Why does Riot hate AP supports so much?

Marmara·Dec 15, 2014·5 votes·1,501 views

Sona gets ANOTHER nerf despite not being played at all in competitive scene and not being a problem in solo queue.

See this is one thing that I noticed: if you're an AP support, you always get the short end of the stick. Look at what Riot has done to Sona, Soraka, Nami, Janna etc. Every time either of those champions become even slightly strong, Riot brings out the nerf hammer. Nami in the past has been nerfed PRO-actively and no other champion in the game has gotten that kind of treatment.

Meanwhile, Katarina, Fizz, Riven, Irelia, Syndra, Zed, YASUO (who got a buff!) etc. has been problematic for AGES and Riot has done nothing. I guess bursting champions from 100 to 0 is A-OK while supports that are there to be nothing more than a slave to the ADC is considered toxic by Riot's standards.

Please, leave Sona alone. She's the only support at the moment that has no hard CC as a basic ability.

10 Comments

TeemoJenkinsDec 15, 20144 votes

Leona - Nerfed. Taric - Nerfed into being almost unusable. Braum - Nerfed. Alistair - Nerfed. Umm... what were you talking about?

Leona ratios on her W tanked. Taric ratios tanked. Braum - Range / ratios tanked. Alistair - ratios again - tanked.

The tanky AD supports lose their armor / MR ratios... but you say AP Supports are hated? Nami is so bat shit OP right now I'm shocked people don't use her more. That bubble is a CC that lasts almost as long as Morgs Q, does decent dmg, and Nami gives sustain / steroid and an initiating ULT? Nami for MVP support.

DiostukosDec 15, 20142 votes

{quoted} Leona - Nerfed. Taric - Nerfed into being almost unusable. Braum - Nerfed. Alistair - Nerfed. Umm... what were you talking about?

Leona ratios on her W tanked. Taric ratios tanked. Braum - Range / ratios tanked. Alistair - ratios again - tanked.

The tanky AD supports lose their armor / MR ratios... but you say AP Supports are hated? Nami is so bat shit OP right now I'm shocked people don't use her more. That bubble is a CC that lasts almost as long as Morgs Q, does decent dmg, and Nami gives sustain / steroid and an initiating ULT? Nami for MVP support.

I would have believed you weren't talking out of your ass until you said it lasts almost as long as Morg's Q. Nami's Q duration does not scale like Morg's, which already lasts longer at rank 1. What Nami's Q has going for it is the fact that it's a stun, and that it can hit more people.

TeemoJenkinsDec 15, 20144 votes

{quoted} I would have believed you weren't talking out of your ass until you said it lasts almost as long as Morg's Q. Nami's Q duration does not scale like Morg's, which already lasts longer at rank 1. What Nami's Q has going for it is the fact that it's a stun, and that it can hit more people.

Morgana: Q - 2 Sec Root, 1175 Rng Nami: Q - 1.5 Sec KU, 875 Rng; E - 15% Slow, 1-3 Dur, ~550 Rng

Is that .5 seconds is A LIFETIME.

http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/AUHkJgo5-the-support-class-a-side-by-side-comparison?show=flat

Sightless66Dec 16, 20143 votes

Morgana's Q scales on rank. It's 2-3 seconds, and support Morg maxes it first. 1.5 seconds is a huge difference.

A Wild AP SonaDec 16, 20144 votes

down voted for supporting anymore sona nerfs when she has gone from 100% down to 40% + is missing 50 damage on q

HayaishiDec 15, 20142 votes

Riot nerfs all supports equally.

Also the nerfs were to keep her in check because we and Riot knows how cancerous Sona can be.

MarmaraDec 15, 20145 votes

Sona... cancerous? Why?

CoolKnightSTDec 15, 20142 votes

Soraka, Nami, Janna might be AP but their still sustain supports. They where never designed to be full AP.

Sona actualy became more of a mix between a poke & sustain support.

Both Sona as Janna are still god tier. Despite morgana & thresh are the preffered bans for support.

Togekiss24Dec 15, 20141 votes

I think it's a balance thing. Support champions come with a huge utility kit to make up for high damage, while regular mages exchange broad utility options for high damage. Having a champ that both has an easy-to-use utility kit (like Sona) AND the high damage of a typical mage is difficult to counterplay against, especially for ADCs. Even though it is leaving such champs a "slave" right now, it at least gives the opposing players opportunities to take advantage of openings.

As for the assassin example, that's pretty much what they are supposed to do? And it's not like they don't have their own trade-offs for their insane bursts.

Fashion MageDec 16, 20141 votes

She probably could've used a few very slight nerfs, but I wish they'd take back the ridiculous nerf on her heal. It makes it more of a sustain heal rather than a bursty saving heal, and sustain heals are pretty boring to me.

Nami in the past has been nerfed PRO-actively and no other champion in the game has gotten that kind of treatment.

Actually, she was the first of that kind of treatment, but I believe Amumu also got nerfed pre-emptively due to the new jungle changes (it's about time if you ask me).

Pretty sure Kata got nerfed (don't remember how), Irelia has only become a problem recently (better nerf Irelia), Syndra isn't a problem, Riven has been nerfed, Zed isn't that bad, Yasuo has been nerfed a lot. The only champ I 100% agree with you on who should be nerfed is Fizz.