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The Support Update?

Zerenza··23 votes·2,463 views

Even though the tank update is up next i'm more excited for the eventual Support Update.

With the recent release of Ivern, and now Rakan, the support role has gotten a lot of fun supports over the last 2-3 years.

TahmKench Bard Thresh Braum

However many other champions in the support role basically either do the exact same thing. Such as Heal/sheild Bots

Sona Soraka Lulu Janna Nami

And play exactly the same as eachother, for the most part. Or are simple tank's that really only have one ability that put them in the support role.

Leona Blitzcrank

While it's fine for the support role to have a diverse set of champions, Healer's, Tanks and Mages. It isn't fine for the champions that were built for said role to be exactly the same as eachother with very few differences such as with the healer's, or to just be mages or tanks that were forced into said role.

Bard is a mage but he was built to be a support mage not a battle mage, last time i checked zyra, brand and malzahar were not meant to support.

Tahm, thresh and braum are all tanks but their kit's were meant to be for supporting. In leona's case she simply has lots of CC and that's good botlane, you can take sion down there and get the same effect. Blitzcrank has an absurd pull is really the only reason he's down there too, even if i don't think he needs a rework.

I really am hoping to see some changes to Nami, Janna, Soraka, Lulu and Sona eventually that set them apart from eachother a HUGE ammount, similar to the assassin rework, each assassin is now completely different and i'd like to see that with the support role. Especially with how fun Rakan is to play.

43 Comments

Fairyfleur7 votes

Nami is a lot less binary and more complex and interesting compared to the other four you mentioned, in my opinion.

IxtaliKing7 votes

Nami - I can't see Nami getting any big changes in an Enchanter update, theres nothing really wrong with her.

Janna - Janna would likely be one of the big updates, and I would hope of the goals with her would be to give her a more engaging laning experience. I think a new W that shows off her wind theme a little more would be good for her, something that encourages early trading.

Soraka - Soraka is another likely candidate since her kit is binary, and when strong is unhealthy and generally not fun to play against. I'd expect some changes to how she heals, maybe a new mechanic of some sort. It would be pretty interesting to see a more interactive/proactive take on Soraka's theme.

Lulu - Not sure about Lulu. On one hand she's what Janna should have been, she has pretty much the same strengths with the option to actually fight in lane. On the other, she seems pretty out of hand power wise, I'm not sure if it's just an issue of numbers, but she's seems a bit op to me right now.

Sona - Sona seems like she has a lot potential, so I would imagine if there was an Enchanter update she'd be getting a rework. I'd expect Sona to remain a Jack-of-all-trades, but with a much deeper and more interesting kit. It would be nice for Sona mains to finally have their champ viable at high elo.

Karma - Karma I'm surprised wasn't mentioned, being the only one pretty much confirmed to get a rework in an Enchanter update. For Karma I'm hoping her solo-laning is restored, and maybe see her adopt a supportive niche which synergies more so with melee champs. Her Mantras should all be viable throughout the game, wherever she's being played. Also, the shieldbomb needs to return with a delay. More options, higher skill cap, and less general reliability for the Enlightened One.

Wimbledofy4 votes

I'm glad I'm seeing everyone else saying nami was fine. I was worried it might be one of those weird board things where everyone tries to say she is the same as the others when she's fairly different. Having a heal doesn't automatically make her the same as the others.

IxtaliKing2 votes

Yeah Nami ticks all the boxes really, her kit is very fair whilst also being very satisfying.

Sexy Jack Rabbit1 votes

With her current passive, you can't bring back Karma's shield bomb. As much as I LOVED it, and as much as I'm salty they got rid of it, it had serious game health problems.

You could bring it back with a delay, but it would then feel like a copy of Iverns, which is probably the biggest cop out in the history of the game.

IxtaliKing3 votes

With her current passive, you can't bring back Karma's shield bomb. As much as I LOVED it, and as much as I'm salty they got rid of it, it had serious game health problems.

I can see why you'd say that, but I don't see this being an issue. If the spell is telegraphed and delayed, it automatically becomes a lot fairer. If anything, the numbers on her passive could be tweaked slightly.

You could bring it back with a delay, but it would then feel like a copy of Iverns, which is probably the biggest cop out in the history of the game.

Not necessarily, it depends how it's done. For example, imagine RE on cast gave only the target an ms boost for 1.5s with an AoE indicator around them, which then explodes into it's full AoE values (damage and team shield/ms boost). That wouldn't feel like Ivern's shield at all. The spell also becomes something that both enemies and allies can play around, rather than a reactive 1 dimensional AoE nope shield that can't fail.

Sexy Jack Rabbit1 votes

The reasoning why the spell was removed it because throwing spell shield onto a tank or any other diver and hitting up to 4 people or so was absolutely insane. The shield bomb wasn't just removed for the effectively unavoidable damage, but also for the fact it allowed karma to get up to 15 seconds off of her CD with just one R + E. You were able to recharge your ultimate EXTREMELY quickly and it was not weak by any means. You weren't losing ANYTHING by choosing Shield bomb over R + Q or R + W besides some max% Hp gain. It gave you and your team a shield, free movement speed, massive burst damage AND a massive refund on your R CD.
You just rinsed and repeated that shit over and over. It felt shit when it was removed, but it was frankly for the better.

I don't see the point in changing her passive which already isn't that great just to bring back something that has unfortunately been pawned off to another champion.

You could add it back into her and add another delay, but it would in the end STILL feel like Ivern's shield bomb, because that is exactly what it would be, just with a slight movement speed boost on top of all of it.

IxtaliKing3 votes

The reasoning why the spell was removed it because throwing spell shield onto a tank or any other diver and hitting up to 4 people or so was absolutely insane. The shield bomb wasn't just removed for the effectively unavoidable damage, but also for the fact it allowed karma to get up to 15 seconds off of her CD with just one R + E.

The reason stated behind shield bombs removal was increasing her contextual decision making, which judging by her current 1 main mantra per role state, failed. They also wanted to buff her passive, which couldn't be with her shield bomb in tact, so it was removed. No other reason has been given by a Rioter.

You weren't losing ANYTHING by choosing Shield bomb over R + Q or R + W besides some max% Hp gain.

You were losing out on a lot of damage, in exchange for additional defence against burst damage.

It gave you and your team a shield, free movement speed, massive burst damage AND a massive refund on your R CD.

Massive burst damage = 40 ap more base damage + the same scaling as her Q? To be fair, I think it was more geared towards being a part of her sustained damage pattern - being a hybrid Battlemage and all.

I don't see the point in changing her passive which already isn't that great just to bring back something that has unfortunately been pawned off to another champion.

Let's not forget that this passive wasn't even liked, with most Karma mains suggesting it either be removed in favour of something more thematic, or be slightly tuned down and moved to her ult to make space for a new passive.

You could add it back into her and add another delay, but it would in the end STILL feel like Ivern's shield bomb, because that is exactly what it would be, just with a slight movement speed boost on top of all of it.

Thresh, Nautilus and Blitzcrank all have hooks, all of which FEEL very different due to their execution. Lux and Xerath both have ground targeted damage spells that slow, both of which FEEL different. Things like delays, travel times, cast times, animations and effects all contribute to making a spell feel different. Karma and Ivern's shield bombs would be nothing alike, just like how Ivern and Sion's are nothing alike.

Karma's shield bomb was iconic and core to her for most of her existence, not to mention perfectly fitting for an Enchanter/Battlemage hybrid like her. Ivern having a variation of a damaging shield is no reason for Karma not to get her spell back.

Glory ln Death2 votes

{quoted}

Karma and Ivern's shield bombs would be nothing alike, just like how Ivern and Sion's are nothing alike.

Sion Ivern gets a shield that deals damage and slows? Pfft! Mine does way more damage than his! Wait... you mean his will still explode even if it gets broken?

cries in corner

YoungSirJ0ey2 votes

Karma's rework should just give her her fans back.

Edit: First of all, why did I bother writing this? Second of all, how do you delete comments?

IxtaliKing2 votes

Lol for what it's worth, I agree. Karma's fans never should have been away to begin with.

Zerenza1 votes

Your right i did forget about karma, despite her being one of those "Archetypal" update champions similar to Warwick, Evelynn and Galio. I think a full VGU that's more on par with current ones would suit her but if she was in the enchanter update i'd be happy too. I think there can be more to a Water Mage archetype, lulu i think could definitely fit her archetype even more and for got sakes sona has more potential than most of the others.

IxtaliKing1 votes

Riot aren't interested in doing a VGU for Karma since she's already had one, that's why Meddler was saying they'd look at her kit in either an Ionian event or Enchanter update. In regards to this water mage archetype, we'll probably have to wait for Riot to release an actual water mage for that. I can't see them changing Nami, she's one of the few good examples of an Enchanter.

Nymzo5 votes

I agree

But Blitzcrank would need a visual update along with maybe a few tweaks in his kit because he is too dependent on one spell in his kit.

Leona needs something, she became from a commun pick to a niche pick because she's too vulnerable to poke.

Also you forgot to say that a lot of support items need buffs so item 3107 and item 3190 are not an obligation to have anymore.

Çhåryzård5 votes

I really am hoping to see some changes to Nami

NO. DO NOT TOUCH HER. SHES BEEN BALANCED. SHE'S FINE.

When Riot touches stuff they either become shit or become so broken that they get nerfed to shit..

OverpoweredSoap4 votes

Don't you dare touch poor Nami.

She is the most balanced support in the history of this game. She's always only needed small buffs or small nerfs in order to keep her in check, especially when compared to other supports (cough Sona cough).

Glory ln Death2 votes

Sion has never needed to be nerfed or buffed for his support role, and has still stayed in the top 5 supports by winrate for over a year. That seems to indicate that he is the most balanced support.

Petranese2 votes

Velkoz

Cyber HeroXL2 votes

I really hope enchanters (the heal and sheild bots) get a lot of love. right now Sona is just a lich bane abuser and it makes me sad.

Beacon Academy2 votes

So turning Malzahar into a support was a ploy to get him a second rework faster...

[zombie-brand-mindblown]

Legacy Hydralpha1 votes

Let's hope so. Now if we can just turn Mordekaiser into a support to get his rework...

Derfel2 votes

Inb4 Malzahar is left completely out of the update even though they mutilated him into the support position

SteelMankind2 votes

If you look at Brand's numbers, it's pretty clear that Riot intended for him to be a bot lane support when they reworked him. Very high bases + low scalings means thatt his optimal damage build comes from stacking magic pen items - a build which can be realistically done as a bot lane support, and is kinda a waste of gold as a midlaner who gets expensive AP items.

Zyra has been played support over mid for years now, so no surprise there. Malz is definitely in the wrong place, though.

Chembaron Yamada1 votes

Not sure about it, but I think the next update after Vanguards are Diver. At least I hope so. But I definitely could imagine having an Enchanter update as the next after it. So, next mid season. :)

6Sfool1 votes

I think Leona is a pretty well-rounded support. Almost as well-rounded as J4.

nachocheeseeeee1 votes

I hope Leona gets updated in the Tank update. She can pretty much serve the role of tank aside from support. She doesn't have the damage that most tanks do, which is what kinda Riot wants anyways. Besides she is a Rakkor, who is supposed to be a Spartan-like tribe. Giving her a potential solo laning phase and jungle would be nice.

Glory ln Death1 votes

Riot has already announced who will be worked on in the Tank Update (Sejuani, Maokai, and Zac). Leona will probably benefit from the other changes, like the item changes, though.

MeBuffULongTime1 votes

Yeah I'm really looking forward to the Support update, we could use some upgrades/changes

Chromatic Eagle1 votes

Soraka is supposed to be a heal bot. She's just intended to be the best at it. Leona is a great vanguard that doesn't rely on an ult to engage.

Everything else I agree on, though Thresh has been complained as a generalist. Nami is a better Sona so it's Sona that needs changing. I imagine that Lulu is fine.

Also, why don't people complain about Morgana, Vel'koz, or Lux support? They were designed for mid lane.

chipndip11 votes

We're just magically confirming reworks now, boiz.

IxtaliKing1 votes

What did he confirm?

chipndip11 votes

{quoted}

Even though the tank update is up next i'm more excited for the eventual Support Update.

IxtaliKing1 votes

I think he said that because Meddler has spoken about working the support role

Glory ln Death1 votes

Riot has confirmed many times that they want to update the Support role at some point in the near future. A Support Update will be happening.

V The Support V1 votes

^Wait... We are getting an update?^

Glory ln Death1 votes

Given the recent discussion of the Support role, the preseason update will likely be either for the Diver class or the Support role (if they can get a good enough direction for support). I'd guess Diver, though, since it's been a contender for the Assassin Update and the upcoming Tank Update. A Support Update would be likely for the next midseason update, in that case.

Knoyle1 votes

Janna and Lulu are fine as they are imo. They feel very interactive and satisfying to play. The other enchanters especially Sona could use a look.

Knoyle1 votes

{quoted}

Janna and Lulu are fine as they are imo. They feel very interactive and satisfying to play. The other enchanters especially Sona could use a look.

shit I meant Nami and Lulu. Janna is boring as fuck...

FiddlesOnTheRoof1 votes

I'd say Janna, Nami, and Soraka are very unique and do very different things within the role. Not sure that they'll get chagned all that much.

ZT Xperimentor1 votes

Given what they're doing to tanks, I expect the support update would just add another sightstone, that uses a skillshot to throw wards instead of placing them.

SnakDatSmilesBak1 votes

The biggest problem I see with a support rework is that support is a role. It's not a class.

To rework those champs in a support rework would create a support class. These champs would hands down be better at support than anything else. But I think that any champion can and should be made to support if it fits the comp and does ok against the enemy. That is to say, support main should not have to choose a champ from a single class but should be able to choose between all champs.

If riot reworks the champs you listed such that they beat out all competition for the support role then I'm going to be sad.

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