How to Improve Sightstone's Usefulness and Make it a Better Support Item

As it stands currently, upgrading sightstone has little to no value for supports. The health increase is minimal and the extra wards are not super relevant since you can still only have 3 active at a time. It's usually just some extra health tacked on once you're at fully build otherwise and isn't super useful. Currently, we've got:

Cost: 800 gold 3 ward bank +150 health

Cost: 1600 gold 5 ward bank +400 health

So is 250 health and the the 2 extra wards worth 800 gold? Maybe, but I think there's a much better way to utilize sightstone upgrades. Since Sightstone is a niche item for a certain role, not unlike Hunter's Machete, why not give it options similar to the jungle item enhancements. These upgraded sightstones would cost more gold, but would provide supports with various bonuses designed to help synergize with their individual support role.

Here's what I propose:

stays as is and builds into a Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, and Amethyst versions, which will provide different benefits and active Auras designed for different support types. All of these will cost 2400 gold, slightly more than your full Jungler items, but with gold runes and items common on supports, the extra gold shouldn't be all too critical, especially if they are tailored specifically to your support style.

Ruby Sightstone (New) Cost: 2400 Recipe: + + +350 gold 5 ward bank +150 health +20 AD +15% attack speed +10% lifesteal

Unique Active: Aura: All allied champions inside the Aura (including the holder) gain bonus Attack Speed equal to 25% of the holder's attack speed for 5 seconds. (120 second Cooldown)

Lifesteal, AD, and AS all on a support item? Why not? It may open up the game to some more unorthodox support characters (Ashe, for instance), and may lead itself to an occasional dual carry bot lane. The active will also prove incredibly useful in sieging towers and in teamfights.

Sapphire Sightstone (New) Cost: 2400 Recipe: + + + +385 gold 5 ward bank +150 health +30 AP +10% CDR +50% Base Mana Regen +50% Base Health Regen

Unique Active: Aura: All allied champions inside of this Aura (including the holder) gain +200% Base Health Regen and +200% Base Mana Regen for 5 seconds. (120 second Cooldown)

This one is designed more for your AP style supports who thrive on spamming abilities and healing their carry, like Soraka and Sona, but it gives some added AP and some more much needed health and mana regen, which would be great for most AP supports. Would provide good synergy for mana hungry carries to give them the occasional quick recharge.

Emerald Sightstone (New) Cost: 2400 Recipe: ++ +200 gold 5 Ward Bank +700 health

Unique Active: Aura: All allied champions inside this Aura (including the holder) gain bonus Armor and MR equal to 25% of the holder's Armor and MR for 5 seconds. (120 second Cooldown)

This gives a unique and helpful option for Tanky supports like Leona, Braum, and Taric a helpful way to aid their team in fights as well as potentially making LW/VS a little less potent late game in teamfights.

Amethyst Sightstone (New) Cost: 2400 Recipe: + + + +240 gold 5 ward bank +150 health +30 armor +50% Health Regen +50% Mana Regen

Unique Passive: Point Runner: Builds Up to +30% movement speed over 2 seconds while near turrets.

Unique Active: Aura: All allied champions inside the range of this Aura gain bonus Movement Speed equal to 25% of the holder's Movement Speed for 5 seconds. (120 second Cooldown)

This will be a great choice for supports who are dealing with a low mobility carry like Ashe or Caitlin. Having that speed boost can help with escapes as well as chases.

Hope you enjoyed my thoughts on how to make Sightstone upgrades more support-type oriented as well as more helpful rather than just some extra HP if you end up reaching max build (since upgrading Sightstone is currently one of the last moves you make as a support).

A great idea by Mast3rShake about how to deal with the junglers taking the item

{quoted}

For the people that always talk about junglers using these for reasons to not have it happen there are easy fixes, such as:

if you take smite you cannot upgrade a sightstone

now leesin and other junglers can still buy a sightstone, but can upgrade it to get the stats meant for supports and supports build paths aren't so stale

This is an awesome idea because, especially since the trinket now has 2 charges, this would serve as an effective nerf to some of the more currently OP junglers cough cough cough

Thoughts? Feedback? Pandas?

TLDR:

• New upgrades to instead of current
• Cost 2400 gold upgraded instead of 1600
• Various benefits similar to the style of the jungle item upgrades.
• Might create some interesting and niche adc/support combinations.