The support role needs some love. I have a suggestion! @RiotMeddler
The Support Role needs some love. It's not only the least popular role, but it's also the reason behind longer queue times. I saw this post on the boards and I think it really deserves some extra attention:
I believe Sightstone has a direct impact on making support the least desirable class to play as for many players. The problem is that it doesn't feel rewarding to buy even though it is quite valuable. Buying it feels like a gold sink to the most gold-starved class. You may have just been effectively poking the other marksman in lane and hoping to come back to continue that pressure but... they went back and bought too... and now they are actually stronger and you have to be more scared of them than they are of you. People don't want to be, essentially, forced to buy an item that makes them feel as though they aren't becoming more powerful. -Bonipherus (NA)
The biggest issue with the support role, in my opinion, is vision and the sightstone. The support role are the de facto ward bots. I don't see this changing because supports have always been the mastermind in the vision game. However, I think vision could still use some big changes. As it is right now, it's very hard to balance support items without making them too powerful in other lanes.
My idea is a very simple one. Why not make certain support items gated behind a summoner spell?
- Bring back the Clairvoyance summoner spell (adjust it though to make it more or less powerful)
- Add Green Wards back into item shop
- Remove the warding trinket but make it into a "ward slot"
- Retain the 3 Green and 1 Vision warding limit
- Green Wards are free for anyone with the Clairvoyance spell
- To buy Gold Income Items, you need to have the Clairvoyance spell. BAM, support items can actually be balanced around the support role now, not how strong the items will be in other lanes.