@Riot: Some thoughts about Redemption/Locket, support items, and your philosophies

Honestly, I take a more holistic look at things when it comes to the state of the support role and why it's constantly regarded as the role people don't want to play...to the point where auto-fill exists solely because this role isn't fun. Mainly, whenever I comment on the support role's flaws, I comment on two primary points: The game play of the champs in it and the itemization options that constantly force support players into playing the same meta-game as each other. In this post, I'm going over the latter a bit, as well as a few other musings I thought up to alleviate that in the current game state, even if just a bit.

When I started playing in season 5, Locket was the big daddy support item (shares a spot with Redemption now). It was that way for 2 seasons, to the point where if I didn't have Locket my friends would constantly get on my ass over it (I really liked Banner of Command before now and sort of swore by it...back when it had 60 ap. My friends were NOT happy). Now, in season 7, Riot (you guys if you're reading this) said they wanted to combat Locket's dominance over support itemization, but all they really did was throw in Redemption, which is basically now as required as Locket was before now...while Locket's still a high demand item on most supports. Clearly, something wasn't understood about Locket when these changes were made, and I think the issue is that the value of having highly potent burst survivability stuffed into one cheap item was massively underappreciated...to the point where you guys made two of relatively the same active. Locket blocks upfront damage, and then Redemption gives second wind after taking a beating. If done well, the odds of you winning a team fight drastically increase, and there's very few champs that have the room to make an alternative decision on what to build based on this type of power. Some people will say "Knight's Vow insert commentary", but note that Knight's Vow is by far inferior when it comes to protecting your team. It's not impossible to appreciate as an item, but it's smaller in scope than Locket, has less potential than Locket, and its single-target damage reduction can be matched and outpaced by Locket...let alone aoes, and all you get in return are little fun side bits like movement speed and proxy life steal.

I could extend that paragraph for ages, but the point here is that isn't one of the main points of this game...ya know...strategy? If I need X, I should be mentally in the game from champ select thinking about how I'm gonna get X. Like, using mid lane as an example, if I see a good deal of tanks (in a time where tanks aren't doing so poorly), would I want a burst mage or a battle mage, given that battle mages do better in extended fights? Would I want someone like Lux, who dumps her burst and runs around in a skirt until she's semi-online again, or do I want someone like Cass or Vlad, guys with lower cds on rotations that are good with Liandry's and Rylai's so I can tear through that MR and HP easier? The point is that part of the fun of the game is the strategic element, something support has been lagging WAY behind in in comparison to the other lanes. Every support gets Sightstone (or should). Every support gets some boots. Every support gets major mileage off of Redemption. Every support gets major mileage off of Locket. Shouldn't it be that some supports out of the roster definitely work with Redemption in a meaningfully better way? Or that Locket's significantly better for certain other supports? What about support options that don't really have items that highlight their play styles? Zyra just buys mid laner items, and now in pro play she just goes Redemption/Locket too. Leona is a vanguard, but what support items compliment the notion that she wants to beef up the engage? We have itemization for defensive tanks and defensive enchanters...but that's just about it for the most part. Support itemization is very lacking in terms of strategic moves to make at all, let alone legitimate ones. There's some small bits and pieces of potential like Athene's, but Athene's has been left as a stand-alone item that doesn't have many follow-up options for champions that want to work with that hybrid heal/shield + damage play style on a support budget.

Now, if you were to ask me what I'd do to help alleviate this, I'd personally turn Redemption and Locket's synergy into dyssynergy. Make it so that using Redemption or Locket has a very negative impact on the next item's active you use on the same targets, then adjust Redemption so:

• It has (way) less range.

• It's more reliable to land.

• The cd on the active is lower.

• The sustain is reduced a tad (since unlike a shield it sticks) or the damage is removed (because LITERALLY WHY IS IT THERE?).

The aim of this would be so that supports pick and choose which aoe team fight protection they need for the match, rather than just stockpiling them. This would then mean there's increased value to picking other types of items to compensate for the lack of the other item they don't get. It wouldn't make everything honky-dory, but it'd be a start to getting support builds to be a bit more fleshed out than just stacking Redemption and Locket all the time. But that's just me.

Still, I'd like to hear to from you guys on this subject, Riot:

• What do you guys plan to do about aoe actives dominating the support role all the time?

• What are your current thoughts on Locket and Redemption in general? Redemption got one early game nerf, and Locket was made into a degrading shield, yet they still rule out most other items in peoples' minds and in practice in most instances. Do you guys think it's a perception thing or that there some actual validity to why people are avoiding these items? Personally I think it's the latter currently, but there's potential to deal with that if it's addressed properly.

• What do you guys think about potential to expand on strategic itemization choices? Personally I'd like to see ap support items that work with amplifying damage dealt either by different types of partners or onto different types of enemies (in ways better done than Zeke's), or with debilitating enemies a bit, rather than just shielding/healing allies. Is there any space to do more with support-budget items? Right now it feels like the same gig on a new character in most instances.

• Lastly, how much do you think you're delivering on the whole "smart choices" schtick in the support role when it comes to itemization? This is actually the main question that fuels my posts on the subject, because I personally think it can be done way better. Changes made to the starting items prove that it's possible, given the new Sightstones from last season and the new quests in this season, but we need smart changes for more than just the gold income items.