would only be useful for supports and junglers (when ganking). since the supports lose out on exp by not always being in bot lane, they will gain extra exp when they are in lane in order to compensate. i don't see how that can be abused, and it would be great for supports
Dengeden1 votesThat's the bloody point... if they wanted XP, they'd farm or chase kills. Since any support who wants to call themselves that won't do that, they'll be underleveled. It's the sacrifice they make. Deal with it and don't dishonor it.
swordishforce1 votesSo your solution is deal with it that's the way it is? lol not much of a solution. Just because something is, doesn't mean it has to be.
Dengeden1 votesYe, while we're at it, why can't dps based adcs do more AP damage? Why can't burst mages do some AD based DPS damage? Why do junglers need smite? So frustrating~
... It's a fact, not a solution. Supports sacrifice individual combat stats for their team, XP loss is part of that package.
swordishforce1 votesad burst mages = ad assassins. adcs doing more ap damage? => Corki.... People use to be able to jungle without smite.
It's not beyond the realm of possibilities to be able to stay near your teams levels for gameplay feel's sake.
Dengeden1 votesOh no, I intentionally worded it in a manner that's impossible.
AD burst mages doing DPS based damage, DPS based ADCs doing AP damage. Jungling without smite ain't a thing now, so there.
It's simply anti-thematic for supports to be on even grounds with their team (in terms of combat stats).
Iqqi1 votesOut of the many support games in my match history, the only time I ever reached level 18 was in a 51 min game. There are several 40+ min games where I don't even hit 18. I realize gold is better put on some one else, but can I at least not constantly be 2-3 levels behind everyone else?
I don't know where I would put it into the game, probably a mastery someplace, but I would make it so the mastery increases XP gained when near an allied champion.