Check out the guide. I'm still testing it. I want more people to test this as well. I believe smite on supports in season 5 can be very beneficial. Please try this method and post suggestions, feedback, and even footage of your game play. Thank you!
Junkο15 votesExhaust's damage, AS and MS reduction is WAY stronger than Smite will ever be
Belal4 votesI totally agree with you. I actually didn't realize this. Exhaust does have a bigger advantage over smite, but smite is great to secure things for your team.
Champion Skin1 votesYou can also use smite to take a camp at level 1 possibly for a fast level 2 Or just to help leash for your jungler
Belal1 votes[{quoted}](name=Champion Skin,realm=EUW,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=hcikiKfI,comment-id=000100000000,timestamp=2015-01-05T09:28:08.883+0000)
You can also use smite to take a camp at level 1 possibly for a fast level 2 Or just to help leash for your jungler
yes and you get the buff when you smite like the gromp camp ;)
Tsohgder6 votesSmite has 60s CD while exhaust has 210s. Smite can also help you secure dragon and baron, or easier lvl1 golems for your ADC.
It doesn't provide nearly as much utility in a fight, that's obvious, but I still think it could be an interesting choice for some champions. The 50% MS slow is actually very powerful.
But they're nerfing the slow to 20% in the next patch and giving you a 20% MS buff to compensate, so... I don't know about supports, but I will enjoy playing 
Knight SoIaire 1 votesstronger? yes
more usefull ? not always
using smite is an interesting and probably viable strat on guys who rely on killshots like thresh or blitz because it allows for that soft cc setup
you lose exhaust for more hooks ... i think its a fair tradeoff
Champion Skin1 votesYou can also smite minions for surprise hooks past minions that used to be there
Duke Anax5 votesI used to try out smite on Soraka, because trailblazer gives sustain and emergency waveclear as well as dragon control and cheap (support!) stats.
But ultimately it just causes you to loose, because teammates refuse to play with you. I had people go afk after spawn even two in one game, just because I had smite on Soraka. They even told me "not playing with a troll, will report you!"
Belal1 votesOh I explain the situation during champ select. The jungler usually supports the idea because he gets to secure dragon and baron without being scared of the enemy jungler.
Narasimha1 votesThe issue isn't your jungler, its your adc. He has to worry now because he/she is at a huge disadvantage in fights if the other side has exhaust.
SelflessTeammate1 votesBring both.
Narasimha1 votesAnd give up Flash...?
Klatn Yelox3 votesYes give up flash. I know it is the most useful, versatile summoner spell, but you are a tanky support, not a carry. You don't need it as much to get away, because you should be baiting the enemy team to save your carry. And it isn't as useful as it once was to get away anyway, what with the obsession with champions whose mobility has no limit. Udyr, Zed, Lee Sin, and other champs can follow you over walls easy, without using their flash at all. (Udyr just runs around the wall fast enough to catch you) Therefore, it is a viable option to run spells which enhance your ability to fight these champions, and prevent the situations where Flash would be needed.
Take my Heimerdinger game for instance. I always run Barrier+Heal, which allows me to be more secure in my turret ranges, even at low health. When someone tries to engage, I can instantly have a health pool twice as large as before.
With Janna, I take Teleport+Heal, which gives me a quick back, allowing for more daring pokes, with less wasted time. I can also still heal my carry, which, in addition to my shield, usually turns the tide of a fight. Then, late game, I am fast enough to run away from any fight where I am not surrounded.
These are just a few examples of times Flash not only isn't necessary, but actually preferred to NOT take.
SelflessTeammate1 votesYeah. An absolutely insane idea, isn't it? No Flash? What, I mean, how could you even think to win without it?
Yes, give up Flash. I'm sick of seeing it, if nothing else, and it isn't a necessary spell. Not anywhere close to below Diamond, and not when its cooldown is five freaking minutes.
aaronconlin1 votesThis is one of the most infuriating things about the game. It took me almost 20 minutes to find a team playing Vayne top, they trash talked, people would leave the lobby etc.
Belal1 votesReally? I've never had that problem. Try keeping exhaust. Explain them the situation. Then final 10 seconds switch to smite.
Bismuthinite3 votesWhich do you prefer on supports AFTER you tried this method? [ ] Smite [ ] Exhaust [x] Ignite
Belal1 votesIgnite is also a great thing on supports. It's whichever you prefer. I'm just trying to see what people think about this smite idea. I myself am not so great at league. I just came upon this and wanted some good players to test this. Thanks for the feedback!
xXSomeoneElse1 votesI find that each has its own benefits depending on the enemies team comp your comp and playstyles personally I always take ignite because its become normal for a adc to take heal vs barrier ignite cuts heals effectiveness in half and deals a good bit off dmg on top of that and it lasts twice as long as exhaust (if I remember correctly) ignite is 4 seconds where as exhaust is only 2 but again the dmg/ms/as/resistances reduction is very useful and it depends on the type of supp you're playing, I play a lot of "carry" supps like Brand or Xerath and I normally play/build them as if I were still in mid lane xD
Budupops3 votesnot going to work they are changing stalkers next patch
Belal1 votesOh thanks for the update! Didn't know :(
AMYS GRAVE1 votesawww man, boooooo.
Belal2 votesThank you everyone for your votes! It is looking like the majority prefers exhaust. I totally agree! Still try smite in normal's though! It's fun!
xXSomeoneElse1 votesshould've put a answer for ignite in there xD
blueberrypancake2 votesIf you guys think smite is pointless in laning watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCLFesEOEQY
sketchybob2 votesthe smite could only be used in minions on that duel but now its useable on champs
sketchybob2 votesin lane the smite is great but after that it is bad
Akesgeroth2 votesIf you ever grab smite instead of exhaust as Thresh, you don't know what you're doing. The fact that you have to build a jungling item just to get the slow on smite is in itself enough to make it stupid on supports.
Belal1 votesNot only for the slow, did you see what Juggernaut gives??
Akesgeroth2 votesWhich is great for a tank, but tell me how that's better than, say, buiding merc treads and any other health item? Say, Spirit Visage.
In the end, if you're not going to jungle, any investment into a hunter's machete and upgrading it is a net loss and the upgrade to smite is not worth it. The upgrade to smite is only there to make the spell useful outside of the jungle for junglers. In all situations, exhaust is a better pick than smite if you're not going to jungle.
Droogzy1 votesWhich is great for a tank, but tell me how that's better than, say, buiding merc treads and any other health item? Say, Spirit Visage.
In the end, if you're not going to jungle, any investment into a hunter's machete and upgrading it is a net loss and the upgrade to smite is not worth it. The upgrade to smite is only there to make the spell useful outside of the jungle for junglers. In all situations, exhaust is a better pick than smite if you're not going to jungle.
I can answer that
Merc Treads-provide nothing for the team benefit. Big benefits of it is just Tenacity for support, ergo useless.
Spirit Visage-Provides nothing for a team benefit. Big benefits of the item is MR and HP for support, ergo useless.
Juggernaut-Provides a 50% slow every 60 second, as a jungler, this has been my go to item on literally every single jungler, regardless of the recommended knife for that champion, I can not stress how many kills it has managed to secure for me, its incredibly powerful, the team utility on it is insane. To have it on a support, that would be rather scary since the threat is ever constant. Not only that, it never falls off, 50% slow is still deadly even as it hits late game.
Not only that Juggernaut provides 2 of the three things your item provides, it also brings a huge addition to team fight, laning, and cleaning up. It also only occupies one item slot as oppose to your two.
I'll say it again, running smite/slow will be an incredibly niche pick, but it most definitely can work when the need for it rises. If you're starting Gromp side, you get a HUGE advantage over the opposing lane with the poison damage harass, in addition to the slow effect of smite.
As it stands, exhaust is largely useless again AD caster since their damage comes in burst before you can get the exhaust down on them. Looking at some of the more popular champions in the preseason, AD casters have been getting incredibly more popular, Lucian, Graves, and Corki seem to be the trinity of ADC at the current moment, with Ezreal being another popular pick, of those four, three have damage tied into burst of which, you need to have incredibly fast reaction to negate their burst with exhaust.
Don't believe me? Look at some of the current Challenger/Plat/Masters games that have been played, you'll noticed many supports are running ignite again over exhaust now, specifically because of the reason I mentioned above.
Ignite falls off hard, smite does not.
I would also like to remind to get the slow attachment, it only costs around 700 gold, hardly inefficient in the slightest. You can just merely buy the base component, then upgrade it to juggernaut in the later game, the same way supports do that with sightstones.
ImHerVoice1 votes[deleted]
Trumpet1 votesFrom the wikia: "Hunter's Machete is a basic item in League of Legends. It can only be purchased if you have Smite as a summoner spell."
So there can be more than 1 jungle item on a team, it is just dependent on the number of smites. I could see it working and am going to try this because it seems like a fun off meta thing to do.
I am Madlife1 votesDepending on who I face in lane, I usually go with ignite. I prefer it a lot better, especially if they have someone like a nami or soraka support, to deny the healing done to the adc while we are focusing him. Smite can be useful, but to waste an item as well on it in my opinion is not that good. You don't need to slow them to land a hook on them. You could just as easily flay then to slow, or just hook like madlife :)
Belal1 votesGood point. Even if not many support this idea, i learned alot, I don't support much but maybe these posts can help me become a better support ;)
Klatn Yelox1 votesThe moral is, just be Madlife, and don't worry about anything.
Belal1 votesThere is also always the choice of taking smite AND exhaust! You 
what i'm saying? I'm not a 
. :)
xXSomeoneElse1 votesthen you lose out in your mobility for a lot of supps flash/ghost is an absolute must most supps have no built in escape, sure most have a lot of peel and cc but its not as effective to peel off yourself than to peel off someone else.
Droogzy1 votesI like the idea overall, a lot of people don't seem to notice the rise of burst AD carries right now. Hence the popularity of Graves sky-rocketing.
By the time you get the exhaust down on an AD carry that relies on burst, chances are its going to be too late, they will have done a good chunk of their main damage already. Obviously its going to be a situational thing, but it definitely can work in place of exhaust if the need for it rises.
Ariel the Cruel1 votesI've thought about this for a while. There's definite merit to the idea. My issue right now is the towers. I've begun to favor teleport so I can maintain a constant presence; especially in yolo queue. Since it takes no time at all to drop a tower any more and the new lasers DPS for the first few seconds is laughable (even Fiora is tanking towers now).
Klatn Yelox1 votesFiora can always tank towers for a bit. After you build 5 items, one more damage item isn't going to make as big a difference as a Randuin's would, against certain champs.
But Alas! All people care about on AD assasins is getting that penta, which is easier to do with more AD to kill with.
Hyrum Graff1 votesDepends on the comp. If I need that exhaust to save my jinx from their Kat, there's no way in hell I'm getting smite.
If my Blue Ez can help peel for himself, I'll consider smite for better objective control.
Belal1 votesVideos would be great! If you have footage of any support with smite, please post the video(s) below! Thanks for all the feedback that has been given!
Mogarl1 votesI was going to play 
in a game with dome friends when one of them offered to trade, trading back and for teh lols being a common thing I accepted the trade for 
, after discovering he wasn't trading back I had 5 seconds to switch everything over to support. During this process I failed to switch 
for
and instead switched 
for . All I can say is that after getting 
and 
, I had so many slows flash would have been uneccasary.
SelflessTeammate1 votesChilling Smite, with its relatively short cooldown and all-phases-of-the-game utility, is one of those things I think are possible. And an ADC with Challenging Smite? Ha. Haha. Yeah, for quite the small sum of 350 or so extra gold after the start, they can be quite nice.
No one said you couldn't bring both Exhaust and Chilling Smite. If Flash is optional on anyone at all, it's the Support role.
tau431 votesI didn't think you could have multiple Income items.