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Need Help Deciding Which Support to Level 5 Next

EkkoFroffles·8/3/2015, 2:49:27 AM·2 votes·698 views

As it's proven to be an effective tactic for learning champions, at least for me, I've been leveling up champions one or two at a time to Level 5. Since I'm attempting to transition to being a support main, most of them have been supports, and that's how it's going to be for the foreseeable future. Problem is, I can't decide who I should Level 5 next. Thus far, I'm Level 5 with TahmKench , Nautilus , Braum , and Blitzcrank, and am working my way there with Nami (Level 4) and Bard (1297 from Level 4). I started playing Bard because of free week, and because I wanted a challenge. While my winrate leaves something to be desired (9-13), that's still better than I ever would've expected, and my KDA is somehow a whopping 4.09. The only support mentioned that I have a higher KDA with is Nami (5.08; 64% winrate).

Anywho, I could be talked into practicing any of the following after I finish leveling up Nami and Bard:

Annie : She's proven difficult for me in the past, but as far as kill-lane supports capable of becoming a second AP carry are concerned, she's tops. Janna : The first support I ever played. Did horribly with her, and kinda hated her, but I've been testing her out again in co-ops and am coming to realize that a lot of that had to do with me barely knowing what I was doing. She's similar enough to Nami that I can see myself being effective with her, and it'd give me another sustain-type support. Leona : With how simple she is to play, and how similar she is to Blitzcrank and Nautilus, the chances of me not doing well with her are slim. I just feel it'd be more worth my time to learn a support that I can't already play at a halfway decent level without much difficulty. Morgana : Counters so many of the more popular support picks, and isn't easily countered herself. Learning her would also help me when laning against her, as I've struggled against Morgana's a lot in the past. Sona : The first support I actually kinda enjoyed playing and wasn't terrible with. I only won 29.63% of my matches with her, but that was when I was still learning, and so that win rate with a 3.03 KDA was better than expected at that point in time. Like Leona, she's about as simple as it comes for support, and I know I could find great success with her... but I'm not sure if my time couldn't be better spent on a support that'll actually take me until Level 5 to "master." Thresh : Thresh is the ultimate project for me. I know I'll be garbage with him to start out, and that it'll take me multiple matches to even start to figure him out, but the payoff is so much higher than with most of these supports.

15 Comments

TouchpadExpert8/4/2015, 2:36:43 PM2 votes

Here's some Thresh tips before you play him:

Max abilities in this order R > E > W > Q

Maxing E first means your peel ability is on a shorter cool down and the passive poking power is stronger. Allows you to whittle enemies down sooner. The strength of your lantern's shield takes precedence over how much power your hook deals. You want your hook for utility not for raw damage. If kept low in damage you can miss a hook, hit a minion and not steal the CS. Or you can use it to make a daring escape onto a jungle camp monster without killing it (thus cutting off your escape).

Your Q is the primary engage tool. Upon hooking a target they move towards you. Thresh will then make 2 additonal tugs before breaking the leash. Press Q after the 2nd tug to dash onto them. That's the primary way this is used on an enemy champion you want dead. You can activate the dash sooner if you wish, say if you hook a minion right by the target and the tugs will pull you away from them. A quick dash will ensure they are within flaying distance. Or if you want to make a quick escape onto a jungle camp an early dash is recommended.

Your W is the lantern. Lantern is the reason why you pick Thresh, not because of his hook. Lantern shields one ally and Thresh himself. You can activate the shield on Thresh in 1 of 2 ways: walking over it or walking out of the lantern's range thus resetting it onto yourself. If you reset it and you didn't shield anyone you can walk towards an ally in the next 3 seconds and if they walk into the light of the lantern they get the shield. The lantern can also be used by an ally to dash to you if they click it. Throw the lantern where they are headed, not where they are. The lantern can also be used to grant vision in a bush in a pinch or can be throw out to collect souls that are in an unsafe area. And a super secret trick is that the lantern can be teleported onto by an ally.

Your E is flay. Flay is your primary peeling tool but is also used to chain CC a target when necessary. Some people find aiming the flay difficult so I'll draw a diagram for you to show how it works. When the cursor is facing in front of you: Enemy<=<Thresh<=<Ally When the cursor is facing behind you: Enemy>=>Thresh>=>Ally If you want a target to come towards your ally, say to secure a kill, you aim the cursor behind you. If you want to peel the target off you or an ally you aim the cursor in front of you. Aim towards target = away from you, Aim away from target = bring towards you. Flay can interrupt most channeled abilities and mobility spells. Corki and Tristana's jumps can be interrupted but not Ezreal's blink.

Your R ability is called The Box. It's basically a prison. It forces trapped units to stay in the designated area or take damage and get a 99% slow on them for about 3 seconds. They can only take damage once but can break multiple walls of the box. You can use this right after hooking a target that you dashed onto forcing them to have to fight you or get chased down and die. You can also drop it down at a bottle neck to dissuade the enemy team from chasing you. One of my favorite bottle necks for this is the tri-bush. You could flay a target into the wall if need be but I still like to save flay for a peel in case needed. Hooking can also pull a target into a wall.

Hope this helps.

Amelie8/4/2015, 3:11:59 PM2 votes

I voted Morgana because it's good to have a decent counter to the other supports.

illusydara8/3/2015, 3:06:59 PM1 votes

Only one of those characters has purple hair. Do the right thing.

TraakSC8/3/2015, 3:59:02 PM1 votes

I have fun as Alistar support. Tanky as a mother and able to peel like a champ. It is very satisfying to headbutt the enemy jungler coming in for the gank back into his jungle.

If I have to choose from your list though, probably Thresh. It seems that everyone agrees upon the fact that he is the ultimate support. Capable of doing everything.

EkkoFroffles8/3/2015, 3:08:22 AM1 votes

Forgot to include Alistar. D'oh!

EkkoFroffles8/4/2015, 1:18:59 PM1 votes

Thresh it is, I guess. I'm nervous, yet hopeful at the same time. My success with Bard (11-13; 4.25 KDA now) has me thinking maybe this won't be so bad.

TouchpadExpert8/3/2015, 4:01:32 PM1 votes

You also forgot Sir Taric the Gay.

Thresh is my main, so I am biased. There's a bunch of nifty tricks you can do with him. Alistar and Thresh though are the two biggest "play maker" supports in the game.

Sona Ping8/3/2015, 7:23:53 AM1 votes

Dude, this is a question without an answer. Really. There is literally none anyone can give you. Champion Mastery is an Xbox Achievement for you for spending a lot of time playing a champion that you enjoy. This is all your decision because any response you get is someone telling you who they like which is useless because nobody else knows which of those champions you find fun.

While my winrate leaves something to be desired (9-13), that's still better than I ever would've expected, and my KDA is somehow a whopping 4.09.

Here is the Tip(and/or Trick): KDA is meaningless. This is because the post-game numbers like KDA say nothing about performance in game. A 0/4/Y Tryndamere could have been a huge asset because even though he got no kills, he forced the rest of the enemy team to fight 3v4 the whole game. A 32/10/X Yi who thinks KDA is important is the reason an enemy team lost. A person could even say that your KDA should be lower if you are playing the meta position Support because, ideally, the kills you got should be on a carry.

Don't worry about your KDA because it is meaningless.