@Riot about A particular subset of support champions
I would like to ask if there is any chance that supports would be looked at for an update or overhaul? There are tanky disruptive initiators and lithe sustaining CC heavy casters which I would like to call enchanters. Champions such as soraka, janna, sona, and nami all have play styles that can seem hard to balance in the game currently, however their power is quantified by an offensive stat, ability power. This leads to a situation where when given bases and ratios that are too high they become overbearing such as post rework Sona which then needs to be toned down repeatedly until it is no longer satisfying to play. Also this adds unnecessary strain to a support's budget that shouldn't and doesn't happen to their tankier counterparts such as alistar, thresh, and blitzcrank. In game balance aside, I believe the way tahm kench's utility and damage is scaled through his defensive stats is a key to moving enchanter supports in a better direction.
Perhaps supports could have a new stat that only they and perhaps only they receive benefit from? This would allow them to have more powerful and satisfying itemization while not allowing other champions to abuse said items in a similar way ADC's synergize with crit. The best example to what I am trying to describe would be the way intellect and spirit are differentiated in the World of Warcraft. Intellect is a purely offensive stat which is used to gate the damage of casters while Spirit gates a healers uptime and sometimes output. This shows us that the tuning levers should be different to allow both the healer and the spellcaster to be powerful and satisfying. Following that point enchanters should not be gated by the amount of AP they can aquire in order to scale, but rather scale with a new secondary stat (like taric used to with mana) with their own unique strengths and weaknesses. Which I would like to be reliable base power in the form of utility (without being torn in a direction resembling a damage dealer) at the cost of having more spread out windows of power.
Tanky supports such as alistar and braum function this way and feel very impactful at the same time without having to juggle stats in order to get the most out of their spells. It's just, there was no distinction made between what separates them from enchanters. Tanks give up offensive power in order to be tougher to kill, ADC's give up survivability for damage, and fighters fit somewhere in between but why does the distinction between supports lack cohesion?
Taking into account their popularity, what do tanky supports give up for their improved survivability? Caster supports are the squishiest in their class yet in some cases do not having meaningful power to differentiate them from their tankier counterparts. I believe this is why the poor fish lady seems to dwell in the shadows in comparison to champions who have the income to consistently and optimally function with the existing stats AP/AD, like annie and velkoz. This is the most disappointing because they have better base stats, scaling, damage and just enough utility to function.
The key differences in support itemization in comparison to other champions would be their usage of active items and cost efficiency. Maybe one day when they are updated the entire traditional support roster can have their utility scaled to those items and differing amounts of "spirit" as a high power low defense option with the usual tank items thrown in, similarly to the Juggernaut and Marksman updates. In this way more supports would have the chance of being rewarding and finally become the life insurance professional, Inspector Gadgets of summoners rift.
[zombie-nunu-hearts]
