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"I will not save you." Confessions of a weary support player

Samus72·2/8/2016, 8:27:25 PM·7 votes·1,454 views

Support. You're there to "support" you team. Either with heals, shields, crowd control, etc. There are support characters and a support role in the game. Here is a short list of things I've learned players expect a support player to do (these are either what the support rules is meant to do or simply what players believe is the rule:)

  1. "Don't CS." I used to hate being told that. Like any player, I need gold as well in order to buy better items. However, I've relented on this one and stopped going for Minion kills and instead rely on gold income items to give me gold. It's not the best way to amass gold. So, I've selected Mastery abilities that reward gold as well (one gold per nearby kill.)

  2. "Stay behind the group." Support characters are not supposed to be on the front line. Even if you play as a tank, if you're in front as support, players don't like it. Since most true support characters are not designed to be leading the way as they have less armor and / or hit points, this is an easy rule to follow.

  3. "Follow me in no matter what." The vast majority of ADCs that I am supposed to support on the bottom row fully expect me to go in with them as they attack enemy players. Two on one, three on one, even four on one, if I do not stay right with them and keep them alive, I'm a failed support.

Only the first two rules are rules I agree I should, and do, follow. Occasionally, I will attack minions with the intention of whittling them down for the ADC. But I will avoid making the killing blow. Some ADC's don't like this claiming it screws up their "internal wait timer" (the phrase is my invention) which I think is rather silly on their part. If you can't keep your eyes on a minion health bar and react to that, then there is something wrong with you. The Pro's use this technique in lane and in the jungle to make sure someone else on their team gets the appropriate buff (mana users getting the mana regen buff, for example.)

I'm perfectly willing to stay behind the rest of the group. Provided the group keeps in mind that if you run in too far, you'll be out of range and I have to move back within range to heal / shield you. I try to keep you in my ability range. But in the end, I cannot control everyone else's movement.

The third part is where I vehemently disagree and this rule is one that causes me the most problems. It happened today with my first ranked game of the day. As Soraka support, I was bottom lane with a Vayne. At level three, the guy dives in to two on one fights with a barbarian's zeal. I saved him one time from this. But the next two, I could not. Soraka simply does not have the healing power at level three to always save people. The second time Vayne died, the player accused me of not healing him. I was healing and told him so. A third dive in at level five, I tried to follow him in until I saw a third enemy making it's way in from the river. There wasn't time to type out "Incoming!" and, with no mana left for another heal, I turned and ran back. In my mind, it was better to retreat then give the enemy team two kills worth of XP and gold. The Vayne again accused me of not healing and said, and I'm quoting them here, "You have full health. Rak's heals use hit points." True. Soraka's heals DO use 10% of her hit points upon casting. But there is still a mana cost. Fifty mana at level five if I am not mistaken.

Naturally, I wanted to defend myself. I said I had no mana left to heal him. This begins the usual "u suck" comments. Here is where my first personal rule of League of Legends comes in to play:

Rule One: "DON'T PROVOKE THE BORG!" (borrowed from Q's statement in the "Star Trek: Voyager" episode "Q2.) In other words, don't fight back. Don't defend yourself. They'll report you! As I do not want to give Riot ANY reason to suspend or ban me, I have one very simple response to negative chat: I /mute all. Rather than tell Vayne they were an idiot about recklessly diving in to attack or that he didn't have a clue how Soraka's heals worked, I told the group my chat was off. I also promptly left the bottom lane.

Yes, leaving the lane was not wise. But honestly, I couldn't help the Vayne player. They were going to continue to dive in to fights they could not win leaving me to be slaughtered when the enemy bottom laners pushed to the turret. I'd have the choice of dieing quickly feeding them XP and gold or running away and losing the turret. So, I went off to help and heal the rest of the team. All the while, Vayne would click on me and then click on the bottom lane wanting me to come back. Again, I did not feel I could help that player. Even turning chat back on and typing out "Would you please stop moving in and starting fights you cannot win because I cannot support you properly when you do?" would not have gotten me anywhere. Besides, Vayne would have died again in the time it took me to type that sentence out. I did heal people during the rest of the game. We lost.

At the end of the game, three members of the team demanded in post-game chat to report me for "feeding and going AFK." I was not AFK in the match. Even when standing behind another player and not attacking minions (rule 1 above,) I was not AFK. I also don't see how they could justify me feeding the enemy team; I died twice to the enemy team's Lux. If anyone was feeding, Vayne was feeding by rushing in to fights that they could not win. I have yet to be given a warning window that I was reported for anything. But there may simply have not been enough for the pop up to appear. In any event, I don't think Riot will punish me for this.

This is a more frequent scenario for me in many team games not just League. I simply do not see the logic in doing dumb things in team games. I've stood in place and supported team mates before even to my death. But that doesn't stop me from being blamed for "newb" behavior. It's damned if you do, damned if you don't. I cannot make players smarter and make better choices. But I don't see why I should support your dumb decisions either. It's also been my experience that stating I was just doing what I was told never cuts me any slack. And in a video game, something I play to enjoy, that's not cool.

I invited all players of that game to come to the forums and comment.

29 Comments

RogueWill2/9/2016, 3:49:37 AM5 votes

How is this girl not a front liner? Leona everything on her screams DIVE!!

ModJikker2/8/2016, 9:17:25 PM5 votes

Rules of Support

  1. Do not die

  2. Protect the ADC unless it interferes with rule 1

  3. Stay with the team unless it interferes with rule 2

  4. Keep vision control unless it interferes with rule 2

  5. Always put the team first unless it interferes with rule 1

Congrats you're a good support

NommyPancake2/8/2016, 9:31:16 PM4 votes

You have been misinformed on some area.

In general, you should run "Flash" instead of "Ghost."

You NEED to buy sightstone, buy it on your first back. You have to lowest ward number compared to you team.

Occasionally, I will attack minions with the intention of whittling them down for the ADC.

Generally, you don't attack them, not even whittling them down, unless you are shoving.

You attack cs ONLY, if you adc is not around and you only last hitting them.

Even if you play as a tank, if you're in front as support, players don't like it.

You are misinformed, other posts exaplained it already.

There wasn't time to type out "Incoming!" and, with no mana left for another heal, I turned and ran back.

You don't type, you have ping (Press G).

They were going to continue to dive in to fights they could not win leaving me to be slaughtered when the enemy bottom laners pushed to the turret. I'd have the choice of dieing quickly feeding them XP and gold or running away and losing the turret.

I assumed that you are talking about mid game, which I do agree with your decision to group and help others.

You are doing the right thing to mute them, rather than retaliating.

All in all, however, I don't see how this post get downvoted. OP only has some misconception about how to play support, as well as frustrated and upset.

I don't see him raging like other posts I've read.

Çhåryzård2/8/2016, 8:49:14 PM4 votes

I main support and...the only one I've ever been told is #1. You do not need the cs as much as the adcs do and you will get gold from assisting and from masteries/items that give you gold. Items are designed this way to make sure you do get some gold, however just like any other lane kills/assists will really help.

Second, if you are a tanky support with engage, you DO want to be at the front, especially if you are the only tank on your team. My tank support of choice is Nautilus because of his engage power and, well, he's a titan and hard to kill later on. Plus that shield helps. I have never been told to move to the back of the team and if anything, the squishies should be at the back of the team. Its your job to protect them so they shouldn't be at the front where they can easily get engaged on...now when I am playing Sona or Nami I do stay father back because I'm more squishy and I help cc and deal damage after my tank engages or we catch someone out and turn it into a 4v5.

Third, well its sorta yes and sorta no. If you do have a chance at getting something out of the engage, go in and do your best to help. If your adc is an idiot, don't feed the enemy even more. However you should at least still try to help them if you are able to. It really depends. There are moments you should help (and I mean, its your job so you should do everything you can) but sometimes it is not worth it, or else you will feed the enemy more. Your adc can whine all they want but it is better than giving the enemy adc 2 kills.

Grashnim2/8/2016, 8:33:06 PM3 votes

You talk a lot about nothing. I hope it has made you feel better.

Maple Crusader2/8/2016, 8:39:35 PM3 votes

Dude, get a chill pill.

PrettyPoison 1052/8/2016, 9:29:45 PM2 votes

Dude, I totally feel you. As a support main, I've been where you are. Playing Soraka the Heal-Bot, you get blamed a lot when your ADC dies after making a reckless move that you can't save them from. People forget you have cooldowns and mana costs and your health bar is made of tissue paper soaked in lighter fluid and everyone on the enemy team is an eager Zippo. My general response to "u suck" and "Raka noob plz report" is usually just playing the game, and when someone verbally abuses me for not saving them I calmly use the words "It was on cooldown" or "Raka's mana regen is basically garbage" or whatever is appropriate. The more they flame, the dumber they end up looking. Positive encouragement from you can even help diffuse the situation or if they continue flaming, completely turn around any report they try to send. Be the best Support you can be and remember: Kill 'em with kindness and ward up, my friend!

FrankerX2/8/2016, 8:45:07 PM2 votes

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Jamaree2/8/2016, 9:07:19 PM2 votes

You know, there is a reason you are "stuck" in bronze 5.

Kei1432/9/2016, 3:17:24 AM1 votes

Hiyo Samus, I see you often enough on these boards. Surely you know that as fellow support mains, we like sharing our stories on how we get abused by our ADC when things go wrong, but get little praise when things go right. Though I'm also a Bronzie like you, there are a few things I know that you don't. So if you'd allow me to shed some light here and there, hopefully you can feel better / get enlightened.

{quoted}

  1. "Don't CS." I used to hate being told that. Like any player, I need gold as well in order to buy better items. However, I've relented on this one and stopped going for Minion kills and instead rely on gold income items to give me gold. It's not the best way to amass gold. So, I've selected Mastery abilities that reward gold as well (one gold per nearby kill.)

Don't forget that the mastery 'Bandit' Also gives you gold when you auto attack an enemy champion once every few seconds (8 seconds CD I think?), if you are using a ranged support, you can definitely generate some gold that way! Melees do generate more gold this way as well, which mean you don't have to stand around a wait for your hook to come back from CD, you can just dash up to the enemy and give them an uppercut when they are about to get that cannon minion CS.

  1. "Stay behind the group." Support characters are not supposed to be on the front line. Even if you play as a tank, if you're in front as support, players don't like it. Since most true support characters are not designed to be leading the way as they have less armor and / or hit points, this is an easy rule to follow.

Actually this depends on who you are playing, and what your team comp is like. Most supports are balanced around the fact they get less gold, so Leona / Braum / Alistar can still be very tanky even if they don't have that much gold compared to the rest of their team.

This video about support positioning may also be of interest to you.

  1. "Follow me in no matter what." The vast majority of ADCs that I am supposed to support on the bottom row fully expect me to go in with them as they attack enemy players. Two on one, three on one, even four on one, if I do not stay right with them and keep them alive, I'm a failed support.

Yea .. this one is a tricky one. I can normally tell how good my ADC is based on their positioning in lane, if they do suck, I do ditch them early and roam more and apply pressure to other lanes.

Make sure you ward for them in attempts to keep them safe. Pinging them when you see danger (get used to using the "G" key quickly), and make sure you let them know you are leaving lane.

Keep in mind you are the team's support, not only your ADCs. Its ok to support the person who's most fed on the team, as that is who is doing all the lifting on the team.

Only the first two rules are rules I agree I should, and do, follow. Occasionally, I will attack minions with the intention of whittling them down for the ADC. But I will avoid making the killing blow. Some ADC's don't like this claiming it screws up their "internal wait timer" (the phrase is my invention) which I think is rather silly on their part. If you can't keep your eyes on a minion health bar and react to that, then there is something wrong with you.

Pushing lanes, Freezing lanes are things you need to pay attention to and learn in due time. Its not always advisable to AA the minions as that pushes your wave.

Video on Wave Control

Granted, at the lower ELOs, its about timing the last hits and a support's AAs do screw up their timings, especially if they have been practicing that way in customs. Eventually they'll get better at it, but make sure you pay attention to how many minions are hitting that specific minion.

Sometimes having you practice CSing will help you understand how ADCs think when they are CSing.

Also, keep in mind a few things about AAing minions:

  • It takes 2 turrets hit + 1 AA to kill a melee minion
  • It takes 2 AAs + 1 turret hit to kill a cast minion

So if you want to set up your ADC to last hit under tower (without your minion's interference), AA the caster minions once, let the turret hit the minion once, and then let the ADC last hit that minion.

with no mana left for another heal, I turned and ran back. In my mind, it was better to retreat then give the enemy team two kills worth of XP and gold. The Vayne again accused me of not healing and said, and I'm quoting them here, "You have full health. Rak's heals use hit points." True. Soraka's heals DO use 10% of her hit points upon casting. But there is still a mana cost. Fifty mana at level five if I am not mistaken.

Resource management is something you'd have to get used to. You don't need to use skills all the time, AAs do dmg too (and it triggers bandit gold generation), although it gets minion aggro, so you need to be careful when doing that. Everyone's HP does regen (most ADCs have lifesteal as well), so its ok to take some damage and trade, you don't always have to use your HP / Mana (as Soraka) to top them up. If it is a small amount, let them regen it back up.

Also, alot of people don't pay enough attention to mana bars. So do let them know when you are low on mana.

Finally, your itemization choice matters. If you are running low on mana constantly, you might want to consider rushing mana regen items. As Soraka, item 3114 item 3096 are pretty good items to buy.

At the end of the game, three members of the team demanded in post-game chat to report me for "feeding and going AFK." I was not AFK in the match. Even when standing behind another player and not attacking minions (rule 1 above,) I was not AFK. I also don't see how they could justify me feeding the enemy team; I died twice to the enemy team's Lux.

In any event, I don't think Riot will punish me for this.

Indeed you won't get punished. Surely you've been in Player Behavior boards enough to know that false reports don't do anything other than lower the report score of the people doing the reports.

GamblerOfLives2/9/2016, 4:18:15 AM1 votes

:)))))another bronze 5 who thinks he is pro:))))

GamblerOfLives2/9/2016, 4:34:03 AM1 votes

Dude, you are in a dream world..you have 30% win ratio in bronze 5:))..too bad they don't have wood division. Learn to farm, learn to build, and play something else(janna soraka).. if you actually want to climb:D

a pro tip;)..you can have max 40 or 45% cdr(with masteries..in your last game you had 50% cdr:)..also, don;t pick morrelos if you already have queens frost:))..it's the same thing;)..

GamblerOfLives2/9/2016, 10:04:56 AM1 votes

Just so you know look at this dude:

http://na.op.gg/summoner/userName=samus72

15% win ratio in your last 20 games..but yea, it's your team fault:)

LOVING IT MAN:))).